Beatles John Lennon and George Harrison were honored with a blue plaque Sunday at the site of the former Apple Boutique in a ceremony in London Sunday that eyewitness Lizzie Bravo told Beatles Examiner was short but sweet.
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(You can see Lizzie's pictures of the ceremony in the slideshow at left.)
“The ceremony was very brief and there was no microphone, so unless you were right up front, which I wasn't, you didn't hear anything,” she told us. “(Quarryman) Rod Davis, (former Apple CEO) Tony Bramwell (though I didn't see him), Richard Porter (of Beatles in London.com) and many others (attended).”
The new plaque reads "John Lennon, M.B.E., 1940-1980, and George Harrison, M.B.E., 1943-2001, worked here." English Heritage says a blue plaque “commemorates the link between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked. It is a uniquely successful means of connecting people and place.”
The site, at 94 Baker Street, had been the site of a boutique run by the Beatles' Apple Corps. The shop was opened in December, 1967, and closed in July of 1968. A public giveaway of the store's stock, including its designer clothes, preceded the closing.
A statement issued to announce the closing specified the reason for the shop's closing. "Our main business is entertainment -- communications," the statement drawn up by Paul McCartney and press officer Derek Taylor read. "We want to devote all our energies to records, films and our electronic adventures. We had to re-focus. We had to zoom in on what we really enjoy, and we enjoy being alive, and we enjoy being Beatles."
The building previously had a plaque just for Lennon, but the new plaque replaced it, the BBC reported.
Lizzie Bravo has her own place in Beatles history. She was one of two Beatles fans, along with Gayleen Pease, who the Beatles selected to do backup vocals on the song “Across the Universe.” They can be heard singing “Nothing's gonna change my world” in the chorus.
In an interview we did with her a few years ago, Bravo, who was 16 at the time of the recording session, said she recalls Paul McCartney coming out of the studio and asking the fans always in wait outside if any of them "could hold a high note." Bravo said she could and went inside, and was followed shortly after by her friend Gayleen Pease, 17.
"They started showing us the song and the lyrics. We were there for over two hours," she said.
Bravo said she recalled the Beatles were very funny. "We laughed and drank tea," she says, and sang 'Nothing's gonna change my world' many times.”
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