We were in Southern California recently and spent several hours touring Beatle sites in Los Angeles with Gillian Lomax of Beatles-A-Rama who conducts a regular "Magical History Tour" sightseeing excursion to Beatle sites in the area.
The three of us (myself, my wife and my son) bundled into Gillian's car and headed out from Santa Monica. Gillian narrates the tour, which has an all the more authentic air because of her British accent. She's originally from Wallasey, just outside of Liverpool.
It wasn't foggy that day -- you know, "There's a fog upon L.A." -- but it was a little bit chilly, so we were all bundled up. We first headed to Santa Monica Pier, the location of the beach house where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, May Pang, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr all partied. Nearby was the Self Realization Fellowship, a peaceful retreat that was a favorite hangout of George Harrison's. It was also the site of a memorial after his passing.
Then we headed into Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. We passed the Troubadour, where Lennon and Harry Nilsson had the dustup that got them tossed from the club. We passed the Key Club, site of a gig by Dhani Harrison's thenewno2 and drove down the Sunset Strip, which inspired Stephen Stills to write "For What It's Worth" for the Buffalo Springfield.
We drove all the way up the long and winding road that is Blue Jay Way with the song playing in the tape deck. This had been a long time dream for us to see. There was no fog that day, though it was cold and a little wet, unusual for the time of year.
We saw various Beatle landmarks, including the house in Bel Air in 1965 where Elvis and the Beatles had their one and only meeting. The courtyard that's seen in the picture circulating of the Beatles leaving hasn't changed much since then.
We saw too many more places to list them all, but we'll mention Amoeba Records, where Paul McCartney played live, the historic Capitol Tower and, of course, the Hollywood Bowl, complete with a song from the show going in the car as we drove up. (You can see many of the sites in the slideshow at the bottom of the page. There's also a short video of us driving up Blue Jay Way.)
The whole tour, which took over four hours, was an awful lot of fun and something we'll always remember. It's a great way to see the sights in Los Angeles (we saw a few non-Beatle sites, too) and it's a more human experience since it's not one of those prefab tours on the big sightseeing buses.
You can learn more about it at http://www.amagicalhistorytour.com/. Roll up for the Magical History Tour. It's well worth the time spent.
Driving up Blue Jay Way on the Magical History Tour.
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Comments
Hey Steve,
Steven Stills wrote the song "For What It's Worth" in response to the L.A. County Sheriffs harassment of the long haired (hippy's) people who hung out and rioted in front of Pandoras Box located Sunset & Crescent Heights Blvd. on a Friday night.... I was there.
Thanks!!
Did the tour with Lady Gillian in Feb.and it was great. I'v done the London walks with Richard Porter (both tours) and the Magical Magical Mystery bus trip in Liverpool, so this was a must. If you'll be in the L.A. area anytime soon don't miss it. A splendid time is guaranteed for all!
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