Back In The USSR - Some Very Dedicated Beatles Fans!

                                                                        

                                                                      
  

Back in the Sixties and beyond, and in the West, it was very easy to be a Beatles fan. 

Not so in the former USSR.

We could go to concerts, buy records, buy memorabilia and fan magazines, and see their movies without any fear of repercussions.

Although I was not allowed to go and see the Beatles when they toured here I did everything else any self-respecting Beatles fan would do. 

And many years later I got to see George Harrison when we happened to be on the same plane. Big thrill for me!

The fans in this movie are amazing. Nothing was too much trouble to enable them to listen to the Beatles. And they displayed a lot of lateral thinking.

They risked expulsion from university and the prospect of going to prison as well. 

Not to mention having to be on the look-out for the KGB whenever they went to the black market.

And they are still fans, as am I, and the Beatles are still popular over there.

It must have been incredible for them to see Paul McCartney when he did his concerts in Red Square and Kiev.

And what a pity John Lennon and George Harrison never lived to see how much they were appreciated in the former Soviet Union.

I hope we are never put in a situation like these fans were back then.

Joni Mitchell was right:

"Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot”

I think we were extremely lucky! 

There is more about the Beatles on this blog and can be found with the search function including these.

 

More on The Beatles in no particular order:

The Beatles : An Oral History of Their Concert In Washington DC

George Harrison - My Favourite Beatle - "My Sweet Lord" Live

New Beatles Band May Form With Sons

Lifetime Achievement Award for Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr At 2014 Grammys

George Harrison and Ringo Starr - It Don't come Easy

For sale: Beatles recording that led to the biggest mistake in music history

Ravi Shankar and George Harrison - Two Music Legends

Was John Lennon Really a Genius?

Ringo Starr: Solo Beatle's lonely art club brand

Becoming The Beatles

Sir Paul McCartney Gaining Back Rights To His Music in 2018, 2019?

John Lennon Reveals Torture of Beatles 'Let It Be' Album In Tape-recorded Interview Now Up For Auction

The Beatles Visit To Australia 1964 - Powerhouse Museum Exhibition

John Lennon's Childhood Home To Be Auctioned - Update: Sold for £480,000

Tom Pinch: Time - Lapse Portraits of Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Beatles’ Royal Variety Performance: Fifty Years ago!

John Lennon Set To Stir Up US Stamp Collectors

Unheard Lennons on Beatles Bootleg - Just Released

Freda Kelly Recalls Her Days of Working With the Beatles - "Good Ol' Freda"

New Beatles Documentary Of Their Australian Tour Takes Viewers On A Magical History Tour

 ‘Man on the Run’: New Book About Paul McCartney After The Beatles

Arthur Alexander: The Forgotten Songwriter Who Inspired The Beatles, Bob Dylan And The Rolling Stones

 10 Ways A Hard Day’s Night (the Movie) Changed the World

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The Art of McCartney Project

The Beatles: Good News For Fans This week


Glyn Johns: Defining That Classic-Rock Sound

The Traveling Wilburys: Their History

George Harrison and The Bee Gees To Receive Recording Academy Honors

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 Penny Lane: Original On The Block, Minus The Fanfare

Lost Beatles US Concert Movie Blocked From Release


The Three Lennon-McCartney Hits That Went to No. 1 Without Lennon or McCartney 

The British Invasion Of The 1960's

The Who Release First Song In 8 Years: Be Lucky 

John Lennon Born 75 Years Ago Today  

John Lennon's Long-Lost Gibson J-160E Guitar Sells for Record $2.4 Million

George Harrison's Catalogue Is Now Streaming   

Ringo Starr Reflects On His 35 Year Marriage

George Harrison: Tribute GeorgeFest Is Coming

John Lennon's Rock 'n' Roll Album - Update: Vale Sir George Martin

Unseen Beatles Footage Released

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The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years

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Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles; It was 50 years ago today ... 

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