I had the honor and privilege of performing the piccolo trumpet solo to Penny Lane with The Beatles tribute group “The Liverpool Legends” on March 5th, 2016 at the world famous Carnegie Hall.
The story behind that once in a lifetime performance is told here.
This post, however, is about another story that happened on that magical night.
The Liverpool Legends have a connection to George Harrison’s sister Louise Harrison. Still vibrant and energetic at 84, she plays a big role in helping the group get some really high visibility shows all over the world. Effectively, she’s their sponsor and their connection to the Beatles.
It turns out that Louise also played a critical role in promoting the original Beatles during the early 1960’s.
Already living in the states, Louise enthusiastically spread the word about her brother’s band while they were still working in Liverpool clubs. She worked tirelessly to encourage radio stations in America to play their records.
By performing all of that advance work, Louise was instrumental in helping to ensure that the Fab Four’s American debut was a smashing success. In fact, Louise sat on stage right next to Cynthia Lennon during the Beatles performance at Carnegie Hall on their American debut tour in 1964. (Turns out that the promoters had neglected to secure them actual seats to the sold out performance.)
Now back to present day Carnegie Hall.
During a quiet moment back-stage, after my triumphant performance, I walked over to Ms. Harrison, piccolo trumpet in hand, to introduce myself.
She caught my eye from her wheelchair, looked up at me and got the conversation started…
“Why hello young man, I must say that you have a really tiny trumpet there. Most men go on about their BIG trumpets don’t they?”
I almost dropped my tiny trumpet when she dropped that introductory line. But I quickly recovered…
“Yes mum but I’d say it’s all in the way you use it, wouldn’t you?”
She smiled at me with a twinkle in her eye. “Yes I would say so.”
We continued on with a lovely conversation and she let me get a picture to capture the moment.
Yes that’s right, my big moment at Carnegie Hall included sharing a dick joke backstage with an 84 year old lady who also just happened to be George Harrison’s sister!
#SheStartedIt
Bob Wagner Writing 