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Two Beatles Head for Tahiti

May 4, 1964 - Two of Britain’s Beatles — thwarted in their bid for peace and quiet in Honolulu — packed their bags today and prepared for an afternoon flight to Tahiti.

John Lennon, his wife Cynthia, George Harrison, and an unidentified petite blonde flew to the Hawaiian city unnoticed from Amsterdam Saturday night but were quickly discovered.

It was not known if the blonde would fly to the South Pacific island with the other three.

Half of the mop-haired quartet apparently decided to leave Hawaii after being thwarted in practically every move they made to get sunshine and swimming.

Yesterday, Lennon and Harrison sneaked out of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel at Waikiki Beach for another beach on the other side of the island. Fans got word and tagged along.

The Beatles had headed for the beach soon after arriving at the Kailua home of John McDermott, Honolulu public relations man.

They were recognized within five minutes by surfers.

As the crowd grew, the Beatles withdrew to a swimming pool at McDermott’s next-door neighbor. Within 15 minutes, a crowd of 30 teenagers was hanging over the fence or crawling through the hedge.

“Go away,” protested John and George. “We want to rest. No pictures today.”

They retreated inside the house. But fans and just plain curious lined the outer limits of the McDermotts’ large lawn and gawked into the living room picture window.

One fan had binoculars. Many had cameras.

The crowd, once around 100, had dwindled to 20 when the Beatles made a police-escorted departure at 7 p.m. yesterday.

“I saw him walk across the room — I know it was John,” claimed one blonde admirer. Her purse bore a sticker featuring a lineup of the four hairy heads.

The other two Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, were reported to be trying the Virgin Islands as their vacation retreat.



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© 2024 by Joe Rubenstein

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