I took the picture of the Beatles book display just inside the main entrance at Barnes & Noble in Gulfport, Mississippi, on Friday afternoon.
The display was put up after the Paul McCartney photography book, “1964: Eyes of the Storm,” was published on June 13.
So why did I write “Bee-attles” in the headline?
It’s a variation of what I heard in the film “Help!” in the summer of 1965.
I looked up dialogue from the Beatles’ second British musical comedy and found the source for my “Bee-attles” play on words.
Clang : [offering a bagful of gold] Psst! Hey, Be-a-tle! You shall have fun, yes?
John : No thanks, I'm rhythm guitar and mouth organ.
Paul is also offered gold.
Clang : Hey, Be-a-tle! How about this, eh? Shufty gold! All of it pure gold in easy-to-handle denominational nuggets. Not marked, not a mark on 'em, eh?
Paul : No, I hate them.
Ahme : No!
Paul : I I do! I mean, they make your fingers go green.
Ahme : It is not the Beatle with the ring, he.
Paul : Aren't I?
Ahme : No unfortunately!
Props to IMDB for the exchanges between the characters.
Leo McKern plays Clang, the high priest of human sacrifice in a sinister Eastern cult chasing Ringo because he is the Beatle with the ring, and Eleanor Bron plays Ahme, the high priestess.
Image is from the Rizzoli book “The Beatles: Photographs From the Set of Help!”
Ringo received the ring with a large ruby from an Eastern bird who was on the verge of becoming a cult victim. The ring is a sacrificial symbol and it puts Ringo in jeopardy of becoming the Clanged “Be-a-tle.” Help.
A 13-year-old Beatles fan enjoying “Help!” at the Avenue Theater in Biloxi in 1965 appreciated the amusing and accented way that McKern said “Be-a-tle.”
Without “Be-a-tle,” no “Bee-attles.”
Love your bee-attle-itude to this subject