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The Rolling Stones in the press: “Beatles And A Stone To Wales With Mystic” (by Tony Barrow)

*From KRLA Beat, USA, September 23 1967

*Click for more YESTERDAY’S PAPERS

Any good groupie and, indeed, any teenybopper of average intellect would assure you that one of the least likely places top pop people are to be found is a busy city rail terminal at holiday time. But there’s always the exception to the general rule.

The date was Friday, August 25, the beginning of Britain’s August Bank Holiday Weekend.
The time was just after three o’clock in the afternoon.
The place was London’s crowded Euston rail terminal with thousands of vacationing families bustling about with their baggage and their infant children.

Suddenly, without warning, there were Beatles and a Rolling Stone right there in the midst of the holiday crowds. Suddenly the 3:05 p.m. London to North Wales Express became the grooviest Bank Holiday train to pull out of Euston Station that day, this year or this decade!

Meditation Lecture
But I’d better start at the beginning. The previous day, Thursday, Aug. 24, a 56-year-old Himalayan mystic named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (alias His Holiness The Master) gave a two-hour evening “transcendental meditation” lecture at the London Hilton Hotel. A few hours before the lecture was due to begin George Harrison decided he’d like to buy a couple of tickets—a dollar each—to hear the saintly, tiny, white-whiskered old man of the East preach his doctrine. Eventually Paul and John went along too and all seemed mightily impressed by the theories expounded by the leader of the Kashmir cult.

After joining 1500 other believers and intrigued spectators for the lengthy lecture, the three Beatles had a special audience with The Master who sat cross-legged before them in a fine white cloak and brightly colored beads with a little bunch of red roses and carnations clutched in his dark brown hands. He told the Beatles many things. “If you go into your garden and sit down to meditate,” Maharishi Mahesh Yogi explained to Paul, “you must not keep your eyes closed all of the time or you will miss the great beauty of your garden.”

Invitation to Wales
Before they left the Maharishi invited John, Paul and George to be guests at University College, Bangor, North Wales for the next four or five days. Over the August Bank Holiday Weekend the mystic was to give a further series of meditation lectures and the Beatles would be welcome to attend.

At first it didn’t seem likely that they would. For one thing the Beatles had a recording session scheduled.

Twelve hours later, at noon on Friday, John and George determined to postpone all other activities and accompany His Holiness to the North Wales coastal town of Bangor, a 300-mile train ride from London. They contacted Paul who was equally enthusiastic. Ringo decided to delay his journey to Bangor in order to bring Maureen and the week-old baby Jason out of the hospital on Saturday morning. But at the very last moment he switched his plans, after talking to Maureen, and left from Euston station with the rest.

Just before three o’clock, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull arrived at Euston, an unexpected addition to the colorful party of disciples. Everything had been fixed in such a rush that nobody had reserved seats for the train. Mick and Marianne hadn’t even bought tickets for the trip.

Paul Arrives
Next to arrive was Paul, riding in Neil Aspinall’s elegant pale blue Jaguar. But there was no sign of the others and the train was due to pull out. So Paul, Mick and Marianne got onto the train—along with their silver-haired master and one or two of his Eastern followers.

At seven minutes after three John’s beautiful Rolls Royce drew in beside Euston’s departure entrance. Out piled George and Patti plus Patti’s young sister, Jenny, John and Cynthia and Ringo. Grasping multi-colored Greek bags and a small assortment of musical instruments shrouded in flower-painted cloth covers, the six walked and then ran through the crowds, past the ticket barrier and onto Platform 13. As they drew alongside the first part of the train, everyone realized that there was no time to look for any particular section. It was a matter of leaping aboard blindly. As they do this the train began to move.

A cop thought he’d be helpful by closing the door on the last of the party. But, by coincidence rather than design, he prevented Cynthia Lennon getting on. Poor Cyn was left all alone on the platform as the train disappeared from the station.

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