Monday, March 9, 2009

Maureen Starkey


It's amazing how you can be a Beatles fan all your life and still learn something new every day.

In 1968, in honor of (Ringo Starr's wife) Maureen Starkey's then-upcoming twenty-second birthday, Apple executive Peter Brown convinced Frank Sinatra to record a re-worded version of his hit "The Lady is a Tramp" in honor of Maureen. It was called "Maureen is a Champ" - and was pressed as Apple #1. Only one copy was ever made, and given to Maureen as a birthday present.

Someone over on YouTube set the song to a slide-show of pictures, and you can see and hear it here.

And now for some random trivia about Maureen: That's her cheering loudly at the end of the version of "Get Back" that appears on the Let It Be album. Paul says, "Thanks, Mo" immediately after the song.