My Here, There & Everywhere Tour: Abbey Road

Something about that band moves me

by rick olivares

There was a time when I stayed a few blocks away from the John Lennon Memorial in Central Park, Strawberry Fields. I even lit a candle in the nearby driveway of the Dakota where he was shot and killed.

The Beatles were always a favorite of mine. I had all their vinyl albums, saw their films, and I even wore a mop top during my grade school years as a tribute to the Fab Four. The Beatles Jingle Songbook was where I first learned to play the guitar. The Beatles Anthology, both the massive tome and the CD set, remains a favorite and is prominently displayed in my collection.

Going to Liverpool and taking the Beatles Taxi Tour was communing with my first ever favorite band. I came away emotional and like I have been handed old photo albums that contained secrets and anecdotes of people who I only knew from across the miles. It was if I was not meant to see them until such time. You know… like an inheritance.  

I went down Matthew Street not once, not twice but thrice. One for the three full days I was in Liverpool. I would stand in one corner and soak in everything. I’d watch some bands and street performers. This was rock ‘n’ roll nirvana.

Moving over to London, if there was one place I had to go it was Abbey Road. To complete the pilgrimage and cross that pedestrian lane just as the Fab Four did all those years ago. That I did this with one of my best friends in Craig Burrows made it even more special.

I have had all these bands and recording artists I would call favorites through the years and up to today. There are some who I watched not only in the United States but also in the Philippines. One indie outfit that I absolutely love, I even befriended. But at the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I only undertook one pilgrimage and it’s for the Beatles.

And I am a happy happy man. Yeah yeah yeah!

Leaving my mark on that famous Abbey Road Studios wall.

From 12 years ago -- Strawberry Fields at Central Park and below, outside the Dakota where John Lennon was murdered.