"John was in such a playful mood. He was sarcastic and witty and enjoyed seeing all the Beatle goodies. This was the same week Capitol Records released "Happy Christmas (War is Over)." At first he said he was miffed Capitol got it out so late, but was relieved it was finally on the radio. Morrell continued to show Lennon various items in his collection including photos he had taken of the Beatles at Shea Stadium. (...) John then asked me what I was looking for and I told him the Beatles' Butcher album cover. John picked up the phone, called his apartment and spoke to someone and told him where to find it and to bring it over to the studio. The guy brought it over and John showed us. He handed it to me to look at. I held it in my hands for a moment and gazed at it. The very record I read about a month ago was in my hands. John was a Beatles fan and encouraged me to look for more rarities. It was time to pack up the show and tell. I didn't want to ask for a photograph or an autograph. Things went so well, I just had a feeling we'd meet again and we did. As I packed up and got ready to leave, John took a pen to the Butcher cover. He drew a big bubble above his head and wrote: "To Dave, From John Lennon, Dec. 7, '71" then he smiled and handed me his own personal copy of the Beatles Butcher cover."
ㅡ Dave Morrell about meeting John Lennon and Yoko Ono and keeping in touch with them.
"Ten years later, I was manager at the flagship Sam Goody music store at Radio City Music Hall. While there, at the end of 1973, I got the idea that somebody should do something to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America. And the word "Beatlefest" just popped into my head (it's now called "The Fest for Beatles Fans"). I had a vision of people gathering in a hotel to watch Beatles films, listening to their music, trading memorabilia, and a bunch of other things. I sat with the idea for about a month or so, then I decided give it a try. I took money from my own savings to book the Commodore Hotel for September 7th and 8th of that year, and I wrote to all of the Beatles — I wasn't going to do the show without their support. Of course, everybody thought I was nuts. How was I going to get their support while they're suing each other? But that didn't stop me. I hadn't heard from anybody until I learned that John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were going to be appearing in Central Park for a March of Dimes walk-a-thon. They weren't playing, just speaking to raise awareness for the charity. To make a long story short, I found out where John was staying, found out his room number, went to the hotel and up to his room, and knocked on the door. Harry Nilsson, who later became a dear friend, opened the door. I said, "Hi, I'm Mark Lapidos, and I'd like to speak to John about Beatlefest." He waved me in, and I said hello to John, sat down, and told him my idea about the Fest. He said "I'm all for it. I'm a Beatles fan too." And he got very excited about it. I mentioned that I wanted to do a charity raffle. He offered to donate a signed guitar. Two days later I'm sitting with his people talking it out with Apple in London. Within a couple of days, I got signed drumsticks from Ringo, and it took off from there. (...) A few days before the Fest, Tony King from Apple was in the States, and asked if I had received anything autographed from Paul or George. I said I hadn't heard from them. He went over to John, and John called Paul and George and reminded them that they hadn't yet sent anything to Beatlefest. Apparently my messages hadn't reached them, so John arranged to get a few signed things from them right away, and we soon had items from all four Beatles for the show."
ㅡ Mark Lapidos about his "Beatlefest", from the book "We're Going To See The Beatles" by Garry Berman.
