#jim phantom

The girls walked around to look at the kitchen, and George said to me, 'C'mon, I'm going to take you on the silly boot tour.' 

I gave my standard answer to George: 'Erm, okay, cool, yeah, great!'

We went up some stairs to what was like an attic. The room was mostly empty except for some antique carved wooden armoires that lined the walls. I kept thinking this was what Louis XIV's closets must have looked like. George opened the first one and showed me the leather jackets that the Beatles wore in Hamburg. That led into the collarless suits from The Ed Sullivan Show, which led to an array of all the mod colorful 'top gear' from Carnaby Street. He had all four Sgt. Pepper suits and a story with full-on Liverpool accent and impersonation.

'Paul calls me the other day and says, "Where's me Pepper suit? 'ave you got me Pepper suit? I'm doing a video, and I need me suit; I can't find it." I says, "Paul, I've had it for twenty-odd years. A couple of more days won't hurt now, will it?"

This is a private, never-before-heard scene from A Hard Day's Night. All I could think of saying was 'You mean Paul McCartney?' I didn't; I just smiled and nodded, listened. I had my free swing with the Pete Best question. I was honored to be the one that first heard this story.

There were some more closets and crazy clothes. Then we came to a huge pirate's chest on the floor. It was right out of Treasure Island. George got on the floor and opened it. It was filled with shoes. The ski boots from Help! were in there, the fuzzy Tibetan boots from the Let It Be era, everything. He was throwing them over his shoulders; it was raining shoes and boots. From the bottom of the chest, he pulled out an original pair of Beatles boots.  They were battle-tested ones - worn out, worked in, not an extra pair. 

'Here, take these,' he said. 'Erm, okay, yeah, great.' 'Wait. Give 'em back.' I handed them back. George produced a ballpoint pen, scribbled in them, and handed them back.

'Well, read it.' Inside one, he had written, 'To Slim Jim from Fat George,' and then signed his name.

In the other, he had done a perfect forgery of Ringo's signature. He told me they often signed each other's names. One of them would sign four signatures, and then it would be a different one's turn. A picture with all four different people having signed it could be rare. More inside stuff. He also said, 'If you ever need money, sell them! It's just a pair of old boots.' I came home with a pair of silly boots and a few original buttons. What a night!

Slim Jim Phantom on visiting Friar Park in 1985, The Stray Cat Struts: My Life as a Rockabilly Rebel