Mods & Rockers Festival: The Beatles Were My True Parents

The opening weekend of the Mods & Rockers Festival in Hollywood is being celebrated with a free concert on Sunday ("ROCK Like An Egyptian!") co-headlined by British rock icon Spencer Davis and singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop. In this special blog, Bishop reflects on his true parentage...

I became a 'Beatleholic' after the excitement of seeing them on the Ed Sullivan Show, like millions of other fans. My stepfather was an opera singer who worked at the hardware store and he couldn't stand them. He grumbled all the way through their performance.

Suddenly, my life changed. I was trading Beatle bubble gum cards on the bus... playing Beatle melodies on my clarinet and finally giving clarinet up for an electric guitar. I started a garage band and we were off.. playing school dances and fraternity parties with my brother as our manager. Becoming a songwriter...

At the age of 15, I had a dream one night. In my dream, I had my own apartment. One day, in my dream, I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door to see John Lennon and Paul McCartney standing there.

"Hullo" Paul said. "We were in the area and we thought we'd drop in." John said: "We were wondering if you'd like to write a song with us?" "Yeah sure," I said.. and in my dream we wrote a great song in the key of E.

After we finished writing the song, John looked at me and said, "say... would you like to join the group?"

"Gee..." I said, "I really like to but I'm supposed to help my Mom clean up the backyard..."

THE "MODS & ROCKERS FESTIVAL" BLOGS

• GREGORY WEINKAUF - Picking Up Every Stitch...
• D.A. PENNEBAKER - Inside Pennebaker's Soul
• STEVE HOCHMAN -
Memo To Al Gore
• BRAD SCHREIBER - Monterey Pop Goes Pow!
• MICHELLE PHILLIPS - California Dreaming Becoming a Reality • JERRY MILLER - Grapeful for Monterey
• HARVEY KUBERNIK - UP In Monterey...
• GREGORY WEINKAUF - Skidoo Does Hollywood...
• STANLEY DORFMAN - Zeppelin Takes Flight
• BRAD SCHREIBER - Tripping Back to 1960s London...
• D.A. PENNEBAKER - Pennebaker on "Pop"
• MARTIN LEWIS - ROCK Like An Egyptian!
• DAVID HABER - Really With The Beatles
• PAUL WILLIAMS - Nilsson Is My Cup Of Tea
• BRAD SCHREIBER - Festival Opens & Explains "What's Happening!"
• PAUL KRASSNER - Skidoo
• MARTIN LEWIS - First Night Report!
• STEPHEN BISHOP - The Beatles Were My True Parents
• ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM - Mocking The Rockers
• BRUCE SPIZER -The Beatles Were Coming!
• MARTIN LEWIS - Movies For Nothing And Kicks For Free..

MORE "MODS & ROCKERS FESTIVAL" BLOGS COMING SOON FROM

• ERIC BURDON