The photos in this chapter of John and Paul would have to be some of the yummiest, most delicious ones capturing their brotherhood.

18 March 1965 - Marietta Hotel, Obertauern, Austria.

Jacky and the Strangers were Berlin's longest running Rock'n'Roll band. Born in 1928 in Wiesbaden, Jacky Spelter formed the Strangers in 1953 with a Fender Jazzmaster guitar that he had brought from Texas were he had been taken as a prisoner of war. It was the first Fender model to appear in Germany. Jacky continued to play on that same instrument (that he lovingly called Jenny) for 50 years.

In 1958 he opened for Bill Haley and the Comets at the Waldbühne in Berlin. In Friedberg, where Jacky and the Strangers played the GI-Clubs, he met Elvis, who was sitting in the audience. After the concert, Elvis shook his hand. In Hamburg he claims to have played with the Beatles.

In March, 1965, Jacky and the Strangers were engaged to play at the Marietta Hotel, Obertauern, Austria, while the Beatles were in town, shooting scenes for the "Help!" film. John and Paul dropped in on March 18 for an impromptu gig with their Reeperbahn friend.

John borrowed "Jenny" - Jacky's Fender Jazzmaster guitar and Paul tried out the Drums.Spelter on John's right.

No.... No one knows who the sunglasses guy is!

**
Herbert was the skier that 'played' Paul in the ski scenes....
Herbert Lürzer confessed that he was a little bit sorry that they had to give back the coats and all the other props. At least he was able to give several autographs as Paul – but better unreadable, as he added with a smile. His memories did not fade even after 50 years. He also remembers the evening very well when the director assistant Clive Reed celebrated his birthday in the hotel Marietta where the film crew was staying. To this day legends on how many whiskey bottles were opened that night are being told… But something else went down in the history of Obertauern – the moment when John, Paul, George and Ringo bobbed up on the stage where the hotel band used to performe and played their greatest hits. Actually that has been the one and only Beatles concert in Austria! The audience was so excited that some hotel guests, even in pyjamas, came to the reception to complain about noise disturbance. It is rumoured that the next day the hotel owner – looking at tattered strings on the piano, broken drums and damaged loudspeakers – demanded a compensation from the manager. But the quick-witted Epstein said: „Okay, but you have to pay for a two hour concert of the Beatles!“ And problem solved…

**

During a gathering in the hotel lounge and with drinks flowing, an impromptu performance broke out with Paul and John taking the stage on drums and guitar respectively, and HELP! director Richard Lester joining in.
As Lester recalled on the HELP! DVD release: "[The hotel] had a sort of beer cellar which had a resident three-piece band, and my assistant director, a man called Clive Reed, had a birthday. The band played for a while, and then we turfed them off and said, 'That's fine, goodbye.' And Paul got onto drums and I went onto the piano and John and George took turns [on guitar]. And it just started.... and kept going and going and I think we played 'till about three in the morning, at which point we all drunkenly went to bed."
The photographer Henry Grossman, who accompanied the Beatles to Austria and shot the famous HELP! LP cover there, has published what may be the only other photograph of the performance in his book Places I Remember: My Time With The Beatles, which shows that Paul is indeed on drums. Grossman's recollection of the evening: "There was something special about this impromptu concert. In retrospect, I think it was because John and Paul were playing because they wanted to... Watching them that night in Austria - full of beer, jumping from one rock and roll classic to another - must have been like seeing them in Hamburg before they became world famous."

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Filming Help!

The Beatles in Airport & at Osterreichischer Hotel, Salzburg, Austria - March 13, 1965Filming in Obertauern

It was on March 13, 1965, when the Beatles landed at 14:18 at the airport in Maxglan / Salzburg. 5000 - especially female fans - screamed. It was a state of emergency, because the Beatles had come to Obertauern for a week to shoot the snow scenes for "Help!".

Many locals did not even know the Beatles," says Gerhard Krings, who strapped on the skis for George Harrison in the film. The two "Salzburg Beatles" were then ski instructors and were selected by the ski school leader in Obertauern; also because they spoke English. In addition they got "nice" clothing, got a good fee and did not only shoot funny action scenes on skis, but were also private ski instructors for the real mushroom heads. Herbert Lürzer, who made the double for Paul McCartney, remembers: "They were not very talented, but funny. They just wanted to have fun and shoot. "

"I used to work in the Römerbar and put on the wig once as a joke and went to the bar and immediately disappeared. The guests were thrilled and told for a long time that one of the Beatles had been in the bar. "
The Beatles themselves were more withdrawn most of the time: "In the quieter moments, the musicians and their wives retreated to the rooms of the Hotel Edelweiss - tourists can still book them today as 'Beatles Rooms'. They especially liked to be represented by us when fans stormed the film locations. "

The then young ski instructor Herbert Lürzer looked with wig and the clothes of the Englishman Paul Mc Cartney deceptively similar. "I signed the autograph cards partly with' McCartney' and partly with 'Herbert Lürzer', but completely illegible, "the double remembers smiling. He describes the relationship between the real and false mushroom heads as totally friendly and uncomplicated. "The otherwise permanently acclaimed stars liked that we did not even know them before and wanted nothing from them. They had their complete peace here in Obertauern, as desired. "
In hindsight, however, Herbert Lürzer and Gerhard Krings are sorry that they have never requested Beatles autographs themselves and that they subsequently failed to make contact with the Beatles again.

(Apologies I cant recall the web address as the page crashed on me before I saved it!)

Stars on Skis: Obertauern and the Double Beatles

In 1965 the Beatles are in Austria for the first time in their career. In Obertauern they want to shoot scenes for their movie Help!. There is only one problem: None of the Fab Four can ski. They have to rely on doubles for the wild chases down the piste.

A village in Austria, 1900 yards above sea level, surrounded by a beautiful mountain scenery. The year: 1965. It's a late afternoon in March and there's still heaps of snow everywhere around. That village, Obertauern, is small and sleepy. It's not a quarter as touristy as it is today. It can only be reached via a steep pass that is exposed to avalanches. There are yet no legendary parties in alpine huts, no heated chairlifts and nobody has ever heard about apres ski. After a day of skiing, young men sometimes gather around a bonfire to play Austrian folk songs on the guitar and while away the time.

Eight young men have met in a room in the hotel Edelweiß - which is one of the best known hotels of the village at the time. Four of them have long hair, four of them wear it short. The long-haired guys have taken out their guitars and bass and make music. The other four listen to the rhythm.

The Beatles are giving a private concert. They are performing in front of what possibly is the smallest audience they ever had. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison are at the peak of their career. They are making their second movie. Here, in the seclusion of the alpine village, they are shooting the skiing scenes. They fill major concert halls across Europe and even cause excitement beyond the Atlantic Ocean. Their appearance causes young girls to faint by the dozen.

Hysteria? Not a bit!

In Obertauern they are taken for girls themselves. According to village gossip, an onlooker has called them 'Weiber" - broads - on their arrival. But apart from that the locals don't take much notice. They have nothing against their famous guests but they have no idea what to do with them.

The movie the Beatles are working on is Help! The action is supposed to take place in Switzerland - but the script demands for a place with a snow guaranty, a mountain lake and a train station. Obertauern offers all that.

After the spontaneous private concert, Paul McCartney asks his listeners for feedback. Did they like it? Herbert Lürzer, Hans Pretschner, Franz Bogensperger and Gerhard Krings aren't easy to convince.

The Beatles and their doubles, from left to right: Hans Pretschner, Ringo Starr, Herbert Lürzer, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Frank Bogensperger, George Harrison und Gerhard Krings. Photo: Tourismusverband Obertauern

"Paul would have given me his private phone number. But I didn't want it. None of us did. We didn't ask them for autographs. We weren't fans. Which seems like a huge mistake now"" Lürzer says today. "But we did figure that they were playing a nice rhythm"

God knows they aren't used to the kind of music they just heard, in the mid sixties, in their small alpine village.

But they can ski. Which is something the Fab Four are totally not capable of. Only John Lennon has ever stood on skis. But he isn't truly gifted. Thus, they need doubles. And so, on the first day of shooting, the international stars from Liverpool meet the double Beatles at the Kirchbühel ski lift. The four athletic young men from Obertauern will stay at their side for the next couple of days. And they will give their best to teach them how to ski.

"They were able to skid in the end" remembers Herbert Lürzer. The double McCartney of that time is now 71 years old. He has lived in Obertauern ever since and now owns the hotel Edelweiss. He doesn't own any Beatles album until today.

The Austrian doubles haven't been chosen because of their resemblance to the Beatles. Andreas Krallinger senior, manager of the local ski school, was asked to search for four young men that couldn't only ski but also speak English. Two of them, the skiing instructors Herbert Lürzer and Gerhard Krings are fluent in the language. Lürzer has learned it while working as a hotelier on a Channel Island.

Musicians on skis: Paul McCartney and George Harrison (middle) with their doubles Herbert Lürzer (left) and Gerhard Krings (right). Photo: Tourismusverband Obertauern

They perform their stunts blindfold. Later, they will declare them "damn stupid"

The plot remains cryptic to many - even those working on the set. "Nobody actually knows the story", McCartney double Lürzer says today. He has first seen the movie years after its release.

Long haired wigs, thick makeup and dark suits let the double Beatles look similar to the real ones. Confusingly similar. According to village gossip, Maureen Starkey, newly wed to Ringo Starr, is said to have accidentally kissed Franz Bogensperger instead of her husband. They all give autographs.

The Beatles' presence in Obertauern cannot remain a secret forever. The Fab Four are cut off from the media world since their arrival in Salzburg and the following press conference. Journalists aren't welcome at the set and there are no interview appointments. The Beatles rather fool around on the piste. Still, the Austrian media is present in Obertauern and reports on the shooting. Rumor has it that a journalist even pays a young woman to race into the film crew on her skis to have a story. Also, there's a lot of gossip about concerts that never take place.

Party at the hotel Marietta......The Beatles do give a spontaneous public concert in the end. On the occasion of assistant producer Clive Reed's birthday there's a small party in the hotel Marietta, some hundred yards away from the hotel Edelweiß, where the rest of the film crew is housed. The actors and their doubles are present as well. Late in the evening the Beatles rush on stage. The hotel bar is so crowded that even the hotel director has no chance to ensure law and order. A couple of guests have complained about the nightly disturbance. But there's no way through to the stage.

The instruments of the hotel band get severely damaged. A couple of broken piano strings and a destroyed drum are the result of the legendary party night. John, Paul, Ringo and George play like they want to win over even the last Austrian folk music lover.

It is the first concert of the Beatles in Austria - and it will be the last.

Stars on Skis from https://anemina.com/en/the-beatles-in-obertauern/

Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall, a great pic of the two right hand men!

John, acting the clown when all he wanted was some Help... You would have spotted this scene in the video above.

BEATLES UNSEEN FILM FOOTAGE FROM FILMING OF HELP! - shot on location by actor Leo McKern whilst filming at Obertauen, Austria during 1965. Auction Guide price £12,000 - £15,000

The 8mm reel of film runs for 14 minutes and 55 seconds and contains some fantastic footage of The Beatles along with various other actors and crew.

This is a short sample of the contents of the film. The entire 14 minute film was being sold with copyright by Omega Auctions on 20th November 2017.

The footage featuring The Beatles and other cast members runs from 1"45 through to 9"15 with footage of Leo's daughter's playing in the snow before and after.

Highlights of the film include snow mobiles carrying The Beatles, stunt scenes, The Beatles fooling around on toboggans, George and John having a comical and unorthodox game of curling, close ups of Paul chatting, smoking and taking photographs together with close ups of all four of The Beatles playing a variety of instruments in the band at the foot of the run (much to their amusement). In addition to the footage of The Beatles there are also excellent shots of other cast members including Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, Roy Kinnear and John Bluthal.