By Regis Behe
The names roll off Pete Bennett’s lips like the average person’s grocery list. But instead of milk, bread and eggs, he speaks of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Who and The Kinks. Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. And the film legends: John Wayne, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor.
It’s easy to think it’s a con, the delusional ravings of someone seeking attention. This man, cigar in hand, wearing a baseball cap and jeans, his visage a bit world-weary, seems so unlike a person who was a confidant of John Lennon. Who helped George Harrison put on the Concert for Bangladesh. Who was given dance tips by Michael Jackson. Who was brought in to work on presidential inaugurations for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
But there’s an old saw stating it ain’t bragging if it’s a fact, and Bennett has stacks of magazines and newspaper clippings on hand. Photographs of him with Lennon and Yoko Ono. With Harrison and Ringo Starr. With the Rolling Stones on their way to Shea Stadium to see the Beatles perform in 1965. With Presley. With Sinatra. With Wayne, dressed up in Western garb, and a horse.
Tags: beatles
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