On March 18, 1965, while the Beatles were filming “Help!” in Austria, John and Paul dropped in to the Marietta Hotel in Obertauern where Jacky and the Strangers were performing.
John and Paul joined the band on stage with John playing “Jenny”, Jacky’s Fender Jazzmaster guitar, and Paul on drums.
As the story goes, John immediately turned up the volume of Jacky’s amp and they played several songs together, until the manager of the lounge stopped the performance. He said that it wasn’t because he thought that it was too loud, but that he had hired Jacky for a show and not the Beatles.
Jacky Spelter formed his Berlin-based rock and roll band in 1953 and played with the Beatles at the Star Club in Hamburg.
He was considered Germany’s oldest rock and roller, and continued to play clubs in Berlin until just before he passed away on May 12th, 2004. He continued to play “Jenny” until the very end.
Photos below show John and Paul during this impromptu jam session with Jacky on John’s right in the first photo.
Our thanks to Boris for this story and photos.
