Beatles fans flock to Strawberry Fields, celebrating John Lennon's birthday

Hundreds of Beatles and John Lennon fans and dozens of musicians today came together to celebrate Lennon’s birthday in Strawberry Fields, singing, dancing, leaving flowers and otherwise paying tribute to the man and the music that continues to echo daily here.

Although Strawberry Fields is already a Guinness Book of World Records music marathon, musicians from New York and around the globe gathered for a kind of all-day John Lennon jam session.

Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, and died on December 8, 1980, just blocks away, with singers programmed now daily in Strawberry Fields, although today performers were welcomed to join in the jam.

“Today, there’s nobody booked on the list,” said David Muniz, the keeper of the list who programs performers daily. “Anybody can come here and play today. We have bands that show up regularly on the anniversary.”

A big band, mostly people joining for the day, played Beatles songs, beneath lights set up for the night, with a brown paper bag not collecting money, but filled with guitar picks for musicians and memories, on the mosaic.

The Core Seven, key musicians in the day-long marathon, including many from Queens, took positions at the front, bouncing from one Beatles song to another, as listeners packed the park.

“Anyone with a guitar can show up,” Jamie Rivera, one of the Core Seven, said after singing “Eight Days a Week” with lines like “Eight days a week is not enough to show I care.”

Source: amny.com

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