The Ronettes kicking each other’s ass while on tour with the Beatles (1966).

The Ronettes photographed in New York City, circa 1965.

With Estelle Bennett in January 1964.

“I hit it off with George Harrison as soon as we met. We kept running into each other at parties and gatherings and always found our eyes meeting no matter how many other people were in the room. George and I talked whenever we’d see each other. We found we liked the same things, long walks while wearing comfortable clothes and being with sincere people who liked us for ourselves and not because we were in show business. I think I was the happiest when I was talking with George. There was something about him that made me open up and spill out anything that was on my mind. I think he felt the same way, for he’d often call late in the evening and talk on the phone for hours. We started seeing each other in England, but then had to say goodbye when he and the other Beatles left for Paris and an engagement. He called me every day. He even flew into London so he could see me on the one day he was off. I liked George. He wasn’t my boyfriend, but someone special, someone who meant an awful lot to me.” - Estelle Bennett, Movieland and TV Times, circa 1964 “[George and John would] take us to all these romantic white-tablecloth restaurants [in London], but once we got there all they’d want to talk about was American rock and roll.‘Tell us about the Temptations,‘ George would say. Then John would ask, ‘What’s Ben E. King really like?‘ So we’d just go down the list, telling them stories about all the acts we worked with at the Brooklyn Fox. And as we’d talk, John and George would sit there like they were hypnotized.” - Ronnie Spector, Be My Baby (1990) (x)

John Lennon, Estelle Bennett, George Harrison and Nedra Talley. 1964?

The Ronettes backstage with Dusty Springfield in 1964.

Dusty Springfield meets up with The Ronettes, during their tour with The Rolling Stones, on January 6th 1964. The Granada, Harrow.

a legacy founder, her deadbeat flighty mama, her overprotective grandmother, and her lifelong best friend.

The Ronettes

"We kept running into each other at parties and gatherings and always found our eyes meeting no matter how many other people were in the room. George and I talked whenever we'd see each other. We found we liked the same things, long walks while wearing comfortable clothes and being with sincere people who liked us for ourselves and not because we were in show business. I think I was the happiest when I was talking with George. There was something about him that made me open up and spill out anything that was on my mind. I think he felt the same way, for he'd often call late in the evening and talk on the phone for hours."- Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes on George Harrison🍁🍀🍂

Via @maccaandestellemyloves on Instagram🍀

Estelle Bennett

Mary McLeod Bethune with a young Veronica Bennett (later Ronnie Spector) and her sister Estelle Bennett of The Ronettes in Florida, circa late 1940s. 

The Ronettes photographed by Fred Mott for the Evening Standard in London, January 1964.

Photo by Dezo Hoffmann.

“Estelle [Bennett] told a guard who she was. ‘I don’t care who you are,’ he answered, ‘you’re not getting past this point.’ Luckily, Brian Epstein, The Beatles’ manager, happened to come by. He spotted Estelle and both of us were permitted to pass the blockade and were ushered into a large, comfortable suit. Paul, George, John and Ringo were scattered around the room as if blown there by a cyclone. George saw Estelle and flew over to her.” - Steve Brandt (journalist), Photoplay, June 1964 “They had a little record player [at the hotel] and stacks of records, lots of R&B stuff. We were all just a couple of kids enjoying ourselves.” - Ronnie Spector, The Beatles Invasion (2013) “That night John and George picked up Estelle and me in a limousine for a feast of ribs and chicken at Sherman’s Barbecue on 151st and Amsterdam in Harlem. And they loved it. Sherman’s is just a little takeout counter today, but back in 1964 it was beautiful, with lots of tables and a great big jukebox in back. But for the Beatles, the best part of all was that they could eat in peace. They may have been mobbed at the Plaza, but very few of their fans followed them into Harlem. In fact, the Beatles were no big deal up in Harlem. The people at Sherman’s were not exactly Murray the K’s crowd. They took one look at these guys with their long hair and funny clothes and went back to their ribs. If anything, they might have thought the Beatles were dorks. But you can bet Sherman never forgot that day. Every so often I still go into Sherman’s for takeout, and whenever I do, Sherman comes out from the kitchen to say hello. ‘I remember you!’ he always says. ‘You’re the little girl that brought the Beatles!’” - Ronnie Spector, Be My Baby (1990) Also in this photo — Murray the K… “I’ve often wondered how Murray could barge into the room and hang out with us for the entire trip. It’s funny, really, I never quite understood how he did that.” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology (x) More about February 8, 1964 in an older post.

The Ronettes

Paul McCartney with Estelle Bennett of the Ronettes during the Beatles flight to San Francisco. 1966