Beatles: Sekretaris Fans Club Freda Kelly `Buka Mulut` melalui Film
Beatles` Secretary Freda Kelly Breaks Silence in Film
Editor : Heru S Winarno
Translator : Parulian Manalu
Selasa, 12 Maret 2013
Arah jarum jam: Freda Kelly bersama drummer Ringo Starr, bekerja sebagai sekretaris, Freda Kelly saat peluncuran bukunya dan bersama basis Paul McCartney

BAGI Freda Kelly, sekretaris dan ketua fans club The Beatles, bekerja berarti menemani para anggota band berjuluk 'The Fab Four' itu ke salon, membereskan barang yang berserakan di lantai, dan mengirim helaian rambut mereka ke penggemar berat wanita.

Kelly menjadi salah satu karyawan yang mengabdi paling lama untuk The Beatles. Selama lebih dari sepuluh tahun, ia menjadi sekretaris mereka dan belum pernah mempublikasikan cerita tentang The Beatles.

Dia akhirnya buka mulut melalui film dokumenter berjudul "Good Ol' Freda", yang pemutaran perdananya dilakukan di hari kedua Southwest Film Festival di Austin Sabtu (9/3).

"Ini seperti cerita klasik Cinderella: seorang gadis memilih pekerjaan seumur hidupnya," kata sutradara Ryan White seperti dikutip DailyStar.

Kisah ini tentu akan menarik bagi penggemar The Beatles. White ingin  menunjukkan pada penonton cerita luar biasa selama sepuluh tahun namun dalam kemasan kehidupan yang biasa.

Film ini menampilkan empat lagu The Beatles, yang memerlukan izin dari banyak pihak termasuk dua personil The Beatles yang masih hidup, dan juga foto-foto yang belum pernah dipublikasikan.

Judul film ini diambil dari cerita tahun 1963, ketika The Beatles sedang rekaman untuk Natal. Di Liverpool, George Harrison berterima kasih kepada sekretaris mereka. Semua pun berteriak "Good Ol' Freda!".

Untuk Cucunya
Seorang teman dan koneksi keluarga pada grup asal Liverpool yang menarik perhatian White pada Kelly, dan mengambil kesempatan untuk menceritakan kisahnya.

Pembuat film asal Los Angeles usia 31 ini ikut menyutradarai dan menjadi produser film dokumenter sepak bola berjudul 'Pelada', mendapat info tentang Kelly dari teman keluarganya. Bahkan, sampai kini, Kelly masih bekerja sebagai sekretaris untuk sebuah firma hukum di Liverpool.

"Saya tidak tahu bahwa dia memiliki cerita yang hebat," kata White, seraya menambahkan ia menyadari hal itu setelah seorang teman memperkenalkan padanya.

Kelly, yang kini berusia akhir 60an, mengatakan cerita ini ia persembahkan untuk cucunya yang berusia dua tahun. Banyak dari pengalaman tersebut tidak dapat diceritakan kepada keluarganya.

Saya Juga Penggemar
Sebagai sekretaris setia, Kelly baru berusia 17 tahun ketika ia mulai bekerja untuk Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, dan Ringo Starr. Ia bertugas mengurus booking dan begadang untuk menjawab surat penggemar. Ketika dunia dilanda Beatlemania, ia mengaku The Beatles mendapat 2.000-3.000 surat per hari.

The Beatles yang didukung George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon dan Ringo Starr menjadi band paling populer dalam sejarah musik. Mereka masuk dalam catatan rekor Guinness Book of World Records pada 2001 sebagai grup band terlaris, dengan penjualan lebih satu miliar kopi.

"Perhatian pribadi dan kasih sayang sejati melayani penggemar The Beatles - sebagian besar gadis remaja - barangkali tak akan tertandingi dalam sejarah musik," kata White.

Kelly sempat dipecat oleh Lennon setelah dia terlambat sebelum acara karena telah minum-minum dengan band pembuka. Sang sekretaris mengaku Lennon kemudian datang berlutut untuk meminta Kelly untuk tetap bekerja bagi mereka.

"Freda sudah seperti keluarga," kata Starr di akhir film.

Kelly menutup kantor klub penggemar The Beatles setelah band itu bubar pada 1970 dengan membawa dus-dus berisi tanda tangan, foto, dan memorabilia lainnya. Ia tidak menjualnya, melainkan memberikannya kepada para penggemar selama tahun-tahun berikutnya, kata White.

Kelly juga turut hadir ketika pemutaran perdana film dokumenter, seraya berujar apa yang dilakukannya adalah untuk kepentingan penggemar The Beatles.

"Saya adalah salah satu dari mereka. Saya juga  penggemar The Beatles," kata Kelly.


FOR Freda Kelly, secretary to the Beatles and head of the band's fan club, work sometimes involved trailing the Fab Four to the barber shop, sweeping their locks from the floor and mailing strands of hair to adoring female fans.

Kelly, one of the Beatles' longest-serving employees, worked for the British band for more than a decade but had never shared her stories publicly until now.

She breaks her silence in a new documentary, "Good Ol' Freda," which had its world premiere on Saturday on the second day of the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin.

"It's such a classic Cinderella story: Girl picks the job of a lifetime," director Ryan White told Reuters.

The tale is sure to delight fans of the Beatles, but White seeks to tell a story that transcends that audience, a story about an amazing decade in an otherwise ordinary life.

The film features four Beatles songs, which required the permission of many people, including the two surviving Beatles. It also includes never-before-seen photos of the band.

The film features four Beatles songs, which required the permission of many people, including the two surviving Beatles. It also includes never-before-seen photos of the band.

The documentary's title comes from the Beatles' 1963 Christmas recording, in which George Harrison thanks their secretary in Liverpool, and they all yell, "Good Ol' Freda!"

For Her Grandson
A mutual friend and a family connection to the 1960s' Liverpool music scene brought Kelly to the attention of White, who took the opportunity to tell her story.

The Los Angeles filmmaker, 31, who co-directed and produced the 2010 soccer documentary "Pelada," grew up knowing Kelly as a family friend who was a secretary. In fact, she is still a secretary, for a Liverpool law firm.

"I didn't know that she had a crazy back story," White said, adding he only discovered it when a friend put them in touch two years ago.

Kelly, now in her late 60s, says in the film that she wanted to record her stories for her 2-year-old grandson - stories that in many cases she never got around to telling her family.

Kelly, described by White as shy and humble, insists in the documentary that no one would be interested in hearing her story.

'I was a Fan Myself'
The loyal secretary, who was 17 when she started working for the band, has no intention of dishing dirt about her former famous employers, so White focused instead on her compelling personal narrative and interactions with the Beatles.

Kelly arranged bookings, cut paychecks and stayed up all night responding to fan mail. At the height of Beatlemania, the band received 2,000 to 3,000 letters a day, she said.

The Beatles - Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Ringo Starr - became the most famous pop band in history. They entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2001 as the world's best-selling group, with more than 1 billion records sold.

"The amount of personal attention and true affection that she served the Beatles' fans with - teenage girls, mostly - will probably go unmatched throughout music history," White said.

Kelly was briefly fired by Lennon after she arrived late before a show because she had been having drinks with an opening band. The secretary convinced Lennon to get down on his knee and beg her to stay.

"Freda was like part of the family," Starr says in the film as the closing credits roll.

Kelly closed down the Beatles' fan club offices after the band broke up in 1970, taking with her boxes of autographs, photos and memorabilia. She did not sell them, instead giving them away to fans over the years, White said.

Kelly, who attended Saturday's premiere and answered questions from audience members, says in the film that she did anything she could for club members.

"I was one of them," Kelly says. "I was a fan myself."
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