The Ballad of Fred and Yoko

March 31, 2016 5:39 AM

How One of the World's Foremost Beatles Collectors Died Homeless on the Streets of Little Rock
posted by box (8 comments total)

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posted by otherchaz at 6:34 AM on March 31, 2016

Nevertheless, I learned also that Ono had supported him financially in his final years — to a life-saving extent. Durst sent me a photocopy of a 2009 check made out to Arnold from the account of "Yoko Ono Lennon," in the amount of $10,000. Mike told me he'd seen others just like it. During his last years, when he'd had no place to live or sleep, he'd at least had Yoko Ono. "Dear Fred," Ono had written on an accompanying note to the 2009 check, "Here's your microwave oven and more. Have fun. Lots of love, Yoko."
posted by Brian B. at 6:41 AM on March 31, 2016 [8 favorites]

And yet again, ridiculous sex offender laws hinder rather than help.
posted by Melismata at 7:55 AM on March 31, 2016 [3 favorites]

Shit, I'm surprised he lived this long. I used to encounter him in the '90s and even then, every day looked like his last. Eddie Fennell's right, tho; he might look like he was going to drop in front of you, but mentally he was always sharp as tack.

"He said he'd visited London, Cuba and Russia (that his politics 'bordered on Communist')"

He loved Fidel, or so he claimed, and liked to listen to Radio Cuba like people watch soap operas. "Oh, Fidel will be on soon! You must stay and listen to him with me!" But I always doubted that he was politically anything, really. The Fidel raptures—and occasionally the Gaddafi raptures—seemed so obviously a shtick to freak the squares with. AFAIK, he did actually visit Cuba and Russia; Russia more than once, I believe. I still have the Russian pressing of the White Album he "brought back" for me. How he might have paid for those trips, I have no idea. I always assumed Yoko subsidized them or something.

... talked his way into spending two weeks in 1974 as a fly-on-the-wall in Nashville, while Paul McCartney recorded a never-released Wings album called ColdCuts.

He had a small album of snapshot photos from these sessions, most of them of him with Paul and Linda and, as I recall, one or more of him with Paul, Linda, and Johnny Cash. I have the impression that he remained, for a while, on at least a distantly friendly basis with the McCartneys and may have done errands for them (or sold them weed, I always suspected). I don't think it was the only time he saw them. I don't know if he had any encounters with George or Ringo at all. I don't recall him talking about them much at all.

It was with Yoko and John that he was the most intimate. He got Christmas cards from Yoko. And I recall a photo of him with John, Yoko, and Sean in front of a Christmas tree in their apartment at the Dakota.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:55 AM on March 31, 2016 [26 favorites]

That is an amazing and interesting article, thank you.

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posted by marienbad at 8:01 AM on March 31, 2016 [2 favorites]

Amazing and quite a tragic end. His obsessive nature reminds me of some of the characters in Do Not Sell at Any Price.
posted by Ber at 10:11 AM on March 31, 2016

Oh my god. So that's what happened to Billy Bino. I spent an inordinate amount of time in the Prism, his store in Charleston, in the 80s, and knew his real name. Not everyone did. I still have records with the Prism price tag on them: Combat Rock. Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Orange Juice. He was married then, or so we thought, and seemed as grown up and stable as you could get and still be a complete and total freak. They were role models, even, dwelling in the darkness of the Prism, crazy clothes, multiple piercings when that was still outré - interesting, different people. But then they lost the downtown store and moved out to North Charleston and then..and then.. I moved away and lost touch. This is so sad. I often wondered what he was up to these days. God damn. He was a strange guy but I never thought he was a bad one. RIP Fred, and thank you.
posted by mygothlaundry at 5:39 PM on March 31, 2016 [3 favorites]

Huh, my Facebook is blowing up. He and his store meant a lot to a lot of oddball kids back in the day. Quoting from a friend, "As odd as he was, The Prism and the things he did helped bring us together and facilitate a lot of shit and also expose people to music they had no idea about, and ultimately he changed lives."
posted by mygothlaundry at 6:22 PM on March 31, 2016 [2 favorites]