SAN ANTONIO – Redbone Guitar Boutique owner Richard Turner has one of the largest -- if not the largest collection -- of Beatles memorabilia and collectibles in San Antonio.
It is part of the shopping experience at Redbone that includes a mural of the famed Abbey Road crosswalk and a small reproduction of Liverpool's Cavern Club, where the Beatles made their first appearance as a band.
A photo hangs in Redbone's Cavern Club that shows the Fab Four's very early days.
"(It's) a picture of when the Beatles were playing in the Cavern Club when Ringo (Starr) had just joined the band," Turner said. "(It) doesn't even have a Beatles (logo on the) drum head yet."
Turner said that's probably because Ringo didn't have time to get one, since he had just replaced Pete Best on the drums.
Among Turner's collection at Redbone are figurines, cassettes, even 8-tracks. Turner has a Beatles-themed Lionel train rolling around a track that hangs from the ceiling, complete with a yellow submarine as a caboose.
Turner said he started collecting Beatles-related items when he was in junior high; he started listening to their records at age 9.
"They had a fundamentally simple message and that was love," Turner said.
Turner also hosts a weekly radio show that is all about the Beatles. He started it 29 years ago when he was attending San Antonio College.
"Whether it be a Beatles album or a solo album by George or Paul or Ringo, they all have so much significance on their own," said Turner. "You tie them all together on a radio show and it becomes a magical thing."
Turner said he couldn't wait to watch that magic happen on the stage of the Tobin Center when Sir Paul McCartney appears there Wednesday night.