• Charlie Schwartz, who now lives in Sonoma, California, claims he is in the back seat of the car that was photographed by The Beatle in 1964
• Starr had appealed for the teens to come forward after publishing the photograph in a new book
  
• Schwartz, who had cut school with friends to see The Beatles at JFK airport, said it was taken in New York, not Miami as originally thought
• He named the other kids in the car but has fallen out of touch with them
  

By Daily Mail Reporters

PUBLISHED: 07:13 EST, 25 October 2013 | UPDATED: 07:36 EST, 25 October 2013

A 67-year-old California man has claimed that he and his friends were the teenagers photographed by Ringo Starr in 1964 after the musician appealed for the group to come forward.

Charlie Schwartz, who lives in Sonoma, said that he and five of his fellow classmates at Fair Lawn High School were driving along a New York highway when they pulled up alongside The Beatles.

He came forward after Starr, 73, wrote in his new book 'Photograph', which contains never-before-seen images, that he would like to know who the teenagers were.

'It's just a great shot,' he wrote. 'They're looking at us, and I'm photographing them.'

Schwartz said he is in the back seat of the car with his hand over his mouth. From left, he said were
Bob Toth, Gary Van Duersen, Suzanne Rayot, Arlene Norbe, Schwartz and Matt Blender.

'We were hardcore rock-and-rollers,' Schwartz told the New Jersey Record. 'It was all about the music.'

He added that he still remembered the incident - and had recounted it to friends over the years, but no one ever believed him.

The chance meeting took place on February 7, 1964 when The Beatles were to arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport, two days before their first appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show'.

Schwartz, then 17, had just arrived at the school student lounge when his friend Gary said he had a car and was going to drive to see the musicians.

Schwartz said: 'He said, "Are you in or are you out?" I said, "I'm in".'

They skipped class and headed to Queens - but when they arrived it was madness.

'The police were turning people away,' he recounted. 'They would see carloads of kids, and say, "Sorry, no more room". The airport was in total chaos. We never really got to the terminals.'

So they were forced to turn the car around for the direction of home - and during the drive, either on the Van Wyck Expressway or the Long Island Expressway - they came across the group.

'Then Gary says, "Oh look, there seems to be a funeral procession behind us",' he said. 'It was four limos with their headlights.

'He pulled over slowed up a little, and the limo started passing us, and we could see it was the Beatles. Ringo was the really friendly one. What he did was lower the window - he's right next to us, going at least 50 miles an hour - and starts clicking pictures like crazy.'

He said he is now longer in touch with the others in the car, and said that Blender - his closest friend - has since passed away, NewJersey.com reported.

Another classmate from the high school, Kenneth Kolpan - who was not part of the group - told the Miami Herald that two of the teens in the photo have now passed away.

Ringo's team has not yet contacted him, but the media has been knocking, he said.

'The whole thing seems quite surreal, but it’s a gas,' he said. 'It's a lot of fun. I've talked to people I haven't talked to for quite a while. I’ve gotten calls from all around the country.'

The Beatle had put out an appeal for the group, hoping that someone would recognize them.

The picture is being published for the first time in Starr’s new book Photograph, along with over 200 never-before-seen shots.

The Beatles formed in Liverpool in the late 1950s with their most famous line-up being John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

The group’s first big hit in the States was I Want To Hold Your Hand, which sold 1.5 million copies in less than three weeks.

A crowd of thousands greeted them at the airport in New York when they arrived for their tour and one radio station even aired a running commentary on the event.

Their first gig in America took place in Washington DC and their first US TV appearance – on the Ed Sullivan Show - attracted around 70 million viewers.

Meanwhile, Ringo Starr's lyrics for Abbey Road song Octopus's Garden have recently been turned into a children's book.

The book comes with a CD featuring a reading by Ringo Starr and a never-before-heard version of the song.

There are just 2,500 copies of Photograph for sale. Each one is signed by the author and is available from www.RingoPhotoBook.com.