8/15/66-DC Stadium Washington, DC

After the Cleveland debacle, The Beatles flew in to Washington, DC to play DC Stadium ( later renamed RFK Stadium in 1969) where more trouble waited for them.  The Ku Klux Klan picketed outside the stadium in protest of Lennon’s comments.  No incidents were reported.

The Beatles played to 32,164 fans.  The Beatles wore their light gray suits for this show.  The shirts are unknown until closer shots appear.  The only photos that have shown up so far a presented below.  I unearthed the last 3.  The shot of them bowing was published earlier this year.  Photos of this show are hard to find in good quality as the lights were turned off for the performance, so anyone that had a camera in the stands didn’t have their picture come out as it was too dark.

 

 

Tomorrow on to Philadelphia and the other brother’s stadium!  JFK!

 

8/13/66-On to Detroit!

Saturday August 13 The Batles landed at Metropolitan Airport.

There were 2 shows 2:00 & 7:00 PM at Olympia Stadium in Detroit.  Total attendance was 30,800    14,000 for the afternoon performance and 16,800 for the evening   The Beatles gross for the 2 shows was $100,000.00

Tickets prices were $5.50, $4.50 and $3.50

Arthur Shurgin was the co-promoter with the Olympia

It looks like The Beatles wore the same outfits for both shows as the photos that are available only show them in their grayish/blue suits with oxblood piping.  The shirts for this show were a flower & vine design with butterflies.  The only other time they would wear these was for the afternoon performance in Toronto on the 17th.

     

 

 

Tomorrow, the Beatles return to Cleveland and encounter more trouble at their concert!

Enjoy!

Tom

Plaigarism or being creative?

Plagiarism is the “wrongful appropriation” and “purloining and publication” of another author‘s “language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions,” and the representation of them as one’s own original work.

Steal from another and it’s plagiarism.  Steal from yourself and it’s creative artistry!  Much has been written about how George stole the music from The Chiffon’s song and used it for “My Sweet Lord”.  That was eventually settled in court (with George losing).

Ever listen to a song and say, hey, that sounds familiar!  Was tooling around on the guitar one time playing “I Me Mine” and when I got to the part “all through the day, I Me Mine…”, I said to myself, I’ve heard that part before.  Sure enough, George used it again in Something, as a bridge before the chorus, “don’t want to leaver her now…”

Now, that wasn’t the first time that descending part was used in a Beatles song.  Paul used this in Michelle.  It’s the “and I will say the only words I know, that you’ll understand…” part.

So, did George subconsciously use this in his two songs after hearing Macca use it in his?  I know the time in between is about 3 years or did Macca “help” him out in the studio with it?  Michelle was written in 1965 and I Me Mine was being worked on during the filming of Let it Be in Jan 1969. Something was a demoed in Feb 1969.

Judge for yourself.

Tucked in the middle of this great clip from the James Paul McCartney special from 1973 is a short acoustic version of Michelle.  At 1:57, you can hear the descending clip.  Just like the two George songs!

I Me Mine

Something Demo-32 seconds in is the descending part

Let me know your thoughts!

All the best!

Tom

You Know My Name (Look up the Number)

I remember growing up reading the great book “The Beatles Forever” by Nicholas Schaffner.  This is still one of the best Beatles biographies out there today.  In it there was an article, or poll about the “worst” Beatles song (if there can be one).  ; )

The 2 least liked were You Know My Name (Look up the Number), the flip side of the Let It Be single and Mr. Moonlight from Beatles For Sale.  Beatles ’65 for you American’s.

Now, growing up, Beatles For Sale/Beatles ’65 were always my favorite records, and since Mr. Moonlight was on them, I always thought it was a good song.  I guess people think it was a throwaway and reviewers always put down Beatles For Sale as one of their weakest albums, saying they were “tired” and that there was a lack of original numbers on it.  I think that side one is one of their strongest.  The bossa-nova feel of No Reply, the country feel of I’m a Loser, John and Paul’s singing in unison on Baby’s in Black, a tour-de-force Lennon vocal on Rock and Roll Music, the mellowness of I’ll Follow the Sun, then Mr. Moonlight.  Some might think it kills the flow of side one, but it’s a perfect timepiece.  Some say the organ solo is cheesy. I’ve sung it to my son’s as they’ve fallen asleep since they were babies, and they now know the words.  And to finish off side one is the raucous rocker Kansas City/Hey,Hey,Hey.  Not bad at all in my opinion.

Which brings me to the title of my post.  Like you know from previous posts I’ve always favored The Beatles earlier music and for some reason I got it in my head to hate You Know My Name.  I’ve only started to listen to it more lately and have been loving it!  Because of my boys listening to The Beatles I tend to play everything so they can decide on their own, what they like and don’t like .  I think they like it because it’s goofy.  They tend to like the sillier songs.  Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da is a favorite as is Octopuss’ Garden and Yellow Submarine.

What do you think?  Take a listen.

 

 

 

10/9-Happy Birthday John!

John Lennon would have been 73 today.  32 years since his passing I still get sad when I think what could have been?  Would The Beatles have reunited for a show?  A record?  Would he have toured?  Rumour has it, he was planning a tour in 1981 in support of Double Fantasy.  Lots to write about John, but on this day, let’s celebrate his music.  Be happy and thankful for the music and memories he’s provided!

#1)  My favorite Beatles song:  

#2)  Rain-John never looked cooler!!!  

#3)  

#4)  

#5)  Classic Lennon!  

#6)  Epic!  

#7)  

Enjoy!

Tom

 

8/29/66-San Francisco-Last Live show ever/”Christian Day”

Me and my Beatle madness used to “celebrate” this anniversary every August 29th, by reading a book about their last show “Tomorrow Never Knows: The Beatles Last Concert” by Eric Lefcowitz, and listening to a tape of the concert , but that changed along with my life on Sunday August 29, 2004.  I remember that day so very vividly.  I met my brother-in-law at Guitar Center and when I got home, me, my wife Lisa and Christian were supposed to go to the mall.  I got home, and while I was changing him, something was different.  He wasn’t moving.  Normally on the changing table he would kick and fuss, but not today.  No movement whatsoever in his legs.  I would pick them up and they would just fall down.  All the blood seemed to drain from me and we were off to the hospital.  The ER doctor said it was “disc-itis”, then the Neurologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip said it was “Transverse Myelitis”.  Christian was transferred to Beth Israel hospital in the city the next day.  Test after test was done and he was sent home the following Monday.  The doctors put him on steroids to treat the inflammation around his spinal cord.  He started to recover slowly and on Thanksgiving day he crawled for the first time!  Currently he wears orthotics in his shoes and he can do everything a normal boy can do.  Is he the fastest runner?  Nope, but he can walk, swim, bike, play sports and do anything he wants, and for that we’re eternally grateful for all the prayers and support we received from our families and friends.

So now every August 29th is an anniversary, but the meaning isn’t Beatle related anymore.  it’s “Christian Day”, and the whole day is about him.  We celebrate how lucky we are to have him.  How lucky he is to be able to walk.  We do whatever he wants.  This year, we’re going to Adventureland.

Now, on to the show.

This is it.  The end.  No more live shows.  No more screaming girls.  No more feeling like a prisoner.  This had been coming for a long time.  As much as The Beatles loved to play live they couldn’t continue on with the current way their tours were going.  Playing live in the middle of a baseball stadium wasn’t intimate.  There was no connection with the audience, plus the sound systems of the time couldn’t supply enough power so they could be heard over the crowd.

Brian Epstein (their manager) didn’t accompany them on these final 2 dates.  He was despondent over losing them.  He figured he would have nothing to do as a manager if there wasn’t any tours to plan.  The Beatles always loved being in the studio where they could create music and experiment with different sounds.  Unfortunately by doing this, they couldn’t recreate the music on stage.

Sponsored by KYA Radio, only 25,000 of the 42,000 seats were sold.  The Beatles grossed $90,000.00

The Beatles knew this was going to be their last concert so Paul asked their tour manager, Tony Barrow to record the show as a souvenir.  Below is the show as recorded by him as he stood in front of the stage on that cold SF August night.

Whole show audio:

The Beatles wore the same suits/shirts as the previous night in Los Angeles.  Black suits with green lapels/button and white shirts with a vine and thistle design.  By looking at pictures from both shows, you can differentiate which show is which by looking at the microphones.  At SF the mics had a windscreen on top of the mic.

Most of the b&w photos were taken by SF photographer Jim Marshall.  There’s no know color photos from this show.  There’s some b&w news footage shot from the press box that can be seen here:

Once the show was over and The Beatles started to exit the stage, it’s rumored that John started to play the beginning of In My Life.  Once all were off the stage, they were ushered into a waiting armored car and whisked off to the airport.  Once on the plane, George Harrison was quoted as saying “well, that’s it, I’m not a Beatle anymore”.

And so the end of an era.  Mop Tops no longer, the Beatles were growing up.

8/28/66-Los Angeles

1 show at Dodger Stadium before 45,000.  The Beatles gross for this show was $230,000.00.  This was supposedly a sellout as they didn’t sell any tickets in the far corners of the stadium.  They played to more people in one show than they had the previous year in two shows (36,000) at the Hollywood Bowl.

The Beatles wore their black suits with green lapels/buttons and a white shirt with a vine and thistle design.

There is no audio from this show, but there is about 3 minutes of color 8mm footage shot from the upper deck:

This was one of the wilder crowds.  Alot of kids tried to rush the stage, but they didn’t make it.  The show was over at 10:04 and The Beatles got into a waiting limo inside a tent behind the stage and took off towards the centerfield fence, it seemed like they were gone, but there was a lot of fans waiting for them out there and not enough security.  The limo had to pull back onto the field and when it did, it was covered with fans!  The limo went back to the dugout and The Beatles hid in the clubhouse until the crowd dispersed.

Promoted by Bob Eubanks, (yes, he of the Newlywed Game fame) who at the time was a DJ at the LA radio station KRLA, who also promoted the show.

Below:  Bob Eubanks with Beatles tour manager/acting manager Tony Barrow before the show.

Opening act “The Remains”

And The Beatles hit the stage!

The majority of the beautiful color photos were taken by japanese photographer Koe Hasabe.  He was with The Beatles for several shows on this tour.

Tomorrow.  The end of an era.

8/26/66-fun in the sun! And welcome back old friend!

A couple of days to relax in LA before the next show on the 28th.  The Beatles stayed in the same home as the year before at 7655 Curson Terrace overlooking the valley of North  Hollywood’s Benedicts Canyon.  Guests included David Crosby of The Byrds, Peter Fonda and Joan Baez.

 

While looking for some photos I came across an article about the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium.  Of course it piqued my interest as The Beatles played 2 concerts in August of 1964 there.

http://news.yahoo.com/famed-ny-tennis-bowl-plans-revival-music-venue-062112845.html

I remember seeing Yes there in 1983.  Great show, but it was uncomfortable sitting there on wooden seats with no backs.  Plus, it’s a pain to find parking.  Since it’s located in a residential area, homeowners will “rent” you their driveway so you can park there for a fee.  I worked in the area a while back and stopped by the stadium on my way to work.  It was starting to crumble.  Hopefully they’ll make repairs to the structure, and install better seating.  It’s one of the more classic rock venues.

 

8/25/1966 Seattle, WA

The Beatles flew in from LA to Seattle and stayed at the Eedgewater Inn.  The famous hotel where you can fish out your room window.  They held a press conference in the hotel and rumours were swirling that Paul was going to marry Jane Asher after the evening performance.

The afternoon show had an attendance of 8,200.  Here’s a photo from that show:

And a brief clip from the afternoon show:

The Beatles wore their grey suits for the afternoon.  Shirts are unknown at this time because the footage is too far away and no close up pictures have surfaced.

The evening show was a sellout with an attendance of 14,382

The Beatles wore their black suits with green lapels/buttons and their yellow striped shirts.  John wore glasses for this performance.  No video/audio has surfaced of either show.

After the show, The Beatles flew to Los Angeles for a few days of relaxation.  The next show will be the 28th at Dodger Stadium.

8/23/66-Flushing, NY Shea Stadium

Not as triumphant as the year before, this was the 2nd largest gig on the tour with an attendance of 44,000 only behind the LA show on the 28th.   The only footage that exists is some beautiful color newsreel footage of The Beatles walking out of the dugout that was in Anthology and some 8mm home movies.

On the 22nd there was a press conference at the Warwick Hotel.  Here’s some beautiful color footage:

 

On to the show1

WMCA Good Guys

Bobby Hebb-“Sunny”

Rock & Roll Music

She’s A Woman

If I Needed Someone

Paperback Writer

Long Tall Sally