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Meanwhile in 1965...
Sep. 30th, 2010 06:34 pmIn the spirit of plus ca change, I offer a YouTube clip which contains the highlight of the Beatles' 1965 Shea Stadium concert as well as short interviews with fans. At one point, the reporter switches from the interviewing the fangirls to a fanboy and asks him: "Isn't this whole Beatles thing very silly and strictly for girls?" "No," quoth the fanboy, who immediately became my favourite fan in the entire Shea Stadium, "because they're great musicians and fantastic song writers." Also shown: Brian Epstein, strong contender for the "most devoted and tragic manager in pop history" award. (Most managers being more on the exploitative side. Urban legend has it that Brian during that concert went among the fans anonymously so he could have that experience and scream and yell with the best of them. Could be just an anecdote, but it’s a plausible one. If, oh reader, you’re not yet familiar with who Brian Epstein was, check out this article and this interview with Derek Taylor about Brian. Derek Taylor was the Beatles’ press guy, ghost wrote Brian’s autobiography and later had to deal with the avalanche of people wanting a piece of Apple after the Beatles naively if idealistically declared they wanted to finance other artists. (Derek Taylor anecdote: “It’s Adolf Hitler downstairs, Derek.” “Not that bastard again.”)
The concert at Shea Stadium was a turning point in several ways. It was, famously, the first time a band played in a major stadium, and set records for sold tickets. It also was the high point of Beatlemania, and exactly the point where the Beatles themselves, who at first were awed and exhilarated when they saw the stadium – they knew this was it, Brian’s claim they’d be bigger than Elvis fulfilled – started to lose their joy in touring. The screams had finally reached a level where they couldn’t hear themselves on stage anymore. (You do hear them in the clips, though, courtesy of the recording equipment.) It was also where the crowd frenzy turned scary, if not yet for the Beatles who through the performance were still on a success high (it was only in the aftermath that reflections on the not-hearing-themselves set in), then for some of the attendants. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were watching from a seat beind the first-base dugout and were pretty shaken by the experience. Original Mick Jagger quote: "It's frightening." (Pity the just-for-girls reporter didn't interview him as well.)
In 2008 Shea Stadium was torn down; before that, there were farewell concerts, concluding with two by Billy Joel, and at the very end, there was a surprise appearance by Paul McCartney (in the middle of his own tour elsewhere but dropping by for the occasion), who sang I Saw Her Standing There with Joel, and then, quite fittingly, Let It Be. The crowd was louder again, but this time, they were singing as well.
The concert at Shea Stadium was a turning point in several ways. It was, famously, the first time a band played in a major stadium, and set records for sold tickets. It also was the high point of Beatlemania, and exactly the point where the Beatles themselves, who at first were awed and exhilarated when they saw the stadium – they knew this was it, Brian’s claim they’d be bigger than Elvis fulfilled – started to lose their joy in touring. The screams had finally reached a level where they couldn’t hear themselves on stage anymore. (You do hear them in the clips, though, courtesy of the recording equipment.) It was also where the crowd frenzy turned scary, if not yet for the Beatles who through the performance were still on a success high (it was only in the aftermath that reflections on the not-hearing-themselves set in), then for some of the attendants. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were watching from a seat beind the first-base dugout and were pretty shaken by the experience. Original Mick Jagger quote: "It's frightening." (Pity the just-for-girls reporter didn't interview him as well.)
In 2008 Shea Stadium was torn down; before that, there were farewell concerts, concluding with two by Billy Joel, and at the very end, there was a surprise appearance by Paul McCartney (in the middle of his own tour elsewhere but dropping by for the occasion), who sang I Saw Her Standing There with Joel, and then, quite fittingly, Let It Be. The crowd was louder again, but this time, they were singing as well.
