It was 51 years ago today....

[Dave Ferris]

I had just turned 13 a few months before. This was probably my first exposure to a "Concert". I had seen local area bands play at our little CYC (Catholic Youth Council) dances at our school and schools around Ferguson/Florissant but this was the big time !

 

My mom and other moms took a group of us grade school kids to Northland Music in Ferguson/Dellwood (burbs of St. Louis) where we all boarded a bus for the trip downtown to Busch Stadium.

 

She and the other parents were terrified that something might happen to us so there was one older male chaperon from the parish that came along.

 

One vivid memory was the PA -- they had the old Vox Grenadier speakers lining the first and third base foul lines.

 

We were in the second deck maybe and I don't remember hearing anything memorable because everyone was screaming so much. Plus they were hard to see because of the distance we were seated from them. It was all over so quickly.

 

Here's someone from St. Louis recounting the experience on FB :

 

August 21, 1966 - 51 years-ago today, a crowd of 23,143 braved the rain to see the Beatles at the three-month old Busch Stadium. Tickets were $4.50, $5, & $5.50, & went on sale May 20th.

 

Guaranteed $75,000 to perform, they took the stage at 8:30 pm, having played a show in Cincinnati that afternoon. The Del-Rays from Mascoutah, Illinois, Bobby Hebb, the Ronettes, the Cyrkle, and the Remains also performed. The Beatles appeared third to take advantage of a break in the weather, so in effect,the Beatles opened for the Ronettes and the Cyrkle that night, performing 11 songs in 30 minutes. A 4-limo decoy sat outside the Spruce Street exit, as the band exited from 7th Street. The Beatles were on their 3rd American Tour, & St. Louis was their 10th show. They only played four more shows before they stopped touring for good.

 

In his anthology, Paul McCartney is quoted as saying, "It rained quite heavily, and they put bits of corrugated iron over the stage, so it felt like the worst little gig we'd ever played at even before we'd started as a band. We were having to worry about the rain getting in the amps and this took us right back to the Cavern days - it was worse than those early days. And I don't even think the house was full. After the gig I remember us getting in a big, empty steel-lined wagon, like a removal van. There was no furniture in there - nothing. We were sliding around trying to old on to something, and at that moment everyone said, 'Oh, this bloody touring lark - I've had it up to here, man. I finally agreed. I'd been trying to say, 'Ah, touring's good and it keeps us sharp. We need touring, and musicians need to play. Keep music live.' I had held on that attitude when there were doubts, but finally I agreed with them".

[I-missRichardTee]

I

 

In his anthology, Paul McCartney is quoted as saying, "It rained quite heavily, and they put bits of corrugated iron over the stage, so it felt like the worst little gig we'd ever played at even before we'd started as a band. We were having to worry about the rain getting in the amps and this took us right back to the Cavern days - it was worse than those early days. And I don't even think the house was full. After the gig I remember us getting in a big, empty steel-lined wagon, like a removal van. There was no furniture in there - nothing. We were sliding around trying to old on to something, and at that moment everyone said, 'Oh, this bloody touring lark - I've had it up to here, man. I finally agreed. I'd been trying to say, 'Ah, touring's good and it keeps us sharp. We need touring, and musicians need to play. Keep music live.' I had held on that attitude when there were doubts, but finally I agreed with them".

 

This quote hints to me that Paul was the anchored conscientious force that held them together. I have 2 possibly intuitive ( intuitive, meaning true ) hunches -when I heard Jaco P speak about a period of working many gigs in a short period of time.. maybe 7 gigs a week..the effect it had on his playing

 

and the general feeling I have about the Beatles' early European touring, where they played many many gigs.

I believe Paul is on the money about touring and playing playing playing.

There is nothing like playing a lot of gigs to make both yourself and your band sound as good as possible. And this coincides with my personal experiences.

I click better with rhythm sections, with maximal playing. 5-6 nights a week was the norm.

I think back to bygone era of jazz when cats would gig, rehearse, practice, AND jam!

[Al Quinn]

That's great Dave! You're very fortunate to have that experience. I was 8 in 1966 and didn't get to see my first "Concert" (which was the Allman Brothers) until I was 13 or 14.

[Legatoboy]

Nice! You had a good Mom for sure Dave! I was 12, never got to Shea. My 1st was Steppenwolf and Rhinocerous at the New Your State Pavilion in 1969.

 

Goldy McJohn was in a Hospital in Chicago. I really wanted to hear his B3 that night. They had his B3/Leslie on stage in his honor with a vase of Red Roses on top... I'll never forget that!

 

For those who may not know the New York State Pavilion is the structure that turned into a flying Saucer in Men In Black II. The one the 'Bug' was trying to escape in....below that top was a large oval area that they had shows in, it could hold thousands of people actually...Zep being there in 1968. we walked around outside to listen to them ...

[Adan]

Interesting, I've never heard that story or Paul's account of it. Makes one think that the Beatles were just too gargantuan a phenomenon for the live music apparatus that existed at the time, and so they paid the price. One can pointlessly speculate about how history might have been different if the technical/logisitcal aspects could have been better handled.

[Legatoboy]

Paul Live 'today' . . .

[jjo]

The Ron Howard documentary Eight Days A Week does an excellent job of telling the story of the early days of the Beatles and why they stopped performing live.

[Al Quinn]

The Ron Howard documentary Eight Days A Week does an excellent job of telling the story of the early days of the Beatles and why they stopped performing live.

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