The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
Encyclopedia
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit is an archive footage documentary
of the Beatles
' first visit to America in February of 1964. It was filmed by renowned documentary filmmaking team Albert and David Maysles
, using footage from their 1964 16mm
documentary What's Happening! The Beatles In The USA, and documents the Beatles' US trip as they travel to New York City, Washington, DC, and Miami Beach. Footage of the Beatles (often acting irreverently in front of the camera) in hotel rooms makes up the majority of the non-musical portion of the film. The other portion of the film is the Fab Four's live recorded performances on The Ed Sullivan Show
, which were not included in the original 1964 release. Everything is shown in chronological order.
In addition to the live performances, there are also studio Beatles recordings heard on the program's soundtrack. Among them are "She Loves You", "I Saw Her Standing There":, "Love Me Do", "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "It Won't Be Long". Other recordings featured are "Navy Blue" by Diane Renay and "Pride And Joy" by Marvin Gaye.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
of the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' first visit to America in February of 1964. It was filmed by renowned documentary filmmaking team Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
, using footage from their 1964 16mm
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
documentary What's Happening! The Beatles In The USA, and documents the Beatles' US trip as they travel to New York City, Washington, DC, and Miami Beach. Footage of the Beatles (often acting irreverently in front of the camera) in hotel rooms makes up the majority of the non-musical portion of the film. The other portion of the film is the Fab Four's live recorded performances on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, which were not included in the original 1964 release. Everything is shown in chronological order.
The Ed Sullivan Show (NYC #1)
- "All My LovingAll My Loving"All My Loving" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney , from the 1963 album With The Beatles. Though it was not released as a single in the United Kingdom or the United States, it drew considerable radio airplay, prompting EMI to issue it as the title track of an EP...
" - "Till There Was YouTill There Was You"Till There Was You" is a song written by Meredith Willson for his 1957 musical play The Music Man, and which also appeared in the 1962 movie version...
" - "She Loves YouShe Loves You"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney based on an idea by McCartney, originally recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the...
" - "I Want to Hold Your HandI Want to Hold Your Hand"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
"
The Washington Coliseum Concert
- "I Saw Her Standing ThereI Saw Her Standing There"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and is the opening track on The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963....
" - "I Wanna Be Your ManI Wanna Be Your Man"I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song that was recorded separately by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones' version was released a few weeks earlier...
" - "She Loves YouShe Loves You"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney based on an idea by McCartney, originally recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the...
"
The Ed Sullivan Show (NYC #2)
- "Twist and ShoutTwist and Shout"Twist and Shout" is a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. It was originally titled "Shake It Up, Baby" and recorded by the Top Notes and then covered by The Isley Brothers. It was covered by The Beatles with John Lennon on the lead vocals and originally released on their first album...
" - "Please Please MePlease Please Me (song)"Please Please Me" is a song and the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. It was also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single...
" - "I Want to Hold Your HandI Want to Hold Your Hand"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
"
In addition to the live performances, there are also studio Beatles recordings heard on the program's soundtrack. Among them are "She Loves You", "I Saw Her Standing There":, "Love Me Do", "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "It Won't Be Long". Other recordings featured are "Navy Blue" by Diane Renay and "Pride And Joy" by Marvin Gaye.