The Beatles in the United States
Encyclopedia
The Beatles
' rise to prominence in the United States on February 7, 1964 was a significant development in the history of the band's commercial success. In addition to establishing The Beatles' international stature, it changed attitudes to popular music in the United States, whose own Memphis-driven musical evolution had made it a global trend-setter.
The Beatles' first visit to the US came at a time of great popularity in Britain
. The band's UK commercial breakthrough, in late 1962, had been followed by a year of successful concerts and tours. The start of The Beatles' popularity in the US, in early 1964, was marked by intense demand for the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand
"—which sold one-and-a-half million copies in under three weeks—and the band's arrival the following month. The visit, advertised across the US on five million posters, was a defining moment in The Beatles' history, and the starting-point of the British Invasion
.
Following popular television appearances and concerts during their February 1964 visit, The Beatles returned to the US in August 1964, and again in August 1965, for tours. In August 1966 they returned once more, and although this tour was commercially successful, it coincided with a storm of US public protest after publication of a quote from John Lennon
's remarks about Christianity. The 1966 US tour marked the end of The Beatles' concert days. The band ceased to perform commercial concerts, instead devoting their efforts to creating new material in the recording studio.
, owned by the band's record company EMI
, had for most of the year declined to issue any of the singles. The phenomenon of Beatlemania in the UK
was regarded with amusement by the US press, once it made any comment. When newspaper and magazine articles did begin to appear towards the end of 1963, they cited the English stereotype of eccentricity, reporting that the UK had developed an interest in something that had come and gone a long time ago in the US: rock and roll. Headlines included "The New Madness" and "Beatle Bug Bites Britain", and writers employed word-play linking "beetle" with the "infestation" afflicting the UK. In fall 1963 Capitol Records agreed to release the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with a large accompanying promotional campaign, due to Ed Sullivan's agreement to headline the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show
. The Beatles American television debut was on November 18, 1963 on The Huntley-Brinkley Report
, with a four minute long piece by Edwin Newman. On 22 November 1963, the CBS Morning News
ran a five-minute feature on Beatlemania in the UK. The evening's scheduled repeat was cancelled following the assassination of John F. Kennedy
the same day. On 10 December, Walter Cronkite
decided to transmit the piece again on the CBS Evening News
, and the resulting interest led to the rush-release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand
" and—only weeks before The Beatles' arrival—a US commercial breakthrough.
—without whom, according to Lennon, "there would not have been The Beatles". The sudden popularity of The Beatles, and British Invasion triggered by their arrival, became a major new influence in the United States, which not only established the popularity of British bands, but also affected the musical style of US bands—including those subsequently formed in Memphis.
Eleven weeks before The Beatles' arrival in the US, a shocking event had taken place: the assassination of the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy
. The nation was in mourning, fear, and disbelief. The assassination came after a fifteen-year build-up of Cold War
tension. Its motivation, and the identity of its perpetrator, were in doubt, and would even remain so for decades after the Warren Commission
issued its report in September 1964. As the US tried to restore a sense of normality, teenagers in particular struggled to cope, as their disbelief began to be replaced by a personal reaction to what had happened: in school essays, teenagers wrote that "then it became real", and "I was feeling the whole world is going to collapse on me", and "I never felt so empty in all my life".
and Bob Dylan
for the first time. Strongly influenced by Presley since before their formation, the band had tried to meet him in the past, but arrangements had fallen through. At Presley's suggestion, guitars were set up in his living room and the gathering played music for an hour, following which they discussed the music business and exchanged anecdotes. The other meeting, with Dylan, influenced the music subsequently produced by The Beatles as well as shaping Dylan's own musical style. This was made evident both in Dylan's controversial adoption of electric guitar, and in changes that were apparent in Lennon's vocal and guitar-playing styles.
An estimated four thousand Beatles' fans were present on 7 February 1964 as Pan Am Flight 101 left Heathrow Airport. Among the passengers were The Beatles, on their first trip to the US as a band, with their entourage of photographers and journalists, and Phil Spector
. When the group arrived at New York's newly renamed John F. Kennedy Airport
, they were greeted by a second large crowd, with Beatles fans again estimated to number four thousand, and journalists, two hundred. From having so many people packed in a little space, a few people in the crowd got injured. The airport had not previously experienced such a large crowd.
After a press conference, where they first met disc jockey Murray the K
, The Beatles were put into limousines—one per Beatle—and driven to New York City. On the way, McCartney turned on a radio and listened to a running commentary: "They [The Beatles] have just left the airport and are coming to New York City..." After reaching the Plaza Hotel, The Beatles were besieged by fans and reporters. Harrison had a fever of 102 °F (38.9 °C) the next day and was ordered to stay in bed, so Neil Aspinall
, the band's personal assistant, replaced Harrison on guitar during The Beatles' first rehearsal for The Ed Sullivan Show
. On 9 February 1964, The Beatles made their first live US television appearance. 73 million viewers—about two fifths of the total American population—watched the group perform on The Ed Sullivan Show at 8 P.M. According to the Nielsen ratings
audience measurement system, the show had the largest number of viewers that had been recorded for a US television program.
Two days after the television appearance, on 11 February 1964, The Beatles' first US concert took place, at Washington Coliseum
, a sports arena in Washington, D.C. The concert was attended by eight thousand fans. The Beatles performed on a central stage in the arena, with the audience on all sides, and there were regular pauses to enable the band to turn their equipment around and perform facing in another direction. The concert generated intense excitement. The following day, The Beatles performed a second concert, in Carnegie Hall, New York, which was attended by two thousand fans. The concert was again well received. Following the Carnegie Hall concert, The Beatles flew to Miami Beach and on Sunday 16 February 1964 made their second television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which this time was broadcast live from the Napoleon Ballroom of the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. As it had done on 9 February, the television broadcast attracted around 70 million viewers. On 22 February 1964, The Beatles returned to the UK. Arriving at Heathrow airport at 7 am, they were met by an estimated ten thousand fans.
press office, which asked for The Beatles to be photographed with the new President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson
, laying a wreath on the grave of John F. Kennedy
. The request was politely declined by Epstein, as it was not the group's policy to accept "official" invitations. During the tour, The Beatles performed at thirty concerts, starting in San Francisco and ending in New York, twenty-three cities in all.
At each venue, the concert was treated as a major event by the local press and attended by between ten and twenty thousand fans, whose enthusiastic response to The Beatles produced sound levels that left the music only semi-audible. The tour earned The Beatles over a million dollars in ticket sales. It also stimulated a further increase in record sales, and resulted in the sale of a considerable quantity of Beatle-related merchandise.
By this point in the year, the British Invasion—started by The Beatles' previous US visit—was gathering momentum, and several more UK acts had come to the US including The Dave Clark Five
, Billy J. Kramer
, and Gerry & the Pacemakers
. One third of all US top ten hits in 1964 were by British acts. After the tour's final concert in New York, The Beatles were introduced for the first time to Bob Dylan
, a meeting brought about at the instigation of the New York journalist Al Aronowitz
, who arranged for Dylan to visit The Beatles at their hotel before they returned to the UK.
In June 1965, after completing a two-week European tour of France, Italy and Spain, The Beatles attended the London premiere of Help!
, their second film, and then returned to the US for another two-week tour. The tour commenced at Shea Stadium
, New York City on Sunday 15 August 1965. The circular stadium had been constructed the previous year, opening on 17 April 1964, with seating arranged in four ascending decks, all of which were filled for the concert. It was the first time in history that a large outdoor stadium had been used for such a purpose, and the event sold out in seventeen minutes.
The 1965 tour was highly successful, with well-attended concerts on each of its ten dates. The opening concert at Shea Stadium attracted an audience of fifty-five thousand, the largest of any live concert that The Beatles would perform. The band arrived by armoured car
. After the 1965 tour's final concert, which took place at Cow Palace
, San Francisco, The Beatles accepted an invitation to visit Elvis Presley
before returning to the UK.
in August 1966, The Beatles returned to the US for what would be their last tour. The tour coincided with a storm of US public protest against The Beatles, caused by a published quote from a remark Lennon had made about Christianity. Because of the severity of the protests, which included Beatles' records being publicly burned and claims being made that The Beatles were "anti-Christ", Epstein had considered cancelling the fourteen-concert tour, fearing for their lives. Nevertheless, the tour went ahead.
In Memphis, the city council decided not to let "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion", and voted to cancel their Beatles concert, although it did in fact take place. There were disturbances during the tour, and one performance was brought to a temporary halt when a member of the audience threw a firecracker, leading The Beatles to believe they were being shot at. In other incidents, telephone threats were received, and the Ku Klux Klan
picketed The Beatles' concerts. The tour ended with a concert at Candlestick Park. Although commercially successful, the tour had been affected by the prevailing mood of controversy, and there had been rows of empty seats at some venues.
from the UK to the wider world, established the group's international stature, and, triggering the British Invasion
, caused changes in US popular culture. The Candlestick Park concert at the close of the 1966 US tour marked the end of a four-year period dominated by touring and concerts, including nearly sixty US appearances, and over one thousand four hundred internationally. The Beatles, from the end of their 1966 US tour until their break-up in 1970, gave no further commercial concerts, instead devoting their efforts to creating new material in the recording studio.
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...
' rise to prominence in the United States on February 7, 1964 was a significant development in the history of the band's commercial success. In addition to establishing The Beatles' international stature, it changed attitudes to popular music in the United States, whose own Memphis-driven musical evolution had made it a global trend-setter.
The Beatles' first visit to the US came at a time of great popularity in Britain
Beatlemania in the United Kingdom
The phenomenon known as Beatlemania originated in the United Kingdom, birthplace of The Beatles, when the band first realised enormous popularity there in late 1962. Returning from a highly formative two-year residency in Germany, The Beatles achieved a commercial breakthrough with their second UK...
. The band's UK commercial breakthrough, in late 1962, had been followed by a year of successful concerts and tours. The start of The Beatles' popularity in the US, in early 1964, was marked by intense demand for the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I 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....
"—which sold one-and-a-half million copies in under three weeks—and the band's arrival the following month. The visit, advertised across the US on five million posters, was a defining moment in The Beatles' history, and the starting-point of the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
.
Following popular television appearances and concerts during their February 1964 visit, The Beatles returned to the US in August 1964, and again in August 1965, for tours. In August 1966 they returned once more, and although this tour was commercially successful, it coincided with a storm of US public protest after publication of a quote from John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's remarks about Christianity. The 1966 US tour marked the end of The Beatles' concert days. The band ceased to perform commercial concerts, instead devoting their efforts to creating new material in the recording studio.
Background
In the United Kingdom, The Beatles had experienced popularity since the start of 1963. But in the US, Capitol RecordsCapitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, owned by the band's record company EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, had for most of the year declined to issue any of the singles. The phenomenon of Beatlemania in the UK
Beatlemania in the United Kingdom
The phenomenon known as Beatlemania originated in the United Kingdom, birthplace of The Beatles, when the band first realised enormous popularity there in late 1962. Returning from a highly formative two-year residency in Germany, The Beatles achieved a commercial breakthrough with their second UK...
was regarded with amusement by the US press, once it made any comment. When newspaper and magazine articles did begin to appear towards the end of 1963, they cited the English stereotype of eccentricity, reporting that the UK had developed an interest in something that had come and gone a long time ago in the US: rock and roll. Headlines included "The New Madness" and "Beatle Bug Bites Britain", and writers employed word-play linking "beetle" with the "infestation" afflicting the UK. In fall 1963 Capitol Records agreed to release the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with a large accompanying promotional campaign, due to Ed Sullivan's agreement to headline the Beatles 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....
. The Beatles American television debut was on November 18, 1963 on The Huntley-Brinkley Report
Huntley-Brinkley Report
The Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956 until July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C...
, with a four minute long piece by Edwin Newman. On 22 November 1963, the CBS Morning News
CBS Morning News
For CBS's main morning news program, formerly known as CBS Morning News, see The Early Show.CBS Morning News is the half-hour daily television broadcast from CBS News that airs following Up to the Minute and features late-breaking news stories, weather forecasts, and sports scores...
ran a five-minute feature on Beatlemania in the UK. The evening's scheduled repeat was cancelled following the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
the same day. On 10 December, Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
decided to transmit the piece again on the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, and the resulting interest led to the rush-release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I 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....
" and—only weeks before The Beatles' arrival—a US commercial breakthrough.
US popular culture
The music of Memphis had for some time been a dominating influence worldwide, and in the 1960s, British bands, among them The Beatles, aspired to emulate the sounds of Memphis musicians including Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
—without whom, according to Lennon, "there would not have been The Beatles". The sudden popularity of The Beatles, and British Invasion triggered by their arrival, became a major new influence in the United States, which not only established the popularity of British bands, but also affected the musical style of US bands—including those subsequently formed in Memphis.
US public climate, early 1964
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. The nation was in mourning, fear, and disbelief. The assassination came after a fifteen-year build-up of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tension. Its motivation, and the identity of its perpetrator, were in doubt, and would even remain so for decades after the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
issued its report in September 1964. As the US tried to restore a sense of normality, teenagers in particular struggled to cope, as their disbelief began to be replaced by a personal reaction to what had happened: in school essays, teenagers wrote that "then it became real", and "I was feeling the whole world is going to collapse on me", and "I never felt so empty in all my life".
International stature of The Beatles
From the time when the word "superstar" had first been used in the 1920s, up until the time when The Beatles gained US popularity and consequent elevation of world status, the country of origin of all international superstars had been the United States. In apprehensive conversation among The Beatles on board the aircraft during their February 1964 flight to New York, McCartney had questioned, "They've got their own groups. What are we going to give them that they don't already have?"Influence on the Beatles
During their US tours, The Beatles were introduced to both Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
for the first time. Strongly influenced by Presley since before their formation, the band had tried to meet him in the past, but arrangements had fallen through. At Presley's suggestion, guitars were set up in his living room and the gathering played music for an hour, following which they discussed the music business and exchanged anecdotes. The other meeting, with Dylan, influenced the music subsequently produced by The Beatles as well as shaping Dylan's own musical style. This was made evident both in Dylan's controversial adoption of electric guitar, and in changes that were apparent in Lennon's vocal and guitar-playing styles.
February 1964
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
. When the group arrived at New York's newly renamed John F. Kennedy Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
, they were greeted by a second large crowd, with Beatles fans again estimated to number four thousand, and journalists, two hundred. From having so many people packed in a little space, a few people in the crowd got injured. The airport had not previously experienced such a large crowd.
After a press conference, where they first met disc jockey Murray the K
Murray the K
Murray Kaufman , professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s...
, The Beatles were put into limousines—one per Beatle—and driven to New York City. On the way, McCartney turned on a radio and listened to a running commentary: "They [The Beatles] have just left the airport and are coming to New York City..." After reaching the Plaza Hotel, The Beatles were besieged by fans and reporters. Harrison had a fever of 102 °F (38.9 °C) the next day and was ordered to stay in bed, so Neil Aspinall
Neil Aspinall
Neil Stanley Aspinall was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head The Beatles' company Apple Corps....
, the band's personal assistant, replaced Harrison on guitar during The Beatles' first rehearsal for 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....
. On 9 February 1964, The Beatles made their first live US television appearance. 73 million viewers—about two fifths of the total American population—watched the group perform on The Ed Sullivan Show at 8 P.M. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
audience measurement system, the show had the largest number of viewers that had been recorded for a US television program.
Two days after the television appearance, on 11 February 1964, The Beatles' first US concert took place, at Washington Coliseum
Washington Coliseum
The Washington Coliseum is an indoor arena in Washington, D.C. located at 1132, 1140, and 1146 3rd Street, Northeast, Washington, D.C. It is directly adjacent to the railroad tracks, just north of Union Station, and bounded by L and M Streets. It held 7,000 to 9,000 people for events...
, a sports arena in Washington, D.C. The concert was attended by eight thousand fans. The Beatles performed on a central stage in the arena, with the audience on all sides, and there were regular pauses to enable the band to turn their equipment around and perform facing in another direction. The concert generated intense excitement. The following day, The Beatles performed a second concert, in Carnegie Hall, New York, which was attended by two thousand fans. The concert was again well received. Following the Carnegie Hall concert, The Beatles flew to Miami Beach and on Sunday 16 February 1964 made their second television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which this time was broadcast live from the Napoleon Ballroom of the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. As it had done on 9 February, the television broadcast attracted around 70 million viewers. On 22 February 1964, The Beatles returned to the UK. Arriving at Heathrow airport at 7 am, they were met by an estimated ten thousand fans.
August 1964
In August 1964, The Beatles returned to the US for a second visit, this time remaining for a month-long tour. A request was received from the White HouseWhite House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
press office, which asked for The Beatles to be photographed with the new President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, laying a wreath on the grave of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. The request was politely declined by Epstein, as it was not the group's policy to accept "official" invitations. During the tour, The Beatles performed at thirty concerts, starting in San Francisco and ending in New York, twenty-three cities in all.
At each venue, the concert was treated as a major event by the local press and attended by between ten and twenty thousand fans, whose enthusiastic response to The Beatles produced sound levels that left the music only semi-audible. The tour earned The Beatles over a million dollars in ticket sales. It also stimulated a further increase in record sales, and resulted in the sale of a considerable quantity of Beatle-related merchandise.
By this point in the year, the British Invasion—started by The Beatles' previous US visit—was gathering momentum, and several more UK acts had come to the US including The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five were an English pop rock group. Their single "Glad All Over" knocked The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK singles charts in January 1964: it eventually peaked at No.6 in the United States in April 1964.They were the second group of the British Invasion,...
, Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...
, and Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat music group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with...
. One third of all US top ten hits in 1964 were by British acts. After the tour's final concert in New York, The Beatles were introduced for the first time to Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, a meeting brought about at the instigation of the New York journalist Al Aronowitz
Al Aronowitz
Alfred Gilbert Aronowitz was an American rock journalist best known for introducing Bob Dylan and The Beatles in 1964.Aronowitz was born in Bordentown, New Jersey...
, who arranged for Dylan to visit The Beatles at their hotel before they returned to the UK.
August 1965
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
, their second film, and then returned to the US for another two-week tour. The tour commenced at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
, New York City on Sunday 15 August 1965. The circular stadium had been constructed the previous year, opening on 17 April 1964, with seating arranged in four ascending decks, all of which were filled for the concert. It was the first time in history that a large outdoor stadium had been used for such a purpose, and the event sold out in seventeen minutes.
The 1965 tour was highly successful, with well-attended concerts on each of its ten dates. The opening concert at Shea Stadium attracted an audience of fifty-five thousand, the largest of any live concert that The Beatles would perform. The band arrived by armoured car
Armored car (VIP)
A civilian armored car is a security vehicle which made by replacing the windows of a standard vehicle with bulletproof glass and inserting layers of armor plate into the body panels...
. After the 1965 tour's final concert, which took place at Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
, San Francisco, The Beatles accepted an invitation to visit Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
before returning to the UK.
August 1966
Following the UK and US releases of their new album RevolverRevolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
in August 1966, The Beatles returned to the US for what would be their last tour. The tour coincided with a storm of US public protest against The Beatles, caused by a published quote from a remark Lennon had made about Christianity. Because of the severity of the protests, which included Beatles' records being publicly burned and claims being made that The Beatles were "anti-Christ", Epstein had considered cancelling the fourteen-concert tour, fearing for their lives. Nevertheless, the tour went ahead.
In Memphis, the city council decided not to let "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion", and voted to cancel their Beatles concert, although it did in fact take place. There were disturbances during the tour, and one performance was brought to a temporary halt when a member of the audience threw a firecracker, leading The Beatles to believe they were being shot at. In other incidents, telephone threats were received, and the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
picketed The Beatles' concerts. The tour ended with a concert at Candlestick Park. Although commercially successful, the tour had been affected by the prevailing mood of controversy, and there had been rows of empty seats at some venues.
After the United States
The Beatles' arrival in the US in 1964 marked the spread of BeatlemaniaBeatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
from the UK to the wider world, established the group's international stature, and, triggering the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, caused changes in US popular culture. The Candlestick Park concert at the close of the 1966 US tour marked the end of a four-year period dominated by touring and concerts, including nearly sixty US appearances, and over one thousand four hundred internationally. The Beatles, from the end of their 1966 US tour until their break-up in 1970, gave no further commercial concerts, instead devoting their efforts to creating new material in the recording studio.