The Beatles' 1965 US tour
The Beatles began rehearsing for their second American tour on the 25th of July in London. Four days later, they attended the royal premiere of Help! at the Saville Theatre. Rehearsals continued at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool before the group departed for the United States. Brian Epstein scheduled the tour after a series of early-summer concerts across Europe. The package-tour format meant multiple acts shared the bill. Support acts included Brenda Holloway and the King Curtis Band. Cannibal & the Headhunters also performed during the run. Sounds Incorporated closed out many of the evening's sets. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr played for just thirty minutes each night. Road managers Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans handled logistics behind the scenes. Press officer Tony Barrow coordinated interviews with British publications. Alf Bicknell served as the band's chauffeur throughout the journey.
On the 15th of August, the band opened their tour at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York. Promoter Sid Bernstein reported that over fifty-five thousand people attended the event. Revenue reached three hundred four thousand dollars, marking the highest gross ever in show business at that time. The Beatles received one hundred sixty thousand dollars for their performance. That equated to one hundred dollars for every second they stood on stage. Two thousand security personnel guarded the venue to manage crowd control. A long distance separated the audience from the small stage set in the middle of the field. Crowd noise was so deafening that security guards covered their ears as the band entered. Fans broke onto the field multiple times and had to be chased down by police. John Lennon pointed out these incidents light-heartedly between songs. Vox designed special one-hundred-watt amplifiers for this tour, but they proved insufficient. The house system amplified the sound further, yet it remained barely audible to the musicians themselves. On-stage fold-back speakers were not common in 1965. Ringo Starr sang Act Naturally instead of I Wanna Be Your Man during this concert. Lennon later told Bernstein that he saw the top of the mountain at Shea Stadium.
Epstein arranged a six-day break in Los Angeles after the relentless schedule of the previous year's tour. The group arrived at 2850 Benedict Canyon Drive off Mulholland Drive in the early hours of the 23rd of August. They woke up around two o'clock each day and spent time relaxing by the swimming pool. Fans blocked roads and tried to scale the steep canyon while others rented helicopters to spy from overhead. Local police assigned twelve officers to protect the band during their stay. Security personnel from Burns Agency supplemented the squad. The Beatles invited guests including actor Eleanor Bron and folk singer Joan Baez. Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of the Byrds visited on the 24th of August. Peter Fonda also stopped by to meet them. On the 27th of August, the band met Elvis Presley at his house on Perugia Way in Bel Air. This meeting occurred just days before they played the Hollywood Bowl shows.
The Beatles performed two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl in late August. The second show took place on the 30th of August and featured one of the group's better performances. Much of the material for their 1977 live album came from this event. Poet Allen Ginsberg attended both shows on the 22nd of August in Portland. He composed the poem Portland Coliseum after seeing the line of police guarding the band. The band arrived back at London Airport on the 2nd of September. A crowd of fans greeted them upon return. Their experiences in the United States inspired songs written for Rubber Soul. Drive My Car evoked starlets met at Hollywood parties. Lennon based Run for Your Life on an early recording of Presley's Baby Let's Play House. Soon after returning to London, Lennon discussed the meeting with Presley extensively in an interview with NME. The tour set list included Twist and Shout, She's a Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket to Ride, Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby, Can't Buy Me Love, Baby's in Black, Act Naturally, A Hard Day's Night, Help!, and I'm Down.
After the tour concluded, the Beatles took a six-week break before reconvening in mid-October. They recorded the album Rubber Soul during that period. The album reflected exposure to Motown and Stax record labels. It also captured the mutually influential relationship forged with the Byrds. Dylan urged Lennon to strive for more meaning in his lyrics. One new song, Drive My Car, evoked starlets the group had met at Hollywood parties. Lennon initially based Run for Your Life on an early recording of Presley's Baby Let's Play House. Soon after their return to London, Lennon talked extensively about the meeting with Presley in an interview he gave to the NME. The band's experiences directly influenced the direction of their next creative phase. This shift marked a turning point in their songwriting approach.
A documentary titled The Beatles at Shea Stadium was produced by Ed Sullivan under his Sullivan Productions banner. NEMS Enterprises Ltd owned the 1965 copyright while Subafilms Ltd represented the Beatles company. Twelve cameras captured the mayhem and mass hysteria during the concert. Overdubs were added in a London studio to cover audio problems throughout the recording. The documentary aired on British television in March 1966. It broadcast in the United States in 1967 on the ABC television network. Bootleg releases made it widely available afterward. In May 2007, a recording surfaced from the actual in-line stadium public address system. Rolling Stone Issue 1027 published details about this find on the 31st of May 2007. It offers a minute-by-minute document including all opening sets. The unaltered version contains no overdubs or editing.
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Common questions
When did The Beatles begin rehearsing for their 1965 US tour?
The Beatles began rehearsing for their second American tour on the 25th of July in London. They attended the royal premiere of Help! at the Saville Theatre four days later before departing for the United States.
How many people attended The Beatles Shea Stadium concert on the 15th of August 1965?
Promoter Sid Bernstein reported that over fifty-five thousand people attended the event at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York. Revenue reached three hundred four thousand dollars, marking the highest gross ever in show business at that time.
Where did The Beatles stay during their six-day break in Los Angeles after the 1965 US tour?
The group arrived at 2850 Benedict Canyon Drive off Mulholland Drive in the early hours of the 23rd of August. Local police assigned twelve officers to protect the band while they stayed there and invited guests including actor Eleanor Bron and folk singer Joan Baez.
What songs were included in The Beatles 1965 US tour set list?
The tour set list included Twist and Shout, She's a Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket to Ride, Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby, Can't Buy Me Love, Baby's in Black, Act Naturally, A Hard Day's Night, Help!, and I'm Down. Ringo Starr sang Act Naturally instead of I Wanna Be Your Man during the concert at Shea Stadium.
When was the documentary The Beatles at Shea Stadium first broadcast on British television?
The documentary aired on British television in March 1966 under Ed Sullivan's Sullivan Productions banner. It subsequently broadcast in the United States in 1967 on the ABC television network with overdubs added in a London studio to cover audio problems.