Taped: Wednesday 17 June 1964
Aired: Wednesday 1 July 1964
At the Festival Hall in Melbourne, the Beatles played two sets. Channel Nine filmed the final concert for a TV show: The Beatles Sing For Shell (the oil company).
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Beatle Books: From Genesis to Revolution
by W. Fraser Sandercombe
This is a book about Beatles books. There are thousands of listings inside. What was written about them during the 1960s was nothing compared to what came next. People had finally realised how absolutely unique The Beatles truly were. And they were beginning to realise that nothing quite like The Beatles would ever exist again. By 1983, there had been two hundred books about them; and by 2008, about twelve hundred more. And every year brings another mountain of writing about them, enough to keep a collector hunting forever. The titles are listed alphabetically, with publisher and author information included. Books by the band, about the band and featuring the band, as well as the better reproductions of their music in print are included.
This is a book about Beatles books. There are thousands of listings inside. What was written about them during the 1960s was nothing compared to what came next. People had finally realised how absolutely unique The Beatles truly were. And they were beginning to realise that nothing quite like The Beatles would ever exist again. By 1983, there had been two hundred books about them; and by 2008, about twelve hundred more. And every year brings another mountain of writing about them, enough to keep a collector hunting forever. The titles are listed alphabetically, with publisher and author information included. Books by the band, about the band and featuring the band, as well as the better reproductions of their music in print are included.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The Beatles: Paperback Writer - 40 Years of Classic Writing
Edited by Mike Evans
The Beatles: Paperback Writer collects the most illuminating interviews, articles, reviews, and essays on the rock icons, from contemporary accounts of the group’s rise in 1962 to recent analyses of their enduring cultural legacy. The band’s influence on the Baby Boomer youth culture and its descendants is discussed by figures from all places on the pop culture spectrum: mainstream reporters, rock journalists, cultural commentators, performers, and the band’s acquaintances and friends. Provocative articles cover the Beatles’ pop-redefining experimentation with song structure and recording techniques and their embracing of psychedelic drugs, hippie utopianism, and pacifism — all set against the dramatic backdrop of the counterculture. Editor Mike Evans includes penetrating pieces on such fascinating byways as the right-wing claims that the group was communist and the “Paul is dead” myth. The band’s acrimonious split and each member's disparate, post-Beatles path are also profiled in this book that’s a must-have for any serious Beatles fan.
The Beatles: Paperback Writer collects the most illuminating interviews, articles, reviews, and essays on the rock icons, from contemporary accounts of the group’s rise in 1962 to recent analyses of their enduring cultural legacy. The band’s influence on the Baby Boomer youth culture and its descendants is discussed by figures from all places on the pop culture spectrum: mainstream reporters, rock journalists, cultural commentators, performers, and the band’s acquaintances and friends. Provocative articles cover the Beatles’ pop-redefining experimentation with song structure and recording techniques and their embracing of psychedelic drugs, hippie utopianism, and pacifism — all set against the dramatic backdrop of the counterculture. Editor Mike Evans includes penetrating pieces on such fascinating byways as the right-wing claims that the group was communist and the “Paul is dead” myth. The band’s acrimonious split and each member's disparate, post-Beatles path are also profiled in this book that’s a must-have for any serious Beatles fan.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
August 22, 1964 - Royal Canadian Air Force Station & Empire Stadium, Vancouver
Taped: Saturday 22 August 1964
The show began at 8.14 and The Beatles came on at 9.23. Despite the long show, many reporters still thought that The Beatles' 29-minute set was too short. William Littler, in a grumpy piece in the Vancouver Sun, said, "Seldom in Vancouver's entertainment history have so many (20,261) paid so much ($5.25 top price) for so little (27 minutes) as did the audience which screamed at The Beatles in Empire Stadium Saturday night."
Three attempts were made to smash the ten-foot high stadium gates, and it finally buckled under the strain seconds after The Beatles began their performance, but only a dozen or so fans managed to get in before police and ushers got it closed again and held it shut with their bodies. Their exit was timed to perfection. They completed 'Long Tall Sally', bowed low while unstrapping their guitars, bolted from the stage into waiting limousines and with motorcycle outriders, they were out of the stadium fewer than 30 seconds from their last note. The Beatles drove straight to the airport where they caught a plane to Los Angeles.
Thousands of teenagers left their seats and rushed the stage, crushing hundreds of young girls against the restraining fence. Dozens of girls suffered broken ribs and hundreds were treated for hysteria and shock.
The show began at 8.14 and The Beatles came on at 9.23. Despite the long show, many reporters still thought that The Beatles' 29-minute set was too short. William Littler, in a grumpy piece in the Vancouver Sun, said, "Seldom in Vancouver's entertainment history have so many (20,261) paid so much ($5.25 top price) for so little (27 minutes) as did the audience which screamed at The Beatles in Empire Stadium Saturday night."
Three attempts were made to smash the ten-foot high stadium gates, and it finally buckled under the strain seconds after The Beatles began their performance, but only a dozen or so fans managed to get in before police and ushers got it closed again and held it shut with their bodies. Their exit was timed to perfection. They completed 'Long Tall Sally', bowed low while unstrapping their guitars, bolted from the stage into waiting limousines and with motorcycle outriders, they were out of the stadium fewer than 30 seconds from their last note. The Beatles drove straight to the airport where they caught a plane to Los Angeles.
Thousands of teenagers left their seats and rushed the stage, crushing hundreds of young girls against the restraining fence. Dozens of girls suffered broken ribs and hundreds were treated for hysteria and shock.
Friday, January 09, 2009
How I Didn't Become a Beatle: Liverpool in the 1950s and 60s
by Brian James Hudson
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Liverpool was an exciting place to be a university student. For Yorkshire-born Brian Hudson, it was a joy to be on Merseyside at a time when the Cavern Club was just one of many Liverpool clubs where live music could be enjoyed. A jazz enthusiast and a keen drummer, Brian tried to find work for the university jazz band at the Jacaranda Club. Unable to persuade the owner, he was invited instead to join two guitarists and form a new beat group, Cass and the Cassanovas, later to become part of the Beatles story. Brian's decision to leave the group to focus on his studies and devote his leisure time to university jazz may have steered him away from a life in rock & roll, but it allowed him to remain on the Liverpool scene, meeting and getting to know many of its most colorful characters. Many entertaining, amusing, and sometimes deeply touching anecdotes are recounted here, sure to strike a chord with anyone who remembers the city during the heady days of Liverpool Sound. Accompanying the text are a wide variety of photographs, which have as a backdrop a rapidly changing Liverpool.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s Liverpool was an exciting place to be a university student. For Yorkshire-born Brian Hudson, it was a joy to be on Merseyside at a time when the Cavern Club was just one of many Liverpool clubs where live music could be enjoyed. A jazz enthusiast and a keen drummer, Brian tried to find work for the university jazz band at the Jacaranda Club. Unable to persuade the owner, he was invited instead to join two guitarists and form a new beat group, Cass and the Cassanovas, later to become part of the Beatles story. Brian's decision to leave the group to focus on his studies and devote his leisure time to university jazz may have steered him away from a life in rock & roll, but it allowed him to remain on the Liverpool scene, meeting and getting to know many of its most colorful characters. Many entertaining, amusing, and sometimes deeply touching anecdotes are recounted here, sure to strike a chord with anyone who remembers the city during the heady days of Liverpool Sound. Accompanying the text are a wide variety of photographs, which have as a backdrop a rapidly changing Liverpool.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
The Beatles: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song, 1967-70
by Steve Turner
There was rich praise for the original edition of "The Beatles Stories Behind The Songs Book", including Steve Matteo in "The Music Paper" describing it as, 'One of the most readable and illuminating books ever written about The Beatles', and in his autobiography, "Many Years From Now", even Paul McCartney acknowledged Steve Turner's work. Where is Penny Lane? What was the inspiration for "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"? Steve Turner shatters many well-worn myths and adds a new dimension to the Fab Four's rich legacy by investigating the events immortalised in The Beatles' music and now occupying a special niche in popular culture's collective imagination.
There was rich praise for the original edition of "The Beatles Stories Behind The Songs Book", including Steve Matteo in "The Music Paper" describing it as, 'One of the most readable and illuminating books ever written about The Beatles', and in his autobiography, "Many Years From Now", even Paul McCartney acknowledged Steve Turner's work. Where is Penny Lane? What was the inspiration for "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"? Steve Turner shatters many well-worn myths and adds a new dimension to the Fab Four's rich legacy by investigating the events immortalised in The Beatles' music and now occupying a special niche in popular culture's collective imagination.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
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