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John Lennon vs. the U.S.A. - A book review

August 10, 2016, 5:57 pm
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The book John Lennon vs. the U.S.A. by Leon Wildes is my favorite Beatles book of 2016 (so far--and not including my own book).     It is a must read for anyone who is like me and loves reading about John Lennon's life.



Leon Wildes was the immigration attorney that took on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's deportation case in 1972.   When he met John and Yoko for the first time in their Bank Street Apartment, he honestly had no idea who they were and he surely had no clue what a messy and complicated ordeal it would be to keep John Lennon in the United States.


Wildes soon became familiar with John and Yoko and began to understand the main reason they desperately wanted to stay in the United States was because Yoko was separated from her daughter, Kyoko, and had no idea where her ex-husband had taken her.    Wildes thought he had a pretty solid case to keep the couple in the United States.  However, he wasn't aware that the FBI was tracking everything not only John and Yoko were doing, but also tapping his phones as well.    It was a VERY difficult road for Wildes and the Lennons to get to stay in the United States and a battle that was very difficult to win.    Wildes had lawsuits and appeals and all sorts of red tape to go through.

Leon Wildes with John and Yoko during their deportation case in 1972 -- it was his idea that they dress alike to show that they were one unit and not two individuals. 


Of course many fans (and I bet many of you out there) were out  passing around petitions and getting signatures at Beatles conventions and through fan magazines to keep John in the United States.  And it was cool to see that was actually shown in court (it didn't really count for much).     In the end of it all, Leon Wildes, being the genius that he is, found a little used law at the time that fit for John Lennon and by working through this law for many, many years he was able to not only allow for John to stay in America, but for him to actually get his green card.    Leon called up John on October 8, 1975 to give him the amazing news and John informed him that he was on his way to the hospital where Yoko was to give birth to their only child, Sean on John's birthday.    What an incredible gift!



The book wasn't easy to read because it was full of legal information; however, I was really impressed how Leon Wildes uses "laymen's wording" in helping me, someone without a law background, to understand exactly what he was talking about.     Overall this is an excellent book and I am grateful to Leon Wildes for helping John achieve his dream and for writing this book.   It is going to be helpful for Lennon fans and legal students for many years to come.


You can order the book on Amazon and the Fest

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Beatlesmania '66

August 11, 2016, 4:40 pm
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Beatlesmania ’66- Kids Calmer, but the din isn’t
By Jeffery L. Stern
Chicago Sun-Times
August 13, 1966

The happy howls of more than 26,000 fans engulfed the Beatles Friday as the British rock n roll quartet opened an American tour with two performances in the International Amphitheatre.
Teenage girls gurgled, squealed and danced at their seats as they long-haired Beatles played 11 selections at a matinee.  Fifteen were treated at a first aid station for hysteria and fainting symptoms.
A Milwaukee woman, Mrs. Jean Niezmanski, turned out with her daughter and two other youngsters dressed in shifts with the design of the Union Jack.  “We just want to be seen by the Beatles,” she cried.

A newcomer to the cult would have called it pandemonium.  Actually, in contrast with times past, Friday showed that the quartet’s fans, like the rest of us, are growing older.  Looking out over the howling throng, Paul Prang, a 23 year old who is special events director for the Andy Frain ushering service observed, “The kids are calmer this time.  They’re not as excited as they were at Comisky Park (scene of last year’s Chicago appearance). 

The Beatles who appeared onstage in dark green suits and lime shirts, were escorted by police, sirens screeching form their hotel to the Amphitheatre.    Their white car, its rear window fogged to shield the group from view was preceded by a black limousine decoy car.

About 40 girls who surged toward the Beatles’ car were blocked by a line of guards who stood with their arms linked.  Four of the girls injured in the crush were taken to Evangelican Hospital for observation.

Inside the hall, 50 policemen, 100 firemen and 200 ushers and usherettes lined the aisles and stood three-deep in front of the stage.   They had little trouble keeping order.

Some of the policemen, who were issued wads of cotton before the performance, stuffed it into their ears to muffle the high-pitched roar that went on and on.    Policemen carried switches instead of nightsticks, and ushers were urged before the performance to use “psychology” in handling glazed-eyed youngsters.

In addition to psychology, the ushers were armed with flashlights and told to flick them in the eyes of half hysterical youngsters who left their seats to head for the stage.

Firemen carried ammonia capsules to revive fainting girls, but some may have been prompted by the din to take a whiff themselves. 

The audience waited for more than an hour and a half and heard four preliminary groups before the Beatles materialized and performed for 30 minutes. 
Their singing, scarcely heard in the screaming and applause, was accompanied by flashes from hundreds of cameras in the darkened auditorium. 
Fans occasionally jumped up with banners proclaiming love for one or another of the Beatles.
After the matinee performance, some girls attempted to hide in washrooms and under seats to await the Beatles’ departure.  Ushers carried some from the building.  A panel was kicked out of a door leading to the Amphitheatre garage.  However, the group never left their dressing room between shows.
Most police and fire veterans of last year’s appearances in Chicago agreed that this year’s crowd was milder.  Fire Marshal Francis J. Murphy, chief of the Fire Prevention Bureau, said this year’s audience screamed less and appeared older than last year’s.

Perhaps Ricki Bluestein, 14, of Skokie expressed a common sentiment when she said, “I still like the Beatles as much as ever, although I no longer belong to a fan club.  I’m not in it anymore because I grew up.”   She said the Beatles were as good as ever because “they keep experimenting with new songs and new ways of singing, and that’s good.”

Prang noted that great numbers of boys in the audience were dressed n the mod style of the British teen in the street and wore their hair long. “It’s the Carnaby Street influence,” he said, referring to a London center for mod clothing.

Mod-clad James Basso, 18, wearing a ring in one ear, and sandals, disclosed that “I’m dressed up now,” but that he wears undistinguished garb while at work for a television manufacturing firm.
Among the legions who aspire to a personal word with the Beatles was Jeanette Mathews, 18, of Mauston, Wisconsin.  She picketed the Stock Yard Inn besides the amphitheater with a sign proclaiming, “I write songs of the Beatles type.”  In two years, said Miss Mathews, she has written 64 songs, but none has been published.  She hopes the Liverpool four can be persuaded to look at some of them.

Few of the fans were perturbed by the controversy which recently broke out in the United States over a remark by Beatle John Lennon that the quartet was more popular than Jesus.

Lennon appeared suitably contrite Thursday night in explaining to newsmen that his remark had been misunderstood. “I wasn’t saying whatever they’re saying I was saying,” he declared.  By their enthusiasm, most of the fans seemed to echo the passionate defense of the Beatles offered by Debbie Baker, 17, of Gary.  “I don’t care what he believes, “she said of Lennon.  “We all stick up for John.  We love him.”

Meanwhile in Birmingham, Alabama radio station official who started a “band the Beatles” moved said Friday that his station has forgiven the quartet.

Tommy Charles, co-manager of Station WAQY, told the Associated Press, “We have called off our planned destruction of the Beatles records and other things we have collected.  We have to take him (Lennon) at his word that he is sorry.”

A spokesman for the sponsoring agency said the two performances—both sellouts—would gross $136,000. 


At least one sour note was sounded at the song-fest, however.  Grumped Lt. Mel Rolof of the Fire Prevention Bureau:  “They (the Beatles) should be banned.  All they are is a pain in the neck for everyone.  I didn’t know one song they sang.”  Rolof, it can safely be said, is not a mod. 
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Leaving for the the last tour

August 11, 2016, 6:04 pm
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Here we go!  It was 50 years ago TODAY that the Beatles left London for the 1966 North American tour---which was the last tour they ever did.    There was some hold up at the airport in London, so the Beatles got to tour the tower and they looked bored to death doing it!
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Signs of the Times

August 11, 2016, 6:09 pm
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As usual, fans said goodbye to the Fab 4 as they left London.   Some pretty interesting banners to read---very creative fans I must say!
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First stop---Boston

August 11, 2016, 6:18 pm
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On August 11, 1966 the Beatles had a short lay-over in Boston, Massachusetts before they went on their way to Chicago, Illinois







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Boston fans support John

August 11, 2016, 6:21 pm
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Getting ready for dreaded press conference

August 11, 2016, 6:33 pm
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John and the rest of the Beatles gathered into Tony Barrow's suite at the Chicago Astor Towers to give the press conference that would make or break the rest of the tour.   According to Tony Barrow, John was very upset about the whole ordeal and he was afraid that his words would cause harm to his bandmates.   Barrow witnessed John putting his face in his hands and weeping.    I just can't imagine how terrible John must have felt....





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The Dreaded press conference

August 11, 2016, 6:36 pm
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I would guess that the press conference the Beatles gave on August 11, 1966 in Chicago where John Lennon tried his best to explain what he meant when he was interviewed by Maureen Cleeve is the one press conference almost every Beatle fan has memorized.  

Here is what the newspaper had to say about it:

Beatle sorry he said it, Hopes Christianity Lives
San Francisco Examiner Friday August 12, 1966
Associated Press (Chicago)

“I’m sorry I said it really  I never meant it as a lousy, anti-religion thing,” apologized John Lennon.  He tried to explain his remarks about Christianity that set off boycotts and bonfires in the United States.

The man thing, Lennon said, is that he was misunderstood.  “I wasn’t saying whatever they’re saying I was saying,” he explained.  “I was sort of deploring the attitude toward Christianity.  From what I read or observed, it (Christianity) just seems to me to be shrinking, to be losing contact.  

Paul McCartney added, “And we all deplore the fact.”

Lennon said he was “worried to death” about the controversy aroused by this statements that the Beatles “are more popular than Jesus” and that “Christianity will go.”

Some U.S. radio stations have banned Beatle records since Lennon’s remarks were published in an American teen magazine.  Some former fans have built huge bonfires of Beatle records and pictures.  In England, Lennon said his remarks caused hardly a ripple.

“They were just taken as a bit of a loudmouth thing,” he said.

The singers arrived yesterday.  They were greeted by a small, quiet group.  When their limousine drove up to North Side hotel, however, things were more normal.  There were about 200 screaming, leaping, frantic teenagers swarming all over the car.


The quartet was asked if their popularity is slipping.  “If we do slip, so what?  Who cares?” said George Harrison.  “We’ll just be  where we were before—only a lot richer.”

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Second go round

August 11, 2016, 6:45 pm
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the Beatles then held another press conference in Chicago--this time for newspaper reporters from around the world.   Once again, John tried his best to explain himself.  August 11, 1966 was a long, hard day for the Fab 4.
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We love the Beatles!

August 11, 2016, 7:08 pm
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‘We love Beatles,’ 200 Girls Shriek
By Gabriel Favoino

With the reverence formerly reserved for Popes and kings, 200 teenaged girls milled around Astor and Goethe Thursday night shrieking “the Beatles!”  The girls also shrieked on command for more than 50 press representatives, television cameramen and newspaper photographers.

Even two first-classmen from the Coast Guard Academy at New London, Conn. Were there.  

“We just saw the crowd and stopped.  We don’t know what it’s all about,” said John Curran, of Minneapolis.

Near them stood a fat girl in shorts, her eyes glued to binoculars, thinking she was looking at the floor on which the Beatles are staying in the Astor Towers Hotel.    In fact, the Beatles were in the hotel, at a press conference.  But they don’t live there.   With uncommon secrecy, the Beatles are hidden at the Ascot Motel, 1100 S. Michigan.   They are to perform in a concert here in the International Amphitheatre Friday evening.

Outside the Amphitheatre, a girl who borrowed $35 to come here from Mauston, Wis. Marched with a sign saying, “I love the Beatles.”  She said she had only eaten a peanut butter sandwich all day, and had written 64 songs for the Beatles.

Meanwhile, back at the Astor Towers, four girls from Kansas City and St. Louis were hoping to meet the musical group.  One wore a button saying “I love John.”  Another carried a banned reading “We love the Beatles.”  Her companion had a hand-lettered sign pinned to her chest saying the same thing.
Upstairs, at the press conference, reporters applauded as the Beatles sat down on imperial looking high-backed chairs.

An English reporter, with a hair-do resembling that of Thomas Becket, kneeled, as at an altar, with microphone in hand.  He asked if the Beatles thought their music was getting any better.  They replied they thought it was.

Outside, Jean Crusoe, 15, was one of the 50 teenagers storming the hotel’s freight elevator in an attempt to get upstairs and meet their idols.  Jean got lacerations of the head when the elevator doors closed on her.  She was taken to Henrotin Hospital for treatment.

Upstairs the Beatles were denying that they were better than Jesus, or Christianity.   At the press conference, Beatle John Lennon added, “I suppose if I had said television was more popular than Jesus I would have gotten away with it.  I am sorry I opened my mouth.” 

A world-wide sensation ensued with Lennon was quoted as saying the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.

In fact, it was reported that the Pan American World Airlines plane that brought the musicians here form England would have Bibles for them all.  This, they denied.

But when they landed Thursday afternoon in Chicago, their plane was diverted to a little used maintenance hangar.  Airline employees said teenage girls later got into the plane and stole the earphones the Beatles had used on the flight.  They even took the pillow where they rested their heads.

When the musicians left London, a crowd of hysterical girls chanted, “John, not Jesus…John not Jesus…John, not Jesus.”


Asked at the press conference what the reason for their immense popularity is, Beatle Paul McCartney replied:  “We don’t know.  We really don’t know.”
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Beatles: A Sound analysis

August 12, 2016, 2:05 pm
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Beatles:  A  Sound Analysis
By Glenna Syse
August 12, 1966


You have to see it to believe it, because it is not the kind of thing you believe by hearing.
                These conclusions are not sociological, they are medical.  When you plug 13,000 young female larynxes into the Beatles circuit, you produce a vibration that causes a disease called labyinthitis, which is an inflammation of the inner ear that sometimes results in loss of balance.  It is an ailment that seems to affect only those over age 15, and this is why all the adults leaving the International Amphitheatre Friday seemed to be listing.

                I am what is laughingly known as adult, and that is why I am writing this at an angle.  If you have trouble reading it, rotate the page 35 degrees to the right.

                In the interest of equilibrium, you should know this is a review of The Beatles who gave two concerts Friday at the International Amphitheatre.

                It is called a very loud booking and whatever it was they said about Christianity, remember they said they were sorry and a whole brouhaha probably made it louder booking than usual.

                In my member, it is the only event I have reported upon by using paper and pencil to ask questions.  I wrote a note to a fireman.  “How many firemen?”  Over the din, he took my pencil and wrote “100 firemen.”  I got my hot dog by pointing to it.

                What did they sing?  Well, it was all over and the diminuendo left only the sounds of a few sobs.  I got my answer from three 14 year olds --  Kathy, Sue and Pat.  They said the Beatles sang “Rock n Roll Music,”  “She’s a woman,” “If I needed someone,”  “Day Tripper,”  “Babies in Black” [sic], “I Feel Fine,”  “Yesterday, “  “I wanna be your man,”  “Nowhere Man,”  “Paperback Writer,” and “Long Tall Sally.”  How they know is one of the miracles of the five senses.

                Three shrewd young ladies they were, too.  They expressed the belief that a concert such as this promotes record sales.  Because if you can’t hear it, you go out and buy it and listen to it at home.
                And one of the girls had a final say on John Lennon’s now notorious remarks.

                “I am a minister’s daughter and I got to church three times a week and I love the Beatles.  I think what they meant was they may be more popular than Jesus but they are not better than Jesus.”

                Strictly as a production, the concert was rather haphazard, except in matters of security.  Two hundred Andy Frain ushers were inside along with 100 firemen and 84 Burns detectives.  They formed a solid line in front of the stage and countered hysteria by flashing lights into the anguished screaming faces.

The stage was far too small to accommodate the amplification apparently necessary for this 20thCentury sound.  It seems no one sings nowadays without being plugged into a machine.
               
                There was a tense gap between the acts that preceded the headliners and the Beatles themselves.  And the Beatles’ stage manager got very red in the face as he moved the amplifiers and machines around.  Even when they were hooked up, they didn’t always work.  In moments of adjustment, John Lennon did a little dance that created a response that must have been heard by all the cattle for blocks around.

                The reaction of the Beatles’ appearance was tumultuous, a word that seems a total understatement.  If this is what happens when the Beatles are banned, what do you suppose would happen if they were abolished?

                What did they wear?  Dark green costumes.  By any stretch of the imagination, I do not think they could be called suits.  They were double-breasted and padded at the lapels.  They were tieless and shirts were lemon plaid, high in the collar and long in the cuff.

                They did only half an hour of songs and some day someone will probably figure out that they decreased the British National debt a couple of hundred pounds sterling a moment.


                They were preceded by the Remains, The Ronettes, the Cyrkle and Bobby Hebb – who presented a cheerful two hours of insanity before the main bout.  One final note.  Do the Beatles have a new sound?  It’s a purely academic question.
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The first concert in Chicago

August 12, 2016, 4:00 pm
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Beatles Chicago Taping session

August 12, 2016, 4:13 pm
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Since the Beatles already took care of their press conference the day before the Chicago shows, instead of doing the traditional between shows press conference, the Beatles did a "taping session." This is where reporters, most of which were the ones that traveled with them, would record short interviews with each Beatle individually.         I spot Rumi from Music Life Magazine, Marilyn Doerflers, Bess Coleman---what reporters do you see?






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From my collection....

August 12, 2016, 4:28 pm
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If you have spent any time talking Beatles with me, you will quickly learn that I am sort of obsessed with the Beatles 1966 North American Tour.   I am trying to to overwhelm this blog with stuff, but I am so excited to share it all with you because I just love this tour.

In the past few years I have started collecting item specific to the Beatles 1966 North American tour.   I don't have a lot of items, but here are a few that pertain to the Chicago show.   An ad from the newspaper for the concert and a ticket stub for the evening show.   The ticket stub isn't really special because it is literally a stub---no Beatles mentioned on the part that is left or anything.  However, the fan that original attended the show wrote "Beatle concert" on the back, which I think is sweet.
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The evening concert in Chicago

August 12, 2016, 4:34 pm
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This might not be a big deal to most, but I just figured out by reading some old articles that the Beatles wore the green suits with yellow shirts in the afternoon in Chicago and the green suits with red shirts in the evening.  
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Fan memories of the Chicago show

August 12, 2016, 5:05 pm
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I remember driving the Outer Drive in Chicago on the way to the International Amphitheater to hear Booby Hebb sing, “Sunny.”  I knew he was on the bill with The Beatles, and it fueled my excitement.  When my girlfriend, upon whom I had given this ultimate date, broke up with me a few weeks later, I developed a pathological hatred for “Sunny.”

As for the concert, I believe that memory is somewhat plastic and changes over time.  I have see The Beatles’ video from the Budokan in Tokyo form the same summer so many times, I think some of those images have migrated a bit into my own actual experience at the Chicago Amphitheater.  We were seated in the last row of the flat floor, so we didn’t have a great angle or line of sight.  The opening act dutifully, even enthusiastically, went through the thankless chore of “opening the show.”  In addition to Hebb was The Cyrkle (Red Rubber Ball) and I remember their distinction being that they were the only U.S. act managed by Brian Epstein (a mixed blessing, I imagine).  The other band that made an impression was Barry and the Remains.  I was kind of fascinated by them.  I had never heard of this band, yet they were opening for The Beatles. They lead singer reminded me a bit of Gerry Marsden who I liked.  And, he played a ridiculously weird Al Caiola model Epiphone guitar which seemed to have a Wurlitzer organ effects panel grafted on it.  I remember their performance as being rootsy and a lot grittier than the squeaky sound of The Cyrkle.  I did think that they were cool, but naturally my main focus was The Beatles.

What can I say about their performance?  Although I couldn’t often hear it, I dug it enormously, nonetheless.  Just the few scraps and recognizable riffs from “Paperback Writer” “She’s a Woman” “I Feel Fine” the songs from the more recent repertoire were overpoweringly exciting to hear.  I had seen The Beatles the year before in Comiskey Park and that was exciting, but the songs in this set were so much more marvelous to me – the vision of them in the flesh, their cool new stage outfits, the shirts with the long pointy collars, the odd sight of both George and John playing identical sunburst Epiphone Casino guitars rather than the Rickenbacker and Gretsch I had come to know.  Just as with my first Beatles concert, I couldn’t believe it was them.  I’m sure that’s why so many millions screamed in their presence.

As we drove home later, with my head still swimming with it all, I promised myself I would try to remember every detail so I could always access it perfectly -  a wonderful teenage fantasy about trapping memories, about capturing lightning in a bottle.  Many of the details of that concert have eroded since then, but I still have an indelible sense in my very marrow of how exciting it was.
--Andrew


I saw the Beatles twice in Chicago.  I still have the ticket stubs.  The only two things I really remember are, not hearing much unless you put your fingers in your ears, and in Comisky Park (’65) there were guys walking around in Beatle suits.  We all thought it was THEM just walking around
-MBR



Saw the evening show. You could hear YESTERDAY. When the band started to play it, the screaming virtually halted. -  Jim
Saw the 7:30 show and got an autograph from the lead singer of The Cyrcle. A ticket for the show cost $5.50. Will never forget it – Carol
August 12,1966 was my 13th birthday and this was just a FABULOUS way to enter my “teens.” I screamed, I cried, and had the best time ever!
It is a memory that I will NEVER forget. I can still see the Beatles on the stage..it was incredible. -  Debbie
It was a dream come true for me since I had just come to the US from Colombia in 1965 when I was 16 years old, at the time of the concert I was 17. I am now almost 66 years old and will never forget that wonderful experience it was just like I had seen on TV!!! LOTS of screaming!!! My favorite…RINGO?? – Sonia
I was at evening show. 5th row just off center to Johns side. I can see it like yesterday. I found that if I cupped my ears with my hands, I could hear the music. Somewhat. Maybe because I was so close and all the screaming was behind me. I have pictures that I found they the internet that show from behind The Beatles playing and you can see me in the fifth row. Still have the ticket stub of course.  – dahanu

My cousin and i went to the evening show. We were lucky because i sent in for tickets fairly late but we got seats in the first few rows in the balcony on John’s side very close to the band, as opposed to being in the back on the main floor.
We could see them and most importantly, hear them very well.
I wouldn’t have known it at the time but now I look back on the show as one of my life’s highlights. – Glenn

I remember lining up for the show outside, they had this regular door, not the big double doors you go into, it was just a side door, which might have been an indoor exit, and every now and then somebody affiliated with the stadium would open the door and look outside and all the girls would just start screaming thinking it was one of The Beatles.  My memory was the girls outnumbered the guys like 10 to 1. I didn't see anybody that wasn't a teenager. I remember at one point, I can't remember who was playing, but the crowd started chanting “We want The Beatles...we want The Beatles."  right before they came out, the announcer said “Ladies and Gentleman, The B…." and that's all anybody heard for the rest of the concert. Everybody was screaming from that point on. You could hear maybe two or three bars out of every song.


"It was my first concert, "I don't remember anything they sang because girls were screaming."– Rita
"We were screaming, too,  "I don't know if they even sang. It was just exciting being there and knowing they were close.  The screams were so loud, we just started screaming, too. A girl a few rows behind us fainted and the paramedics had to bring her out."– Mary




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300 Greet Beatles

August 13, 2016, 4:37 pm
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300 Greet Beatles
Windsor Star
August 13, 1966

Religion seems to be the cure for the teen disease of Beatlemania which has been sweeping the country the past three years.

No more than 300 teenagers took the trouble to travel the 25 miles to Metropolitan Airport in Detroit to greet the British quartet compared with screaming thousands who swarmed the airport when the Beatles arrived in September 1964.

An American Airlines flight form Chicago arrived at 11:12am. 

The popularity of the Beatles appears to be declining a bit and many attribute it to the recent remarks made by John Lennon about religion.  The distance to the airport, the arrival time and place of the plane carrying the Beatles may also have been factors contributing to the relatively small group of fans who turned up to welcome the group.

The four were greeted with loud screams by the fans that lined the fence beside the runway.  They were able to stop for about four minutes between the plane and a Greyhound bus to talk with reporters.  They then boarded the waiting bus and were rushed off by police escorts to Olympia Stadium.

A large chauffeur-driven black Cadillac was used as a decoy as the procession left the terminal.

Arthur Schurgin, promotion manager for the Beatles said they would be dropped off at the stadium to prepare for their 2pm performance today.  A second performance will be held at 7pm.

There was some confusion as to where the famed group’s instruments were at the time of their departure by bus.   An American Airlines spokesman said later the instruments would be brought by special flight form Chicago at 1pm.

After their tonight’s performance the Beatles will be taken by Greyhound bus to Cleveland, Ohio for a show Sunday evening.  The airline spokesman was unable to say why the group will not travel as they normally do by plane.

The driver of the bus that took the Beatles from the airport to Olympia said he will always remember this experience to his children and grandchildren.  Alex Patterson said, “Today was just like any other day.  I got to work at 9:00 and then found out I would be chauffeuring the Beatles around Detroit.  My kids went wild when I told them.  I still can’t believe it. “The bus driver says he has always been a great fan of the Beatles.

The group will leave Cleveland early Monday enroute to Washington D.C. where they will give an evening performance at the Washington Stadium.  On August 14, Toronto Maple Leaf Garden will host the stars for two performances at 4pm and 8pm.

Toronto is the only Canadian appearance of the 15 day tour.  They were not accompanied with their wives.



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The Beatles backstage in Detroit

August 13, 2016, 4:41 pm
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I am pretty sure all of these are from the Bob Bonis collection   I like them because it gives you a chance to see one of the shirts the guys wore under their stage suit jackets.   The bought the shirts on this tour from a Carnaby Street shop called "Hung on you." 
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Both Detroit shows

August 13, 2016, 4:45 pm
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The Beatles performed two concerts in Detroit in 1966--the afternoon and evening shows.   Right now I am not sure how to distinguish between the two shows, so I am putting all the photos in one post.

















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Detroit gives the Beatles a big OK

August 13, 2016, 4:47 pm
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Detroit Gives Beatles Big OK
Associated Press  (Detroit)

A horde of screeching youngsters and a few reluctant parents greeted Britain’s Beatles here  yesterday in what appeared a second U.S. vote of confidence for the controversial mop heads.    Not deterred by the storm of protest kicked up recently by Beatle John Lennon, an estimated 30,000 fans bought tickets for two performances here. 

The near sellout crowds were similar to the large and vocal audiences the rock n rollers drew in two performances in Chicago.

Lennon irked some Americans in an interview with the Lennon Evening Standard in which he said, 
“We’re more popular than Jesus.” And “Christianity will go.  It will vanish and shrink.”  Ministers, disc jockeys and spokesmen for the Ku Klux Klan had bitter replies.  Lennon later stuck by the remark but said he wasn’t boasting, but deploring a current religious decline.

But the attitude of America’s teenagers seemed to be best expressed by the signs decking Detroit’s Olympia Stadium. 

“We still love you Beatles,” said one.  “We’re back for the third time,” said another.  “We love you John…”  All…Ringo…George…said uncountable buttons and banners.

Over 450 city, county and private police patrolled the stadium with walkie-talkies trying to keep teenagers under control.  Olympia officials prepared themselves for a flood of gifts for the singing group.  Two years ago, when the Beatles played Detroit, they received a room full of cakes, animals and other assorted gifts.

A five-foot high barricade was erected around the stage and two first aid stations were set up, with a doctor and two nurses standing by. 

In Longview, Texas, Friday night a crowd of 7500 teenagers massed around a bonfire of Beatle records, sweatshirts and pictures.  Most of the records were from the library of radio station KLUE, which had been promoting a ban on Beatles songs.  The radio station went on the air with an editorial charging Lennon’s apology for remarking that the Beatles were “more popular than Christ,” was “a poor attempt at reconciling the group from further antagonism.”


Phil Ransom, news director of the radio station said a book by Lennon, “A Spaniard in the Works,” contains “anti-Christian comments that would make the godless Russian leaders blush.”  The radio station said it would not lift its ban on Beatles records. 
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