I have always loved the whole story of the Beatles performing in Kansas City in 1964. If I had been around in 1964, and was able to go to a Beatles concert, I most likely would have gone to the Kansas City show. I thought about that when I traveled the three hours west to see Paul McCartney in Kansas City this past July.
I love how Charles O. Finley was determined to get the Beatles to play in his town. He thought that the fans deserved it and he was willing to pay whatever it cost to make the Beatles show happen. And he did it!!!
In hindsight, the Beatles might as well have made the money and played Kansas City because they would not have had the opportunity to sight-see in New Orleans as they had originally planned.
There is much controversy over if the Beatles played the song "Kansas City/Hey hey Hey" when they were there. That song would have have been released on any Beatles album, but it was a staple in the Hamburg sets and the Beatles had performed it in the Cavern and on the BBC. It was a song that they knew well. If they did perform Kansas City, then they would have cut out "Twist and Shout" from the setlist. It is funny that after all of these years, people still cannot agree on this.
There are two books about the Beatles in Kansas City. The first one was published quite awhile ago and it is called Beatles '64 Going' to Kansas city by Jospeh Tunzin. It is mostly a CD that has the press conference on it, but there is also a booklet that has photos and information. The other book is called Kansas City Meets the Beatles by Gard Murtha. This book was published in 2013. It has a lot of information taken from newspaper articles and first hand accounts including the story behind this piece of a curtain that one fan took after the show.
