The DN
1 Today is the anniversary of the very last Beatles' live paid performance in 1966. Each time I look at these sorts of items there is a little devil that pinches me, causing me to say, "EEEE-YOUCH!" Here are some fun facts begged, borrowed, and hopefully not stolen:
2 They performed at San Francisco's Candlestick Park before 25,000 screaming fans. It was a classic Candlestick night, with fog rolling in, cold, and wind. The price of tix was an outrageous $4.50 to $6.50.
3 At the time many had no idea that their final paid performance would be at Candlestick Park, but if you dig deeper, you will find that there was a definite feeling among the band members that this was indeed it, at least for a while. A very long while indeed.
4 I wasn't there. I remember a friend of mine who had attended. She wasn't really a screamer; in fact, she told me that she was simply NOT going to do that and be like all the other immature girls.
5 All that changed within minutes of the boys emerging from a truck and hitting the stage. She told me that she screamed the entire time.
6 To most people who knew how the concerts went, it wasn't particularly an awesome show at all, although any Beatles' concert was going to be an experience despite no amplification beyond their own equipment, and a PA system that was used for announcing different performers.
7 They performed at second base.
8 The show was sponsored by KYA radio with the immortal radio personality, the Emperor Gene Nelson acting as MC. Here is Nelson's overview of the event:
"I was the MC, and, as any Giants fans will know, Candlestick Park in August, at night, was cold, foggy and windy. The funniest thing this night was one of the warm-up acts, Bobby Hebb. He stood up on the stage at Candlestick Park, with the fog, and the wind blowing, and he was singing 'Sunny'! It was tough anyway to work a ballpark as an MC, especially as The Beatles were taking their time to get out. I was trying to entertain a crowd that was shouting, 'Beatles, Beatles, Beatles.'
"The dressing room was chaos. There were loads of people there. The press tried to get passes for their kids and the singer Joan Baez was in there. Any local celebrity, who was in town, was in the dressing room. They were having a party in there. They were having a perfectly wonderful time, while I was freezing my buns off on second base!"
'Emperor' Gene Nelson
The Beatles Off The Record, Keith Badman
For the record, I borrowed this from
the website below:
9 Here is a bit more insight into who knew what and when, from the same website:
" The Beatles made their way to Candlestick Park, Paul McCartney asked their press officer Tony Barrow to make a recording of the
concert on audio cassette, using a hand-held recorder. The cassette
lasted 30 minutes on each side, and, as Barrow didn't flip it during the
show, the recording cut off during final song Long Tall Sally.
'There was a sort of end of term spirit thing going on,
and there was also this kind of feeling amongst all of us around The
Beatles, that this might just be the last concert that they will ever
do. I remember Paul, casually, at the very last minute, saying, 'Have
you got your cassette recorder with you?' and I said, 'Yes, of course.'
Paul then said, 'Tape it will you? Tape the show,' which I did,
literally just holding the microphone up in the middle of the field. As a
personal souvenir of the occasion, it was a very nice thing to have and
the only difference was that it wasn't a spectacular occasion. It was
nothing like Shea Stadium, there was nothing special about it at all,
except that The Beatles did put in extra ad-libs and link material which
they hadn't put in before on any other occasion.' "
Tony Barrow
The Beatles Off The Record, Keith Badman
10 The set list, while short by today's standards, consisted of the following songs:
- Rock and Roll Music (this was a Chuck Berry cover)
- She's a Woman
- If I Needed Someone
- Day Tripper
- Baby's in Black
- I Feel Fine (There are recordings of George talking about how they did this song originally in 1959!)
- Yesterday
- I Wanna Be Your Man (featuring Ringo Starr on lead vocals)
- Nowhere Man
- Paperback Writer
- Long Tall Sally
- In My Life (Just before leaving the stage, John Lennon played the beginning of this classic, but quickly departed. Can you even begin to imagine that song as an encore? I was lucky enough to see George Harrison play that song live in Oakland once, a long, long time ago.)
Sidebar: As many readers of the DN know, I spent years as a vendor at many Bay Area events. I've seen it all, both as a rock and roll aficionado and as a small-time entrepreneur.
11 One reason I said, "EEEE-YOUCH!" in item one is that I found out about the anniversary of that concert last night at around 7 p.m.
12 This meant I either went with the item or rejected it. I decided to go with it because it is a rocker, a fun and reckless journey down Memory Lane.
13 It was to require a LOT of research, web-surfing, and borrowed material in an extremely short period of time.
14 I actually knew very little about that concert, with the exception of the fact that it was loud, foggy, windy, cold, and awesome. That's almost a given.
15 What I didn't know was that there was an undercurrent of this concert being the last live paid Beatles' performance.
16 It's almost a shame that it could never really be called the last Beatles' concert, because their last live performance would have to be the very awesome January 30, 1969 concert on the rooftop of the Apple Records headquarters in London during a midday work week. The people of London were startled, bedazzled, and in some cases, angry that it was disrupting the work day. All in all, it remains a smiling gem, immortalized in the film Let it Be.
17 While that concert is now considered a classic,it was certainly not their last real concert in terms of hype, tickets, screaming fans and all the rest.
18 I enjoyed researching all of this last night. I wasn't sure as to how to go about it, nor how to present it in a neat, controllable package.
19 I got facts, and then I got facts on top of facts. I found recordings, most of which were a bit grainy, and decided not to pepper this piece with sixty links by goofballs and Beatles' nerds.
20 Don't get me wrong. I've always LOVED goofballs and Beatles' nerds, but it doesn't always play well with people who basically want a lark and a quick smile.
21 In my search, I came across a fun video, quite short, but absolutely irresistible. It is a short You Tube account of the Beatles' last concert through the eyes of a vendor.
22 I don't really remember this guy; he was before my time, but his story about his Candlestick boss calling him up and asking him if he would like to work the Beatles is fun. You can't over-emphasize the excitement and electricity of working an event of that magnitude. I imagine him telling his family and friends, bragging rights shining in every direction. When he gets to the park, he is told by a deadpan boss that he will be selling ice cream.
23 This typically happened to vendors. At that time, what you sold was really dictated by whatever arbitrary decisions the bosses would make. It went somewhat by seniority, but if you were relatively new, you weren't going to get a hot seller.
24 And trust me, ice cream at Candlestick Park at night, even during a sizzling Beatles' concert, was not going to be a hot item. Here's this guy's You Tube link. I wound up loving it! I hope it's a hot link, no pun intended. I still haven't quite got Blogspot down yet, so you will need to cut and paste into a URL. It's worth it! Here go:
25 It is getting late as I write this, so I'll try to bring it home here. Listen:
26 Years after the Beatles' last tour, the Rolling Stones rolled into town to put on a sizzling concert at Candlestick during their classic Tattoo You tour. It was a two-day gig that made me $2,500 cash in two days. Pretty handsome scratch.
27 I remember the excitement of doing a Stones' gig, and I knew it was going to be a money maker. We got twenty per cent of what we sold back then. Stadium concerts were a relatively new gig, and up until the Stones' Candlestick gig, only the elite vendors were ever asked to work them.
28 The Stones at Candlestick became a breakthrough for a lot of vendors. We got to Candlestick early and had badges. I assumed they were backstage passes, so my friends and I took the elevator down to the Giants' clubhouse, a mortal sin in the vending world. Nobody said a word.
29 The entire vibe of that Stones' tour was that there were no rules.
30 When we got to the Giants' clubhouse, we found a spread of food that would knock your eyes out: fresh fruit, ice-cold orange juice, coffee, donuts, along with the entire breakfast thing. We were happy to help ourselves, courtesy of the Rolling Stones. Well, probably courtesy of Jovan Musk, who footed a lot of the bill in return for massive advertising revenue.
31 All of this in the Giants' clubhouse. Awesome stuff!
32 We walked behind left and center field, where the Stones had made it look like outside bistros everywhere. Very European, and very la-da-da-da. Let the good times roll.
33 I hadn't thought to have brought a camera; I was too worried about how long the days would be, and how insane the entire gig was. I was also excited to be around the self-proclaimed Greatest Band in the World.
34 What a grand time! We sold tons of items: shirts, buttons, hats, programs, etc. and it never stopped until the gig started. Then everyone cleared from the souvenir stands and went in to watch the show. I was working with two other guys, and one guy hated rock and roll. Too loud.
35 His brother and I asked if we could go in and watch. He was happy to have some alone time, so we ran into the stadium.
36 I got to watch a bunch of that show both days. It completely knocked me out.
37 So it seems only fitting that one of my favorite life experiences brings this DN to a natural close. I think it was right after Let's Spend the Night Together that Mick Jagger jumped to the mic and gave a couple of hoots and hollers to the buzzing crowd.
38 The crowed silenced, and Mick said words to this effect: "Ya havin' a good TAHHHHHHHM?" A huge roar.He paused and got a bit serious. "You know, this is where the Beatles played their last concert." Phonetically "played" became "plied," "last" was pronounced "lahst," and "concert" "consit." All British.
39 The audience slowly hooted, then screamed, cheered, whistled, and applauded. Great historic salute. We were all nodding at the classy reference.
40 Mick then grabbed the mic and said deadpan, "Useless f @#&ing informayshun!" triggering a grinding guitar riff from Keith, and within seconds they were into another song. The place went wild. People came right out of their skin.
41 I wound up having just three-hours sleep after two days of the Stones concerts, got up the next morning, showered, shaved and got to school just in time for my first class. My eyeballs fell to the sides of my desk like two red Slinkys.
42 There was a quiet moment in my classroom.
43 The voice of a student from the back of the room asked, "Hey Mr. H, did you go to the Stones' concert last night?"
44 I lifted my head as best I could and gave a feeble smile. There was another pause. I then heard another voice from the other side of the room declare, "He LOOKS like he went to the Stones' concert!"
46 So a Happy Beatles' Final Concert Day to you. I'd like to also thank all the random websites that had taken the time to chronicle this little bit of rock history.
47 Have a GREAT Thursday, and think of some Beatles' tunes that you enjoy today. There has to be at least one.
48 I have a great many, and it has been my pleasure to bring you this piece on what otherwise would have been just another Thursday.
49 I know I'll never lose affection for people and things that went before. This means you.
50 See you again.
51 Peace.
