Beatles A Day in the Life Blog posts of '1964' 'August'

A day of rest on the US tour.

Convention Hall, Mississippi Ave and The Boardwalk, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

For this show, 18,000 teenagers packed the Convention Hall. The Democratic National Convention had taken place here a week earlier and newspapers reported The Beatles received a boisterous reception than the speech by Lyndon B. Johnson.

During their stay in Atlantic City, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song Every Little Thing, which appeared on the Beatles For Sale album at the end of 1964.

Just to give you an idea of what ticket prices were back then......

Forest Hills, New York, USA

The second night at Forest hills Tennis Stadium. What memories!

Forest Hills, New York, USA

The first of two performances, in front of 16,000 fans at the Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York City.

The Beatles had landed at 3.02am that morning at Kennedy Airport, and were greeted by 3,000 waiting fans. They were driven to the Delmonico Hotel on Park Avenue and 59th Street where more fans were waiting, even though their stay was supposed to be a secret.

One fan, Angie McGowan, snatched Ringo Starr‘s St Christopher medallion as he made his way inside the hotel, although she returned it later that day at their pre-show press conference. The fans were dispersed by police at 4am. By the time The Beatles awoke later that morning thousands more fans were outside.

The Beatles were flown to the stadium by helicopter, which departed late as the pilot didn’t have permission to depart. They took to the stage at 9.50pm, later than expeced.

Tickets for each of the venue’s 15,983 seats wertra ones were added at the high price of $6.50. The audience were kept from the stage by an eight-foot high fence topped with barbed wire.

Cincinnati Gardens, Seymour Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

The Beatles gave one performance in Cincinnati, before 14,000 fans, immediately after they flew to New York City, landing at 2:55 am to a reception from 2,000 fans.

Meanwhile, earlier on this day, prior to setting the tapes upon the shelf, Capitol producer Voyle Gilmore and balance engineer Hugh Davies made stereo mixes of the previous Sunday's Hollywood Bowl concert recording, mixed down to two-track, with added equlisation, reverb and limiting. The material, in order was "Introduction" (by announcer), "Twist And Shout", "You Can't Do That", "All My Loving", "She Loves You", "Things We Said Today", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Can't Buy Me Love", "If I Fell", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Boys", "A Hard Day's Night", and "Long Tall Sally".

All that could be heard of this material until 1977 was a 48 second extract of "Twist And Shout" on the US only album "The Beatles Story" released on November 23, 1964.

Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Lawrence St. Denver, Colorado, USA

Only 7,000 fans turned up to see the Beatle's one show in this natural amphitheatre, leaving 2,000 seats unoccupied. What???

The 2nd day in Bel Air (resting) between concerts. Tomorrow - Colorado!

The Beatles resting in Bel Air for the first of two days.

Hollywood Bowl, North Highland Ave. Los Angeles, California, USA

Capitol Records recorded the group at the Hollywood Bowl, a concert attended by 18,700 fans. Capitol planned an album for issue to the US record market only, since it was felt then that record buyers in Britain, although obsessed with anything by the Beatles, would not be interested in an LP of songs already in their collections, even if these were different recordings.

The concert was recorded, all 29 minutes of it, the tape was mixed, but it received a thumbs-down from Capitol and the Beatles because of poor quality and was put away until January 1977, when the three-track tapes were exhumed for the release of the historic live album, The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.

From start to finish, the performance was also captured on film, by an amateur cameraman/woman and also by a newsreel company.

After the show, and for the next two days, the Beatles rested at a private house in Bel Air, only going outside for a private party, held in their honor (and in aid of a charity) during the afternoon.

Empire Stadium, Exhibition Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Attendance at this one show, the Beatle's first in Canada, was 20,261 and it was also broadcast live by local radio station CKNW. Immediately afterwards, the group flew back across the US border to Los Angeles, arriving at 3:55 am.