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1964, August

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 31, 1964 (Monday) - 0 Comments

A day of rest on the US tour.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 30, 1964 (Sunday) - 0 Comments

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......

LocationColorAdmissionComments
BalconyOrange$ 2.75 
BalconyGreen$ 4.90 
Main floorPeach$ 2.75 
Main floorWhite$ 3.90 
Main FloorRed$ 4.90 
Musicians Balcony UnreservedOlive$ 2.75 
RingsideGold$ 5.50 
RingsideSilver$ 5.50 




The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 29, 1964 (Saturday) - 0 Comments

Forest Hills, New York, USA

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

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 28, 1964 (Friday) - 0 Comments

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.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 27, 1964 (Thursday) - 0 Comments

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.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 26, 1964 (Wednesday) - 0 Comments

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 Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 25, 1964 (Tuesday) - 0 Comments

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

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 24, 1964 (Monday) - 0 Comments

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

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 23, 1964 (Sunday) - 0 Comments

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.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 22, 1964 (Saturday) - 0 Comments

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.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 21, 1964 (Friday) - 0 Comments

Colisieum, Harrison St. Seattle, Washington, USA

One 29 minute performance with an audience of 14,720 fans.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 20, 1964 (Thursday) - 0 Comments

Convention Center, Paradise Rd. Las Vegas, Nevada USA

The Beatles flew to Las Vegas immediately after the Cow Palace performance, arriving at 1:00. They performed two shows at 4:00 and 9:00 pm, before a combined audience of 16,000. "Till There Was You", was temporarily added to the repertoire.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 19, 1964 (Wednesday) - 0 Comments

Cow Palace, Geneva Ave. San Francisco, CA USA

The first of 25 dates in the "The Beatle's First American Tour". It actually was their 2nd visit, but certainly the group's first major tour around the continent and even venturing into Canada for three concerts.

The Beatles performed just 12 songs and the tour's support acts were in order of appearance, the Bill Black Combo, the Exciters, the Righteous Brothers and Jackie DeShannon.

All 17,130 seats for this concert were SOLD, gate receipts totalling $91,670. The Beatles gross share of this was $47,600.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 18, 1964 (Tuesday) - 0 Comments

On August 18th, the Beatles returned to the States to kick off the 1964 North American Tour - 24 cities and 32 performances in just 34 days.

The Beatles flight from London arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, August 18th.

The first concert of the tour would be held the following night in San Francisco at the Cow Palace. When the Beatles arrived at San Francisco International Airport at 6:25 pm there was a crowd of over 9,000 screaming teenagers.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 17, 1964 (Monday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles are packing for the USA tour.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 16, 1964 (Sunday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles at the Opera House, Blackpool

Shortly to change their name to The Who, one of the support acts on this bill were the High Numbers, billed as "a new R&B group".

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 15, 1964 (Saturday) - 0 Comments

DEAN MARTIN KNOCKS THE BEATLES
OUT OF #1 SPOT - AUGUST 15, 1964

DEAN MARTIN'S SON, RICCI MARTIN, WAS JUST LIKE MOST ANY OTHER TEENAGER IN THE EARLY MONTHS OF 1964 - CRAZY AND OBSESSED WITH THE BEATLES.  THEIR NEW FILM A HARD DAY'S NIGHT WAS jUST RELEASED AND A SMASH HIT.

DURING THIS WAVE OF BEATLEMANIA, RICCI WAS RAVING ON AND ON ABOUT THE BOYS FROM LIVERPOOL. HIS FATHER, DEAN MARTIN, STAR OF STAGE, SCREEN, TELEVISION, LAS VEGAS, AND THE RECORD WORLD, GOT FED UP ONE DAY AND TOOK RICCI TO THE SIDE AND TOLD HIM: i'M GONNA KNOCK YOUR PALLIES OFF THE CHARTS.

YES, RICCI'S DAD WAS THE GREAT DEAN MARTIN, BUT DINO HADN'T HAD A HIT RECORD IN SIX YEARS - AND WELL, THESE GUYS WERE THE BEATLES!

IT WAS A SONG CALLED EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME. THE SONG HAD BEEN WRITTEN AROUND 15 YEARS EARLIER. DEAN HAD TO BE COAXED INTO RECORDING THE NUMBER, BUT AFTER SOME PUSHING, HE FINALLY AGREED TO RECORD THE TUNE THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN RECORDED BY SEVERAL OTHER ARTISTS INCLUDING SINATRA, PEGGY LEE AND DINAH WASHINGTON, AND HAD NEVER GONE ANYWHERE.

WHEN DEAN'S ALBUM CAME OUT, THE SONG WAS GIVEN LITTLE NOTICE AND RAISED NO STIR, BUT IN, EARLY IN 1964, DEAN RECORDED THE SONG AGAIN AS A SINGLE. IT SOON SPREAD AND GAINED POPULARITY, AND ON AUGUST 15, 1964, JUST AS HE HAD BOASTED TO HIS SKEPTICAL SON, EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME ACTUALLY KNOCKED THE BEATLES OUT OF THE #1 SPOT ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 RECORD CHART.


SAID DEAN CASUALLY TO HIS AWESTRUCK SON. RICCI MARTIN SAID HE LOOKED ON AT HIS FATHER WITH PRIDE, WONDER AND AMAZEMENT. AND THUS, DEAN MARTIN, IN ALL PROBABILITY, BECAME THE ONE AND ONLY PERSON TO CORRECTLY PREDICT THAT HE WAS GOING TO KNOCK THE BEATLES OUT OF THE NUMBER ONE SPOT ON THE CHARTS AND ACTUALLY DO IT!

Here is a list of the BILLBOARD'S TOP FIVE SONGS - AUGUST 15, 1964

1. EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME
DEAN MARTIN

2. WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?
THE SUPREMES

3. A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
THE BEATLES

4. RAG DOLL
THE FOUR SEASONS

5. UNDER THE BOARDWALK
THE DRIFTERS

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 14, 1964 (Friday) - 0 Comments

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

This new LP came too soon after A Hard Day's Night for Lennon-McCartney, to have written a full album's worth of quality new material. They had a few songs, the final quota numbering eight, so for the other cuts the Beatles had to rely on former stage favorites.

Of the three songs during the evening session, only one, "I'm A Loser", was a Lennon-McCartney number, written mostly by John and showing a definite shift in direction away from the "hand-holding" songs to a more autobiographical and introspective slant, influenced by Bob Dylan. It was recorded in eight takes. These and four of Dr. Feelgood and the Intern's "Mr. Moonlight" were taped between 7:00 and 9:00 pm.

After that mono mixes wer made of both titles, presumably, since they were later improved upon, these were for John's personal use - right up to his death in 1980 he liked to take home rough mixes of his day's studio work, usually on a 7 1/2 ips reel.

Then the Beatles decided to do more recording, returning to their instruments for five takes of Johnny Preston's "Leave My Kitten Alone", the "Best" being the last, adorned with a number of overdubs.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 13, 1964 (Thursday) - 0 Comments

Today, a day of rest.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 12, 1964 (Tuesday) - 0 Comments

Whaddon House, William Mews, London

During an "At Home" party thrown this evening by Brian Epstein in his home here (Flat 15), Ringo was interviewed by NME journalist Chris Hutchins for the BBC Light Programme series The Teen Scene, discussing in particular the Beatles' forthcoming North American concert tour. It was broadcast the next night, Thursday, August 13th.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 11, 1964 (Tuesday) - 0 Comments

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

A Hard Day's Night had been out just two weeks when the Beatles began recording another LP, in keeping with the formula of two albums per year, the second aimed at the Christmas sales market. This one would remain untitled until the release date was in sight, eventually being named Beatles For Sale.

The group began and completed John's "Baby In Black" within this time, taping 14 takes and then making 13 separate attempts at perfecting the song's twangy opening guitar notes (none of which was chosen for the finished version).

Before recording, the Beatles were filmed in performance positions by BBC television cameras for an insert into Top Of The Pops. It mattered not what song they were singing for this was a "wild track" shoot, a collection of mute images onto which a disc recording, in this instance of "A Hard Day's Night", could be overdubbed for TOTP broadcast.

Although the shooting was completed, the film was never screened because the BBC then clashed with Brian Epstein over the size of the group's fee, and the footage was later junked.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 10, 1964 (Monday) - 0 Comments
Singles Time Line........


Do You Want To Know A Secret/Thank You Girl
Oldies 45 OL149 - August 10, 1964

Please Please Me/From Me To You
Oldies 45 OL150 - August 10, 1964

Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You
Oldies 45 OL151 - August 10, 1964

Twist And Shout/There's A Place
Oldies 45 OL152 - August 10, 1964
The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 9, 1964 (Sunday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles appearing at the Futurist Theatre, Scarborough

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 8, 1964 (Saturday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles resting up!

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 7, 1964 (Friday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles still had a couple of gigs coming up before the USA tour.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 6, 1964 (Thursday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles enjoying a few days of doing nothing.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 5, 1964 (Wednesday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles having a rest before the big USA tour. (Next Week)

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 4, 1964 (Tuesday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles preparing for their big trip to the USA.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 3, 1964 (Monday) - 0 Comments

The Beatles inbetween tours. "A Hard Day's Night" number ONE.

The Beatles - A Day in The Life: August 2, 1964 (Sunday) - 0 Comments

Gaumont Cinema, Bournemouth

Also on the bill with the Beatles were the Kinks, described as a "new and unknown London group", Mike Berry and singer/comedienne Adrienne Poster (later Posta).