Fab Four Blog

The Beatles flew out of Brisbane, changing planes again in Sydney. After refueling stops in Singapore and Frankfurt, their Quantas flight touched down at London Airport on July 2nd.

The Beatles’ 1964 world tour ended on this night, with two shows at the Festival Hall in Brisbane. Each of the concerts was seen by 5,500 fans.

During the day they took two hire cars to the Gold Coast, where they spent time relaxing on a stretch of sand between Broadbeach and Surfers Paradise.

The Beatles returned to Lennons Hotel in Brisbane after their second concert of the night. The following day they began their long return journey back to England.

Festival Hall, Charlotte St. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Four shows over two nights, each before 5500 people, closed the Beatles hectic tour of the Antipodes.

The Beatles flew out of Christchurch for Sydney, Australia, switching planes in Auckland. From Sydney they changed planes again, landing in Brisbane just after midnight.

Majestic Theatre, Manchester St. Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

Around 5,000 fans greeted The Beatles as their aeroplane from Dunedin landed in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The fans were also lined up along the route The Beatles’ limousine took to the Clarendon Hotel in Christchurch city centre, where the group was staying. At one point a 13-year-old girl threw herself in front of the car, bouncing off the bonnet and onto the road. The Beatles took her to their hotel, gave her coffee and made sure she was unhurt.

At the hotel some male fans hid in a closet, intending to cut The Beatles’ hair in an attempt to impress their girlfriends. They were discovered before they could encounter the group, but the men got away down the fire escape.

The Majestic Theatre was an Art Deco cinema dating from 1930, and hosted a number of music performances during the 1960s including The Kinks, The Dave Clark Five and Manfred Mann. In 1970 it became a nightclub and was later converted into a church.

This was The Beatles’ only concert in Christchurch, and their final one in New Zealand.

Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand

Two shows in this 4000 seater town hall. The flight from Auckland to Dunedin had been an anxious one following an anonymous threat that a "germ bomb" had been placed somewhere on board the plane.

Town Hall, Queen St. Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Four shows over two nights, seen by a total of 10,000 people.

The Beatles attended a civic reception held by Auckland’s mayor Dove-Myer Robinson at the Town Hall, prior to their performances there in the evening.

Mayor Robinson held the event in the face of opposition from a number of city council members. More enthusiastic, though, were the 7,000 fans who gathered outside the Town Hall to see the group rub noses with three Maori girls in native dress.

It was one of the quickest and most pleasant receptions we’ve ever been to. We went out onto a balcony and waved to the crowd, and some Maoris danced for us, and away we went.

The Lord Mayor was very nice and said, ‘I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t come, with all the fuss they’ve been making round here about how much it’s costing.’

As on the previous night, The Beatles performed two shows at the Town Hall, each of which was seen by 2,500 fans.

Town Hall, Queen St. Auckland, North Island, New Zealand

Four shows over two nights, seen by a total of 10,000 people.

Town Hall, Cuba St. Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

The Beatles performing two shows tonight.

Town Hall, Cuba St. Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

Four shows in Wellington, two per night, at the 2500 seat Town Hall, kicked off the Beatle's seven day visit to New Zealand, to where they had flown from Sydney on the 21st. His cords recovered from tonsillitis, Ringo resumed his one-vocal-per-concert quota with "Boys" at the first of these Wellington shows, returning the Beatle's performing repertoire to 11 songs.

Meanwhile, George Martin, balance engineer Norman Smith and second engineer/tape op Geoff Emerick spent an exhaustive day undertaking mono and stero mixes of Beatles recordings.

The Beatles Complete Chronicle - ML

On this day The Beatles flew from Sydney Airport to Auckland, New Zealand.

As The Beatles prepared to leave Suite 801 of Sydney’s Chevron Hotel, they heard a tap on the windows. It was Peter Roberts, a 20-year-old Liverpudlian living in Australia, who had scaled eight storeys in darkness via the hotel drainpipes.

We were all shoving our dirty rags into a case when I heard a knock on the window. I thought it must have been one of the others mucking around so I didn’t take any notice, but the knocking kept on so I went over to the balcony – and there was this lad who looked just like a typical Liverpool lad. I knew before he opened his mouth where he was from, because nobody else would be climbing up eight floors. This lad – Peter – walked in and said, ‘Hullo dere,’ and I said, ‘Hullo dere,’ and he told me how he’d climbed up the drainpipe, from balcony to balcony. I gave him a drink because he deserved one and then I took him around to see the others, who were quite amazed. They thought I was joking when I told them.   John Lennon, 1964 Anthology

At Sydney Airport The Beatles were greeted by an estimated 10,000 fans – their biggest number yet. After flying 1,500 miles to Auckland they were greeted by another 7,000 people, and were given traditional nose-rubbing kisses from Maori women in native dress.

When we were flying in to New Zealand, it looked like England – like Devon, with cows and sheep. But in those days we were looking for some action, and there was absolutely nothing happening.

We were in the hotel room, sitting around eating fish and chips with peas, and watching television. And suddenly, at about nine o’clock at night, the channels all closed down. So we threw our dinners at the TV. George Harrison, 1964 Anthology

The Beatles were driven to Auckland’s Hotel St George where a further 3,000 fans were waiting for them. They had to be smuggled in through a nearby bottle shop to avoid the crush of people.

Today, at their Sydney hotel, the Beatles recorded a telephone conversation for broadcast a week later (Saturday, June 27, 5:00 to 6:30 pm) back in Britain on the BBC Light Programme show Roundabout, chatting to the programme's compere Colin Hamilton. The interview was split into three sections for the transmission, totalling five minutes.

Tonight was the last of three nights at the Stadium in Sydney.

The second day of three nights at the Stadium in Sydney.

Stadium, Rushcutter's Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

The Beatles returned to Sydney from Melbourne for six shows over three nights, with 12,000 fans - the biggest pop concert audience in Sydney at that time, packing into the Stadium on each occasion.

Typically, newsreel cameras were allowed to film a part of one of the Sydney performances. Not especially typical, however, was the production of a stand-alone production from this footage, Beatles at the Stadium, a "Cinesound exclusive!" which opened on June 25th at Wyngard & State Theatrettes in Sydney. Advertisements for the film boasted "Hear them sing excerpts from their five greatest hits, including "She Loves You", "Love Me Do", "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and more! The Beatles didn't perform "Love Me Do" in Sydney nor at any other venue on this tour.

The Beatles Complete Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

The Beatles’ final two shows in Melbourne, Australia took place on this day.

In the afternoon George Harrison went driving in an MG in the Dandenong Mountains with tour organiser Lloyd Ravenscroft. Concerned with more important matters, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had their hair cut in their hotel, the Southern Cross.

This was The Beatles’ last of three consecutive nights of shows in the city’s Festival Hall, Each night they gave two concerts, which were enjoyed by a total of 45,000 people.

Cameras from the Australian Channel 9 recorded the sixth and final show of the Melbourne leg of the world tour. It was screened on 1 July 1964 as an hour-long special, The Beatles Sing For Shell, named after the oil company which sponsored the broadcast.

Nine of The Beatles’ Melbourne performances were included in the show: I Saw Her Standing There, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, Twist And Shout and Long Tall Sally. During Long Tall Sally, a male audience member rushed onto the stage to shake John Lennon’s hand.

On The Beatles’ second night of performances in Melbourne, Australia, they gave two concerts at the city’s Festival Hall.

Their repertoire during this part of the world tour consisted of 10 songs: I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, This Boy and Long Tall Sally.

At 8am on the morning of 15 June 1964, Jimmie Nicol left the Southern Cross Hotel on Bourke Street, Melbourne. Accompanied by Brian Epstein, he was driven to the airport where he was given a final agreed fee of £500, as well as a gold watch with the engraving: “To Jimmy, with appreciation and gratitude – Brian Epstein and The Beatles.”

Nicol didn’t say goodbye to The Beatles; they were sleeping off the previous night’s party, and he felt he shouldn’t disturb them. The group was celebrating their reunion with Ringo Starr, who had missed the early part of their world tour after being struck down by acute tonsillitis and pharyngitis.

In the afternoon EMI held a reception for The Beatles at the hotel. However, the event turned sour when John Lennon protested at label executives upon finding out they had released With The Beatles with different artwork.

Australian trade union rules meant that all album artwork had to be re-photographed and altered; it was felt that Robert Freeman’s iconic image would lose details, so a replacement was designed. Lennon, however, was unwilling to tolerate such a reason.

That night, and for the two subsequent nights, The Beatles performed two shows at the Festival Hall in Melbourne. The six concerts were watched by a total of 45,000 people.

After this first night’s shows, The Beatles attended a private party held in the city’s affluent suburb Toorak.

Ringo rejoined the Beatles in Melbourne on June 14th 1964 following his ten day hospital recovery from accute tonsilitis. As Ringo Starr and Brian Epstein arrived in Melbourne, they witnessed the beginnings of the incredible gathering that would greet the other Beatles arrival later that afternoon. The car carrying Ringo and Brian pulled up to the main public entrance where 3,000 fans had already gathered.

Dick Lean, managing director of Stadiums Limited, would later remember about Ringo's arrival: "The police inspector decided to put Ringo on his shoulders and make a dash for the entrance. It seemed like a good idea until our PR lady began waving to the crowd, then tripped and fell down right in front of this piggy back. (The inspector) stepped on her and down came Ringo, right into the grasping claws of hundreds of kids. When we finally pulled him out and got him inside... his first words were "Give us a drink. That was the roughest ride I've ever had!"

As the rest of the group arrived, the number of fans had grown to 20,000 and the police to 400, with literally thousands of fists banging on the glass panels that comprised the front of the Southern Cross Hotel. John, Paul, George and Jimmy used a more secretive entrance into the hotel, and within minutes they and Ringo were rushed to the first-floor balcony, in an attempt to draw the fans away from the glass doors of the hotel. John was later reported as calling it "The greatest reception we have received anywhere in the world."

All five Beatles were present for the press conference in Melbourne at the Southern Cross Hotel. Following the press conference, the five were also interviewed with questions from a panel of five Australian television personalities. Both the press conference and the TV interview are presented below.

Jimmy Nicol departed for London the next day. Once back home, with all the newfound attention on him, he was automatically set for television appearances and interviews. However-bright the spotlight, his 1964 appearances with the Beatles would not bring lasting stardom to his future musical career.

In Adelaide at Centennial Hall, the group gave their first four shows in Australia, over two nights, the repertoire identical to that performed in Denmark, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. Fifty thousand applications arrived for 12,000 seats here.

In exchange for a handsome fee, NEMS permitted one of the two shows on the 12th to be recorded for radio transmission. The broadcast, titled simply Beatles Show and sponsored by the manufactureres of Surf Detergent, went out the following Monday evening, on June 15th.

The Beatles Chronicle - ML

The day after they landed on Australian soil, The Beatles flew from Sydney to Adelaide in a chartered Ansett ANA jet, arriving at 11.57am.

An estimated 200,000 people lined the 10-mile route between Adelaide Airport and the city centre in the hope of seeing The Beatles’ motorcade. More than 30,000 surrounded the Town Hall, where they met the city’s mayor, James Campbell Irwin, along with council members and their families.

The Beatles were given toy koala bears. John Lennon told the reception, “Wherever we go, anywhere in the world, this reception which Adelaide has given us will stick in our memories.”

The group was shadowed by local DJ Bob Francis from 5DN, who interviewed them in a range of locations including the Town Hall balcony. Francis also booked the suite next to theirs at the Southern Australia Hotel, from where he gave listeners hourly updates.Three hundred thousand people welcomed us to Adelaide. It was like a heroes’ welcome. George waved too. That was the kind of place where we would go to the town hall and they would all be there in the centre of the city. If it had happened suddenly, overnight, it might have gone to our heads; but we had come up bit by bit, so it didn’t (not too much). We were just very pleased that everyone had turned out.We were still close enough to our Liverpool roots to know how it would feel, and what it would mean, if we had showed up in the middle of town to see a group; so we could feel it in their spirit. I think we quite enjoyed it all. It can get a bit wearing, but it certainly wasn’t then.We came in from the airport – it was the same in Liverpool for the première of a A Hard Day’s Night, with the whole city centre full of people – and the crowds were lining the route and we were giving them the thumbs up. And then we went to the Adelaide town hall with the Lord Mayor there, and gave the thumbs up again. In Liverpool it was OK, because everyone understands the thumbs up – but in Australia it’s a dirty sign.

On June 11th 1964, the three Beatles and Jimmy Nicol traveled overnight from Hong Kong to Sydney, arriving down under at around 7:30am. Despite the heavy rain and winds, the Beatles agreed to be paraded on a flatbed truck so that their fans waiting at the airport would not be disappointed. The Beatles waved at the huge crowd in the early morning storm, becoming literally soaked. As the Beatles would later learn, caused by the downpour, the caped coats which they had purchased in Hong Kong unfortunately stained their bodies a pale blue. Luckily this discoloration hid underneath their clothing while in public.

Dick Lean, managing director of Stadiums Limited, would later remember about the Sydney press conference: "They were just brilliant, under any circumstance. They handled the press with a sharp reparte that we'd just never seen before." The Beatles had once again charmed the all-important press. An editorial in Sydney's Sun newspaper proclaimed: "Their press conference showed that teenagers are not necessarily fools when it comes to picking winners. One cannot 'ready' a press conference. Questions are asked and answered off the cuff very quickly... they showed considerable insight into the secret of their own success."

The following press conference was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Sydney, marking their June 11th arrival down under, with Jimmy Nicol.

A New mono mix of "I'll Be Back" was prepared between 10:00 and 11:00 in studio two at Abbey Road this morning - in the Beatle's absence, of course.

The Complete Beatles Chronicle - ML

Princess Theatre, Un Chau St. Kowloon, Hong Kong

Two "houses" at the 1700 seater Princess Theatre in Kowloon. Beatlemania was evident even here in the Orient. Neither performance here was sold out, principally because of the high ticket price, HK $75, set by the local promoter without the knowledge of Brian Epstein. Equivalent to £4 10s (£4.50) at the time, this was the average working man's weekly wage in Hong Kong.

The Beatles had left Amsterdam during the morning of June 7th and flown back to London where they took a connecting flight, conveniently delayed to allow for their switchover, and set out for Hong Kong. The plane made several re-fuelling stops at Zurich, Beirut, Karachi, Calcutta and Bangkok and at each airport terminal, at any time of the day or night, and irrespective of whether one or more of the Beatles actually alighted the plane, Beatlemania erupted. Then, when the plane landed at Kaitak Airport in Hong Kong more than a thousand fans were on hand to greet them.

Back in England, meanwhile, George Martin supervised new mono mixes of "A Hard Day's Night" and "Things We Said Today" and the copying of two sets of A Hard Day's Night mono mixes for dissemination to Capital Records and United Artists Records in the USA ("I Should Have Known Better", "If I Fell", "Tell Me Why", "And I Love Her", "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", "I'll Cry Instead", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "A Hard Day's Night").

The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

BBC re-broadcasts 'Around The Beatles'.

Brian flies back to London and announces that Gerry and the Pacemakers will star in their own Christmas show.

Vara TV (Holland) screens the 5 June 1964 recording.

On the morning of 7 June 1964 The Beatles flew from Amsterdam to Hong Kong, a journey which took in refueling stops in several countries and lasted more than 24 hours.

The group first flew back to London Airport where their connecting flight was postponed for an hour to allow them to catch it. Once they were on board the BEA 10.15am flight to Hong Kong began.

The aeroplane made scheduled stops in Zurich, Beirut, Karachi, Calcutta and Bangkok before arriving in Hong Kong. At each airport terminal hordes of fans turned out in the hope of seeing The Beatles, regardless of the time of day or whether the group actually left the plane.

In Beirut local police used fire-fighting foam to hold back hundreds of fans who broke through security and invaded the runway. In Karachi Paul McCartney was mobbed while buying souvenirs at the airport at 2am, forcing him back onto the aeroplane. The only stop which held no drama was at Calcutta, where they managed to disembark for a cup of tea at 6am on 8 June.

KB Hallen, Peter Bangsvej, Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark

Two shows (at 6:00 and 9:30 pm), each seen by 4400 people, kicked-off the Beatle's 27-day world tour, which spanned Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand. For the first five dates, Copenhagen through to Adelaide, Jimmy Nicol replaced Ringo Starr.

For the two Copenhagen "houses", and the following ten dates until they reached Wellington, their repertoire comprised "I Saw Her Standing There", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "You Can't Do That", "All My Loving", "She Loves You", "Till There Was You", "All My Loving", "She Loves You", "Till There Was You", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Can't Buy Me Love", "This Boy", and "Long Tall Sally".

With the Beatles out of the country (except for Ringo, that is, who remained behind in a London hospital), George Martin and balance engineer Norman Smith were left with the task of completing the group's batch of recent recordings.

The Beatles Complete Chronicle- ML

Vellinghal Op Hoop Van Zegen, Veilingweg, Blokker, The Netherlands

Two shows in an auction hall in Blokker, 40 km north of Amsterdam, near Hoorn, a 2:30 matinee attended by only 2000 fans and a 7:00 pm performance for which all of the 7000 tickets were sold. The Beatles appeared on stage at 4:30 and 10:05 pm respectively, following eight support acts, and played for around 25 minutes each time. Typical of so many of the group's latter-day concerts, the evening performance was filmed, in this instance by television news and newsreel cameras.

Cafe-Restaurant Treslong, Vosselaan, Hillegom, The Netherlands

The Beatle's first duty in Holland following their 1:00 pm arrival and press conference at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, was to tape a performance for VARA-t, one of the group's best television appearances of all. For this they were driven south, to the town of Hillegom, near Haarlem, arriving around 4:00 pm at this restaurant with theatre facilities often hired by TV companies. Rehearsals began at 5:30 and recording at 8:00.

The program fell into two distinct sections. In the first part, members of the 150-person audience put some questions to Herman Stok, who was seated among them. Stok then fed the questions by microphone/headphone to Berend Boudewijn, seated in the theatre's bar area with the Beatles, Boudewijn translated them into English and the group responded.

The second part was a music performance - the Beatles miming to EMI recordings but adding new vocals on top if they felt like doing so because the microphones were left open. (Their guitars were also plugged in, but no amplifiers nor new sounds were evident). They began with "Twist And Shout" then followed with "All My Loving" and "Roll Over Beethoven". During the next number, "Long Tall Sally", dancing members of the audience began to encroach onto the stage, they got even closer during "She Loves You" and by the time John, Paul and George began "Can't Buy Me Love" they were completely engulfed. Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall and Derek Taylor came on to clear the area but, being unable to do so, Neil directed the three Beatles to leave the stage. Meanwhile, because they were miming, the music continued in their absence, only Jimm Nicol remaining behind, seemingly determined to fulfil his job as the Beatle's temporary drummer even though the others had left.

The Beatles Complete Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The Beatle's work at EMI Studios on this date can be separated into two distinct sections: 3:00-4:00 pm rehearsing and 5:30-9:30 pm recording.

The afternoon rehearsal, which was not taped, replaced a pre-booked 2:30-5:30 recording session and was swiftly arranged by Brian Epstein to familarize session drummer Jimmy Nicol with the Beatles and their material. Just a few hours earlier, Nicol had been pottering around his home in Barnes, west London, when a telephone call came through from George Martin, on behalf of Epstein, inviting him to become a temporary Beatle. Ringo had been taken ill during a photo session that monring and since he was now in the hospital it was clear that he wouldn't be going out on tour with the Beatles the following morning. With some urgency, Nicol was recruited as his temporary replacement.

So, Nicol went to EMI where, instead of recording, the three remaining Beatles ran him through a half-dozen songs in their present stage routine - "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You", "I saw her standing there", "This Boy", later, John, Paul, George and Jimmy were on stage in Copenhagen, giving their first concert.

When Nicol left the studio, John, Paul and George remained behind to do some recording (documentary evidence that this session took place, and it's details, only came to light in 1991). In Ringo's absence, each of the three took the opportunity to tape simple demo versions of recent compositions. The resulting tapes were taken away either by the composers or by their music publisher Dick James, for they were deposited in the Abbey Road tape library, not then nor any time since.

George began the 5:30 to 9:30 pm session, recording a demo of a song entitled, "You'll Know What To Do"? Paul followed, taping a demo of a revised arrangement of "It's For You", in order that he could give Cilla Black for her exclusive release. The third demo was made by John, of new composition "No Reply". This would be issued later in the year on the album Beatles For Sale. John made this demo because he donated first use of his song to fellow NEMS artist Tommy Quickly, for release by him as a single. Towards 9:30 pm, John, Paul and George returned to EMI four-track recording, taping overdubs onto "Any Time At All" and "Things We Said Today".

The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Two more sessions, each running 15 minutes over the booked times of 10:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:30-5:30 pm. Songs taped this time were John's "Any Time at All" and "When I Get Home" (11 takes each) and Paul's "Things We Said Today" (3 takes), all for the second side of the album, A Hard Day's Night.

The Beatles Complete Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn