The Beatles

[Gina Marie]

An estimated four thousand Beatles' fans were present on 7 February 1964 as Pan Am Flight 101 left Heathrow Airport. Among the passengers were the Beatles, on their first trip to the US as a band, with their entourage of photographers and journalists, and Phil Spector. When the group arrived at New York's newly renamed John F. Kennedy Airport, they were greeted by a second large crowd, with Beatles fans again estimated to number four thousand, and journalists, two hundred. From having so many people packed in a little space, a few people in the crowd got injured. The airport had not previously experienced such a large crowd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Df-LvrRcEo

After a press conference, where they first met disc jockey Murray the K, the Beatles were put into limousines - one per Beatle - and driven to New York City.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgU6foVr-wY

On the way, McCartney turned on a radio and listened to a running commentary: "They have just left the airport and are coming to New York City..." After reaching the Plaza Hotel, the Beatles were besieged by fans and reporters. Harrison had a fever of 102 °F (39 °C) the next day and was ordered to stay in bed, so Neil Aspinall, the band's personal assistant, replaced Harrison on guitar during the Beatles' first rehearsal for The Ed Sullivan Show.

On 9 February 1964, the Beatles made their first live US television appearance. 73 million viewers (about two-fifths of the total American population) watched the group perform on The Ed Sullivan Show at 8 P.M. According to the Nielsen ratings audience measurement system, the show had the largest number of viewers that had been recorded for a US television program.

Two days after the television appearance, on 11 February 1964, the Beatles' first US concert took place, at Washington Coliseum, a sports arena in Washington, D.C. The concert was attended by eight thousand fans. The Beatles performed on a central stage in the arena, with the audience on all sides, and there were regular pauses to enable the band to turn their equipment around and perform facing in another direction. The concert generated intense excitement. The following day, the Beatles performed a second concert, in Carnegie Hall, New York, which was attended by two thousand fans. The concert was again well received.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sybI6FiuKjk

Following the Carnegie Hall concert, the Beatles flew to Miami Beach and on Sunday 16 February 1964 made their second television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, which this time was broadcast live from the Napoleon Ballroom of the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. As it had done on 9 February, the television broadcast attracted around 70 million viewers.

On 22 February 1964, The Beatles returned to the UK. Arriving at Heathrow airport at 7 am, they were met by an estimated ten thousand fans.


http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/03/the-beatles-visit-revisited/

http://www.beatlesbible.com/1964/02/07/beatles-american-invasion-begins/

http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1964.0207.beatles.html

[Vicki V.]

I'm pretty sure I've heard of this group.

[Gina Marie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11qL4dlCGeM

[Gina Marie]

[watcher1]

Gia, I wonder how many KB members were part of the 73 million or so who viewed on their black and white televisions the first time the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show, Sunday, February 9, 1964?  I was one who did.

[Gina Marie]

Historic Hysterics: Witnesses to a Really Big Show
The Beatles’ Debut on ‘Ed Sullivan’

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/nyregion/the-beatles-debut-on-ed-sullivan.html

[Gina Marie]

If I had been alive in 1964...

[MissBarbara]

"The Beatles, By The Numbers"

An interesting and quirky video for every Beatles fan...


http://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/music/100000002700023/the-beatles-by-the-numbers.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140210

[watcher1]

Who says us old people can't rock?  I thought the Tribute to the Beatles was pretty good.  Seems Paul's voice is going but Ringo looked pretty spry. Some of the people covering their songs did a very good job, putting their special twist to the songs. 

[staci]

I watched the end of the program and enjoyed it. It seems Katy Perry changed one word from "man" to "girl" and incurred the wrath of some true fans.

[watcher1]

I watched the end of the program and enjoyed it. It seems Katy Perry changed one word from "man" to "girl" and incurred the wrath of some true fans.

Musicians love when their songs are covered.  I caught the change Perry made and saw nothing wrong with it since she was singing it her way. Many times the camera would swing to Paul and Ringo when others were covering their songs and they were seen giving a thumbs up or going with the beat. And who better to get a "job well done" from then from the original singers themselves?

I am wondering if Gia has come down yet from her Beatle high of last night? 

[Gina Marie]

I watched the end of the program and enjoyed it. It seems Katy Perry changed one word from "man" to "girl" and incurred the wrath of some true fans.

Changing lyric gender is common practice, when covering a song... I don't care one bit. However, the poor quality of her voice and arrangement was FAR AND AWAY the grave violation of the evening. No liberal amount of auto-tune could have saved that wretched rendition of a classic Macca song.

On a positive note; I thought Sir Paul did an excellent job of NOT grimacing during Perry's "performance"... he maintained a flat affect, and was visibly gracious. Whereas, he grinned and glowed during Annie Lennox's performance, and jumped to his feet and blew her kisses after her lovely rendition of "The Fool on the Hill."

I am wondering if Gia has come down yet from her Beatle high of last night?

I am beginning to touch the ground again, Watcher... For me, the interviews with Letterman, and the closing performance were the highlights. The lack of artists performing that actually display "Beatle influence" in their own music, was staggering. There are current artists that do indeed wear the Fabs on their sleeve, but so few did perform that night.

Dave Grohl, Eurithmics and the legendary Stevie Wonder not included, I was a bit baffled at the inclusion of several of the performers... so many that display zero influence.

[MissBarbara]

The lack of artists performing that actually display "Beatle influence" in their own music, was staggering. There are current artists that do indeed wear the Fabs on their sleeve, but so few did perform that night.

Dave Grohl, Eurithmics and the legendary Stevie Wonder not included, I was a bit baffled at the inclusion of several of the performers... so many that display zero influence.

I think the explanation is very straightforward. They wanted to "today's hottest artists," irrespective of Beatles influence (or actual talent) in order to draw the largest possible TV audience.

[watcher1]

I watched the end of the program and enjoyed it. It seems Katy Perry changed one word from "man" to "girl" and incurred the wrath of some true fans.

Changing lyric gender is common practice, when covering a song... I don't care one bit. However, the poor quality of her voice and arrangement was FAR AND AWAY the grave violation of the evening. No liberal amount of auto-tune could have saved that wretched rendition of a classic Macca song.

On a positive note; I thought Sir Paul did an excellent job of NOT grimacing during Perry's "performance"... he maintained a flat affect, and was visibly gracious. Whereas, he grinned and glowed during Annie Lennox's performance, and jumped to his feet and blew her kisses after her lovely rendition of "The Fool on the Hill."

I am wondering if Gia has come down yet from her Beatle high of last night?

I am beginning to touch the ground again, Watcher... For me, the interviews with Letterman, and the closing performance were the highlights. The lack of artists performing that actually display "Beatle influence" in their own music, was staggering. There are current artists that do indeed wear the Fabs on their sleeve, but so few did perform that night.

Dave Grohl, Eurithmics and the legendary Stevie Wonder not included, I was a bit baffled at the inclusion of several of the performers... so many that display zero influence.

Yes, it was great to see Annie Lennox again.  Heard she wanted to perform in the tribute and got together just for it.  Also nice to hear Grohl thank his mother for her liking the Beatles and getting him involved with their music.

I wonder why Sean Lennon did not perform?  George Harrison's son did.

Gia, it is the young people like you who will carry on the music of the Beatles. My children liked them.  In fact, my daughter can play many of their songs on the piano. Great to see music from the 1960s transcending generations.

[Cats Whiskers]

Beatles Help! jackets to be auctioned



Jackets worn by George Harrison and Ringo Starr in The Beatles' 1965 film Help! are being put up for sale.

The jackets also appear on the iconic album cover of the film's soundtrack.

The comedy drama was directed by Richard Lester and the jackets are from his private collection.

They are part of an auction of more than 200 lots of rare Beatles memorabilia and are expected to be sold for more than £50,000 by Omega Auctions in Liverpool next month.

The Help! film saw the group come up against an evil cult and fleeing to the Austrian Alps to seek refuge and Harrison and Starr wore the jackets throughout the five days of filming that took place in the Alps.



Lester, 82, also directed The Beatles' first film A Hard Day's Night.

Auctioneer Paul Fairweather said: "As Beatles clothing goes, these have got to be amongst the Holy Grail for any Beatles collector.

"They feature on one of their most recognisable album covers and I have a feeling these could really fly off the block."

The sale, which will also include a large collection of rare vinyl, takes place at Liverpool's Adelphi hotel on 20 March to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' hit Can't Buy Me Love.

[Gina Marie]

February 11, 1964:

The Beatles performed their first full concert in the U.S. two days after their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

50 years ago, today, they appeared before 8, 092 kids at the Washington Coliseum. The following day was Lincoln's Birthday, and the kids had the day off from school.

The Beatles performed 12 songs in front of the screaming kids who threw jelly beans and flash bulbs onto the stage in their excitement!

But this week was the start of a change in American. After the second week of February, 1964, rock 'n' roll music, and the United States, would never be the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYqg_Bb2OsE

[Gina Marie]

[Gina Marie]

Sir Paul Named NME's Songwriter's Songwriter!

The NME Magazine Awards 2014 with Austin, Texas has announced that Macca will be honoured with a special one-off award, the Songwriter’s Songwriter, and will be there to collect the award in person at the upcoming ceremony.

When NME asked the world’s leading songwriters to nominate the best practitioner of their craft for the one-off Songwriter’s Songwriter award, time and time again they chose Sir James Paul McCartney.

The awards will take place at the O2 Academy Brixton on February 26th, 2014.

For more info go to: http://www.PaulMcCartney.com

[Gina Marie]

[Gina Marie]

On this date in 1969, Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman were married at the Marylebone Register Office. Among those in attendance were Mike McGear (Paul's brother), Mal Evans and Peter Brown.

Paul and Linda were together until her passing in 1998.