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The Beatles At Shea Stadium: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert
The Beatles' performance at New York's Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965 is one of the most exciting and important concert events in the history of popular music. Produced by Sid Bernstein and introduced on stage by television legend Ed Sullivan, John, Paul, George and Ringo played, sang, sweated and laughed for a record crowd of 55,600 fans. It was the height of Beatlemania and launched the modern era of outdoor stadium shows."The Beatles At Shea Stadium" tells the story of this concert through researched commentary and exclusive interviews with Beatles insiders, friends and fans. The story begins in 1963 with Bernstein scheduling the then-unknown group for two concerts at Carnegie Hall and the first wave of U.S. Beatlemania. Follow events leading up to the concert as the Beatles arrive in New York, tape "The Ed Sullivan Show" and attend a never-before revealed dinner at Rockefeller Center. Then go backstage as they nervously prepare to face their largest live audience. The concert and excitement surrounding their performance are described in detail based on unedited live recordings and eyewitness accounts, and gives new insights into making the television special, secret recording session to overdub the live audio for network broadcast, and subsequent restoration of the classic film. Book includes rare photos, memorabilia, and never-before published correspondence, documents and production notes.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 26, 2013
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About the author
Dave Schwensen
12 books4 followersDave Schwensen is a nationally recognized comedy coach and author of "How To Be A Working Comic: An Insider's Guide To A Career In Stand-Up Comedy," "Comedy FAQs And Answers: How The Stand-Up Biz Really Works," and "How To Be A Working Corporate Comedian: A Step-By-Step Guide Into Launching & Building Your Career." He served as Talent Coordinator for the television show "A&Es An Evening at the Improv," and for The Improv Comedy Clubs in New York and Hollywood, where he also consulted for numerous television programs, networks and film studios. As a pop culture historian and fan, Dave is the author of "The Beatles At Shea Stadium: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert" and "The Beatles In Cleveland: Memories, Facts & Photos About The Notorious 1964 & 1966 Concerts." An award-winning newspaper humorist, a compilation of weekly columns make up his latest book, "Something To Laugh About: 144 Essays On Being A Guy, Parenting, Holidays & Stuff Other People Think Is Funny."
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For more information visit:
Websites:
BeatlesSheaStadium.com
TheComedyBook.com
DaveLaughs.com
Blogs:
TheClassicRocker.com
TheComedyBook.wordpress.com
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 17, 2013
On the 15th August, 1965, the Beatles played to a record crowd of 55,600 at Shea Stadium. It was, at that time, the largest rock concert ever staged and, later, John Lennon was to reflect that it was where he, “saw the top of the mountain....”
This book gives all the background to the concert, including information on promoter Sid Bernstein and New York DJ’s Cousin Brucie Morrow and Murray the K. Many people who attended the concert, either as a fan or because they were involved in the show in some way, are interviewed and share their stories of that momentous day. In 1965, the attendance and revenue were record breaking – it was the height of Beatlemania and the birth of stadium rock. In many ways, it was a concert that changed the music scene forever, with bands afterwards demanding a larger share of the profits and better security, sound and organisation. Yet, despite the obvious need for crowd control, it seems to have been a good natured and happy event. Fans recall the constant screaming, like “white noise”, but the police were there simply to protect them and scoop them up if they broke towards the stage. Nobody was hurt, nobody fought, there was no trouble – just an overwhelming excitement and enjoyment.
Every song performed is looked at in depth, including the finale of “I’m Down” – where, famously, John played the keyboard with his elbow, as the band gave up battling the roar of the crowd and just performed with enjoyment. Having arrived nearby by helicopter, even the fans wondered how they would “get away”. They were finally whisked away in a station wagon and, as fan Doug Fernandez recalled, “It was electric, it was fun and then it was over.” Years later, when Paul played with Billy Joel at the last show held at Shea, the same man drove him to the stage who had driven the band on that first show.
This is a fascinating account of that day. It has detailed information on everything about that ground breaking concert and also about the making of the television special. Many documents are hard to read, but the author assumed (correctly) that completists will want to see them and, where possible, letters are transcribed. There is a very interesting letter from M. Clay Adams to his son, Michael, after he travelled to London to record the Beatles overdubs for the tv special, including his impressions of both George Martin and the Beatles.
It is also interesting to note that, amongst the crowd at Shea that day were many famous faces – including the Rolling Stones and also Meryl Steep – who was keen to tell Paul that she had made a banner for him saying, “I’ll love you forever, Paul”, when she presented him with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (he said he remembered it!). Also there were both Linda Eastman and Barbara Bach, yet to meet their future husbands in person. This is a wonderful collection of memories and stories and, although it is obviously about one specific event, it is a must read for Beatles fans.
This book gives all the background to the concert, including information on promoter Sid Bernstein and New York DJ’s Cousin Brucie Morrow and Murray the K. Many people who attended the concert, either as a fan or because they were involved in the show in some way, are interviewed and share their stories of that momentous day. In 1965, the attendance and revenue were record breaking – it was the height of Beatlemania and the birth of stadium rock. In many ways, it was a concert that changed the music scene forever, with bands afterwards demanding a larger share of the profits and better security, sound and organisation. Yet, despite the obvious need for crowd control, it seems to have been a good natured and happy event. Fans recall the constant screaming, like “white noise”, but the police were there simply to protect them and scoop them up if they broke towards the stage. Nobody was hurt, nobody fought, there was no trouble – just an overwhelming excitement and enjoyment.
Every song performed is looked at in depth, including the finale of “I’m Down” – where, famously, John played the keyboard with his elbow, as the band gave up battling the roar of the crowd and just performed with enjoyment. Having arrived nearby by helicopter, even the fans wondered how they would “get away”. They were finally whisked away in a station wagon and, as fan Doug Fernandez recalled, “It was electric, it was fun and then it was over.” Years later, when Paul played with Billy Joel at the last show held at Shea, the same man drove him to the stage who had driven the band on that first show.
This is a fascinating account of that day. It has detailed information on everything about that ground breaking concert and also about the making of the television special. Many documents are hard to read, but the author assumed (correctly) that completists will want to see them and, where possible, letters are transcribed. There is a very interesting letter from M. Clay Adams to his son, Michael, after he travelled to London to record the Beatles overdubs for the tv special, including his impressions of both George Martin and the Beatles.
It is also interesting to note that, amongst the crowd at Shea that day were many famous faces – including the Rolling Stones and also Meryl Steep – who was keen to tell Paul that she had made a banner for him saying, “I’ll love you forever, Paul”, when she presented him with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (he said he remembered it!). Also there were both Linda Eastman and Barbara Bach, yet to meet their future husbands in person. This is a wonderful collection of memories and stories and, although it is obviously about one specific event, it is a must read for Beatles fans.
August 14, 2014
Since I'm the author I won't review it. But I really hope you enjoy the book. As a fan, it was a lot of fun to research and write.
March 10, 2023
I read this book in one afternoon. I am a huge Beatles fan, and am old enough to have lived through this event.
The book was very good, but some very simple things were incorrect, such as the name of a prominent disc jockey on WABC Radio. The author should have done more in depth research, and made certain all the facts were right.
The book was very good, but some very simple things were incorrect, such as the name of a prominent disc jockey on WABC Radio. The author should have done more in depth research, and made certain all the facts were right.
August 8, 2014
The author knows his Beatles' information. This is the concert at Shea Stadium in NYC. Dave Schwensen has first hand knowledge of what went on during this tour in the USA from eye witnesses who attended this concert as well as the one he wrote about when the Beatles came to Cleveland in 1966 - a concert he also attended as well as wrote about.
March 5, 2014
My full and detailed review is at my website at: http://rnrchemist.blogspot.com/2014/0...
A fun and informative book that transports you back to 1965. I'd give it 4.5 stars out of 5 but it's close.
A fun and informative book that transports you back to 1965. I'd give it 4.5 stars out of 5 but it's close.
March 29, 2015
I was at Shea Stadium 1965
This book says it all and is spot on. I know because I was there and I will never forget it. My Dad was outside talking with the other parents and he saw them come in in the Wells Fargo truck. I wish he had a camera!
This book says it all and is spot on. I know because I was there and I will never forget it. My Dad was outside talking with the other parents and he saw them come in in the Wells Fargo truck. I wish he had a camera!
April 1, 2017
Could have been a whole lot shorter. Dozens upon dozens of fans saying the same thing over and over again about the noise level and how girls feinted...Once would have been enough
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews