The Beatles Boxed Set (35 page)

In
late February 1965, the Beatles began working on their next film,
Help!
,
in Bahamas.  The movie was released in July and was “mainly a relentless spoof
of Bond.” In the middle of filming, news reached them that the single
Ticket
to Ride
hit number one in the UK and the US.

            The
single
Help!
was released in late summer 1965, became number one on the
UK and US singles charts and became the fourth of six number one in a row in
the American charts. The song appeared on the soundtrack of the film of the
same name.

            This
was another success for the Beatles, and then came another honor when the Queen
appointed them Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). The award was
usually given for military veterans and civic leaders. Some conservative MBE
recipients protested this move by returning their own insignia.

            In
promotion of the film, the Beatles released an accompanying album bearing the
same name containing all original material except for two covers of
Act
Naturally
and
Dizzy Miss Lizzy.
One of the most notable Beatle song
on the album was Paul’s
Yesterday
which would eventually become one of
the most covered song in the history of recorded music with more than 2,200
cover versions. The single topped the US
Billboard
Hot 100 and Norwegian
Singles Chart.

The
Beatles were back on touring in July despite the fact that they were growing tired
of touring. In their previous tours, it had become more difficult to perform
over the loud screams from their ecstatic fans. Sometimes they couldn’t hear
themselves, and the fans, who cared more about seeing the Beatles than hearing
their music, would scream from beginning to end.

The Beatles arriving in London after
their European tour, July 1965

            Brian
Epstein convinced them to hold one more concert, this time at New York’s Shea
Stadium. This would become a record breaking and historic landmark for being
one of the most famous concerts of its era. It set new records for both
attendance and revenue. More than 55,000 fans convened at the stadium, and the
concert grossed $304,000, which, according to promoter Sid Bernstein, was “the
greatest gross ever in the history of show business.”

            Fourteen
cameras were used to record the mass mayhem that was Beatlemania in America. The
Beatles made a spectacular appearance via a helicopter. Geoffrey Ellis, an
employee of NEMS, recalled, “The audience rose and screamed as the helicopter
came down, and I had this fantasy that they were gods descending to the earth.”

            The
Beatles were escorted to a Wells Fargo armored truck which took them to the
fields of the stadium. Two thousand security personnel were employed to handle
crowd control.

            Beatlemania
was at one of its highest peak at the Shea concert, and policemen had to cover
their ears from the deafening roar from the enormous crowd. Ed Sullivan could
be heard clearly as he introduced the group: “Now ladies and gentlemen, honored
by their country, decorated by their Queen, loved here in America, here are The
Beatles!” And when the Beatles stepped out of the truck and sprinted onto the
field, the noise levels grew higher than before. Just a look at their idols
prompted girls to crying, screaming more and even fainting. The emergency
stations were brimming with teenagers who had fainted from their own screaming.

            Despite
the heavy security detail, some individuals broke onto the field toward the
stage and policemen had to run after them and restrain them. No one except the
Beatles, their entourage and security personnel was allowed on the field. As a
result, the audience was a long distance away from the band while they
performed on a stage in the middle of the field.

            The
distance, coupled with the deafening noise, prevented anyone from hearing the
music. The Vox company had especially built 100-watt amplifiers for this
Beatles concert, but it wasn’t enough for the audience to hear the band. John
described the noise as “wild” and became much louder when they performed. This
made it difficult for the Beatles to hear their voices and their instruments.
John, Paul and George had to look at each other to see if they were still in
sync.

The Beatles’ concert at Shea Stadium
broke records for the most number of attendance: 56,000 fans attended and
screamed and shouted that drowned out the music

            But
it was more difficult for Ringo who was behind the three and couldn’t see their
faces or hear them. He looked at their bobbing bottoms to be able to keep up, but
that, too, was futile.

            They
were down on their last number,
I’m Down,
when John thought that the
whole thing was ridiculous. He played the keyboard using his elbows, prompting
Paul, George and Ringo to burst out laughing.

Towards
the end of their American tour, the idea of meeting Elvis Presley had already
been considered. Elvis had, one way or another, influenced their interest in
music. For years, the Beatles had tried to meet him, but, as Paul said, “we
could never get to him.” But Elvis finally relented and agreed to meet with his
British-acolytes-turned-competitors.

            A
lunch meeting was arranged between Epstein and Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom
Parker at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The managers agreed that the summit should
take place in Elvis’ home in Bel Air on August 27.

            John
was hesitant to go, but finally relented. On their way to Bel Air, the group
forgot where they were going and so they ended up going round and round along
Mulholland. They had a couple of “cups of tea” in the back of the car and had
so much fun that they were all in hysterics.

            Upon
their arrival, they piled out of the car laughing. Ringo recalled, “I was
pretty excited. We were lucky because it was the four of us and we had each
other to be with. The house was very big. We walked in, and Elvis was sitting
down on a settee in front of the TV. He was playing a bass guitar, which even
to this day I find very strange. He had all his guys around him… He was pretty
shy, and we were a little shy, but between the five of us we kept it rolling. I
felt I was more thrilled to meet him than he was to meet me.”

            The
Beatles sat down on the floor in front of Elvis and they looked up to their
idol and just stared at him. There was a deafening silence before Elvis said,
“Well, if you guys aren’t going to talk to me I’m going to my bedroom.”

            It
was John who spoke first, saying, “Why do you do all these soft-centered
ballads for the cinema these days? What happened to good old rock ‘n’ roll?”

            Elvis
was fairly quiet though he smiled a lot and shook everybody’s hands. They
exchanged tour stories but the conversation was stilted. After running out of
things to talk about, the mega-famous five just faced each other.

            And
then Paul said, “Can we play some music?”

            Elvis
had brought some guitars with him and apologized to Ringo for not having drums.
They began a jamming session which no one thought to record for its historical
significance. Ringo found himself beating out a backing rhythm on a coffee
table and a chair before leaving to play pool with the Memphis mafia.

            The
meeting ended when Colonel Parker announced that it was time for them to go and
began handing out presents, which were mostly Elvis’ albums.

The Beatles had decided to take a break from touring, and
when it was time to record their next album, they found themselves having
adequate time to record without other commitments.
Rubber Soul
was
released in December 1965 and was lauded as a major artistic achievement. It
was a commercial and critical success, with critics taking note of the band’s
developing musical vision.

            On
Christmas Day,
Rubber Soul
displaced
Help!
on top of the charts
and stayed there for eight weeks. The album made a comeback on the charts on
May 9, 1987, where it stayed for three weeks. The album featured the single
What
Goes On
, the first single to be credited to Ringo alongside Paul and John.

            In
early 1966, the group had a three-month break after five years of non-stop
touring, recording and film-work.

They
returned to work for
Yesterday and Today
, a compilation album that
garnered controversy with its cover which showed the grinning Beatles wearing
butcher’s overalls and accompanied by raw meat and mutilated plastic baby
dolls. It was suggested that what the cover showed was a satirical response to
the way Capitol had “butchered” the US versions of their albums.

            The
Beatles recorded their follow up album,
Revolver
, whose 14 tracks were
released to radio stations throughout July 1966, before they embarked on a
world tour. The Asian leg of the tour began in Japan where they were met with
protests from right-wing Japanese nationalists who didn’t like the idea of
having the Beatles’ concerts staged at the Nippon Budokan, which was built for
the staging of martial arts and not musical performances.

            The
Beatles’ concert took place but there was heavy security to protect them from
their fans and the protesters. They were forced to stay in their suite at the
Tokyo Hilton.

            The
concert continued in the Philippines where they were to carry out two shows in
the country’s capital. Their two-night stopover in Manila proved disastrous
from their arrival to their departure. When they arrived, the Beatles were
immediately taken to a pier and put on Marina two miles from the port. The
Beatles were scared, as it was the first time that they were cut off from their
associates for at least two hours.

The Beatles backstage at the Rizal
Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines

            The
following day, July 4, they performed two concerts with a combined attendance
of 80,000. That evening, 50,000 fans paid to watch the concert, the second biggest
attendance in the history of the Beatles. But that statistic was overshadowed
by the events that took place earlier in the day.