The Beatles Boxed Set (47 page)

Hundreds and hundreds of fans always
flocked the Beatles’ concerts, such as this one in Adelaide, Australia in 1964
when about 300,000 fans turned up for the band’s concert

            The
boys were always going through such a hectic schedule, at one time covering
twenty-five cities in thirty-two days during their 1964 US tour. They made
seven tours of the UK, three of America, one of Europe and two around the world
between 1961 and 1965. They would sometimes play three dates in a day totaling
more than a thousand club dates in addition to 35 TV programs, and 53 radio
shows.

It was a very grueling schedule that George’s world seemed
to shrink to the confines of hotels and cars and stages. And even when he was
home, the impositions of fame followed him there. His friends had to take two
cabs even when they lived nearby just to avoid being seen by George’s frenzied
fans. Now he couldn’t see a movie like the old days without being followed.
When he wanted to go to a theatre, he needed to rent a private screening room
and organize the arrivals and departures.

Everything was getting on his nerves, added by celebrities
and famous personalities who wished to see him and reporters clamoring for the
tiniest tidbit about each of the Beatle. In early 1964, George had an argument
with their press agent, Brian Sommerville, who insisted on adding more
interviews to his full calendar. George was so annoyed that he threw orange
juice in Sommerville’s face. The latter retaliated by punching George. That
same year, George threw a drink at a photographer while at a nightclub who took
pictures of him when he told him not to.

George was also becoming tired of the life he was living as
a Beatle. He couldn’t go anywhere he wanted, he slept in hotels, ate tepid food
and wasted time playing cards and sang songs no one could hear above the
screams of their fans. And there were always the girls who snuck into his hotel
room. George and Pattie, then married, returned to their home one night and
found that two girls had broken in and were hiding under their bed.

A newspaper clipping showing some fans
during one of the Beatles’ concerts in America in 1964

The whole thing was grating on him, particularly the
hysteria. Fans were becoming out of control that security needed to be
tightened. One such incident that George couldn’t forget was in 1964, when they
held a concert in Kansas City and fans broke the barriers and attacked the
Beatles’ mobile dressing room. The van rocked forward and backward until it
pitched over. Police had to restore order and control by attacking the crowd
with rubber billy clubs.

The downsides of being a famous person had George hating the
idea of being too popular. He became concerned of what might happen to him in
public and said, “They used us as an excuse to go mad, the world did – and then
they blamed it on us.”

And then there were a parade of disabled children in their
tours, with caregivers believing that they’d be cured if a Beatle would bless
them. He thought it was preposterous, this assumption that because he was now a
mystic figure, he had some special powers that could heal the sick.

John was far crueler than any of them; he often poked fun at
the fans’ disabilities and imitated how they clap and stumble about. But it
didn’t amuse George.

By early 1965, things have changed. As one author wrote, the
humor had gone out of their lives. Not even the success of their
Beatles for
Sale
album, which peaked at number one, could change that. They have also
began filming their second film,
Help!
in the Bahamas.

George in the Bahamas while filming their
second film,
Help!

Help!
was a comedy adventure
where the group battled an evil cult and received a mixed response from
reviewers but was largely a success. The soundtrack was dominated by John, who
wrote and sang most of the songs, including
Help!
and
Ticket to Ride.
The film was accompanied by an album, the band’s fifth studio LP, contained
original material except for two covers. The album contained the string quartet
on the pop ballad
Yesterday
which Paul composed.

The album immediately became a chart topper in the UK and in
the US.

The band also received further accolade when they were
appointed by the queen as Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)
after Prime Minister Harold Wilson recommended them for the award.

By then touring had become something of a burden for the
Beatles. Epstein convinced them to hold one more concert at Shea Stadium,
otherwise they’d lose a million dollars.

And
so the boys were again to play for their fans at Shea Stadium on August 15,
1965. That day, a world-record of fifty-six thousand fans turned up, the
largest ever for an entertainment event. The Beatles were taken to the venue
via a helicopter, then rode a Wells Fargo armored truck that took them inside
the stadium.

The Beatles sprinted out from the Wells
Fargo van toward the stage at Shea Stadium

This day was something different because stadium concerts
had never taken place before, particularly the Shea Stadium, home of the New
York Mets baseball team. The Beatles’ concert at the Shea Stadium was the first
time in history that a stadium was used for a rock concert. There was just no
singer or artist that filled such a large space.

When they stepped out of the truck, an apocalyptic roar
erupted from the audience that the police held their ears against the throbbing
pain. The intense excitement and a high degree of fan hysteria led to an
unbelievable atmosphere. The two thousand policemen were deafened by screams
and shouts from the enormous crowd. And the emergency nursing stations beneath
the stands were filled with fans who fainted from their screaming.

For the Beatles concert, the Vox company created customized
amplifiers. By then, the usual power for such amplifiers was 30 W, but now they
were able to make ones with 100 W. But it didn’t help over the roar from the
crowd. And when the boys began performing, the screaming intensified that no
one could hear the music. George, Paul, John and Ringo had to watch one another
to stay in sync as they couldn’t rely on Ringo’s beat that was drowned out by
the screaming.

Finally, John gave up and played the keyboard using his
elbows a la Jerry Lee Lewis. George was so distracted that he began to laugh
and was unable to go on playing. The boys played a 30-minute set of a number of
songs and jumped straight back into the Wells Fargo to leave the stadium.

But more than anything else, George felt constrained by the
limit set on his songwriting ability and contribution to the songs that the
band played. After
Don’t Bother Me
, which appeared on the album
With
the Beatles
, George didn’t write any material, partly because he wasn’t too
keen about promoting his own song aggressively and in part because they weren’t
welcome. John and Paul dominated the songwriting in the band and had been
songwriting partners since 1957, even before George joined the Quarrymen, until
1970.

They wouldn’t allow George to contribute his own creations,
and he felt isolated from the creative dimension of the group. But after talking
with Bill Harry, a childhood friend and founder of
Mersey Beat
magazine,
George became inspired to write again. He would take with him a tape recorder
and recorded ideas for songs.

Now that he could freely write his own songs, he wanted them
produced. But still, John and Paul monopolized the songwriting. George said in
1969, “Because they had such a lot of tunes, they automatically thought theirs
should be priority … I’d always have to wade through ten of their songs before
they would even listen to one of mine.”

And even when John and Paul finally listened to his own
compositions, they agreed that only two of his would be included in an album.
In fact, George managed to get only two originals on each of the Beatles’ 1965
albums. He wrote
I Need You
for the movie
Help!
and
You Like
Me Too Much.

In October 1965, they began recording for their
Rubber
Soul
album, released later that year. It became a number one album in the
UK and in the US. For this album, George’s
Think for Yourself
and
If
I Needed Someone
were included. These songs showed a talent for
songwriting, but it lacked direction. George admitted himself that his
songwriting had improved greatly through the years, although Paul and John had
no respect for his ability to write songs. John said in 1969, near the band’s
breakup, “Until this year, our songs have been better than George’s. Now this
year his songs are at least as good as ours.”

But still, George continued to have difficulty getting his
songs recorded. And during their studio sessions for their album, it was clear
that there was a growing conflict within the group. Recording engineer Norman
Smith later claimed that “the clash between John and Paul was becoming obvious
and “as far as Paul was concerned, George could do no right.”

Despite the differences,
Rubber Soul
became a success
and was dubbed by Allmusic as “one of the classic folk-rock records.”

With
fame and money, it was easy for the Beatles to have anything they wanted,
including drugs. George wasn’t new to this, as he and the other Beatles began
with “Prellies” (Preludin), offered by fellow musician Tony Sheridan, when they
were performing in Hamburg. Prellies helped the boys stay awake as sometimes
they had to play all night.