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Showing posts with the label 1964

The First Ed Sullivan Show

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First Ed Sullivan appearance - public domain The Beatles fly from London Heathrow to New York on 7 February, 1964 More than 10,000 girls are waiting - a major news event.

How were The Beatles introduced to marijuana?

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The Beatles first met Dylan during their second visit to the US in August 1964. He came to visit them  in their suite at the Delmonoco Hotel in New York, accompanied by his friend Al Aronowitz.  Eager to please their super-hip guests, The Beatles offered Dylan and champagne and amphetamines. Dylan said that he only drank cheap wine and suggested that they ‘smoke some grass’ Brian and the Beatles looked at each other apprehensively. “We’ve never smoked marijuana before,” Brian finally admitted. Dylan looked disbelievingly from face to face. “But what about your song?” he asked. The one about getting high?” The Beatles were stupefied. “Which song?” John managed to ask. Dylan said, “You know…” and then he sang, “and when I touch you I get high, I get high…” John flushed with embarrassment. “Those aren’t the words,” he admitted. “The words are, ‘I can’t hide, I can’t hide, I can’t hide…'”    From The Love You Make Peter Brown Let's not Twist again In fact,  according to George Harr

Why was the sound quality so poor at Beatles concerts?

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In February 1962 The Beatles played at a youth club in Liverpool, using the church hall. The venue was modest but fit for purpose. With its low ceiling and wooden floors it provided excellent acoustics for the local fans who managed to squeeze in. Two years later they travelled to Washington DC in the immediate wake of their triumph on the Ed Sullivan Show. A concert was hastily arranged in a venue used for basketball and boxing, It set the template for all the live shows that were to come: An 8000-voice choir performed last night at Washington Coliseum in the premiere of what is likely to become an American classic. Call it in B for want of a better name. The choir was accompanied, incidentally, by four young British artists who call themselves the Beatles. Their part was almost completely obscured by the larger choral group, The 'thin voices' of the visiting group could not compete with the thousands of screaming teenagers.  This problem would plague The Beatles for their rem

How did The Beatles influence David Bowie?

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Always a Beatles fan, David Bowie tried to sign for Apple in 1968. In the 1970s he became a friend and musical collaborator with John Lennon. Bowie's first album (1967) In 1964 a young Beatles fan makes his first TV appearance. With astounding chutzpah, the 17-year-old is taking part in a publicity stunt, promoting the (fictitious) Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men Read More Taken from  The Beatles Teaching Pack   (£3.99) 

Five Fun Facts about The Beatles?

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Which song did The Beatles sing on the first worldwide satellite broadcast? How many records have the Beatles sold?