It was 40 years ago today ...
Remembering the Beatles' final concert from Candlestick Park


WHAT OCCURRED at Candlestick Park exactly 40 years ago today had nothing to do with Willie Mays or the San Francisco Giants.

But rather, it was the occasion of the final full-length concert performed by the Beatles as the band concluded its last show of a 14-city tour of America.

It was essentially the end of the "Beatlemania" that had begun when the group first came to America in February 1964 and had continued for the next 21/2 years.

John, Paul, George and Ringo had grown tired of their image as teen idol "moptops." By mid-1966, the gap between them as live, onstage performers and as more sophisticated composers and studio artists had grown far too wide for their liking. The novelty had worn off for them. Fans would scream hysterically regardless of how well they played, and they had become virtual prisoners of their hotel rooms while on tour.

Having played their next-to-last concert the night before at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Liverpool lads had only one more obligation to perform live as they flew north to the Bay Area.

It was a full moon on that Monday night in late August, and, not surprisingly, cold and windy. The Beatles arrived at Candlestick in an armored car amid heavy security that numbered 200 strong. Inside, the park was only slightly more than half-full, with nearly 25,000 fans who had paid between $3.80 and $7 to purchase a ticket. Not everyone on the premises, however, was thrilled with the Beatles' appearance.

More than a dozen protesters marched outside the park carrying signs that were aimed at the Beatles and comments that had been made recently by John Lennon. The outspoken Lennon had told an interviewer months earlier that Christianity was on the decline and that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.

None of that seemed to matter to the fans inside.

The show began at 8 p.m., and the crowd greeted opening acts the Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn Down Day"), the Remains and the Ronettes, led by Ronnie Spector, wife of Phil Spector.

Finally, in the face of the hysteria and pandemonium that had become all too familiar, the Fab Four took the stage at 9:27 p.m. Located just behind second base on the field, the stage was 5 feet high and surrounded by a 6-foot-high wire fence. The band kicked off its set with "She's a Woman" as the enthusiasm reached a fever pitch. As the San Mateo Times reported the following day, the Beatles "sang and strummed while their fans shrieked, cried and groaned, wept, yelled, shouted, and did everything but listen."

Throughout the concert, about a half-dozen young fans took leave of their senses and rushed onto the field in an attempt to get to the stage. Security set about tackling them one by one to avoid further incident.

Realizing the significance of the event, Lennon had brought a camera onstage, and between songs, both he and McCartney took photos of members of the band.

The group performed only 10 songs, which included "Day Tripper" and "Yesterday." Like most Beatles concerts, it was over in roughly a half-hour. They concluded the show with Little Richard''s "Long Tall Sally," climbed back into the awaiting armored car, and were out of the park by 10 p.m. The Beatles were paid roughly $90,000 for their efforts.

On the plane leaving San Francisco that night, George Harrison told reporters facetiously: "Well, that's it. I'm not a Beatle any more."

The fact is, though Harrison and his mates were stepping away from live performances, they were just embarking on their most creative, innovative and influential period.

Have a tape of that show. Weird thing is, it misses the last song. I read that Lennon, knowing it would be their last show, asked Mal Evans to tape it and he did. However, as the show ran slightly over 30 minutes, the tape ended before they played the last song (I think it was 'Long tall Sally" but I could be wrong)

I thought the Beatles broke up in 1970. They didn't play any shows between '66 and '70?

.... heres a good one, my dad was doing business at the time with bob eubanks who brought them to dodger stadium (for a mire 90 grand).. eubanks gave me four 'exceptional' up-close tickets. i was 16... i had seen the stones a month earlier at the bowl and at the time had no desire to see the beatles... for i grew up with 'im a king bee, buzzin around your house' and not 'i wanna hold your hand' ... i cant believe i gave them away to a couple of my friends,, major error to blow witnessing an event like that,, make no mistake, since then, i have made bigger errors....

It's amazing to me that there is only 2.5 years between this date and landing at JFK in Feb '64.
I know their last live performance was the rooftop gig in Jan 1969 but was the Candlestick concert the last live concert they did anywhere in the world?

Bob Eubanks brought the Beatles to Dodger Stadium????

Woh - hadn't heard that one before!

The Beatles had a similar problem back then that our friends here have now - they felt they couldn't change the set list for the sake of upseting fans.
At least the Stones in those days (mid 1960's) played a lot of album tracks live, 'I am waiting', Hitch Hike', "Under my thumb" etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-08-29 18:59 by turd.

I doubt "SHE'S A WOMAN" was the opening number. "ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC" was the opening number on that tour with "WOMAN" coming next. Don't know why they'd change it for San Francisco unless Lennon's voice was in really bad shape...Isn't there a film/video out of this show (in B/W?). I used to see it advertised all the time in magazines, have no idea about the quality - visual or sound......

Mick is also remembering the Beatles' final concert from Candlestick Park
when they played Candlestick park in 1981. It can be heard f.ex. on DAC's
"Something Old, Something New".

After telling the audience that the Beatles had played their last concert on this "holy ground" he thinks for a second and then goes on: "What am I talking?....minor fu'*ing useless information..."

Quite funny comment isn't it ?

Fantastic. A fantastic day in music history. I've got the champagne right here!!

southboundtrain Wrote:
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> I thought the Beatles broke up in 1970. They
> didn't play any shows between '66 and '70?


Correct. Their only "public" performance was the one on the rooftop of Apple Studios (as seen in the 'Let it Be' film) in January 1969

They just got tired of playing arenas and stadiums where no one could or would listen as the PA systems were still pretty archaic. Considering the hassle on their final tour (especially after the Marcos-inspired fiasco in Manila where they were lucky to get out alive and having to run the gauntlet of religious loonies in the US after Lennon's misquoted "more popular than Jesus' remark), who could blame them

That's right, they quit performing in '66, primarily because they couldn't even hear themselves over the screaming at the shows. And, they wanted to concentrate on studio work.

I did make it to the Dodger Stadium show and, of course, was surrounded by screamong girls. It was great! There was a tent behind 2nd base with a big sign on it that said "Dressing Room". As soon as the Beatles finished their last song, they ran to the tent, and out drove a big limo, heading for the exit in center field. There were so many fans at the gate that they had to turn around and head back, where the Beatles exited the limo and ran into the dugout. Then a fan ran onto the field and took the keys to the limo and ran off! The locksmith that was called to replace the key was the dad of a friend of mine. He got to come with his dad and sit in the limo while his dad did his work. Back then, that was a big deal, to sit in the Beatles' limo!

40 years ago, my my.

DaveG Wrote:
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> That's right, they quit performing in '66,
> primarily because they couldn't even hear
> themselves over the screaming at the shows. And,
> they wanted to concentrate on studio work.
>
> I did make it to the Dodger Stadium show and, of
> course, was surrounded by screamong girls. It was
> great! There was a tent behind 2nd base with a big
> sign on it that said "Dressing Room". As soon as
> the Beatles finished their last song, they ran to
> the tent, and out drove a big limo, heading for
> the exit in center field. There were so many fans
> at the gate that they had to turn around and head
> back, where the Beatles exited the limo and ran
> into the dugout. Then a fan ran onto the field and
> took the keys to the limo and ran off! The
> locksmith that was called to replace the key was
> the dad of a friend of mine. He got to come with
> his dad and sit in the limo while his dad did his
> work. Back then, that was a big deal, to sit in
> the Beatles' limo!


Dodger Stadium was the night before Candlestick (and therefore the penultimate show). A good friend of mine was at that one as well (in addition to the Hollywood Bowl shows in '64 and '65 and seeing the Stones every time they played the LA area from late 1964 onwards)

How time flies.

Tony Barrow taped it as a request from Paul. The reason the last song is cut is because those portable tape recorders of the day only had 30 minute reels. He started it slightly early as they were headed onto the stage.

I made a kind of bad comment about the Beatles, but the truth is, I'd prefer the Beatles over all those POPULAIR!! bands of these days.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-08-29 21:00 by Skink.

turd Wrote:
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> The Beatles had a similar problem back then that
> our friends here have now - they felt they
> couldn't change the set list for the sake of
> upseting fans.
> At least the Stones in those days (mid 1960's)
> played a lot of album tracks live, 'I am
> waiting', Hitch Hike', "Under my thumb" etc.

That's not true about the Beatles. Their setlists did not change on a nightly basis but they changed them for each tour segment and they did include album tracks and bsides even. I don't have my book that shows the various Beatles setlists with me now, but here is the 1966 Tokyo setlist for the show I have on laserdisc, which should be almost the same as what they did 2 months later in San Francisco:

Rock And Roll Music, She's A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby's In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer, I'm Down

Of those 11 songs, 6 are album only tracks on their official UK albums (Rock And Roll Music, If I Needed Someone, Baby's In Black, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man), though Yesterday and Nowhere Man were singles in the US.

Of the remaining 5 songs, 3 were single A sides (Day Tripper, I Feel Fine and Paperback Writer) and 2 were B sides (She's A Woman and I'm Down).

It is interesting that by the time the 1966 tour hit the US, they were ostensibly touring behind their just released new album Revolver, yet they did not bother to attempt any of those songs live. Paperback Writer was recorded during the Revolver sessions, so that's the closest they came to playing their new songs. Paul McCartney has since 1989 really favored Revolver songs in his shows having played all 5 of his and Ringo Starr in his shows always plays his song from that album, Yellow Submarine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-08-29 21:25 by Halup.

Also 1966 was the last time the USA would see the Stones til November '69, and Dylan of course (except for occasional special like Guthrie, Bangla Desh, etc) was not touring from '66 until '74...A fascinating period, and time was so concentrated in those days...I have an old Hit Parader from early '69 or so and there's an article that notes the fact that the Stones reached #1 in the Hot 100 with Ruby Tuesday/LSTNT in January '67, then 'only' #14 w/ Dandelion/We Love You 9/67, & #25 with She's a Rainbow 12/67, so when JJF reached #3 in 6/68 (less than a year and-a-half after their last #1!) it was seen as a big comeback...In the interim literally scores of major artists emerged, from Hendrix to Sly to Cream (who appeared, became superstars and broke up between Stones tours).

... at times, B sides could've been A siders....

This is A ROLLING STONES site. PLEASE Bugger off. Thank You

Yes sir! Ten-Shun!!

Long Tall Sally was the last song performed on all Beatle 1966 American gigs.
I believe the set list is still tpaed to Paul's Hofner bass.
Also, at the San Francisco gig, two of the Beatles (Paul and John, I believe),
carried cameras on stage, probably to document the event.
IF rumor is true, Ringo came down from the drums for a group photo
before the last song.
Also, there is a photo I've seen that John took of himself
onstage at Candlestick, using a timer and a fish-eye lens.
The camera being on top of his Vox SuperBeatle amp.
Interesting that John says on stage after Ringo's tune,
"It's been nice working with you, Ringo."

Gaz: Are you a Beatle fan too?

JumpingKentFlash

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have a tape of that show. Weird thing is, it
> misses the last song. I read that Lennon, knowing
> it would be their last show, asked Mal Evans to
> tape it and he did. However, as the show ran
> slightly over 30 minutes, the tape ended before
> they played the last song (I think it was 'Long
> tall Sally" but I could be wrong)


I read in Tony Barrow's book that McCartney asked Barrow to record it?

I guess I got the names mixed up...I did say I wasnt sure who asked whom, so I guess youre right

JumpingKentFlash Wrote:
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> Gaz: Are you a Beatle fan too?


of course. I was a Beatles fan before I was a Stones fan, actually - although obviously not to the same degree

Still a fan, but I dont listen to them that much these days, to be honest.