''The Beatles at Shea Stadium'' is a fifty-minute-long documentary of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' concert at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

in New York City on 15 August 1965, the highlight of the group's 1965 tour. The documentary was directed and produced by Bob Precht (under the Sullivan Productions banner), NEMS Enterprises (which owns the 1965 copyright), and the Beatles company Subafilms. The project, placed under the direction of manager of production operations M. Clay Adams, was filmed by a large crew led by cinematographer

Andrew Laszlo Andrew Laszlo A.S.C. hu, László András (January 12, 1926 – October 7, 2011) was a Hungarian-American cinematographer best known for his work on the cult film classic '' The Warriors''. He earned Emmy nominations for '' The Man Without a C ...

. Fourteen cameras were used to capture the euphoria and mass hysteria that was

Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", " From Me to You" and " She Loves You" ...

in America in 1965. The documentary first aired on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 1 March 1966. In

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

, it aired on 2 August that year. It aired in the United States on ABC on 10 January 1967.

History

The film captures not only the concert, the attendance of which was 55,600, the largest Beatles concert up to that time, but also the events leading up to the concert, including the Beatles' helicopter ride from Manhattan to Flushing Meadows, their preparation in the dressing room (i.e. the visiting baseball team's locker) at Shea Stadium, and clips from the show's other acts, including

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

singer

Brenda Holloway Brenda Holloway (born June 26, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", " When I'm Gone", and "You've Ma ...

I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" is a 1965 hit song recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, "I Can't Help Myself" is one of the most well-know ...

"),

King Curtis Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musician ...

Soul Twist "Soul Twist" is a 1962 instrumental crossover single for saxophonist, King Curtis. His debut single on the R&B charts was his most successful, hitting number one for two weeks. "Soul Twist" crossed over to the top 40, where it was one of three s ...

"),

Sounds Incorporated Sounds Incorporated, first recorded as Sounds Inc., was a British instrumental pop/rock group which recorded extensively in the 1960s. Career Sounds Incorporated formed in early 1961, in Dartford, Kent, and gained a reputation in nearby South ...

Fingertips "Fingertips" is a 1963 hit single recorded live by "Little" Stevie Wonder for Motown's then Tamla label. Overview Written and composed by Wonder's mentors, Clarence Paul and Henry Cosby, "Fingertips" was originally a jazz instrumental recorde ...

"), and Killer Joe Piro and The Discothèque Dancers (" It's Not Unusual", "

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Can't Buy Me Love "Can't Buy Me Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in March 1964 as the A-side of their sixth single. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was included ...

"), managed by

Jerry Weintraub Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys. He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...

Murray the K Murray Kaufman (February 14, 1922 – February 21, 1982), professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential New York City rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. During the early days of Beatlemania, he freque ...

Neil Aspinall Neil Stanley Aspinall (13 October 1941 24 March 2008) was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head the Beatles' company Apple Corps. The Beatles employed Aspinall first as t ...

, Nat Weiss, with his step-son Shaun Weiss,

Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and a ...

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

, and announcer Cousin Brucie Morrow are also featured.

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

were also in attendance.

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

was introduced but did not perform. The

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and Cannibal & the Headhunters also performed but were not featured in the documentary. The concert had been presented by promoter Sid Bernstein. Television host

Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New Yor ...

introduced the band when they took the stage: "Now, ladies and gentlemen, honored by their country, decorated by their Queen, and loved here in America, here are The Beatles!" The film is not a completely accurate representation of the actual concert performance. The songs "She's a Woman" and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" are omitted from the film due to time and likely camera reel change issues (audio of the latter song was released on ''

The Beatles Anthology ''The Beatles Anthology'' is a multimedia retrospective project consisting of a television documentary, a three-volume set of double albums, and a book describing the history of the Beatles. Beatles members Paul McCartney, George Harrison ...

'' Volume 2 CD). The audio for the songs that remained went through a heavy post-production process as well. Some songs were treated with overdubs, or even re-recorded entirely, by the Beatles at London's CTS Studios on 5 January 1966, to cover audio problems throughout the concert recording. In addition, the audio for "Twist and Shout" comes from a show at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

in 1964, and the audio for "Act Naturally" was simply replaced by the studio version of the song (released on the ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles " Help!" and " Ticket to Ride", ...

'' LP in Britain and on the B-side of "Yesterday" in the US), speeded up slightly and poorly edited to sync up to the film. ''The Beatles at Shea Stadium'' was also shown in cinemas in the United States. The band's friend from their years in Hamburg,

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...

, designed the advertisements used to promote the film. Although the film has not been officially available on DVD or VHS (except via a 1978 release by Media Home Entertainment that was successfully sued by

Northern Songs Northern Songs Ltd was a limited company founded in 1963, by music publisher Dick James, artist manager Brian Epstein, and songwriters John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles, to publish songs written by Lennon and McCartney. In 1965, it ...

), it has been widely available on the bootleg circuit for decades, including in a "raw audio" form that restores the original Shea Stadium audio track. A thirty-minute 4K restoration of the concert was about to be issued simultaneously with the release of the

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of '' The Twilight Zone''. ...

film '' The Beatles: Eight Days a Week'' on 15 September 2016, although added to the cinema showings of the film, it was absent in

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

due to a lawsuit over the film rights. The band played a further concert at Shea Stadium on 23 August 1966.

Set list

All songs written by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, except where noted. #"

Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by the Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Brothers ...

" (

Phil Medley Philip Medley (April 9, 1916 – October 3, 1997) was an American songwriter, notable for his composition " Twist and Shout", which he wrote along with Bert Russell. The song was made famous by both The Isley Brothers and The Beatles. Medley a ...

Bert Russell Bertrand Russell Berns (November 8, 1929 – December 30, 1967), also known as Bert Russell and (occasionally) Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s. His songwriting credits include " Twist and Shout", "Piece ...

) #"

She's a Woman "She's a Woman" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single in November 1964 as the B-side to "I Feel Fine", except in North Amer ...

" (not included in film. audio added to the end credits of 2016 release.) #"

I Feel Fine "I Feel Fine" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in November 1964 as the A-side of their eighth single. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The recording includes one o ...

" #"

Dizzy Miss Lizzy "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy" is a rock and roll song written and recorded by Larry Williams in 1958. Although identified as a "genuine rock & roll classic", it had limited success on the record charts. Seven years later, the Beatles recorded the song, an ...

" ( Larry Williams) #" Ticket to Ride" #" Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" (

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) (not included in film) #"

" #"

Baby's in Black "Baby's in Black" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It appears on the United Kingdom album ''Beatles for Sale'' and on the United States album ''Beatles '65'', both released in 1964. ...

" #"

Act Naturally "Act Naturally" is a song written by Johnny Russell, with a writing credit given to Voni Morrison and publishing rights transferred to Buck Owens. It was originally recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, whose version reached number one on ...

" (Voni Morrison, Johnny Russell) #" A Hard Day's Night" #"

" #"

I'm Down "I'm Down" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single as the B-side to "Help!" in July 1965. The song originated in McCartney's attempt ...

Legacy

The concert itself was a milestone in popular musical history as the first major stadium concert.Fleming, Colin. "Why the Beatles' Shea Stadium Show Was Even Greater Than You Knew." ''Rolling Stone'', August 14, 2015.
/ref> The documentary was a highlight of the 1995 ''Beatles Anthology'' series, which featured extensive clips from the film.

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

described the concert in ''The Beatles Anthology'': "What I remember most about the concert was that we were so far away from the audience. ... And screaming had become the thing to do. ... Everybody screamed. If you look at the footage, you can see how we reacted to the place. It was very big and very strange." In 1970,

recalled the show as a career highlight: "At Shea Stadium, I saw the top of the mountain." In 2008,

played the last concert at Shea Stadium with

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

before the stadium was closed. The concert was documented in the film ''

The Last Play at Shea ''The Last Play at Shea'' is a 2010 American documentary film written by Mark Monroe, directed by Paul Crowder, produced by Steve Cohen and Nigel Sinclair, in conjunction with Billy Joel's Maritime Pictures and Spitfire Films. The film is center ...

''. In 2009, Paul McCartney played the song "I'm Down" as the first concert when the stadium was re-opened. The DVD '' Good Evening New York City'' intersperses the 2009 performance with the original footage.

References

Sources

*The Beatles, ''The Beatles Anthology'' (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2000). *Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, ''All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography'' (New York: Ballantine Books, 1976), p. 317. *Mark Lewisohn, ''The Complete Beatles Chronicles'' (New York: Harmony Books, 1992), pp. 199–200. * *Schwensen, Dave. ''The Beatles at Shea: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert'' (North Shore Publishing, 2013). *Bob Spitz, ''The Beatles: The Biography'' (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005).

External links

''The Beatles at Shea Stadium'' on Beatles.com.

The Beatles Concert at Shea Stadium 1965 (entire show + bonus). veoh.com.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beatles at Shea Stadium, The History of the Beatles Concert films Documentary films about the Beatles 1960s English-language films