Thursday, August 13, 2020

55 Years Since Shea

 


August 15, 1965 -- The Beatles at Shea Stadium was one of the defining moments in Beatles history and so many of you were there.  As far as I'm concerned none of The Beatles live performance can beat the Shea Stadium performance of "I'm Down."   To me, that is the ultimate in Beatlemania and The Beatles live.    When I saw the Shea Stadium concert after the film Eight Days a Week, it was great!  Let's hope that we can see it released on Blu-Ray, DVD, streaming -- whatever is available in the near future!  

16 comments:

  1. On the stage I see four Vox amps. Four amps vs 55,000 screaming teenagers. What an experience it had to have been.

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  2. favourite has always been Shea 1965

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  3. While there's no denying the importance of Shea in the Beatles' story, the truly defining concert has always been Washington, D.C. It was a unique synthesis between band and audience as well as visually striking to watch. Ringo drummed as if his life depended upon it, and none of the group had the jaded 'been there, done that' feel they would have only a year later. It was all still fresh and new to them. The vitality of the Beatles at the dawn of the Sixties is there for all to see.

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  4. Lived 30 minutes from the Washington Coliseum. I guess I should be biased to that gig, which was great, but Shea has always been Shea.

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  5. PS -- Meant that Shea has always been the most definitive IMO.

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  6. I actuall go back and forth between the Washington D.C. and the Shea Shows as to which one is my favorite. But Shea wins by a small margin because of "I'm down."

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  7. December 27, 1960. Litherland Town Hall. None of the fanfare of Shea or DC, but maybe the most pivotal live moment of their career. It was when the tables really turned for them. Lewisohn has a very memorable write up in Tune In. They were hungry and knew they had tapped in to something right then. Oh, to be there! Before “the jism had gone out of their performances” as I think John put it.

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  8. Venting a bit if you don't mind: am so sick of so many articles written now (not here) that the BEATLES were John and Paul. Without the marvelous George and Ringo the magic wouldn't have worked out. So I say fantastic group you four lads together!

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  9. Paul described the defining moment for him -- the first time Ringo played with them, and how he and George and John looked at each other and knew they had for the first this "powerhouse" behind them. Paul said he often he gets emotional thinking about it, because he thought that was the real beginning of the Beatles for him.

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  10. All of these shows have their own importance; you could also mention the Royal Variety show, where 'Beatlemania' really began, Or the first Ed Sullivan show in the States, etc. But Litherland and Ringo first sitting in were not recorded, so their influence on the fan base is secondary. As far as visual documentation of the band we can still view today, Shea, Sullivan and DC are the ones with the biggest impact that can still draw in new fans.

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  11. Anonymous August 16 841pm -- good call on the Litherland show, that's a very huge gig that slipped my mind. Read about that in Tune In last month so I should've recalled that one.

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  12. ^ TBH, of any of the four shows: DC, Shea, or even the Royal Variety Show, if I had my choice to see it live and been there it would have been Litherland. It was supposed to be a dance but they all rushed the stage. They were literally riveted by the sound and their presence. It wasn’t “mania” or “an event.” Yet. Just darned good r&r delivered (by then) pretty seasoned veterans who had gone through the mill to get there. It was right at that moment, really, when it dawned on them that they were going places. It isn’t documented, which just adds to the mystique. Just my two cents!

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    1. All the shows carry their own mystique, certainly. I wouldn't say no to visiting any of them.

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  13. i recall my daughter telling her friends that George was only 21 when they played Shea stadium. that's a hell of alot of living crammed into such a short life.

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