Yea Yea Yea They are Here for Concert (1966 Los Angeles

 

Yea Yea Yea: They Are Here For Concert

By Ken Lubas

The Van Nuys News

August 26, 1966

    "Hot" best describes the day, and "frantic" denotes the atmosphere as crowds surged about the Capitol Record Tower in Hollywood last Wednesday evening, awaiting the arrival of rock and roll's young kings, the Beatles. Youngsters and oldsters alike awaited the opportunity to catch a glimpse, and that's all that it was of the shaggy-haired foursome, as the Beatles emerged from the back door of an armored truck and were quickly swept away by security guards to their Hollywood press conference. 

    Revolver, the title for the British foursome's 20th gold record since the Beatles made their U.S. debut in January '64, proved to be the golden word of the evening. Alan W. Livingston, the president of Capitol Records, announced that with the awarding of a gold record for Revolver, their latest album, the Beatles now have a greater number of certified million sellers than any other artist in the history of the Record Industry Association of America. A gold record for a single is given for selling more than 1,000,000 copies. Capitol Record officials estimated the Beatles' separate recordings of either "Yellow Submarine" or "Eleanor Rigby", both on Revolver, will reach the magic mark.

     Sitting before the throng of reporters gathered in the large but, under the circumstances, not too spacious sound studio, Ringo Starr, the drummer, appeared in a blue-and-white polka-dot, high-colored shirt, multicolored sports coat, and blue-and-white striped pants. John Lennon was dressed in a reddish-brown wide-lapel suit and black sweater. Paul McCartney wore white slacks and a gray striped long-sleeve shirt, and George Harrison was in blue jeans, a white silk shirt, and a brown suede jacket.

     Answering questions concerning everything from their latest run-in with religion to future plans, the mopheads flourished their Liverpudlian personalities and aired their views. In reference to the widely quoted article in which Lennon allegedly said the British foursome is more popular than Jesus, Lennon said at the press conference. "I've clarified it about 800 times. I could have said more popular than telly or any other number of things, but they certainly wouldn't have been as good publicity."

     McCartney said bigots took it (the remark) up. He feels the bigots understood the statement to mean, "Ah, he's bound to be arrogant." When asked about reports of Beatles' record burnings, Lennon said Pictures he had seen showed "middle-aged disc jockeys and 12-year-olds burning a bunch of LP covers."

     When asked if they thought all the publicity hurt their image, all agreed."Our image is what we read in the newspaper." Elaborating on the subject, McCartney said, "We know our real image, which is nothing like our picture image."

     Turning to the subject of their expected money from the current American tour. The Beatles don't have time to worry about such matters, Lennon said, "If we worried about it, we'd be nervous wrecks."

     About future plans, the group is considering a script for a new movie, but couldn't give any details of pending production. Lennon explained his appearance in the movie How I Won the War came about while he was alone on a holiday. "They just asked me, and I said yes." When asked what his favorite American singing groups were, Lennon said the Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas, and the Lovin' Spoonful. 

    Starr explained to disappointed reporters that he doesn't carry pictures of his baby in his wallet, or any other pictures for that matter. Harrison, the quiet Beatle, was overshadowed by his counterparts during the meet. 

'    When earlier asked about politics, Lennon said, "Politics? They have no message for me, nor for any of us. I haven't got much time for politicians. I've never bothered to vote. The bomb? Nuclear disarmament? Well, like everyone else, I don't want to end up a festering heap, but I don't stay up nights worrying. I'm preoccupied with my life, not death."

     The Beatles, who were in Southern California for a performance at Dodger Stadium Sunday evening, said their most disappointing tour was in Manila, Philippines, last month, where they were booed as they left the islands.

    Following the conference, the Beatles, surrounded by security guards, bounded for the nearby armored truck and were mobbed by about 500 hysterical teenage girls. Guards surrounded the truck, and once their valuable cargo was safely enclosed, they rode through the Capitol parking lot on the rear and front bumpers to prevent the girls from hanging on. As the vehicle departed into the sunset, heading toward the Hollywood Hills, many of the excited youths leaped onto motorcycles to follow the group back to their residence there.