There is no darker day on the Beatles’ calendar than Monday, December 8th, 1980. It seemed to begin with a flourish as John Lennon recounted his optimism for the future in what turned out to be his last interview, only to end hours later as shockwaves of horror made their way across the globe. Directed […]
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50 Years of Beatles: To “Get Back,” or Not to “Get Back” — That Was the Question
On Saturday, October 7, 1967, promoter Sid Bernstein offered the Beatles the unprecedented sum of $1 million to perform in concert. If the band mates had accepted his proposal, the one-time show would have been their first appearance since abandoning life on the road after their August 29, 1966, swan song at San Francisco’s Candlestick […]
50 Years of Beatles: “Knocking Off the Edges” with Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days a Week—The Touring Years
During the week of September 23rd, 1960, the Beatles were caught up in the sound and fury of their first residency in Hamburg, West Germany. By nearly every account, their years on the Reeperbahn were a vital ingredient in their legendary story, not to mention the gritty site of their shift from journeymen players into […]
50 Years Of Beatles: “The Bigger They Are, the Harder They Fall”
On September 11, 1967, the Beatles undertook a fateful course—one that would humble them profoundly in the coming months: with the recent triumph of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the international simulcast performance of “All You Need Is Love” under their belts, they tried their hand, bizarre as it may seem in retrospect, […]
50 Years of Beatles: “The Four Mop-Tops,” Candlestick Park, and the End of the Road
With the signal exception of the band’s legend-making February 9, 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles’ August 29, 1966 concert at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park may have been the most significant moment in cementing their legacy for all time. By the time that the Beatles alighted in New York City on February […]