Contra Band Music

August 11th, 1966 was John Lennon's day of reckoning. Even before the Beatles boarded their flight to America, a BBC-TV reporter at Lond...

"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're m...

During their month off in July 1966, the Beatles tried to put the horrors of Manila behind them and recoup their energy for another American...

On July 4th, 1966, The Beatles played to their largest-ever single day crowds (80,000 total) in two performances at Manila's Rizal Memor...

As noted in a previous blog post , the Beatles' June 26th, 1966 Hamburg press conference was a contentious affair, although the concerts...

The Beatles spent the first half of June, 1966 ensconced in EMI Studios finishing up the Revolver LP. On the 16th, they made a surprise liv...

Rather than make the usual rounds of pop music TV shows to plug the "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single, the Beatles opted ...

With a new single to promote ("Paperback Writer"/"Rain"), the Beatles recorded a chat segment for BBC Radio's Saturd...

After spending most of April inside EMI's Abbey Road Studios recording a new single and tracks for Revolver , the Beatles made their fir...

March 25th, 1966 was a bizarre day for the Beatles. They had attended the premiere of Alfie the previous night, a film in which Jane Asher ...

From the moment they stepped offstage at Cardiff on December 12th, 1965, until they convened at EMI Studios on April 6th, 1966, the Beatles ...

The final Rubber Soul session stretched into the early morning of November 12th, 1965. From then until their final UK tour kicked off on De...

By November, 1965, deadlines for Rubber Soul and the annual Fan Club Christmas flexi were imminent. After an aborted attempt at the latter...

Rubber Soul sessions continued apace throughout October, 1965, interrupted only by a visit to Buckingham Palace on the 26th. The first two...

Apart from composing material for their next LP and single, the Beatles had little to do in September, 1965. Ringo did get to greet his firs...

Cleveland disc jockey Jerry G. Bishop (real name Jerry Ghan) toured with the Beatles on their entire August 1965 North American tour, interv...

The Beatles' Summer 1965 tour wrapped up in San Francisco with two riotous concerts at the Cow Palace on August 31st. An earlier blog po...

The Beatles' Los Angeles visit concluded with two concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, on August 29th and 30th, 1965. On the first day, they ...

Another highlight of the Beatles' 1965 Los Angeles trip was their summit with Elvis Presley, on the evening of August 27th. A thorough e...

When asked which city they were looking forward to revisiting on the 1965 US tour, The Beatles invariably chose Los Angeles. As they had the...

The Beatles played two shows at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon on August 22nd, 1965. The flight there from Minneapolis was terrifying...

The Beatles' sole trip to Minneapolis on August 21st, 1965, started on a high note and rapidly went downhill. Upon their late-afte...

From Atlanta, the Beatles and company flew overnight to Houston, Texas, where their plane was swarmed by fans on the runway upon their 2...

The second stop on the Beatles' 1965 North American tour was Toronto, a city they had visited in 1964. Once again, they were playing...

The pinnacle of the Beatles' concert career, albeit a distant and lonely pinnacle, was their August 15th, 1965 performance at Shea S...

As covered in a previous blog post , the Beatles arrived in New York City for their 1965 tour on August 13th, holding a press conference...

On July 29th, 1965, the Beatles attended the Royal World Premiere of Help! at the London Pavilion. The next day, they were interviewed ...

From France, the Beatles flew to Italy, performing in Milan on June 24th, Genoa on the 25th, and in Rome on the 27th and 28th. An Italia...

Paul McCartney began June of 1965 on holiday with Jane Asher in Portugal (where he finished composing "Yesterday"). On the 11t...

With principal photography on Help! completed, The Beatles had a chance to relax for a few weeks before setting out on a European tour....

Filming for Help! was completed over the first two weeks of May, 1965. From May 3rd-5th, the musical numbers "I Need You" and...

From April 15th through 19th, The Beatles took a break from filming for Easter weekend, interrupted only by John and George's TV gue...

Capitol Records pressed the "Ticket To Ride" single in the US with label copy reading "from the United Artists release Eight ...

During the week of April 5th-9th, 1965, The Beatles spent their days filming Help! at Twickenham Studios. On the 6th, they received an ...

On March 10th, The Beatles left the sunny climes of the Bahamas, arriving back at London Airport early the next morning. Two days lat...

The parade of American DJs continued to march through Nassau as filming for Help! continued into March, 1965. Murray the "K" hung...

After resigning at the end of the North American tour in September 1964, Beatles press officer Derek Taylor had moved to Los Angeles, wh...

Dave Hull of Pasadena radio station KRLA-AM had interviewed The Beatles extensively during their August 1964 visit to Los Angeles. At th...

February 25th, 1965 was the second full day of filming for Help! in the Bahamas. It was also George Harrison's 22nd birthday, and he ce...

From February 15th-20th, 1965, The Beatles were in EMI Studios recording eleven songs for potential use in their second movie. On the 22nd, ...