The Beatles in 1966

After The Beatles released the Rubber Soul album at the end of 1965, they recorded their follow up album Revolver then embarked on a world tour. In making these two albums, the group recorded music that had become increasingly difficult to reproduce on stage. But that problem only scratched the surface of problems the band would face in 1966.

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Japan

The Asian leg of the tour began with controversy as right-wing Japanese nationalists protested at the staging of their concerts in Tokyo at the Nippon Budokan in June and July which was built for the staging of the martial arts rather than musical performances.

The performances went ahead but there was heavy security to protect the group from both fans and protesters,[1] meaning the group were forced to stay in their suite at the Tokyo Hilton, although Lennon escaped for a short time. NEMS staff photographer, Robert Whitaker, remembered: "He [Lennon] snuck out using my name, on the basis, I think, that all white people probably looked the same to the Japanese. He got away with it for a while, but then somebody recognised him and he was dragged back to the hotel." Artists who have played the Budokan since then (with no protests against their appearances) include Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, KISS, Cheap Trick, Ozzy Osbourne, Dream Theater and BeyoncĂŠ.[2]

The Philippines

Later in July, when The Beatles toured the Philippines, they unintentionally snubbed the nation's first lady, Imelda Marcos, who had expected the group to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace.[3] When presented with the invitation, Brian Epstein politely declined on behalf of the group, as it had never been the group's policy to accept such "official" invitations, but the group soon found that the Marcos regime was unaccustomed to accepting "no" for an answer.[4]

After the snub was broadcast on Philippine television and radio, all of their police protection disappeared. The group and their entourage had to make their way to Manila airport on their own. At the airport, road manager Mal Evans was beaten and kicked, and the band members were pushed and jostled about by a hostile crowd.[5] Once the group boarded the plane, Epstein and Evans were ordered off, and Evans (fearing he would be imprisoned or executed) said, "Tell my wife that I love her."[6] Epstein was forced to give the tax authorities ÂŁ6,800 worth of Philippine peso notes from the Manila shows, and had to sign the tax bond verifying the exchange before being allowed back on the plane.[7]

Religion

Almost as soon as they returned from the Philippines, an earlier comment by Lennon made in March that year launched a backlash against The Beatles from religious and social conservatives in the United States. In an interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave published in the Evening Standard on 4 March,[8] Lennon had offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now".[9] As the British public were used to Lennon's often caustic comments, it did not create a stir. The controversy began when the interview was reprinted in the American teenage fan magazine DATEbook with a front cover story.[10][11] Afterwards, radio station WAQY in Birmingham, Alabama announced it was banning Beatles music and would hold a bonfire to burn Beatles records. Dozens of other radio stations followed suit and several stations also held bonfires. Attempting to make light of the incident, Harrison said, "They've got to buy them before they can burn them."[12]

Epstein held a press conference at the Sheraton Hotel in New York on 6 August 1966, reading a statement by Lennon, and then answering questions from the press. Epstein: “The quote which John Lennon made to a London columnist nearly three months ago has been quoted and misrepresented entirely out of context... Lennon didn't mean to boast about The Beatles' fame. He meant to point out that The Beatles' effect appeared to be a more immediate one upon, certainly, the younger generation. John is deeply concerned and regrets that people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended.” Under further pressure from the American media, Lennon apologised for his remarks at a press conference in Chicago on 11 August 1966, the eve of the first performance of what turned out to be their final tour.[13] The controversy was on everyone's mind when the tour went through the region. There was minor panic when a firecracker was set off on stage at a concert at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee on 19 August.[14]

In November, 2008, the Vatican publicly announced that it had forgiven John Lennon for his remarks, saying it was a "boast" by a young man grappling with sudden fame.[15]

The Yesterday and Today cover

On 25 March 1966, the group took part in a photo session in a London studio (1 The Vale, Chelsea). The studio was rented by Oluf Nissen, but Whitaker took the photographs, as he had also photographed the covers for the albums, With The Beatles, Beatles For Sale, Help! and Rubber Soul.

The publicity shots were used for the American Yesterday and Today album and a poster promoting the UK release of "Paperback Writer". The photograph created an uproar, as it featured the band dressed in butchers' overalls, draped in meat and mutilated plastic dolls. A popular, though apocryphal, rumour said that this was meant as a response to the way Capitol had "butchered" their albums.[16][17] Capitol parent EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood ordered the butcher cover withdrawn.[18] Thousands of copies of the album had a new cover pasted over.[13]

Whitaker later explained that he was trying to create a satirical commentary on their fame, and that the images of dismembered doll and mannequin parts had been inspired by the German surrealist Hans Bellmer. Uncensored copies of Yesterday and Today command a high price today, with one copy selling for $10,500 at a December 2005 auction.[19] Unpeeled copies of the pasted over sleeve are also collectable.

End of touring

The Beatles played their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on 29 August 1966.[20] Immediately after the tour, the band took a three month break from each other to follow individual pursuits. Lennon accepted a supporting role in the film How I Won the War, and it was during filming that he wrote "Strawberry Fields Forever". McCartney wrote the score for the film The Family Way. Harrison and his wife Pattie, whom he had married in January, travelled to India, where he met and took sitar lessons from Ravi Shankar and immersed himself in the local culture and religion. Starr mostly stayed at home with his family. The group reconvened on 24 November to begin the sessions for what would become Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A visit by Lennon to the Indica Gallery in London on 9 November would shape the future of The Beatles as it was there that Lennon met Yoko Ono for the first time. Because the group did not record a new album for the Christmas season as they did the previous three years, Parlophone Records issued the group's first compilation album titled A Collection of Beatles Oldies on 10 December.

Notes

  1. ^ Nabhan, Shibly. "Showdown at Budokan". The Japan Times. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20060702x2.html. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  2. ^ Barrell, Tony (24 August 2008). "The Beatles' magical misery tour". London: The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4572634.ece. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  3. ^ Spitz, The Beatles (2005) p619
  4. ^ Spitz, The Beatles (2005) p620
  5. ^ Spitz, The Beatles (2005) p623
  6. ^ Spitz, The Beatles (2005) p.624
  7. ^ Spitz (2005), p625
  8. ^ Cleave, Maureen (5 October 2006). "The John Lennon I Knew". The Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on 14 December 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20051214163403/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2005/10/05/bmlennon05.xml. Retrieved 29 January 2007. 
  9. ^ "John Lennon Remembered: Bigger Than Jesus". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/lennon/jesus.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  10. ^ "The Beatles Are Bigger than WHO?". I Remember JFK. http://www.irememberjfk.com/mt/2008/10/the_beatles_are_bigger_than_wh.php. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  11. ^ Chittenden, Maurice (23 November 2008). "John Lennon forgiven for Jesus claim". London: The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5213614.ece. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  12. ^ Blecha, ‘’Taboo Tunes: A History of Banned Bands & Censored Songs’’ (2004) p181
  13. ^ a b Miles, Many Years From Now (1997) pp293-295
  14. ^ "Beatles Interview: Memphis, Tennessee 8/19/1966". Beatles Interviews. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1966.0819.beatles.html. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  15. ^ "Pope forgives John Lennon for Jesus quip". Meeja. http://www.meeja.com.au/articles/pope-forgives-john-lennon-for-jesus-quip. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  16. ^ "The Beatles’ Story". Beatles Story. http://www.beatlesstory.com/. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  17. ^ "Who Butchered The Beatles?". Eskimo. http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/whobutch.html. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  18. ^ "Butcher cover, Canadian - Paul White Letter". Rarebeatles.com. http://www.rarebeatles.com/album2/discog/pwhite.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 
  19. ^ Gaffney, Dennis. "The Beatles' "Butcher" Cover". Pbs. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/jackpot_200302A14.html. Retrieved 2009-07-12. 
  20. ^ "The unreleased Beatles: music & film - Google Books". Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=V-vNuvFrplcC&pg=PA152&dq=beatles+%2B+%22candlestick+park%22%2B+concert+%2B+mccartney+%2B+stop&hl=en&ei=WOfLTaj4GYXAtgfamqj7Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CGEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=beatles%20%2B%20%22candlestick%20park%22%2B%20concert%20%2B%20mccartney%20%2B%20stop&f=false. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 

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