George Harrison had some brutal views of The Beatles’ landmark and record-breaking concert at Shea Stadium in 1965, which was attended by 55,600 screaming fans
Music icon George Harrison didn’t hold back on his brutal thoughts about The Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium concert, even though it was one of the group’s most famous performances.
The landmark and record-breaking concert was attended by 55,600 screaming fans and arrived at the height of Beatlemania, which had been sweeping the globe for nearly two years. The Fab Four had already made their famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was watched by millions, sold thousands of records, and had toured the world.
However, they were beginning to feel run down with their hectic schedule and were becoming disillusioned with touring and performing. Every time they went somewhere or played a gig, there were throngs of screaming girls. They could hardly hear themselves on stage and it all seemed pointless.
By 1965, The Beatles were sick of Beatlemania. In Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, Joshua M. Greene wrote, “During a concert in Kansas City in September 1964, hundreds of screaming fans broke through police barriers and attacked the bands mobile dressing room.
“The van rocked backward and forward until at last it pitched over with a groan. To restore order, police retaliated by attacking the mob with rubber billy clubs The Beatles had managed to survive the circumstances of their career thanks to a limitless supply of friendship and an ability to laugh at anything, even tragedybut the humor had gone out of their lives.”
When The Beatles discovered their upcoming performance at Shea Stadium, in New York City, they were hardly overjoyed about it, knowing it would be a similar situation of girls storming the stage.
By the time The Beatles arrived at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965, they had grown indifferent about what would happen. Fans packed into the sports arena, “the largest crowd ever assembled for an entertainment event,” Greene wrote.
“The band arrived by helicopter atop a nearby Worlds Fair building, then scrambled into a Wells Fargo armored truck that drove them inside the stadium. They stepped out of the truck, and from the stands spewed an apocalyptic roar. Police held their ears against the pain.
“Within minutes, emergency nursing stations beneath the stands were filled to overflowing with girls who had fainted from their own screaming. Stadium concerts had never happened before. No singer or group could fill so large a space.”
Greene added that the Vox sound company created customized amplifiers with their usual thirty watts of power boosted to a one hundred watts, but “nothing helped. The audience was a raging animal, far away, straining against wire barriers.”
This was not what the band signed up for when they started. They liked engaging with their fans, not caging them in for everyone’s safety.
Despite all of their dislikes, The Beatles were simply indifferent about the performance. They didn’t care that they couldn’t hear themselves play or that fans were unable to hear them.
A day after the concert, a reporter asked John Lennon, “Does it bother you that you cant hear what you sing during concerts?” He replied, “No, we dont mind. Weve got the records at home.” It was the usual witty remark, but underneath, The Beatles were disenchanted with it all.
A reporter asked Harrison how he felt about the near riot at Shea Stadium. He replied, “It was very impersonal. Worst of all . . . we really didnt care anymore.”
George claimed that The Beatles didnt care what would happen during their performance at Shea Stadium. However, radio personality Cousin Brucie, a.k.a. Bruce Morrow, claims differently. They cared a little, mostly about their safety.
He befriended The Beatles and, later, he and Ed Sullivan introduced them on stage at Shea Stadium. “There was energy like I have never felt. But now I say, it was an energy of love,” he said.
Cousin Brucie said The Beatles were nervous before the show; he was too, but reassured them. He said, “And in the dugout before we introduced them John Lennon comes up to me with Paul McCartney and John says, ‘Cousin, is this going to be safe? Is it dangerous?’
“And I put my fingers behind my back and I crossed my fingers because I was scared, and said, ‘John, Paul. This is going to be safe. All they want to do is be in the same space as you cause they love you.’ Frankly I was scared stiff Id never felt a cacophony of energy like Id never felt.
“So Im walking up the stairs with Ed Sullivan and we were just feeling this huge energy you could feel it through your body. And Ed says, ‘Is this going to be safe Cousin?’ So I said to him since I wanted to give him a hard time, Well Ed. I think its not going to be safe. It will be dangerous. He then asked, ‘What do we do?’ I said, ‘Pray, Ed, Pray.'”
The Beatles continued to tour into 1966, but officially stopped after a horrible and potentially dangerous gig at Candlestick Park in San Francisco that year.
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