Fab Four fans reminisce about Beatlemania
Brandon Mullens
bmullens@dvtnv.com
When she was 12 years old, Debbie Williamson and a group of friends traveled just a few miles down the road to watch an epic concert featuring one of the most iconic bands in music history.
They were ecstatic as they entered the gates of Sam Houston Coliseum in August of 1965 and handed their $5 tickets to the vendor and joined thousands of other screaming fans.
After listening to acts by Brenda Holloway and the King Curtis Band, Cannibal & The Headhunters and Sounds Incorporated, the teenage girls stood and waited for the shaggy-haired, suit-wearing group who took the United States by storm a year prior.
After the last of the opening acts, The Beatles took the stage and played "Twist and Shout" which forced Williamson, her friends and the whole coliseum to scream at the top of their lungs in excitement.
"It was mind-blowing," she said with a big smile Tuesday at the Virgin Valley Artists Association's Brown Bag Lecture. "As soon as we left the concert we played their music in the car. We tried to see them at a nearby hotel but they never came."
Williamson relived that glorious moment when guest speaker Chuck Gunderson provided details of "Beatlemania" from his book Some Fun Tonight! The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966.
The book made Gunderson the "world's leading expert on the Beatles' North American tours." Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney even bought the book.
He said he started to become fascinated by the "Fab Four" in junior high school and eventually began collecting Beatles memorabilia such as tickets, handbills, photographs and other items.
"I had older siblings and they spun the records," he said. "So they (The Beatles) were in my ears all the time."
After eight years of compiling the 600-page, two-volume set, he finally released his masterpiece on the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' invasion of the United States in February 2014.
At the lecture, he explained some of the "behind-the scenes" negotiations, humorous press conferences and delivered some fun facts about the 30-day tour in 1964, discussed in his book, in which The Beatles performed 32 shows at 26 venues in 24 cities in just 33 days.
He said the Beatles' tour started when band's manager Brian Epstein teamed up with Norman Weiss of the General Artist Corporation and Weiss said, "I'm going to help you with this tour."
"What Weiss did is put together a big sheet of paper with all these different cities, venues and places they could play," Gunderson. "Then all the sudden, offers started flooding in."
Gunderson said when the offers came in, they were playing at venues that seated no fewer than 30,000 seats and played at a short-lived amusement park in the Bronx called Freedomland. Event organizers wanted The Beatles to play there for three shows a day for three days in front of 300,000 people. Ticket prices were $1.
However, there was one man in Kansas City, Missouri who wanted The Beatles to play there "very badly."
Charlie Finley was a insurance executive in Kansas City and owned the Major League Baseball team, the Kansas City Athletics. More importantly, he had teenage daughters, Gunderson said. He discussed with Epstein about The Beatles playing in the city, but they were booked for the rest of the tour.
Gunderson continued and said Finley wrote a check for $50,000 to have The Beatles to perform in Kansas City. Epstein said no. Finley approached Epstein while the band was playing in Los Angeles and wrote a check for $100,000. Epstein still refused saying the only date available was a day of rest for the band after playing in New Orleans.
"Finley made one last offer," Gunderson said. "He said 'alright, I want The Beatles to play in Kansas City. Here's the check' and he laid it in front of him."
Gunderson said Epstein took the check and went back to the band where they were playing cards and said "what do you want me to do with this?" And John Lennon, without even looking up from his card game, said 'we'll do whatever you want.'"
"At that point, entertainment history was made," Gunderson said. "One hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a single performance, which was five times over the guarantees of other promoters were giving. It set a new entertainment record for $4,838 per minute because they (The Beatles) only played for 30 minutes."
The Beatles were a hit off the stage as well with fans crowded around hotels where the group was staying and the media packed press conferences to interview the iconic group.
The Brown Bag Lecture attendees got a kick out of The Beatles' press conferences. Gunderson mentioned:
Question:How do you sleep with long hair?
Answer (George Harrison): How do you sleep with your arms and legs still attached?
Question:Does it bother you that you can't hear what you're singing during the concerts?
Answer (John Lennon): Nope, we don't mind. We've got the records at home.
Although Gunderson never went on tour with The Beatles or met all the members, he said he met drummer Ringo Starr a couple years ago in Los Angeles when they attended an opening party of the Fab Four exhibit at the GRAMMY Museum.
"He was there standing alone with his wife and I just didn't want to disturb him," Gunderson said. "My wife said 'you should just go talk to him.' So I did and he was an extremely nice guy and we chatted for a bit. I was absolutely shell-shocked."
For more information about Gunderson or his book, visit somefuntonight.com.
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