Memories of a Beatles concert, Memphis, TN, August 19, 1966
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Beatles show, August 19, 1966 August 19, 1966 Has it really been 50 years since The Beatles played Memphis? It certainly doesn't feel like it. Seems like only 'Yesterday'... I can remember in May 1966 my Mother told me that she had heard that the Beatles had been booked to play two concerts at the Mid-South Coliseum. Since my birthday was on August 21st, Mom asked me what I wanted for my present. 'Would tickets to the Beatles concert do Fletcher?' My immediate answer was 'yeah Mom, that would be fantastic'. She was one of the first people to order tickets via phone. Remember back in 1966, there was no internet, no 'pre-sales', no Ticketmaster or any other sort of ticket brokers. She managed to score tickets close to the stage for the then expensive price of $5.50 each! To show how times have changed, it cost $7 for a beer at the McCartney show I saw in Little Rock back in April. Anyhow, as the day got closer to the concert, Mom made our travel plans. I was in 'hog heaven' counting down the days till I was able to see my favorite band. Finally that day arrived! We left our home in Cleveland, Mississippi to make the two plus hour drive to Memphis on Highway 61. Seems like it took an eternity to get to Memphis but we finally arrived and secured a parking space right outside the Mid-South Coliseum. We noticed a couple of Klan kooks with their picket signs on the way into the coliseum. And a couple of random protestors with their "Beatles go home' signs but We didn't pay them any attention at all. Some of this footage can be seen in the Beatles Anthology. If you know Memphis, you will recognize both the Liberty Bowl stadium and the Mid-South Coliseum. We made our way to our seats and waited through what seemed like an eternity until the Beatles hit the stage. I can remember that the Ronnettes were the opening act. They were followed by the Boston band, The Remains. Years later I would meet Barry Tashian who was the lead guitarist for The Remains. He wrote one of the best booksabout the Remains tour with the Beatles, "Ticket To Ride".
On a side note, it seems like half the people in my hometown were at one of the two concerts here. My friends Johnny Hayles, Janie Givens Miller, and Lonny Sue Pearson all attended one of the shows here in Memphis. Also, per Johnny, there was a 'Beatles lp burning' in my old hometown of Cleveland, Mississippi. I did not know this actually took place till a year ago. I will bet those folks who ended up burning their albums regret it as some of those are worth quite a bit of money! Both Janie Miller and I were recently interviewed by British author Richard Houghton. His upcoming book, 'I Was There : The Beatles: 500 Fans Tell Their Stories of Seeing the Fab Four Live' will be published next month. You can preorder it on Amazon at the following url: Interview backstage at the Mid-South Coliseum: And that's the way it was, August 19, 1966! -
Thank you so much for sharing this, Fletch..very interesting and exciting. I wish I could have seen them live too.
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Thanks so much for sharing. I, sadly, never saw the Beatles live.
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Really enjoyed reading your story and seeing/listening to the video clips. I very much regret not being allowed to see The Beatles live in concert, in spite of my pleading, begging & crying to be allowed to see them at the Cow Palace in San Francisco which would have been exactly 2 years before your experience. I think I still harbor a grudge. Thanks for sharing your memories, Fletch!!
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Thanks for sharing.
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It's interesting that there are 0 songs from the Revolver album, which was released 3 weeks early in the States. You would think Mr. Epstein would want the band to play some songs off of Revolver to promote the new album, right?? What was the purpose of the tour if most of the songs where "old"?
