1960
The Beatles perform at the Indra Club, Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg, West Germany.
1961
The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club, Liverpool, a night performance.
1962
The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club at lunchtime and at Riverpark Ballroom, Chester, at night. Also appearing for this night of “Non-Stop Twist & Jive” is Gerry and the Pacemakers.
1963
UK single release: The Fourmost ‘Hello Little Girl’ / ‘ Just In Case ‘.
The Beatles continue filming for a documentary being made to explore the ”Mersey Beat” boom. Shooting outside of Ringo Starr’s home, the Beatle is seen leaving his house, having to fight his way through the crowd of teenagers gathered outside, and making his way to George Harrison’s convertible sports car, which speeds away with fans hanging onto the back. Ringo then shoots a solo scene, visiting a women’s beauty parlor in recognition of his comments about wanting to be a lady’s hairdresser. This will be the final day of filming for the documentary, which was originally going to be called “The Beatles,” but it was changed to “The Mersey Sound,” since other groups were included in the footage. A limited-area broadcast of the completed film will be made on October 9th to London and the north. A nationwide transmission is broadcast on November 13th. “The Mersey Sound” was well-liked by both critics and the public, and copy prints were requested by (and provided to) the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and the National Film Archive in London. Extracts from this documentary have appeared many times over the years. One very important clip was exported to America: a segment with The Beatles performing She Loves You was sold to the US television network NBC for “The Jack Paar Show.” Brian Epstein was quite upset over this, because he did not want to jeopardize his exclusive Beatles contract with Ed Sullivan. Nonetheless, this clip of The Beatles was broadcast on the Paar show, becoming the first appearance of The Beatles on American television (except for news reports). The TV critic for “The New York Times,” Jack Gould, was unimpressed with The Beatles. He said, “It would not seem quite so likely that the accompanying fever known as Beatlemania will also be successfully exported. On this side of the Atlantic it is dated stuff.”
It is announced that Gerry and the Pacemakers will star in a Christmas pantomime, ‘Babes In The Wood’. It will be promoted by Brian with Joe Collins.
Concert at the Odeon Cinema, Southport, with Tommy Quickly and Gerry and the Pacemakers.
1964
The Beatles, on tour in the USA, perform at Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, for 18,000 fans.
1965
The Beatles, on tour in North America, perform one show at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California. The concert is recorded, and seven tracks will be included on the 1977 album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl: Twist and Shout, She’s a Woman, Dizzy Miss Lizzie, Ticket to Ride, Can’t Buy Me Love, A Hard Day’s Night, and Help! For their two consecutive nights at the Hollywood Bowl, The Beatles earned $90,000. [Note: the song Dizzy Miss Lizzie is often spelled “Dizzie Miss Lizzy.”]
The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit is Help! by The Beatles. The song was released in the US two weeks before the film “Help!” opened in New York.
1968
UK release of The Beatles’ single Hey Jude / Revolution (Apple). First single (and first record) to be released on the Apple label. 11 weeks on the charts; highest position #1.
The Beatles in the recording studio (Trident Studios, London). Mono and stereo mixes are made for Dear Prudence.
Neil Aspinall marries Suzy Ornstein at the Chelsea Register Office, London. Paul McCartney, and Ringo and Maureen Starr attend. Alexis Mardas is Neil’s Best Man. That afternoon, a surprise party is held at a restaurant in King’s Road, London, for the couple, with Paul, Ringo, and Maureen also in attendance.
Screening, on the programme ‘Experiment In Television’, of a film of the Beatles recording ‘Hey Jude’ (filmed 29 July 1968).
1969
U.S. Plastic Ono Band’s song ‘Give Peace A Chance’, 8th week in the Top 28.
1971
Great Hall, Alexandra Palace, London. Closing of ‘Art Spectrum’, modern art exhibition. 5 films of John and Yoko are screened: ‘Cold Turkey’, ‘The Ballad Of John And Yoko’, ‘Give Peace A Chance’, ‘Instant Karma!’, ‘Up Your Legs Forever’.
1972
John Lennon performs two One to One benefit concerts with Yoko Ono and Elephant’s Memory at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The concerts are to benefit the Willowbrook School for Children. The concerts are recorded, and some of the songs are later edited into the LP and video John Lennon: Live in New York City. John purchased $60,000 worth of tickets to distribute to volunteer fund-raisers. The event, organized by Geraldo Rivera, raised over $1.5 million. Other acts performing were Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack, and Sha Na Na.
The world premiere of the John Lennon film “Erection” takes place in New York. (It’s not what you think it is.)
1974
UK release of the Harry Nilsson LP Pussy Cats, which was produced by John Lennon. Ringo Starr played drums and maracas on the album. The LP includes John’s song Mucho Mungo.
1982
Santa Barbara Sound studio, Santa Barbara, USA. Mixing: ‘I Keep Forgettin”; ‘Be My Baby’. end of sessions for Ringo Starr’s LP ‘Old Wave’.
1983
Studio 2. Show ‘The Beatles At Abbey Road’ (3 times).
1984
At an auction in London, Beatle fans spend $271,180 for Beatles memorabilia. The highest price paid was $23,056 for an unpublished manuscript written by John Lennon.
1988
UK re-release of The Beatles’ single Hey Jude / Revolution (Apple). 20th anniversary reissue. Released as a regular 7-inch single and also as a 7-inch picture disc. A 12-inch single and a 12-inch picture disc single were also released (on the Parlophone label).
1993
The ”Late Show with David Letterman” debuts on CBS-TV. The Ed Sullivan Theater (on 54th Street in New York City) was remodeled for the series. This is where The Beatles made their first appearance on American television on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 7, 1964.
1999
The world premiere of the restored Beatles film “Yellow Submarine” is held in Liverpool, England. George Martin and Neil Aspinall attend the premiere. The Liverpool City Council declared this day as “Yellow Submarine Day,” as the climax of International Beatles Week (August 25-31). The Beatles’ 1968 animated motion picture had been digitally remastered, including its soundtrack. Both the movie (home video on VHS and DVD) and the album (Yellow Submarine Songtrack, on CD and cassette) would be released on September 14th.
