courtesy of SF Weekly's All Shook Down
By Ian S. Port
Forty-six years ago today, on Aug. 29, 1966, the Beatles played the final live concert of their careers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Though many of the band's most timeless songs lay ahead of them, this Bay Area live date would mark the end of the Beatles as a touring entity. Freeing themselves from the burdens of live performance allowed the Liverpool foursome to become ever more daring and experimental in their studio work, which had already begun with the then-three-week-old Revolver, and would continue with the White Album, and, of course, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
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While the band members of the band apparently knew it would be their final live show, the audience didn't. Listening to bootlegs of the set, one is struck by the tsunami of screaming fans in the audience, and how here, in 1966, the Beatles still seemed very much in the the early, heartthrob phase of their career. (Of course, this was arguably the second or third or even fourth phase for the band; the Fab Four had honed their live chops on obscure stages in Hamburg and elsewhere long before packs of dazed teenagers followed their every move.)
We've gathered some YouTube footage of the band's arrival in San Francisco and the crowd action at Candlestick -- along with the full bootlegged audio of the 11 songs played back in August '66. The recording is rough, echoey, and filled with teenage screams, but it's still worth a listen.
First, here's some (silent) footage of the Beatles arriving in San Francisco and of Candlestick Park fans before the show. Then, check out YouTube vids giving a full (admittedly rough) audio-only recording of the concert:
go to the site for the videos:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/beatles-final-show_n_1841549.html
As for 'ninjaneer's' list of 'most-influential,' and 'beekeeper's,' they surely have some heavy-hitters there. I would add John Mayall's bands as he used many of the Brits who went-on to superstardom when they were up & coming. A British melting-pot of the Chicago blues, as-performed by members of the Mississippi Delta originally, and other Deep-South (USA) performers, as-interpreted by UK performers and sold-back to us in the form of the British Invasion!
I also like the Kinks for their individual efforts, their longevity, still rockin' today, and their influence on the music that is so-enduring. Another band not-often mentioned on the US-side very often, Pretty Things. And one of my favorite groups ever, Pink Floyd. Like the Beatles, they were able to synthesize their own style and were very versatile. Know-how some songs put you 'back in the day?' The heavy-hitters surely do it for me!
Best white men singing black rhythm and blues? I nominate Rod Stewart and Eric Burdon, mentioned at the same time would be Ray Davies, Mick, and Pigpen.
It's going to be sad when these guys stop playing, of-course some are already gone. I don't go to many live concerts any more, but if any of the old guys do, there is a strong pull to go, you never know when they won't be around any-more.