Thanks to John Lennon, the Beatles played their final Cincinnati concert 60 years ago at Crosley Field on Aug. 21, 1966.
When their concert was rained out the night before — Saturday, Aug. 20 — Lennon was the one who agreed to stay overnight here and perform Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. despite having a Sunday evening concert in St. Louis, DJ Jim LaBarbara said.
LaBarbara was one of seven people I interviewed in 2016 as part of a two-hour 50th anniversary special of the Beatles concert for Cincinnati Public Radio. Here’s the link to both hours, which has interviews interspersed with the songs played that day.
LaBarbara credits former WSAI-DJ Steve Kirk, who was one of the five Cincinnati DJs to bring the Beatles to Cincinnati Gardens in 1964, with convincing Lennon to reschedule the show for Sunday.
“John liked Kirkie. He had met him in '64 ... and he remembered how nicely he and the group at the radio station treated the Beatles in '64. So he said, 'We'll stay over and we'll do the show on Sunday. We'll go on at 11 or noon.' And Kirk said, 'Make it 1 o'clock because the kids go to church with their moms and dads.' Thanks to Steve Kirk and John Lennon, the show went on," LaBarbara said.
More stories from the Crosley Field show were provided by Joe Santangelo, whose brother Dino Santangelo promoted the Beatles concerts at Crosley Field and Cincinnati Gardens; Scott Belmer, author of The Beatles Invade Cincinnati 1964 & 1966; former WSAI-AM DJ Dusty Rhodes, who also helped bring the Beatles here in 1964; and three people who attended the concert: Tom Sandman, Bev Olthaus and Phil Nuxhall, son of Reds pitcher/broadcaster Joe Nuxhall.
Here are some of my favorite stories they told:
- Promoter Santangelo says he's "pretty sure" his brother and Kirk were the only people to lose money on a Beatles concert. Postponing the concert to Sunday doubled the costs for the stadium, police security, ushers, etc.
- Olthaus, who still had her ticket from the '66 Crosley concert (and their '64 Cincinnati Gardens concert) recalled a safety announcement Saturday after about a two-hour downpour. "I remember the announcer was talking about the condensation on the instruments, and he said the Beatles could be electrocuted."
Santangelo recalled a roadie on stage Saturday "with a guitar, and plugging it in, and I remember Paul McCartney saying, 'I’m not strapping that electric guitar around me!' “
- Author Belmer said the contract called for a canopy over the stage for the Saturday night concert. But to save money, they didn't get a canopy.
"The Beatles agreed to come in Sunday for $60,000 to play the next day, on a very hot, humid day, and then they got on a plane and flew to St. Louis — where it rained in St. Louis too. But they had a canopy, so they played," Belmer said.
- Aug. 21, 1966, was the only time the Beatles performed in two cities on the same day. The Beatles could do it because the band had very little equipment, compared to the multiple semis needed today for touring rock bands. In 1966, the Beatles had "some small box speakers, three guitars, a drum kit, microphone stands and some amps. Imagine putting on a concert today with that? It's impossible," Belmer said.
- Rhodes talked about starting the first North American Beatles fan club at WSAI-AM in January 1964, a month before the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. He also recalled how he, Kirk and three other WSAI-AM DJs brought the Beatles to Cincinnati Gardens on Aug. 27, 1964, for just $25,000.
- The Ronettes, The Cyrkle, The Remains and Bobby Hebb opened the show. But Ronnie Spector, the star of the Ronettes, wasn't at Crosley Field to sing "Be My Baby," LaBarbara said. Her future husband and record producer Phil Spector didn't want her touring with the Beatles. So her sister Estelle sang with their cousins Nedra and Elaine, LaBarbara said.
The Cyrkle was known for “Red Rubber Ball” and “Turn-Down Day.” Bobby Hebb was a one-hit wonder with “Sunny.”
- Nuxhall told how he led a group of his Fairfield friends to the Reds clubhouse in 1966, when his father Joe was still pitching for the Reds. They got there as the Beatles were coming out the door and heading to the field. But my favorite comment from Phil was about watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 with his father.
"Dad just laughed, and he kept on shaking his head. I think he was just stupefied," he said.
At Crosley Field, the Beatles played 12 songs, including “Eleanor Rigby,” “Yesterday,” “I Feel Fine,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “Paperback Writer,” “Nowhere Man” and “Long Tall Sally.” See the set list here.
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