Tour by The Beatles | |
Location | United Kingdom |
---|---|
Start date | 2 February 1963 |
End date | 3 March 1963 |
Legs | 2 |
No. of shows | 14 |
The Beatles concert chronology |
The Beatles' first English tour lasted from 2 February 1963 until 3 March 1963. The Beatles were fourth on an eleven-act bill headed by 16-year-old Londoner, Helen Shapiro. Other acts on the tour were the Red Price Band, The Kestrels, The Honeys (UK), Dave Allen, Kenny Lynch and Danny Williams. [1] They were also joined briefly by Billie Davis during the latter part of the tour. [2]
The tour was organised by the Arthur Howes Agency. This was the first time that the Beatles had worked with Howes. [3]
The programme for the tour [1] was:
The Beatles typical set list [1] for the shows was as follows (with lead singers noted): [4]
Two other songs were used as prepared alternatives during the tour:
The Shapiro tour was split into two parts.
The first part lasted from 2 to 10 February, although the Beatles did not play on the 10th, as they needed to be in London early on the 11th. The Beatles played two dates at the Cavern Club, Liverpool on 3 and 4 February, before joining the Shapiro tour again on the 5th.
Date | City | Country | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2 February 1963 | Bradford | England | Gaumont |
5 February 1963 | Doncaster | Gaumont | |
6 February 1963 | Bedford | Granada | |
7 February 1963 | Wakefield | ABC Cinema | |
8 February 1963 | Carlisle | Regal | |
9 February 1963 | Sunderland | Sunderland Empire Theatre |
All dates from Lewisohn [5]
On 11 February, the Beatles recorded the ten tracks that, together with their two previously released singles, formed their debut album, Please Please Me . From 12 to 22 February, they played a number of dates on their own, before joining the Shapiro tour again on the 23.
The second part lasted from 23 February until 3 March. Travelling to Shrewsbury on 28 February 1963, Lennon and McCartney wrote the next Beatles single, "From Me To You".
Date | City | Country | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
23 February 1963 | Mansfield | England | Granada |
24 February 1963 | Coventry | Coventry Theatre | |
26 February 1963 | Taunton | Gaumont | |
27 February 1963 | York | Rialto | |
28 February 1963 | Shrewsbury | Granada | |
1 March 1963 | Southport | Odeon | |
2 March 1963 | Sheffield | Sheffield City Hall | |
3 March 1963 | Hanley | Gaumont |
All dates from Lewisohn [5]
Instruments The Beatles had on the tour, shown here for each member of the group. [6]
John Lennon
Paul McCartney
George Harrison
Please Please Me is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album is 14 songs in length, and contains a mixture of cover songs and original material written by the partnership of the band's John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Beatles for Sale is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterised the Beatles' previous work, partly due to the band's exhaustion after a series of tours that had established them as a worldwide phenomenon in 1964. Beatles for Sale was not widely available in the US until 1987, when the Beatles' catalogue was standardised for release on CD. Instead, eight of the album's fourteen tracks appeared on Capitol Records' concurrent release, Beatles '65, issued in North America only.
"From Me to You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in April 1963 as their third single. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The song was the Beatles' first number 1 hit on what became the official UK singles chart but the second, after "Please Please Me", on most of the other singles charts published in the UK at the time. "From Me to You" failed to make an impact in the United States at the time of its initial release. Instead, a 1963 cover version released by Del Shannon resulted in the song becoming the first Lennon–McCartney tune to enter the US pop charts. The Beatles' original was rereleased in the US in January 1964 as the b-side to "Please Please Me", and reached number 41.
"Love Me Do" is the official debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by "P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United States in 1964, where it became a number one hit. Re-released in 1982 as part of EMI's Beatles 20th anniversary, it re-entered the UK charts and peaked at number 4.
"I'm Only Sleeping" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 studio album Revolver. In the United States and Canada, it was one of the three tracks that Capitol Records cut from the album and instead included on Yesterday and Today, released two months before Revolver. Credited as a Lennon–McCartney song, it was written primarily by John Lennon. The track includes a backwards lead guitar part played by George Harrison, the first time such a technique was used on a pop recording.
"Please Please Me" is a song released by the English rock band the Beatles. It was their second single in the United Kingdom, and their first in the United States. It is also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single. It is a John Lennon composition, although its ultimate form was significantly influenced by producer George Martin.
"Dear Prudence" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. The song was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Written in Rishikesh during the group's trip to India in early 1968, it was inspired by actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence Farrow, who became obsessive about meditating while practising with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Her designated partners on the meditation course, Lennon and George Harrison, attempted to coax Farrow out of her seclusion, which led to Lennon writing the song.
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It is the fifth track of their third UK album A Hard Day's Night and was released 20 July 1964, along with "If I Fell", as a single release by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It is the opening track on the band's 1963 debut UK album Please Please Me and their debut US album Introducing... The Beatles.
"Misery" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 debut album Please Please Me. It was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to Lennon, "It was kind of a John song more than a Paul song, but it was written together." McCartney was to say: "I don't think either one of us dominated on that one, it was just a hacking job."
"Ask Me Why" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles originally released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of their single "Please Please Me". It was also included on their 1963 debut album Please Please Me. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership.
"There's a Place" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their debut album, Please Please Me, released in March 1963. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to McCartney–Lennon. In the United States, the song was released in July 1963 on the group's first US LP, Introducing... The Beatles, later reissued in January 1964 as Beatlemania surged there. It was also issued as a non-album single in the US, in March 1964, as the B-side to "Twist and Shout", reaching number 74 in the Billboard Hot 100.
"Old Brown Shoe" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, it was released on a non-album single in May 1969, as the B-side to "The Ballad of John and Yoko". The song was subsequently included on the band's compilation albums Hey Jude, 1967–1970 and Past Masters, Volume Two. Although "Old Brown Shoe" remains a relatively obscure song in the band's catalogue, several music critics view it as one of Harrison's best compositions from the Beatles era and especially admire his guitar solo on the track.
"I'm Down" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single as the B-side to "Help!" in July 1965. The song originated in McCartney's attempt to write a song in the style of Little Richard, whose song "Long Tall Sally" the band regularly covered.
The Beatles staged their second concert tour of the United States in the late summer of 1965. At the peak of American Beatlemania, they played a mixture of outdoor stadiums and indoor arenas, with historic concerts at Shea Stadium in New York and the Hollywood Bowl. Typically of the era, the tour was a "package" presentation, with several artists on the bill. The Beatles played for just 30 minutes at each show, following sets by support acts such as Brenda Holloway and the King Curtis Band, Cannibal & the Headhunters, and Sounds Incorporated.
Sir James Paul McCartney is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre–rock and roll pop to classical, ballads, and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon remains the most successful in history.
During 1965, the Beatles toured Europe.
The Roy Orbison/The Beatles Tour was a 1963 concert tour of the United Kingdom by Roy Orbison and the Beatles. Other acts on the tour included Gerry and the Pacemakers, David MacBeth, Louise Cordet, Tony Marsh, Terry Young Six, Erkey Grant, and Ian Crawford. It was Orbison's first, and the Beatles' third nationwide tour of the UK. Although Orbison was originally intended to be the headlining act, the reaction to the Beatles on the tour caused them to be promoted to co-headliners, with the Beatles closing the set in the traditional headlining spot.