| It
was 40 years ago today.....actually yesterday |
 August 21 marked the
40th anniversary of the greatest concert in St. Louis history: The
Beatles at Busch Stadium. It was on this day in 1966, that the Lads
finally visited our city, after bypassing us on their first two North
American tours.
The rest of that line-up for their '66 tour consisted of The Cyrkle
("Red Rubber Ball"), Bobby Heeb ("Sunny"), and
The Ronettes ("Be My Baby"). Opening the show was a Boston
band that was practically unknown outside of their region - The Remains.
Decades later however, they would gain legendary status as being one
of the greatest live bands of their era, and then some. The Remains
also served double-duty during their stint on the Beatles tour, serving
as the back-up band for both Bobby Heeb and The Ronettes. Warming
up the audience while they made their way to their seats, was a legendary
metro-Illinois garage band: the Del Rays.
The concert was performed before 23,143 fans during a slight drizziling
rain. In fact, because of a forecast of a possible bigger rain on
the way, The Beatles actually came on third in the bill, with the
Cyrkle and The Ronettes closing the show.
The Beatles performed 11 songs during the tour. here is the playlist
in the order they were performed:
1. Rock & Roll Music
2. She's A Woman
3. If I Neeeded Someone
4. Day Tripper
5. Baby's In Black
6. I Feel fine
7. Yesterday
8. I Wanna Be Your Man
9. Nowhere Man
10. Paperback Writer
11. Long Tall Sally
This same playlist was played throughout their 1966 North American
tour, with the only alterations being the closing number, which flipped
between "Long Tall Sally" and "I'm Down". Eight
days later, August 29, 1966 The Beatles would perform for the last
time in front of a paying crowd at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
The Beatles actually played two shows that day in two different cities!!!
The night before, August 20, their show in Cincinatti was rained out,
so they performed a 12:00 noon show the next day, then flew immediately
to St. Louis for their regular scheduled program. Long Live old Busch
Stadium! And long live The Beatles!
Beatle Bob
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