shea!

This is 31st Anniversary of the very day that The Beatles came into my periphery. I remember being intrigued by the re-release of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" that stared back at me from the end cap showcasing that particular week's Top 40. I know not what attracted me to it - maybe it was the sleeve, which was nothing more than a reproduction of the White Album...just the word "The Beatles" and a catalog number. Capitol Records had undertaken an extensive campaign to revitalize the band's catalog and, thus, "Ob-La-Di..." b/w "Julia" was issued as a single.

I had no idea the band had broken up. Heck, I'd only just discovered them.

My parents, having grown up smack dab in the middle of Beatlemania, were noy huge fans of the band. Amid their Elvis and Ricky Nelson records, no Beatles records were to be found. Still, my Dad filled me in on the band's history, breaking the news to me that they'd broken up several years prior. I asked him if they had any other good songs, as I was playing the crap out of both sides of my new 45 and eager for more.

The next weekend, while at the local shopping center, he bought me "Love Me Do" b/w "P.S. I Love You". Turns out "Love Me Do" was one of the few Beatles songs that, unlike most others, hadn't been played to the point of making my father absolutely sick of it. Well, until I started playing it non-stop, that is.

Weeks later, my uncle would play me his VHS copy of "Help!" and I would be off to the races, forever a Beatle-maniac.

As a way of commemorating the day I became aware of the Beatles, here is the band's complete '65 Shea Stadium performance:


Ed Sullivan Intro
Twist And Shout
I Feel Fine
Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Ticket To Ride
Can't Buy Me Love
Baby's In Black
A Hard Day's Night
Help!
I'm Down