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<\/p>\nThe figure I have read is 1200 or more. \u00a0That\u2019s the number of times it\u2019s estimated that The Beatles had performed together (anyway, John, Paul & George) by the time they appeared, relaxed and confident, on that first Ed Sullivan Show, 49 years ago this Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013.<\/p>\n
But their appearance three days later in Washington at the Washington Coliseum stands out from every other Beatle appearance I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 Used as a venue for boxing matches, the Coliseum was likely the first time The Beatles had ever played in such an enormous venue, completely surrounded by a huge, enraptured but well behaved crowd and it was the first time that they had to rotate so they\u2019d face everybody in every direction. \u00a0It provides some perspective on what The Beatles did for the stature of rock & roll to see Ringo himself struggling to tug his drum set around to play to a new sea of faces.<\/p>\n
This is the only Beatle performance I\u2019ve seen where The Beatles are in as tumultuous a mood as their audience, the first I\u2019ve ever seen where The Beatles seem on the verge of being washed away by the sea of screams and cheers and contagious (even the performers caught it) excitement. The film shows constant little furtive flicks of light, like meteors, whizzing across the camera lens. \u00a0Jelly beans. \u00a0The hard shelled American kind, not the soft gummy sort the English kids would throw. \u00a0Ringo\u2019s drum sticks visibly split and shatter as he plays. \u00a0Ringo was especially worked up for the concert. \u00a0He said afterwards he would have played all night for that crowd. \u00a0As a final reminder that it wasn\u2019t until The Beatles\u2019 success that rock & roll reached the heights of big time entertainment, the black and white concert footage ends, \u201cbang\u201d like that, abruptly in mid-song. \u00a0The movie camera had run out of film.<\/p>\n
Last year a gentleman named Mike Mitchell emerged with a series of photographs he\u2019d taken as, I believe, an 18 year old amateur photographer, when he attended the Coliseum concert. \u00a0He apparently moved freely around the perimeter of the stage snapping pictures of The Beatles performing without anyone shooing him away\u2026 if true, another indication that rock & roll was still in its \u201cthis too shall pass\u201d stage.<\/p>\n
Jump ahead 48 years. Mike Mitchell discovers the roll of film he\u2019d shot, develops it and plans to auction the resulting pictures off at Christies. \u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/i> covers this story and runs one of the photos. \u00a0It\u2019s this photo. John and Paul, plugged in and fancy free, dapper and spiffy, from the Coliseum concert.<\/p>\n
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Having seen the Coliseum concert in it\u2019s entirety\u2014at least everything the Maysles\u2019 brothers captured\u2014many times, and having watched the significant segment that The Beatles included in their Anthology<\/i> DVD\u2019s many times, something about the showcased photograph didn\u2019t seem right. \u00a0Reviewing the filmed footage with this single photograph in mind, several things seem to be amiss.<\/p>\n Perhaps someone can clarify or explain the photo and what it all means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The figure I have read is 1200 or more. \u00a0That\u2019s the number of times it\u2019s estimated that The Beatles had performed together (anyway, John, Paul & George) by the time they appeared, relaxed and confident, on that first Ed Sullivan … Continue reading \n