Photo by Luiz Fernando Reis (Bealtes cor 36 on Flickr)
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Image courtesy of niteprowl3r Flickr page - beatles: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sreichenbach/3025971406/in/photolist-5BoTSN-6Kp6DG-9oQPyZ-6Kp8vw-6Kp9oJ-6KjXm4-6KoV2S-6KjVca-eC4tTE-6Kp3Qm-6Kp3hq-6KoWdy-6KjLZg-6Kp5yf-6KjUgt-6Kp6TN-6KjXdM-6Kp45N-6Kp1WY-6KoUGs-6KoVYG-6KoUx9-6Kp153-6KoX3q-6KoZUu-6KjLoH-6KoVv9-6KoXvh-4vA8mP-6Kp4SW-6KjWq6-6Kp4xm-6KjVXZ-6Kp4hS-6Kk1G6-6KkdtD-6KjMRH-6KoVS5-r1ZqRn-6KjZfx-6KjMrx-6KjZue-6KjYzt-6Kp7D9-bCr2k3-aWjPYX-6KvxqP-6Kp7R7-aUXW5n-6KjZW8
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It was on this day, exactly half a century ago, that the Beatles made their last ever public appearance together as a band.
The funny thing about what became such a historical, iconic moment in the history of a band that set so many of the standards of what was still then the relatively new rock genre, and which many people still consider to be the greatest rock band in history, is that it seemed like no particularly big deal at the time for a few people who happened to be there. That is true of Ken Mansfield, the former American manager for Apple Records, who recalled in a recent Rolling Stone article:
“It was another day at the office,” Ken Mansfield says, recalling the Beatles’ impromptu rooftop concert in January 1969. There’s not even a hint of sarcasm in his voice. The group staged the gig atop Apple Records’ London office at 3 Savile Row, 50 years ago today, with the intention of shooting the ending for what would become their Let It Be film. It was an item on a checklist. Mansfield, who was born in Idaho, was the label’s U.S. manager at the time. “Some of the people in the Apple office didn’t even try to come up, because it was just another day.”
Just another day at the office, indeed! As it turns out, Mansfield would actually write a book, with the simple yet revealing title, "The Roof," about that particular day, which some had dismissed as "just another day at the office."
The story continues:
Mansfield was invited to watch the historic performance, the Beatles’ last live gig, at the urging of the band’s roadie, Mal Evans. “I think Mal just liked to take care of me, so he made sure I was up there,” he says. When he found out about the afternoon gig, Mansfield ran out and bought a white raincoat, since it was in the low 40s outside, and huddled on a bench with Yoko Ono, Ringo’s then-wife Maureen Starkey and Apple staffer Chris O’Dell to watch the quartet perform nine songs, including multiple retakes of “Get Back.” “George had me light some cigarettes for him for a few minutes just so he could hold the tips of his fingers up against the coals so he could feel his strings,” Mansfield recalls. “And I know John was really complaining about it, about the cold and how he couldn’t feel his hands.”
“I just happened to be working in the offices that week,” he says. “And Mal just happened to say,
‘Hey, come on, Ken, we’re going up in 15 minutes.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘We’re going on the roof, and so come on.'” The rest, he says, is history."
And so, a kind of spur of the moment thing became one of the most famous episodes in the history of one of the most storied bands in music history! This was when John Lennon made that now legendary comment about hoping to pass the audition.
It all happened exactly 50 years ago, on this day, that the Beatles performed as a band in public for one final time.
It all happened exactly 50 years ago, on this day, that the Beatles performed as a band in public for one final time.
Below is a kind of disjointed video that, nevertheless, purports to be able to show you the entire concert, from beginning to end. Enjoy!
Below are links to the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry, particularly the Rolling Stone article:
The Beatles’ Final Concert: An Eyewitness Looks Back Ken Mansfield, former U.S. manager for Apple Records, recalls watching the momentous 1969 rooftop performance mere feet from the Fab Four By KORY GROW, January 30, 2019:
By JIM AXELROD CBS NEWS January 30, 2019, 6:56 PM The Beatles' historic final concert held on rooftop 50 years ago
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