On this day in 1964, The Beatles arrived at JFK Airport to begin their first U.S. tour. Mythic creatures after their meteoric U.K. ascension, the already “Fab Four" stepped off the plane to an estimated crowd of 3,000 - with weird Phil Spector, who'd booked himself onto their flight right behind them. While there's been an over-deification of The Beatles' music in the years since, there's no denying that certain events are catalysts for profound change. The quartet's “conquering" of America is such an enzymatic moment for music, with their lusty creativity and original vision taking hold of hearts and minds worldwide after this trip. While the true meat of their recorded output was still ahead, there's embryonic joy in the “woooo" rich, tambourine banging, “la, la, la" early phase of the band, and we celebrate those suit-and-tie days in this week's Eye Candy.
In honor of the embattled economy, we kick off the week's clips with “Money" from the Empire Theatre in London, 1963. It's still something to see the impact they had on people just being in the same room. Plus, what a fine lil' rock n' roll band, eh?
There's myriad great cuts scattered amongst the early catalog including “You Can't Do That," originally scheduled to be in A Hard Day's Night but cut because it was deemed too “menacing."
Next, “Things We Said Today" at the 1964 Indiana State Fair. Yeah, The Beatles once played a state fair!
The Beatles also helped pioneer promo films for their music, which eventually morph into the music video boom of the 1980s. Here's an early example for “Ticket To Ride."
Back to the stage for “A Hard Day's Night" in Paris, 1965.
Here's a sweet sequence of the band live in Germany doing “Rock & Roll Music," “Baby's In Black" and “I Feel Fine." They truly were apostles for rock as a way of life, a guiding principle to compete with religion and government.
The Beatles returned to the feel of their early work during their last days together, and though there's greater sophistication in spots, there's still an awful lot of Chuck Berry to cuts like “Hey Bulldog," offered here in some rare recording studio footage.
Let's keep the late period/early influences vibe rolling with “One After 909" from the boys' legendary rooftop concert.
We'll leave you lingering on that famous rooftop as the band sings us out with “I Dig A Pony," a song that offers a fairly clear through-line from their early days through the brilliant circuitous path they ended up taking.
Don't forget, you can eyeball video sweetness 24/7 with JamBase TV.
