On August 29, 1966, while the Beatles flail and wail away on a small, fenced –stage near second base on the baseball diamond at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, who knew this would end up being the group’s last performance in America?
“I knew,” says Rachael Donahue, who helped produce the show for radio station KYA with her late husband, Tom Donahue and Bobby Mitchell – both KYA disc jockeys at the time. “The three of us, we all knew, because the Beatles told us they weren’t coming back to the United States.”
Raechel DonahueHad it not been on the Donahues’ efforts, the last Beatles show in the US would instead have been at the Hollywood Bowl (Sara’s note: this is incorrect. The Beatles show in Los Angeles was at Dodger’s Stadium in 1966. The Beatles played at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964 and 1965). “We had an agreement with the Beatles. They had signed a contract,” says Rachael. “Then before they go to Los Angeles, we got a call and were told they wanted to back out. The Beatles wanted to play the Hollywood Bowl show, then go back to England. Of course, Tom wasn’t about to let that happen. He told them, “Hey, this is a California contract you signed here. You’ve got to play.” But it didn’t end up being that simple.
“They day of the Hollywood Bowl show, we went down to LA to serve them with a summons. I was holding this big gold backstage pass and Tom – who was a pretty huge, imposing guy – led the way. No one was going to tell him he couldn’t go where he wanted to go. So there we were backstage, and all of a sudden all four Beatles appeared and ran right past us. We couldn’t move, didn’t say anything. Then they were gone. We finally had to hire a process server. That saved the show.”
The Beatles were guaranteed $10,000 and a portion of the gate – a paltry amount by today’s standards. Many rock super stars now routinely command six figure amounts per show. But it must be remembered, this was 1966 and 24,000 lucky Beatles fans who attended the Candlestick show only had to fork over $4.50.
In fact, Rachael says, “We would have lost money on the show if we had sold the tickets at the KYA studios and had been forced to hire 200 rent-a-cops who wanted $14 an hour. Instead, we just mailed the tickets – which were very special, over-sized ones. Also, at the concert, rather than hire regular security guards, we used a bunch of our friends, a lot of them former Oakland Raiders. So some of the guards were real huge football guards.”
Rachael, now a KLOS disc jockey but an impressionable 19-year-old at the time of the Beatles concert, admits, “It was the biggest thing I’d ever seen. It was bigger than the Stones show Tom had me produce at the Cow Palace in ’65. I was very young and thought, ‘Hey, OK, I’ll try anything.”
Rachael says, “I remember one of the Giants groundskeepers was crying because he was afraid the field was going to be ruined and there would be bad bounces during the next baseball game.”
Of course, the ground crews ultimately allowed the “rock invaders” to set up a stage and a ten-foot high chain-link fence on the field. And former Giants owner Horace Stoneham was ready to provide any necessary amenities backstage (actually a rather barren section of the Giants’ clubhouse). Rachael recalls, “Unlike today, there were no outrageous demands. I don’t even think there was any alcohol. John Lennon wanted some fruit juices, but that was about it.”
Jim Marshall says, “I was the only guy backstage with a camera. I remember the Beatles didn’t want to do any group shots, but other than that, they were very nice, very easy to deal with. The president of the local teamsters union wanted me to take a picture of him and his daughter with Ringo. Then (disc jockey) Bob McClay took a shot of me with Ringo. We were all fans. It was a joyous time. “There was no big entourage or heavy groupie thing backstage,” Marshall continues, “there were maybe 30 people there, tops. And I don’t remember any bad vibes.”
When the Beatles finally came into view of the fans in the stands, there was an eruption of screaming that continued throughout the performance. Marshall, who was stationed with his camera ten feet from the stage, says, “I don’t think the crowd ever heard the band. The screaming was that crazy.”
Rachael agrees, “The noise from the fans was tremendous. The Beatles couldn’t even hear themselves. I remember they started singing a medley flat, way off key. Tom and I were standing next to the stage. But there was no use saying anything. The crowd didn’t care. They were having a great time. Tom and I just looked at each other and said, “We did this for the kids.” Then I looked up at the crowd and realized that this was it, San Francisco would never have another chance to meet the Beatles.”
Reference: Bam newspaper #239, September 5, 1986, by Dave Zimmer.
