The Beatles At Shea Stadium: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert Paperback – November 28, 2013

I was looking forward to this book simply because I love the Beatles, but the 1965 Shea Stadium concert was something I was interested in learning as much as I can about. It was such a wonderful time in their career and such an exciting, pivotal concert. Unfortunately, after reading it I'm confused about all the five star reviews. With the exception of the fascinating section on the re-recording of the soundtrack, the book is filled with self serving and extremely boring, stories from people who had something to do with the concert in a working capacity: I.e. journalist, technician, d.j. etc. They talked about how their day at Shea went....how heavy the cameras and tape recorders were, their journey to the stadium, the weather, generic descriptions of the crowd, sitting in the dugout, walking to the dressing room, seeing and meeting the Beatles, and then....more crowd descriptions, but this time it was all the people in the dressing room. Not one of these people had much to say about the Beatles themselves, which was very disappointing. I was excited to read an anecdote from a Radio City Music Hall Rockette who actually had dinner with the Beatles the night before the concert. I thought, 'Oh this will be interesting...she actually had dinner with them'...but the anecdote went something like this: her journey from Radio City Music Hall to the restaurant which was next door or whatever, and she needed to take some elevator that all the Rockettes used. ( how fascinating) She made it very clear that she was above the Beatles and seemed to be prepared to dislike them...and guess what! She didn't like them. If you are wondering why however, you can continue wondering because she doesn't give a reason. My guess is that she didn't want to like them and went into the restaurant with an attitude that the Beatles immediately picked up on, so they probably didn't like her either. This is speculation because again, beyond her self absorbed anecdote the reader does not receive any information on the Beatles themselves, even though they were sitting with her at a table, having dinner with her. In all fairness she did remark that she liked Ringo and got his autograph for some niece or nephew, and she thought their hair looked dirty. Riveting...thank you.I really tried to like this book but the entire first half was so boring I kept putting it down. The second half though, which is about the re-recording in January 1966, of the concert soundtrack in preparation for television broadcast, is really fascinating. Included in this part are the actual documents connected to this project and even a very interesting letter about the Beatles from the producer's son who was living in England, to his father. Finally this section contains wonderful impressions of the Beatles....how they worked together, and with other people connected to the re-recording project, and what they were like individually. Perhaps this section is the reason for all the five star reviews. It's certainly a reason to recommend this book. However because I found the first 50 percent of the book so boring, I had to knock off two stars and only give it three. It's not the author's fault that people are often self centered and dull, and therefore their stories are dull. I give Mr Schwensen a lot of credit for a book that is very well put together, and well written. If only he had been able to find more interesting people connected with the actual concert, this would have been a five star book. I'm sure the task of finding people who actually had something worthwhile to say, would be daunting to any author.

I finished this book in 2 days and even though I loved the video in the past - I never heard the words of how it was produced, the level of apprehension and how big of an unknown it was to all involved. This book is A MUST READ for ANY PERSON who is a BEATLES FAN!!! (which for many here in the USA is ETCHED forever in our minds since February 9, 1964's Ed Sullivan Broadcast, Ed Sullivan asks if it's safe to go up on stage and introduce them. The Rolling Stones were in the dugout for the baseball diamond and snuck out eary unable to even hear the Beatles up close from all the NON-STOP Screaming Girls. The Biggest Screaming event in world history that turned the music business upside down - and the show sold out totally by WORD OF MOUTH - NO ADVERTISING!! The world was never the same after the Beatles at Shea Stadium and this book shows FAR FAR more astounding depth than the many other books I have read on the BEATLES concerning Shea Stadium - so even if you are BEATLES GURU, you still NEED to read this !!!!!

I went into this book thinking I knew pretty much everything there was to know and found I didn't know quite a bit. The author spoke with many different people who were at the concert, including performers, fans and personnel. I won't put out any spoilers here, but there was a lot of behind the scene information as well as plenty of out in the stands info.We all know the fans tried to get to the stage by breaking through the barriers and making a run for it. We all know the screams were so loud the music couldn't be heard. We can all surmise after the concert there were plenty of fans who were unable to talk because of the strain to their voice caused by the screaming. A true Beatle fan should know more than that. It is my belief this book will offer insights and info for everyone, the casual fan, the hardcore fan and even the people who were in the audience that evening.

As a huge Beatle fan, I was eager to read about this landmark event in the group's career. Unfortunately, for the most part it's an amateurish book. Much of it is information already widely known, sandwiched around jejune and repetitive reminiscences from people who were at the concert and self-serving remarks by DJ Cousin Brucie. There are many misspellings (eg., "reign" for "rein," "site" for "sight," and most egregiously, Harry "Nielson" for "Nilsson." What redeems the book is the lengthy section on the making of the television special from the concert. It's informative and very interesting, although it doesn't answer, unless I missed it, why the film hasn't come to the legitimate home video market. In all, the book is probably a must for a real Beatle fan, but this one wishes it had better lived up to its subject.

Although my parents wouldn't allow me to attend the concert as I was a pre-teen, they did take me in the car TO drive around Shea Stadium --- The book tells in great detail the mayhem of Beatlemania of the times, as I remember it. I listened daily to the disc jockeys quoted in the text. I've seen excerpts from the concert footage... and my drive around the stadium --- reflected in the book, all you could hear was the yelling of the fans. If you want to know what the life and times in New York City, reflected in the setting of the concert were like during 1964, you should enjoy this read.

Dave Schwensen gives excellent accounts from the actual fans, of The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium. My memories as a 10 year old were quite similar to those much older than I. It was a great reminder, filled with memories long forgotten. The author brought me back to that day and through other people's eyes. Thanks, Dave, for your accuracy and for finding other fans who were actually in the stands.

It helped me get a sense of what it was like to actually be there.Many fans' personal accounts on what they remembered seeing,hearing,feeling.An historic event documented for the 50 th anniversary.

On the 15th August, 1965, the Beatles played to a record crowd of 55,600 at Shea Stadium. It was, at that time, the largest rock concert ever staged and, later, John Lennon was to reflect that it was where he, "saw the top of the mountain...."This book gives all the background to the concert, including information on promoter Sid Bernstein and New York DJ's Cousin Brucie Morrow and Murray the K. Many people who attended the concert, either as a fan or because they were involved in the show in some way, are interviewed and share their stories of that momentous day. In 1965, the attendance and revenue were record breaking - it was the height of Beatlemania and the birth of stadium rock. In many ways, it was a concert that changed the music scene forever, with bands afterwards demanding a larger share of the profits and better security, sound and organisation. Yet, despite the obvious need for crowd control, it seems to have been a good natured and happy event. Fans recall the constant screaming, like "white noise", but the police were there simply to protect them and scoop them up if they broke towards the stage. Nobody was hurt, nobody fought, there was no trouble - just an overwhelming excitement and enjoyment.Every song performed is looked at in depth, including the finale of "I'm Down" - where, famously, John played the keyboard with his elbow, as the band gave up battling the roar of the crowd and just performed with enjoyment. Having arrived nearby by helicopter, even the fans wondered how they would "get away". They were finally whisked away in a station wagon and, as fan Doug Fernandez recalled, "It was electric, it was fun and then it was over." Years later, when Paul played with Billy Joel at the last show held at Shea, the same man drove him to the stage who had driven the band on that first show.This is a fascinating account of that day. It has detailed information on everything about that ground breaking concert and also about the making of the television special. Many documents are hard to read, but the author assumed (correctly) that completists will want to see them and, where possible, letters are transcribed. There is a very interesting letter from M. Clay Adams to his son, Michael, after he travelled to London to record the Beatles overdubs for the tv special, including his impressions of both George Martin and the Beatles.It is also interesting to note that, amongst the crowd at Shea that day were many famous faces - including the Rolling Stones and also Meryl Steep - who was keen to tell Paul that she had made a banner for him saying, "I'll love you forever, Paul", when she presented him with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (he said he remembered it!). Also there were both Linda Eastman and Barbara Bach, yet to meet their future husbands in person. This is a wonderful collection of memories and stories and, although it is obviously about one specific event, it is a must read for Beatles fans.

What a great idea for a book ... to examine the Shea Stadium concert, to investigate it and to tell its tale. Such a shame, then, that unlike the Beatles, it doesn't live up to its billing.I found it disappointingly shallow, despite the excellent sources Mr Schwenson has tracked down. Too many surfaces have been left unscratched, too many clues left unfollowed. And why, once again, was the 1966 concert completely ignored?Everyone knows there was plenty of screaming, so why use up book-space to repeat this fact endlessly? The sound engineer has a fabulous tale to tell, it needs a writer with empathy and enthusiasm to tell it, qualities lacking here. Some guy has Paul's Shea jacket; but there's few photos of it ... and those that are there are not good.I'm disappointed to say that this book is an opportunity lost.

Interesting book. Puts you in the heart of the action on the day. You really do get an impression of the overwhelming wave of emotion and excitement that fans felt on the day. Even though they heard no music you get the impression that nobody regrets a second of being there.

Good background info about how the show was organised, the concert itself and comments from the people who were there in the audience.

Well written and researched. Its an account of the creation of the show, the show itself, and the aftermath. Interestingly it has many comments from the concert goers themselves. The book is a fast read but very informative. Fascinating to me was the part dealing with the actual recording of the concert and what happened to both the audio and video tapes. The Beatles re recording various bits months later to "fortify" the original sound tapes was interesting and new Beatle knowledge for me.Great job Dave Schwensen. A solid 4 of 5 for this book!