The Beatles In Cleveland: Memories, Facts & Photos About The Notorious 1964 & 1966 Concerts

Beatlemania swept across North America when John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964. The decade of the 1960's seemed to change overnight from black and white to color as a generation fell under the influence of the group's music, style and personalities.

Hot on the success of "A Hard Day's Night," the Beatles 1964 summer tour filled auditoriums with screams of delight and excitement - and in some cases, full-blown fan hysteria. This was the case on September 15th in Cleveland, Ohio when police stopped the show in mid-performance and ordered the Beatles off the stage.

The next year, The Beatles and all rock'n roll shows were banned from appearing in the city.

In August 1966, the group launched their final tour, but the innocence portrayed in "A Hard Day's Night" only two years earlier was missing. Controversy raging over Lennon's remarks about Christianity and the group being more popular than Jesus made their safety more of a concern than ever before.

A scheduling change brought the Beatles back to Cleveland on August 14th for the tour's first outdoor show at Municipal Stadium. The results were the same, but on a much larger scale as thousands of fans rushed onto the field, police stopped the show, and The Fab Four were chased into a luxury house trailer behind the stage. It was obvious they could no longer be protected in front of audiences and Lennon was overheard for the first time saying it would be the last tour. This is the inside story of both these special moments in time and a magical history tour back to the days of Beatlemania.

Includes eyewitness accounts from concert promoters, opening acts, on stage deejays, journalists, Beatles insiders, and fans who were there. Includes never-before published photos of The Beatles on and off stage.

As a young fan, author Dave Schwensen witnessed these events when his parents took him to see The Beatles in Cleveland. Relive the excitement as he takes you behind the scenes and on stage for two of the wildest, out of control concerts in Beatles and rock'n roll history.

A concert by The Beatles was not just about the music, but also the emotions stirred by the most influential group in the history of popular music.