THURSDAY marked the 60th anniversary of an unforgettable night in Stockton when the globe was shaken by the assassination of the American president and the Globe was left shaking by the Beatles.
On November 22, 1963, the Fab Four released their second album With the Beatles, and played two 25 minute sets in front of 5,000 screaming fans in Stockton who, said the Echo’s reviewer, bubbled like a sea of boiling porridge.
In between the shows, news broke that in Dallas, President John F Kennedy – America’s youngest president and a war hero who was ushering in a new era – had been shot dead as his motorcade passed a grassy knoll.
“I’ve just had a where-were-you-when? moment,” says Gillian Wales in Bishop Auckland, “as I recalled that, aged 15, I had gone on a Shaw’s bus trip from Spennymoor to the Globe at Stockton to see the Beatles.
“I remember very little of the concert, other than girls screaming, fainting and being dragged out of the auditorium by St John’s Ambulance men.
“On the bus going home, all was very solemn with contrasting serious music being played on the coach radio.”
Beatlemania has again broken out this month with the release of Now and Then, the last ever Beatles song, but it was in its first flush back in ’63 when the band came to Stockton. She Loves Me had just become their second No 1, and the LP With the Beatles had pre-orders of half-a-million copies – the Williams record store in Darlington that day was full of empty cardboard boxes that had been ripped apart by fans eager to get their hands on the album inside.
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In those days, singles were 6s 8d and albums 32s.
The previous night, the Beatles had performed in Carlisle. It has not been established where they slept – some sources say the Langton Beck Hotel in upper Teesdale, others say the Alexandra Hotel at Saltburn while others point to a bed and breakfast in Stockton’s North Road – but they reached the Stockton venue fairly early the next day.
“The Beatles arrived in Stockton yesterday – in silence,” reported the Echo. “Not a scream was heard as they quietly drew up in the High Street and walked from their car to the Globe Theatre.
“But if their arrival was scarcely noticed in Stockton one Beatle at least scarcely noticed which town this was on the five-week whistle-stop tour. “Asked which county, for instance, Stockton was in, Ringo Starr said: "I haven't a clue – I don't even know what county Liverpool's in."
“But at the Press reception before the show, the boys were efficiently boisterous and energetic in the off-hand mood that has taken them to fame.”
Reporters quizzed them about their haircuts, collarless shirts and £25 suits and finished by asking whether they liked girls screaming throughout their shows.
"They paid to come in. If they like screaming let them scream – we don't mind," said Paul McCartney, as they were hurried away by cigar smoking managers.”
The Echo’s legendary photographer Ian Wright was back-stage to take a few photos, and the first show began at 6.15pm. The Beatles were preceded by The Vernons Girls, The Kestrals, Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, The Brook Brothers and The Rhythm and Blues Quartet. Even before the Beatles took to the stage, girls were passing out with over-excitement.
“The infectious beat of the Beatles caught the teenage audience at the Stockton Globe last night,” said the Echo. “Whipped into a frenzy by the compere, Frank Berry, they screamed, screamed, and screamed again as soon as the quartet appeared on stage.
“The Beatles drove the audience wild with their first number, I Saw Her Standing There.
“Their 25-minute spot included new tunes, All My Loving, Money, and the beat ballad You've Really Got a Hold On Me.
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“The climax came when Paul McCartney tempted fate by actually asking the audience to stamp and clap during the singing of Money.
“By this time, the audience, which had bubbled like a sea of porridge all night broke into violent boiling.”
In Dallas at 12.30pm – 6.30pm Stockton time – as the president was riding in a motorcade through the city centre, Lee Harvey Oswald shot him twice: once through the back, with the bullet exiting through his throat, and once more in the head. He was pronounced dead at 1pm, and it is believed that John Lennon became aware of the news around the time the second show began at 8pm.
Outside the Globe were about 3,000 ticketless fans waiting to catch a glimpse of their heroes on the way out.
“The fans got the biggest surprise, however, when as the theatre awaited a final bow, the four boys sped with the last twist and shout straight through the stage door and into a car waiting behind police barriers.”
Two limos were stationed at the front of the Globe, and word went round that they would take the Beatles to the Staincliffe Hotel in Seaton Carew, where police had to disperse a crowd of hundreds of young females later that night.
But the boys were bundled out the back into a police patrol car driven by PC William Brown who took them to the Eden Arms at Rushyford, where they spent the night largely unmolested playing fives and threes with the Eden’s resident skiffle band. They signed a piece of Eden Arms headed notepaper for the hotel receptionist which, in 2003, signed at auction for £3,500.
The next morning, they left for that evening’s show in Newcastle, while the rest of the globe came to terms with the earth-shattering news that the light of one so full of hope had been extinguished.
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