The Beatles in Adelaide
Image: The "Beatles Urinal", RA&HS Museum and Archives collection.
It is almost impossible to overstate the fervour surrounding the Beatles visit to Adelaide in June of 1964, with Centennial Hall and the Adelaide Showground at the epicentre of what is arguably one of the largest displays of public adoration for any musical artist/s ever. According to John Lennon himself, the band had never seen anything like it and never would again. Although the Beatles would continue recording and releasing numerous albums over the next five or six years, they ceased touring permanently just two years after their Adelaide jaunt.
Before the Beatles, the Queen’s visit a decade earlier (also with the Adelaide Showground at its centre), was the largest welcome bestowed on a foreign visitor. Being a regal visit, however, it was heavily coordinated and influenced by the state. As excited as many people were for Her Majesty’s visit, the government itself made sure it was a historically large occasion and provided the resources to make it so. The Beatles, on the other hand, were originally left off the Australian tour. It was only after approximately 80,000 people signed a petition led by Bob Francis at 5AD, that Adelaide was added. As impressive as that is, what happened when they arrived was truly amazing.
Estimates are that 250,000 to 350,000 people lined the streets from the airport to the Adelaide Town Hall to watch the Beatles drive by in an open top car. Not only was this the biggest turnout for the Beatles in Australia, this was unprecedented for any band anywhere and has never been matched. This is especially remarkable given that the population of Adelaide at the time was less than 700,000. The Beatles press officer, Derek Taylor wrote, “I had some difficulty in believing I was really here, a material witness to this unprecedented public love affair. How the hell, I wondered, do I come to be in Australia in a Victory Parade with the Most Famous People on Earth?”
Even more remarkably, this all happened on a weekday – some school students were given leave by sympathetic educators, while others risked disciplinary action to get a glimpse of their heroes. At one school, 200 students staged a sit-down strike because they were not allowed to listen to the radio broadcast of the Beatles arrival.
Of the tens of thousands who attempted to get tickets, only 12,000 were available for the four shows played over two days at Centennial Hall. One of those lucky enough to get a ticket was former RA&HS Treasurer and current Chairperson of the RA&HS Archives Foundation, Bob Snewin. Lucky might not be the right word, however, as Bob clearly put in the hard yards to ensure he got to witness the Fab Four:
“When tickets went on sale at John Martins fans slept in the queue (myself included) for 3 and 4 days to purchase tickets. Tickets were priced at one pound one shilling and I obtained a ticket (much to my joy) for the 7pm show on Friday 12 June.”
The RA&HS Archives contains some treasures from the Beatles visit, including floorboards from the stage on which they performed in Centennial Hall, correspondence between the RA&HS and John Martin’s who sponsored The Beatles Adelaide visit, and most unusually and infamous of all items in our collection, we have “The Beatles Urinal.” This urinal was attached to the Centennial Hall green room the performing artists used. The Beatles weren’t the only ones to use this receptacle – it could justifiably be called the Rolling Stones/Beach Boys/Roy Orbison/Louis Armstrong/Nat King Cole/Dave Brubeck/Jethro Tull/Easybeats/The Who/Liberace Urinal.
There are many ways historians like to delineate different moments in history – decades, centuries, reigning monarchs, or technological change, to name a few. One might add that there are two periods in Adelaide’s twentieth century cultural history – pre-Beatles and post-Beatles, such was their impact.
The Beatles in Adelaide
Image: The "Beatles Urinal", RA&HS Museum and Archives collection.
It is almost impossible to overstate the fervour surrounding the Beatles visit to Adelaide in June of 1964, with Centennial Hall and the Adelaide Showground at the epicentre of what is arguably one of the largest displays of public adoration for any musical artist/s ever. According to John Lennon himself, the band had never seen anything like it and never would again. Although the Beatles would continue recording and releasing numerous albums over the next five or six years, they ceased touring permanently just two years after their Adelaide jaunt.
Before the Beatles, the Queen’s visit a decade earlier (also with the Adelaide Showground at its centre), was the largest welcome bestowed on a foreign visitor. Being a regal visit, however, it was heavily coordinated and influenced by the state. As excited as many people were for Her Majesty’s visit, the government itself made sure it was a historically large occasion and provided the resources to make it so. The Beatles, on the other hand, were originally left off the Australian tour. It was only after approximately 80,000 people signed a petition led by Bob Francis at 5AD, that Adelaide was added. As impressive as that is, what happened when they arrived was truly amazing.
Estimates are that 250,000 to 350,000 people lined the streets from the airport to the Adelaide Town Hall to watch the Beatles drive by in an open top car. Not only was this the biggest turnout for the Beatles in Australia, this was unprecedented for any band anywhere and has never been matched. This is especially remarkable given that the population of Adelaide at the time was less than 700,000. The Beatles press officer, Derek Taylor wrote, “I had some difficulty in believing I was really here, a material witness to this unprecedented public love affair. How the hell, I wondered, do I come to be in Australia in a Victory Parade with the Most Famous People on Earth?”
Even more remarkably, this all happened on a weekday – some school students were given leave by sympathetic educators, while others risked disciplinary action to get a glimpse of their heroes. At one school, 200 students staged a sit-down strike because they were not allowed to listen to the radio broadcast of the Beatles arrival.
Of the tens of thousands who attempted to get tickets, only 12,000 were available for the four shows played over two days at Centennial Hall. One of those lucky enough to get a ticket was former RA&HS Treasurer and current Chairperson of the RA&HS Archives Foundation, Bob Snewin. Lucky might not be the right word, however, as Bob clearly put in the hard yards to ensure he got to witness the Fab Four:
“When tickets went on sale at John Martins fans slept in the queue (myself included) for 3 and 4 days to purchase tickets. Tickets were priced at one pound one shilling and I obtained a ticket (much to my joy) for the 7pm show on Friday 12 June.”
The RA&HS Archives contains some treasures from the Beatles visit, including floorboards from the stage on which they performed in Centennial Hall, correspondence between the RA&HS and John Martin’s who sponsored The Beatles Adelaide visit, and most unusually and infamous of all items in our collection, we have “The Beatles Urinal.” This urinal was attached to the Centennial Hall green room the performing artists used. The Beatles weren’t the only ones to use this receptacle – it could justifiably be called the Rolling Stones/Beach Boys/Roy Orbison/Louis Armstrong/Nat King Cole/Dave Brubeck/Jethro Tull/Easybeats/The Who/Liberace Urinal.
There are many ways historians like to delineate different moments in history – decades, centuries, reigning monarchs, or technological change, to name a few. One might add that there are two periods in Adelaide’s twentieth century cultural history – pre-Beatles and post-Beatles, such was their impact.