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http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-music-scen ... -than-one/
Beatles Atlanta show made history in more ways than one

8:00 am August 5, 2009, by Suzanne Van Atten

Anyone familiar with live music performances knows that an integral part of the sound system are the monitors — speakers directed toward the musicians that allow them to hear themselves as the audience does.

But did you know they were not commonly used until the Beatles played the Atlanta Stadium in 1965?

Faced with having to project the sound over the din of screaming fans, according to a story by Bo Emerson in Living & Arts on Sunday, sound man Duke Mewborn of Baker Audio on Peachtree Street hit upon the idea of using monitors. And according to a note sent by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, the Atlanta system was “excellent. Without question proved the most effective of all during our U.S. tour 1965.”

Very cool!
I wonder why they didn't insist on using this type of sound system from then on.

I just remembered I had these 2 photos inside an old folder. I bought them at a flea market years ago.

Unfortunately, there was no info on them when I bought them so I have no idea when or where they're from.
I'm guessing '64 tour by looking at the guitars (George with his 12 string and John with his 2nd Rick).

I forgot to say on the second pic just how "plain" that stage looks!
I reminds me of an elementary school's auditorium. George doesn't even have a guitar stand for his Gretsch. It's just laying around! LOL

It amazes me how the greatest band also was the most humble and unpretentious. They just plugged in and played.

Soulsaman wrote:...It amazes me how the greatest band also was the most humble and unpretentious. They just plugged in and played.

Those were the days!

I thought the same thing.... I many Beatle photos you can see the extra guitars leaning up against something or (often) laying flat near Ringo's drums.
Which raises the question... when was the first foldable / portable guitar stand invented?

Can you say rare?

Wow Awesome pic!
Never seen John playing with his strat.

Soulsaman wrote:Wow Awesome pic!
Never seen John playing with his strat.

+1, very cool!

Wow.... great shot... here it is a bit larger. Full explanation of John's strat: http://www.laster.it/chitarre-elettrich ... rsion.html

Dedication....

The Beatles played Astoria Finsbury Park in 63, 64 and 65

Dec-Jan '63-64 as part of the `Beatles Christmas Show' And again in Nov '64 And again on Dec 11 '65 (which is where the pix of John and Strat comes from)

Another pix of John and the Strat. This one said it was from
The Beatles Christmas Show Rehearsal, Donmar Hall, London, 1964

Another Beatles Christmas Show.
Hammersmith Odeon between Thursday 24th December 1964 & Saturday 16th January 1965 The Mike Cotton Sound
Michael Haslam
The Yardbirds
Jimmy Saville
Freddie & The Dreamers

INTERVAL

The Mike Cotton Sound
Elkie Brooks
Sounds Incorporated
Ray Fell
Jimmy Saville
The Beatles[/b]

A humorous anecdote about the Beatles second Christmas show was relayed in the Dec. 1999 issue of Beatles Monthly: Mal Evans presented the Beatles with fur-trimmed hooded jackets and announced, "Eppy says these are your stage suits for the next tour. You're going to Eskimoland, lads."

"That wouldn't surprise me," was George's typical sardonic reply.I imagine the Beatles themselves, particularly John and George, found their Christmas shows, a mix of music and pantomime, a bit "daft," particularly the comic routines. However, the 1964 shows at the Hammersmith provided a welcomed Christmas gift to the fans, as well as some time at home after a year of grueling tours. Accompanied by the Yardbirds, Sounds Incorporated, Michael Haslam, and Elkie Brooks with the Mike Cotton Sound, "Another Beatles Christmas Show" opened to a sell-out crowd on Dec. 24, 1964, and continued for a three-week run of two performances per day.

The show's producer, Peter Yolland, was understandably upset when he discovered he had only 3 days to rehearse and get the entire production ready for public consumption. I don't think the comedy sketches and acting prowess of the cast would matter to the fans; a chance to see the Fabs in person was the chief motivating factor. The main sketch told the tale of four explorers searching for the Abominable Snowman, played by DJ Jimmy Saville.

The Beatles' closed the show with a half-hour set including "She's A Woman," "Twist and Shout," "I'm A Loser," "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby," "Baby's In Black," "A Hard Day's Night" and "Long Tall Sally". After the first show, the Beatles retreated to their dressing rooms for what writer Frederick James termed "greasy eggs, sausages and chips washed down with scotch and Coke before doing it all again for the second house audience."

All the photos in this post were taken during rehearsals for this Christmas show. The photos were scanned by me and taken from various issues of the Beatles Book Monthly.[/i][/color]