Ringo Starr på sin väg för att möta John, Paul och George i Sydney

Under tiden höll Ringo Starr en liten presskonferens på flygplatsen när han anlände till San Francisco i USA på sin väg till Australien innan han gick ombord på ett Quantasflyg till Sydney.

Cirka 4 000 fans hade kamperat utanför the Hotel South Australia när The Beatles vaknade omkring middagstid. Under eftermiddagen höll de en liten mottagning för personer som representerade den Australiensiska Beatlesfanklubben.

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Livekonsert på ’The Centennial Hall’, Adelaide

Denna lördag spelade The Beatles för andra kvällen i rad the Centennial Hall i Adelaide. De framförde två shower, liksom föregående kväll, med cirka 3 000 personer i publiken per föreställning.

John Lennon minns och har berättar från The Anthology:
Australia was a high moment, like the first time in America: us appearing on every channel and ten records in the charts. This was another one. It’s funny, but there were more people came to see us there than anywhere. I think the whole of Australia was there.

We must have seen a million million people before they let us go. There was good security and everybody was happy and shouting, but we still saw everybody, everywhere we went – and nobody got hurt.

Vid samtliga fyra konserter i Adelaide spelade The Beatles följande tio låtar: I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, This Boy, Twist And Shout och Long Tall Sally.

På kvällen höll The Beatles ett eget party på sin hotellsvit.

Detta blev Jimmie Nicols sista framträdande som Ringo Starrs ersättare i The Beatles. Dagen efter återsamlades alla originalbeatlarna och den 15 juni flög Jimmie Nicol tillbaka till England.

Ringo Starr flyger till Australien via San Francisco, USA

Den här fredagen hände mycket på Beatlesfronten. Efter sitt tillfrisknande på sjukhuset i London, var det dags för Ringo Starr att möta upp med de övriga beatlarna, som nu befann sig i Australien.

Ringo tog flyget tillsammans med Brian Epstein från London Airport till Sydney i Australien via San Francisco, Honolulu och Fiji. Ringo glömde sitt pass i London, vilket fördröjde den första flygningen på resan. Men till slut fick han gå ombord på planet utan sitt pass.

*) Vivien Leigh, ursprungligen Vivian Mary Hartley, född 5 november 1913 i Darjeeling i Västbengalen i Brittiska Indien, död 8 juli 1967 i London, var en brittisk skådespelare.

Senare hittade man passet, vilket skickades till London Airport, varifrån det skickade vidare till San Francisco, där det till slut hamnade i Ringos händer dagen efter, den 13 juni 1964.

The Beatles flyger från Sydney till Adelaide i Australien

Dagen efter vistelsen i Sydney, där The Beatles inte gav några konserter, flög de vidare till staden Adelaide i ett chartrat flygplan – Ansett ANA jet. De landade i Adelaide kl. 11.57.

Margaret Paul berättar från flygresan:
I was 22 years old and was a flight attendant on a Sydney-Adelaide flight. The airline prepared all those expensive caviar and oyster snacks, but all the Beatles wanted were peanut butter sandwiches. John walked into the galley room himself to ask for them, and I nearly fainted. I decided that he was one of the most handsome men I have ever seen. Before leaving the plane, they all signed for me on the package of a hygiene bag, which I later gave to my 14-year-old sister.

När The Beatles landade i Adelaide den 12 juni var det inga fans som mötte dem. Det var bara en tonåring som tilläts vara på landningsbanan. Hon hette Jean Cox och var 14 år och hade bjudits in av Bill Thomas, chefen för Adelaide Airport.

Jean Cox:
When I saw them, I screamed ’Paul’ and they were all a little amazed when they heard the voice of a teenager. John and Paul turned in my direction, and John said, ”You’re a little young to be a photographer, aren’t you?”    

Ett beräknat antal på mellan 200 000 och 250 000 människor mötte beatlarna på deras bilfärd på Anzac Highway mellan Adelaide Airport och centrala Adelaide, en resa på cirka 1,7 mil. Alla hoppades givetvis på att få se en skymt av beatlarnas kortege.

Mer än 30 000 människor omringade Stadshuset i staden, där beatlarna fick träffa stadens borgmästare James Campbell Irwing tillsammans med rådets ledamöter och deras familjer. King William Street och de närliggande gatorna var fulla med Beatlesfans och det var svårt för att inte säga omöjligt att ta sig fram.

Derek Taylor minns:
I told the writer Al Aronowitz all about it for the Saturday Evening Post a few weeks later. ‘It was like the Messiah come to Australia,’ I said, understating as best I could. ‘Cripples threw away their sticks and blind men leapt for joy,’ The only thing left for The Boys after this tour, I told him, would be a ‘healing tour’ of the world. It was like that. There were so many people of all ages and types reeling and a-rocking with joy that it felt as good as good can be. And if it felt good to the fans, it felt even better to us. I was called into The Beatles’ open car for the trip from the airport, and the journey was long and joyful and somehow humbling. You shoulda been there, John said on postcards later, and maybe some of you were. In the open car, George, now wide awake and full of delight, pointed in disbelief at the ribbons of people stretching as far behind and ahead as the eye could see. 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? Was this what I had always wanted? Yes. Oh, yes. Definitely.

George Harrison minns:
We sat up on the back of our cars and all the people were out of their homes and hospitals, and then we went into the square. We got onto the Lord Mayor’s mantelpiece and waved at the whole crowd. It looked like something out of Dodge City, dirt roads and a Rock Ridge façade, or that’s what it seemed like to me. It was like ‘The Sheriff’s coming, ding, ding, ding.’ I’ve got photos, which I took from sitting up on the back of our car in the J. F. Kennedy position in the cavalcade.

The Beatles fick leksaker i form av koalabjörnar. John Lennon talade om för de som mottog beatlarna: Wherever we go, anywhere in the world, this reception which Adelaide has given us will stick in our memories.

Gruppen skuggades av den lokale disc-jockeyn Bob Francis från radiostationen 5AD, som passade på att intervjua grabbarna från flera positioner inklusive från stadshusets balkong. Han passade också på att boka hotellsviten intill beatlarnas hotellsvit på Hotel South Australia, från vilken han sände radio med uppdaterad Beatlesinformation varje timme.

Paul McCartney minns:
Three hundred thousand people welcomed us to Adelaide. It was like a heroes’ welcome. George waved too. That was the kind of place where we would go to the town hall and they would all be there in the centre of the city. If it had happened suddenly, overnight, it might have gone to our heads; but we had come up bit by bit, so it didn’t (not too much). We were just very pleased that everyone had turned out.

We were still close enough to our Liverpool roots to know how it would feel, and what it would mean, if we had showed up in the middle of town to see a group; so we could feel it in their spirit. I think we quite enjoyed it all. It can get a bit wearing, but it certainly wasn’t then.

We came in from the airport – it was the same in Liverpool for the première of a A Hard Day’s Night, with the whole city centre full of people – and the crowds were lining the route and we were giving them the thumbs up.

And then we went to the Adelaide town hall with the Lord Mayor there, and gave the thumbs up again. In Liverpool it was OK, because everyone understands the thumbs up – but in Australia it’s a dirty sign.

Om det var några som stod nedanför och tog emot vinkningarna? Adelaide hade cirka en miljon invånare, vilka tydligen hade samlats nedanför stadshusets balkong. Se bilden nedan!

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Presskonferens på The South Australia Hotel i Adelaide

Efter besöket hos borgmästaren i stadshuset bar det iväg till The South Australia Hotel, där grabbarna inkvarterades. Där blev det också en presskonferens.

Reportrarna: Well, guys, tell me, how were you received in Adelaide?
John: Oh, that was great! Better than ever!

Reportrarna: Was it like what you said on the plane?
John: Yes! It was better!

Reportrarna: Have you received such a reception before?
George: No, it’s much better here.
John: No. We have never experienced anything like this. It was extraordinary.

Reportrarna: How would you compare with the reception you received in the States when you arrived there?
Paul: Bigger. There were more people here.

Reportrarna: Do you think everything was very well organized?
John: Yes. Everyone was very friendly.

Reportrarna: Weren’t you scared outside the City Hall?
John: It wasn’t scary. Shocked, you know, with so many people.

Reportrarna: Have you ever had the feeling that someone might try to knock you down or do something like that? George: It felt like we might get shot because it was our first time sitting in the back seat of a convertible.

Reportrarna: (noterandes George Harrisons kamera): I noticed that you were filming a lot while sitting in the back seat of your car, George.
George : Yes.

Reportrarna: What did you throw from the balcony, Paul?
George: It was, uh … me! (skrattar)
Paul: Did he throw something away?
George: No. I wanted to say that it was you who pushed me.
Paul: O!
George: Just kidding! (skrattar)

Reportrarna: Were you disappointed that the airport was closed and the teenagers could not get close to the plane?
John: I don’t think it matters, anyway they had the opportunity to see us along the route.
George: … just they could see us better, standing along the road. They could see us better than if we just …  

Jimmy Nicol dyker upp.

John: Come here Jim!
Paul: There he is! Jimmy!

Reportrarna: This is Jimmie Nicol – drummer instead of Ringo Starr. Beatlarna applåderar.

Reportrarna: Tell me, what did the mayor say to you?
George: Uh, he said he was happy to invite us, that he was very pleased, and he offered us a drink.

Reportrarna: And what did you answer to the mayor?
Paul : Thank you (skrattar).

Reportrarna: What did you drink?
Paul: Scotch and Coca-Cola. Mostly Coca-Cola.

Reportrarna: When you record a new song, how long do you rehearse it?
John: Sometimes an hour or two.
Paul: Usually we don’t rehearse with new numbers until we record.

Reportrarna: Tell me, John, what kind of capes were you wearing today, did you buy them in Amsterdam or somewhere else?
John: No, the first time we saw one in Amsterdam was when we rode these canals – some guy was in it. And, uh, we couldn’t buy. You know, we could buy, but in a different color … green. We sewed four in Hong Kong – copies of the one from the same material.

Reportrarna: I, as a person who is a little older than you – four handsome gentlemen …
John: (i en skämtsam ton) You?

Reportrarna: A bit older, actually … I remember when Frank Sinatra, Johnny Rae and Elvis Presley started out – but now, in my opinion, this is the unprecedented effectiveness of fantastic advertising and public resonance of all these representatives of the press. I do not want to belittle the talent that you possess. But how much credit is there for Brian Epstein and his advertising agents? And how many of them do you know?
John: We’ve never had more than one press agent.
Paul: These are all rumors.
John: Brian has one for each of his artists, so they only do their own thing and don’t work together. And we also have only one. And about six months ago, we did not have our own press agent at all.
Paul: But success depends on that.
John: Oh yes!

Reportrarna: Jimmie, do you think Brian Epstein can ever wave his wand and make you the fifth Beatle? Or Ringo’s permanent stunt double?
Jimmie: I don’t know that.

Reportrarna: What happened to Francis Fay? You played drums for her, didn’t you, Jim?
Jimmie: No. But that would be nice.

Reportrarna: Then how did you get on stage? Did she call you?
Jimmie: Well, as soon as I walked out the door, she was just finishing the last part of her speech. She said, ”The Beatles are here!” And everyone turned around. She invited me to her dressing room …
John: (skämtande) O! You didn’t tell us about it! (skratt)
Jimmie: … we had a drink in the dressing room. And then, I played the whole second part.

Reportrarna: She gave you something in return, didn’t she, Jim?
The Beatles: skrattar.
Jimmie: No, she didn’t give me anything, but she was going to give. She wanted to give me all of her albums, and she also has a sweater for me.
John: Ha ha ha!

Reportrarna: Jimmie, you’ve played with other bands – what is it like to be with the Beatles so suddenly?
Jimmie: (skrattar) Best of all, you know!

Reportrarna: Was there any problem to achieve the same rhythm as Ringo?
Jimmie: Well, I do my best.
John: (skämtsamt) Avvvvv! (skrattar).

Reportrarna: Have you participated in any stupid promotions?
George: No.
John: No, we never really got involved. Anything dumb stupid usually happens …
Paul: When we first started, we tried to think about it. We didn’t have a manager or anyone else yet, so we just sat and thought about it. We were going to try to get one of us to jump into the [river] of the Mersey and swim across it.
John & Paul: But none of us could swim that far! (skratt).
John: But I don’t remember that – he talks about it all the time.
Paul: But it’s true John, it’s true!
John: (skrockandes) I think you were there alone.
Paul : (skämtandes) I remember when I was about five years old, I thought I was going to jump and swim across the Mercy. At that time, there was no one with me. I lied. Sorry! (John skrattar).

Reportrarna: What were your most exciting moments in show business, everyone – George?
George: Oh, I don’t remember, there are so many of them! Everything has been amazing since last September. I think when we came to America and realized that they all went crazy there. And when we returned to Britain last October, we toured Sweden – when this whole Beatlemania started, and we were not aware, because we were not at home. We had just landed in London – and the crowd was crushing everything! It was great.

Reportrarna: Guys, you had potential talent a few years ago, but in your wildest dreams, could you imagine reaching your current position?
John och Paul: No.
John: You know, no one could have imagined anything like this.

Reportrarna: What about your program in the Century Hall tonight?
John: Programs?

Reportrarna: Your concert. How long will it last today?
Paul: Thirty minutes, each show.

Reportrarna: You constantly change your program, or it happens …
John: We change it depending on the city or state, depending on which record is the most popular here, then we usually change the order of the songs. One way or another, the same number of records came out everywhere.

Reportrarna: What about when you played the Royal Variety for Her Majesty last year? The same program as usual?
Paul: Yes.
John: Then we joked because the audience didn’t shout and could hear our words. This is the only difference.
Paul: And it was also shorter.

Reportrarna: On the plane from Sydney you told me, I think it was George when I asked: ”Have you ever wanted to play pantomime like the Beatles?” You gave a special performance …
George: Oh, yes. We don’t like the idea of ​​pantomime, so we did our own show, which was more or less like a pop show, but we showed up every few minutes, disguised, you know, for a laugh.
John: Nobody was laughing, by the way. Only ourselves.

Reportrarna: Did you do any comedy scenes on stage during your UK tour?
George: No. Only at our Christmas shows. We also acted out a couple of scenes on the TV show.

Reportrarna: Have you ever had a problem with screaming fans outside the hotel where you stayed overnight? Can you sleep in these kinds of situations?
John: They never scream all night. You know, I haven’t come across this before.

Reportrarna: Well, last night they were there until midnight.
John: Well, you know, I don’t even dream of going to bed earlier than this time!

Reportrarna: Do you fear that one day you will be traumatized due to excessive enthusiasm? Have you ever gotten injured?
Paul: We’re not afraid because we haven’t been harmed yet. Perhaps, if this happened, we would be a little worried about this.

Reportrarna: In South Australia, not only teenagers go crazy with you, but maybe you noticed today, driving from the airport, a lot of adults … especially grandmothers …
Paul: Yes.
John: They’re great!

Reportrarna: Is it the same in England?
John: Well, I’ve never seen so many grandmothers at once.

Reportrarna: You give the impression of a very attentive person. You notice what is happening around you. I noticed from behind your car that you could observe everything that was happening, see people standing with placards. You pay attention to people, don’t you?
Paul: Yes, of course!
John: Yes.

Reportrarna: And you are aware of what is happening around?
George: Yes.
John : (chuckling) I think you must. You might get shot. (laugh)

Reportrarna: A lot of teens in Liverpool seem to be a little disappointed that you haven’t performed at The Cave for so long. But why?
John: If we played at The Cave often, we would never get to Australia, or America, and nowhere at all. We had to make a choice, you know. And most of those who are sorry now weren’t really there when we played at this club.

Reportrarna: How did Brian manage … after all, it was he who revealed your personality and united you into a group? John: No. By that time we had already recorded the disc ”My Bonnie”, and all these worthless recordings for the ”Polydor” company. And teenagers from The Cavern from all over Liverpool would come to his record store and ask, “Do you have the Beatles’ My Bonnie? Well, so he got interested, asked one of the teenagers who we were. He decided that we were Germans. And he came to see us. We played in the Cavern, which was a hundred yards away.  

Under presskonferensen i Adelaide, kom en flicka in till auditoriet. Hon var väldigt lik Ringo Starr och satte sig ner tillsammans med beatlarna. Hon hette Adele Emmanuel.

Adele Emmanuel skulle egentligen lämna över en Ring från staden Adelaide till Ringo Starr, men eftersom han inte kunde komma till Adelaide p.g.a. sin operation, fick hon ändå vara med på presskonferensen.

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Livekonsert i Centennial Hall i Adelaide, Australien

Över 50 000 beställningar hade inkommit för att få en biljett för att se The Beatles framträdande i Centennial Hall, Showgrounds, Wayville i Adelaide, som hade plats för cirka 3 000 personer. Grabbarna framförde två konserter denna dag och två ytterligare konserter dagen därpå.

Konferenciern var Alan Field och förbanden bestod av Sounds Incorporated, Johnny Devlin och Johnny Chester and The Phantoms.

Vid samtliga fyra konserter som de höll i Adelaide, framförde de följande tio låtar; I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your hand, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, This Boy, Twist And Shout och Long Tall Sally. Detta var samma repertoar som de framförde i Köpenhamn. Amsterdam och i Hong Kong.

George Harrison minns:
I always remember the one gig in particular, I think it was in Melbourne [sic], doing the count-in to ‘She Loves You’, which was One, Two, dum be dum, ‘She Loves You’, with the down beat coming on ‘Loves’. I looked at Jimmie [Nicol] and said, ‘OK?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ Right, then… ‘One, Two’ and he froze and sort of had a quick brain-fade. Panicky, he lashed out and went ‘crash’ – and somehow the song got going.

Brian Epstein såldes rättigheterna för en av konserterna denna den 12 juni för en radioinspelning. Programmet hade fått titeln Beatles Show och sändes måndagen den 15 juni med sponsring av rengöringsmedlet Surf. Tiderna för sändningen varierade beroende på i vilken stad programmet sändes. I Adelaide sändes programmet mellan kl. 20.30 och kl. 21.30 på 5DN. i Medbourne sänds programmet mellan kl. 20.00 och kl. 21.00 på 3UZ.

Konserterna i Adelaide spelades in för eventuell skivutgivning på ett album.

Derek Taylor berättar:
I recall being driven to a studio to hear and approve the recording: to my uncritical ears, the tapes sounded all right and I gave them the provisional approval I’d been authorized to give. It was a weighty responsibility for someone so recently converted to popular music, and I was far too quickly and easily pleased. Whatever The Beatles sang was perfect to my ears. The Boys themselves later described the tapes as ‘crap’ (or one of its many synonyms) and they were never officially released, though no doubt they have turned up since as valued bootleg.

På kvällen ägde ett socialt evenemang rum till The Beatles ära på the Adeliade Hills, men vare sig The Beatles eller deras extrainkallade trummis Jimmie Nicol dök upp. De hade i stället ett privat party i sin hotellsvit.

Rivningen av the Centennial Hall, en Art Deco-byggnad från 1930-talet, inleddes den 18 juli 2007. Och på detta ställe byggde man istället The Adelaide Showground, en form av utställningshall.