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"The Beatles" press conference in 1966 NYC...
"The Beatles" press conference in 1966 NYC...
Item # 703877
August 25, 1966
THE VILLAGE VOICE (weekly), Greenwich Village, New York, Aug. 25, 1966
* The Beatles press conference at Warwick Hotel - NYC
* Liverpool, England rock band - counterculture music
* The Beatles' 1966 US tour - Shea Stadium
* John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr & George Harrison
Starting on the front page with a heading: "John, Paul, George, Ringo: Cool Duel with the Press" with photos of each band member. (see images) Coverage continues on inside pages with another photo of the Fab 4 answering questions. See images for partial text. They were in town during their 1966 tour and would perform at Shea Stadium the following day. (Aug. 23)
source: village voice archives: On August 22, 1966, the Beatles flew into New York and gave two press conferences at the Warwick Hotel on West 54th Street. Asked their opinions on the war in Vietnam, they were succinct, John Lennon saying, “We don’t like it,” and George Harrison adding, “War’s wrong and that’s all.”
When a reporter asked, “Would you care to elaborate?” Paul McCartney said, “We would elaborate, but not here. … In England people will listen a bit more to what you say. Here everything you say is picked up and turned against you. There’s more bigotry in America.” The Voice‘s reporter, James Kempton (son of the well-known commentator Murray), noted, “Every pencil in the room came down.” And that’s when the quick-thinking 24-year-old McCartney decided that it might, in fact, be a very good moment to elaborate: “There are more people so there are more bigots.”
Still smarting from the controversy he had caused a few months earlier when he said that the Fab Four was “more popular than Jesus,” Lennon quipped to his bandmate, “Say any more and you’ll be explaining all about it on the next tour.”
I suspect this to be an extremely rare item because their was really no reason to save it at the time.
It is worth noting that "The Village Voice" was an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955, the Voice began as a platform for the creative community of New York City.
Other interesting items from the counter-culture era. Complete in 32 pages, tabloid-size, one crease across the center, very nice condition.
Provenance note: This issue comes from The Village Voice's own archives, part of their in-house collection used to create their digital archive.
Alert: Many issues of The Village Voice contain articles and/or photos which some consider offensive, and are certainly inappropriate for children. Please purchase with discretion.
Category: The 20th Century
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