The Beatles banned segregated audiences, contract shows

[Omaha Steve]

Source: BBC

The Beatles showed their support for the US civil rights movement by refusing to play in front of segregated audiences, a contract shows.

The document, which is to be auctioned next week, relates a 1965 concert at the Cow Palace in California.

Signed by manager Brian Epstein, it specifies that The Beatles "not be required to perform in front of a segregated audience".

The agreement also guarantees the band payment of $40,000 (£25,338).


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14963752

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The Beatles' shows in 1965 rarely lasted longer than 40 minutes

My all time favorite band had it together. The song "blackbird" was also about civil rights.

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/blackbird-lyrics-the-beatles/478229392bc017db48256bc200211b08

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

[elocs]

1. I heard that this morning on NPR's Morning Edition.

Interesting.

[MrSlayer]

2. Only $40k. Unreal.

The Beatles never got the chance to really reap the rewards of their live shows. It wasn't until Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin came along that artists got the gate money. Of course, with the publishing money The Beatles received from their record sales, it didn't hurt that badly.

[naaman fletcher]

4. I dunno..

for 1965 I was actually thinking that was a lot. 10K each for one night? In 1965? sounds like a lot to me.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

5. In 1965 that was a lot of money

If you were making between 6-8k in 1965 you were doing real good.

[Omaha Steve]

6. The federal minimum wage effective Sept. 6, 1965 was $1.25 an hour

Some states have minimum wages set above the federal standard.

[Skip_In_Boulder]

9. Yeah, it was up to $1.40 when I started working

in 1970.

[SoapBox]

13. If the GOPBaggers have their way, the minimum wage in 2012 would be $.25 per hour!

...or less!

[NewJeffCT]

33. Some of them would bring back indentured servitude

I would guess... calling it a "Personal Debt Relief Program"

[cyberpj]

40. Subject: Bill Maher brought this up recently about extremists saying "what's left?.... slavery?" nt

[valerief]

44. No, there'd be no minimum. And we'd be bringing chickens to doctor visits. nt

[oldhippydude]

28. remember Dr Hook

we sing about beauty, and we sing about truth, at ten thousand dollars a show... that was a decade later

[MrSlayer]

8. It's not a lot.

They gave two performances that day. The gate was $420,000, the Beatles got less than 10%. A total rip off. After Grant came on the scene with Zeppelin it went 90%-10% the other way.

[naaman fletcher]

14. gotcha..

thanks

[boppers]

24. Best way to make a small fortune in music:

Start with a large fortune.

The system was just as rigged then as it is now.

[MrSlayer]

26. No doubt.

Touring is just one area where the bands have been able to reap the benefits of their art. One small victory in a losing war I suppose.

[boppers]

27. Worst touring contract BS I ever heard:

Musicians were required to pay the label royalties for playing songs the label "owned".

Songs the musicians had written, and recorded, but the label "owned".

They were paying to play their own music.

Per song. Per night.

(For those outside the industry, yes, it really is this insane).

[Bluenorthwest]

41. The word 'gaurantee' is just that, the no matter what money

it does not preclude other monies, percentage of the gate and whatnot in any way at all.

[DeSwiss]

7. The minimum wage.....

...in 1965 was http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774473.html">$1.25 per hour. That's $50 bucks per week or $2,600 per year.

- So $40,000 for a 40 minute show wasn't half bad.......

K&R

[MrSlayer]

10. No but compared to the $420,000 gate, it's highway robbery.

No one went there to see the Cow Palace. Why should they take the lion's share of the gate money? As mentioned before, ripping off the artist was just business as usual back then.

[No Elephants]

22. 40K was the only the guaranteed MINIMUM for the evening. They could have made more.

And I don't know what they got in expenses.

According to one pop culture website, AVERAGE cost of a NEW home in 1965 was $13,600 and AVERAE income per year was $6,450. According to this website, AVERAGE cost of a NEW home in 1965 was $13,600; AVERAE income per year was $6,450 and AVERAGE cost of a NEW car was $2,650. Moreover, the dollar was quite strong against the British pound then. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1965.html

If I am not mistaken, concerts were mostly a way to boost record and album sales, but, even if I am wrong, they did okay that evening.

[MrSlayer]

25. Sure, they did ok.

I'm not calling forty thousand 1965 dollars chicken feed, I'm just saying that under the business practices exercised as soon as five years later they would have walked with over $300K and a full rider. I'm saying that bands got screwed big time back then and it's amazing to think you could probably have had a private concert from them for such a cheap price. People filled the hall to see The Beatles. They didn't buy tickets to the Cow Palace and then The Beatles just happened to show up. Not only did the owners get 90% of the gate, they also got 100% of the concessions, parking and the like. The prices of houses and the minimum wage have nothing to do with any of this.

[Generic Other]

45. What kind of money changes hands today?

Does the band get most of it or the venue?

I too am amazed by how little they earned even adjusting for inflation.

I assume a band's concert revenue must have increased exponentially over the years.

[MrSlayer]

49. Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin changed the game entirely.

Peter Grant realized how badly the bands were getting ripped off and he refused to let his band play unless they agreed to pay them 90% of the gate. Today bands either get paid a lump sum on sponsored tours or they get the 90% of ticket sales. Grant is the reason the Grateful Dead were able to make 30 million dollars a year. He opened the door for all major acts to get what they deserved.

[JVS]

51. Is this at all related to the fact that tickets are now outrageously expensive?

[MrSlayer]

52. No, the tickets are priced at what the market will bear.

Almost all shows have cheap seats too.

[JVS]

53. Funny how the market will bear so much more considering the prices were cheaper in what was...

considered a golden age.

I'm not believing you.

[JHB]

36. $40K in 1965 would be a little short of $290K today.

Several years' income for most people.

[AlbertCat]

47. Only $40k. Unreal.

Hey.... that's the same amount Marion Crane steals from an AZ rich guy who is buying a house for his daughter and her new husband, starting the events in "Psycho"... in 1960.

[defendandprotect]

3. Glood for the Beatles -- !!

[KT2000]

11. Saw this on UK- Mail

and the author thought that segregated meant integrated so the story's tone was that the Beatles did this in spite of the civil rights efforts being waged in this country and England. The nerve!!
That paper has to be written by a middle school journalism class. Pretty bad.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. You will enjoy this link....

Among other things, it shows the protests at the Cow Palace which had been going on that summer, in the months before the Beatles agreement. http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Fleming_on_Segregation

[KT2000]

18. Great link - thanks

It sure is a good reminder that - yes - things can change.

[DissedByBush]

15. Some artists cared

The Beatles were a great example.

Bob Dylan, Charlton Heston and Marlon Brando were others.

Heston even picketed his own movie premiere, El Cid, at a segregated theater.

[MrMickeysMom]

16. Beatles Forever...

I'm glad I never saw them live. I wouldn't have heard it over the screaming... my own, I'm betting, cause I was 10 when they got big in the US.

[Butch350]

37. I saw them perform here in St. Louis Moe back in 65...

At Busch stadium - the ticket was $5.00 US.

[stlsaxman]

48. how was the weather?

[stevedeshazer]

17. +1

Saw them in Portland on A22, 1965.

I love The Beatles.

[Mosaic]

19. I always felt there was something extra special about the Beatles

A good example for us all. U2's Pride in the Name of Love also celebrated our common humanity. The greats always do, in politics as in music.

[USA_1]

20. This Also Happened In Miami

I distinctly recall hearing that report back then. However, it was largely ignored because so many people wanted to maintain the fiction that society was not segregated. It amazes me that more people have not spoken about it in all these years.

[catzies]

38. What live shows did they play in Miami, other than Ed Sullivan?

The NPR story mentions a Jacksonville concert (IIRC two weeks before), but not a Miami show.

TIA, from a Fab Four fanatic :-)

[USA_1]

50. Sorry, I do not recall

... but it may well have been the ES show.

[MadMaddie]

21. I love the song "Blackbird" it is an amazing song....

it's haunting...

[No Elephants]

23. Sinatra and his Rat Pack played a significant role in desegregation of Las Vegas hotels.

"The Rat Pack frequently performed in Las Vegas and greatly influenced Vegas becoming a popular entertainment destination. Sinatra and the others refused to perform in Las Vegas hotels and casinos that had segregation policy and as the group became more and more popular, the Las Vegas hotels and casinos abandoned their policies based on segregation."

http://www.examiner.com/frank-sinatra-in-national/did-the-rat-pack-fight-racial-segregation

They would also refuse to stay in a hotel that tried to treat Sammy Davis, Jr. any differently than they treated the other members of the Rat Pack, which included Peter Lawford, President Kennedy's brother in law.

Sadly, when JFK began disassociating himself from Sinatra after Sinatra had just finished renovated his home to Secret Service specifications to prepare for JFK's now cancelled visit, Sinatra's became a Republican and supported St. Ronnie.

I can understand both sides of the personal falling out, but I don't understand changing political parties because of it.

[ClusterFreak]

29. Reason #6,798,452,951,476

...that I love the Beatles.

All Together Now.

:fistbump:

[Omaha Steve]

30. They loved black musicians like Chuck Berry

Wonder if that was part of it?

[NewJeffCT]

34. I'm guessing it was more than just admiration for black musicians

though, I'm sure that didn't hurt.

I think they did it because it was the right thing to do. People were (and are) a bit more liberal in the UK than here.

[colsohlibgal]

31. The Band That Transcends Time

Obviously they are a little more than "Just a band from Liverpool that hit it really , really big" like Lennon once said. I'll always wonder if the JFK murder helped fuel Beatlemania, a big bouncy exciting sound to break the pall that assassination created.

Too bad two of them have left us, both way too early.

It's nice to see this come out and I'm not surprised.

RIP John and George, keep on rocking Paul and Ringo.

[Nedsdag]

32. They also refused to perform in South Africa because of the country's apartheid policy.

The South African government banned their records for years because of their stand.

[Ian David]

35. See also: Jim Crow Segregated Florida in the 1960s as experienced by James "The Amazing" Randi

Jim Crow Segregated Florida in the 1960s as experienced by James "The Amazing" Randi
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4858457

[provis99]

39. Charles Manson had a different interpretation of "Blackbird".

I believe he thought the Beatles were calling for a race war.

[Capitalocracy]

42. And Charles Manson is obviously a genius

And clear-headed, to boot.

[Omaha Steve]

46. Not just Blackbird, Helter Skelter etc.

http://www.charliemanson.com/helter-skelter.htm

When police arrived at the LaBianca murder scene, they found various words written in blood. On the living room walls, there was "rise" and "death to pigs." Carved into Leno LaBianca's stomach was "war." Alone these seem to give no clue, but another writing on the refrigerator did. It was the incorrectly spelt "healter skelter." This led some investigators to believe the writings may have been influenced by the so-called "White Album" by the Beatles which included the song "Helter Skelter." Another song on the album, "Blackbird," used the word "arise" which may have inspired the bloody use of "rise." The phase "death to pigs" was likely inspired by the Beatles' song "Piggies."

Had police made the connection, they would have realized that "pig" was used in the previous murders at the Gary Hinman and Sharon Tate houses. At Hinman's, bloody writing said "political piggie" while "pig" was written at the Tate house. Perhaps the vast size of Los Angeles kept police from making a strong connection. Maybe it was the multiple police departments involved along with their jurisdictional conflicts. Whatever the reason, in early November 1969, Susan Atkins began talking to fellow prisoners about the murders. It wasn't long before a couple of inmates went to authorities with her bizarre story.

Susan Atkins told of her and three friends going to the Tate house on Cielo Drive and slaughtering five people under instructions from Charles Manson. She also confessed to being part of the group that traveled to Waverly Drive the following night for two additional murders. As for the Cielo house, it was supposedly chosen because it was remote and had previously been occupied by Terry Melcher, whom Susan expressed a dislike for. Atkins seemed to have no explanation for choosing the LaBianca home but it was later learned that the Manson group had previously been to the house next door for parties.

Atkins seemed unclear on what the motive was but the prosecutors said it was a race war by the name of "Helter Skelter." Supposedly, the black population was going to rise up and wipe out everyone else. The Manson Family would be hiding out in the desert and escape the carnage, though. Once blacks found they couldn't run the world on their own, the Manson Family would be in position to take over. The Family supposedly thought the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter" (and the rest of the album) was about the apocalyptic war.

Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wrote a book about the cased entitled "Helter Skelter." Later, a made-for-TV movie about the case used the same title. It has now been released on DVD.

[surrealAmerican]

43. Brian Epstein knew what he was doing.

They were lucky to have him.