The Beatles were to have performed at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field on the previous day, Saturday 20 August 1966. However, heavy rain and the risk of electrocution led to their performance being postponed until noon on this day.
The support acts on The Beatles’ final tour – The Remains, Bobby Hebb, The Cyrkle, and The Ronettes – had all performed the day before, prior to the downpour beginning. The Beatles were the only act to play on this day, after which they flew 341 miles to St Louis, Missouri to perform an evening concert.
We had to get up early and get on and play the concert at midday, then take all the gear apart and go to the airport, fly to St Louis, set up and play the gig originally planned for that day. In those days all we had were three amps, three guitars, and a set of drums. Imagine trying to do it now!
The Beatles’ standard set during their final tour consisted of 11 songs: ‘Rock And Roll Music’, ‘She’s A Woman’, ‘If I Needed Someone’, ‘Day Tripper’, ‘Baby’s In Black’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Paperback Writer’, and ‘I’m Down’. During the tour they occasionally substituted the final song with ‘Long Tall Sally’.
The group had performed in Cincinnati on one other occasion, on 27 August 1964.
Also on this day...
- 2003: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Horseshoe Casino Tunica, Robinsonville
- 2001: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Fox Theatre, St Louis
- 2000: Album release: Liverpool Sound Collage by Paul McCartney
- 1998: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
- 1992: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Freedom Hall, Louisville
- 1972: Wings live: Congresgebouw, The Hague
- 1969: Mixing, editing: The End, You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard
- 1968: Recording, mixing: Sexy Sadie
- 1968: George and Pattie Harrison return to England from Greece
- 1966: The Beatles live: Busch Stadium, St Louis
- 1965: The Beatles live: Metropolitan Stadium, Minneapolis
- 1964: The Beatles live: Coliseum, Seattle
- 1963: The Beatles live: Gaumont Cinema, Bournemouth
- 1963: Editing, mixing: With The Beatles
- 1961: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1960: The Beatles live: Indra Club, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
I was there. I’ll never forget it.
Me too. One of the greatest events of my life
We came down the first night and got rained out. But the loyal fans we are we were back the next day. Awesome, memories that we still talk about today!
To this day, I have not found any evidence of ‘I´m down’ being played at any of the US shows in 1966. It´s not on any of the recordings I have found, or mentioned in concert reviews. All shows I have heard has ‘Long tall Sally’ as the last number. Can anybody say for sure whether it was played on that tour?
I was seated in the second deck down the third base line, just above where the Beatles came out. But I didn’t hear one note, so I have no idea. Still, I will never forget it. I was 12 years old at the time.
No “I’m Down” in Cincinnati. IWT “LTS” CLOSER.
I was there, too. Does anyone remember The Remains playing? I don’t, although I remember Bobby Hebb and the Cyrkle. If the Remains performed, what song/s did they play?
I guess I was so psyched for the Beatles that I just don’t remember the opening acts on Saturday night at all. But what a point in time that I’ll take to the grave.
The opening acts did not play until the following day, contrary to what the site claims. I have photos to prove it.
The Remains came on first. iwt.
I was there! But being only 11 at the time didn’t get to see much. The opening bands played the day before. We bought tickets that Sunday and saw them. It was awesome!
Thank God for the rain on the 20th…We dropped off the girls and I was the lucky one to go to dinner with my parents…When we took the girls down (from Mt.Healthy) to Crosley the next day, My dad bought me a ticket ($5.50) AWESOME!!! I also was 11.
The opening bands did not play the day before. IWT and have photos to prove it.
My cousin and I attended the 1966 Cincinnati concert, (Saturday and Sunday). Now, nearly 49 years later, my wife and I are going to see Paul McCartney on June 25 in Columbia, SC. 1966 ticket price…$5.50. 2015 ticket price…$252.00. McCartney is 72, I’m 60, I hope we both make it to June 25.
I saw McCartney perfrom in Cincnnati at the new Great American ballparkbaseball.
Was an awesome show. This is one you won’t forget.
I went to Crosley Field on Saturday August 20th. The Remains and the Rosettes did not perform. On Sunday, August 21st Bobby Hebb started off the concert saying something like “I’d like to perform the song that made this day possible.” And performed “Sunny,” his biggest hit. He was followed by The Cyrkle, who started their set by playing the opening bars of “Red Rubber Ball,” then fooling all of us by segueing into “Louie Louie.” Then, of course The Beatles appeared, walking out to the stage (placed on, or around Second Base) from the dugout on the right field side of Crosley Field, waving to the crowd as they walked. John, Paul and George had their guitars strapped on, ready to play. Then, around 20 minutes later, it was over. I don’t remember how The Beatles departed – after their set, they simply disappeared. The rumor is that they took the Cincinnati Subway. (Local joke – Cincinnati actually built a subway system, but never utilized it. Those are my memories from 50 years ago.
Pretty good memories, John Mc. Thanks for sharing.
When the Beatles finished playing, they handed their guitars off to their Roadies and jumped off the stage. They ran into left field. A girl who was in the crowd on the field broke through the police barrier and ran after them. Everyone in the stands near me cheered the girl on. She out ran the police and nearly caught up with the Beatles! But, some men by the fence opened up a section and the Beatles ran through. They immediately closed up that section and the girl threw herself on to the fence. The Beatles meanwhile fan up the grassy slope, got into a limo, and took off down I-75!
There was a limo behind the stage…They got in and it sped out to left-center field to a door in the wall…I’ll never forget George waving a big white towel to the audience as he went out that door! Great day!!!
My parents drove my sister and myself to Cincy from Morehead, Ky., and planned to drive on back after Saturday’s concert. We couldn’t find a motel room anywhere close so the four of us spent the night in Union Station. We had no change of clothes and had to buy toothbrushes from vending machines in the train station. I only remember the Cyrkle and Bobby Hebb performing. Did anyone else notice that on this 50th anniversary the days of the week are the same? Saturday is the 20th, the date of the original concert.
I was there at 14, one of the best days of my life. So thankfull they decided to come back the next day on Sunday. I remember it was terribly hot and humid, I felt so sorry for the Beatles especially Paul, he looked like he wasn’t feeling well. I had to use binoculars to see them and couldn’t really hear them but it’s a wonderfull memory, and I get to tell other generations that I got to see The Beatles live in concert, so special.
Confusion! I recall sitting in a seat on a rainy day and listening to the Cyrkle perform. I don’t recall any other performers. And then I heard an announcement that the concert was cancelled because of lightning, but for the life of me, I don’t believe I saw the Beatles perform on the next day. It was over a month later. I remember a girl from another town sitting next to me commented at the rescheduled event that my hair had grown so long since she saw me when the concert had been postponed.
So does anyone else disagree with the concert being scheduled at another time instead of the next day?
It was the next day!
It was the next day. I went down with Glenn and Sonya and we stayed in The Cincinnatian (it was a real fleabag then not the elegant place it is now). We gave Sonya the room with the air conditioner and it caught fire. While Glenn and I had a reciprocating fan that wouldn’t move. (The hole in the cam was right in the center instead of being off-set. The reason I know it was the next day was we only had barely enough money for one day, let alone a month!
This is wrong. It was rained out the first day, but Bobby Hebb opened for the Beatles the next day. I was there, Second tier behind home plate. Their stage was at second base.
my father was a newspaper photographer and he took me.
he took some great shots that can be seen here: heyou.net/beatles
i’m the kid in the pix.
I have come across an unseen 3 minute 8mm film reel of The Beatles at Crosley. I am trying to obtain the film and rights to release it. If so, look for an early 2023 release.
My family was on the way home from summer vacation and we were passing through downtown Cincinnati in the late afternoon. I was about 12. The windows were down (no A/C in our car) and I remember it was Sunday, but I sensed an eerie, quiet atmosphere, even beyond that typical “Sunday” feeling. We were at a stop light and I looked up at a poster on a telephone pole. It was a poster for The Beatles’ concert! It read that THE BEATLES HAD PLAYED THE DAY BEFORE. I froze, the bottom dropped out of my stomach. How could I have missed this (not that I would’ve been able to go anyway — “You’ll get trampled!” my parents had always said when I begged to go to a concert.). Not until the Internet and sites like this came along did I discover they had played there, THAT day. I was sullen for weeks on end….
The next year I became an officer in The Official Beatles Fan Club / The Apple Tree. After high school, I answered phones in the basement studio at Apple for the summer (that Fan Club connection came in handy!). I came very close to meeting George and Ringo, but Paul’s pot bust in Sweden — again in August — spoiled that particular day’s plan. And to come full circle, years later, I stayed at the same Cincinnati hotel where they’d stayed that day so long ago in 1966. I’ve since seen Paul and Ringo, but that day in Cincinnati, when they were still together and the magic permeated the air, well, that was a feeling I’ll always remember, despite not having seen them. That magic was a real thing when The Beatles were together. I envy all of you who made it to Crosley Field or anywhere you saw them as a group….