Some Fun Tonight!: The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America - The Historic Tours of 1964-1966 Volume 2: 1965-1966

Introduction
The flashes of light were glimmering in the evening at Red Rocks Amphitheatre
in the Rockies outside of Denver. The screams echoed through the
rocks and the canyons as the moon and stars lit up the night. On the stage,
the boys were finishing their thirty-one minutes of vocal electricity. But
what you can never forget in this natural stage of drama is the eyes of the
boys and girls in the audience, especially the girls. Their eyes were usually
fixed on one of the boys, but they never blinked. Tears would roll down their
faces, tears of joy and love. The appeal of the boys, mixing with the power
of the music, transformed the people sitting in the seats into silent lovers,
their dreams of true connection with the Fabs so real; and the ones who
were there will never forget the stories.
For this reporter, watching the crowd night after night at sixty-six
concerts over two years was an unmatched social experience. But the real
grit of traveling in the airplanes and the cars, and sleeping doors away from
the Beatles, was discovering what they were all about.
Mere mortals? Yes. Entertaining? Beyond anything I had ever
witnessed. Intriguing? Absolutely. But the way I witnessed them went
beyond the silly headlines of “mop-tops” and the Fab Four. Because along
with just a few others in the narrow confines of a scary airplane, its turboprop
motors keeping me up late at night, I discovered the real people
behind the mask of stereotypes.
There was devilish and unpredictable John, crushing mashed potatoes
and peas into my hair. The threat of ice cubes down the back of my shirt
was always present. But the most dangerous man on the plane was young
Paul, only four months older than me, propping up a pillow, ready for an
intense pillow flight that sometimes ended in a flight of feathers across
the aisle. Ringo was quieter, but he was funny as he bounced up and down
the aisles. George, who hated flying, looked at me during an emergency
landing in Portland, Oregon, and yelled out, “Larry, remember it’s Beatles
and children first!”
They were lovely people, famous but not yet reclusive and fed up with
fame. They cared about the people surrounding them, checking on the
supporting acts (who, after all, were often shouted down by the crowds,
8 SOME FUN TONIGHT