Friday, June 03, 2011

Holland - June 1964






































Just two days before the Beatles were to embark on a major tour that would take them to Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong and Australia, Ringo Starr suddenly fell ill with tonsillitis. It seemed strange to the other Beatles that they should continue without Ringo, but nevertheless, Ringo's replacement, Jimmy Nichol, was quickly ushered into EMI Studio 2 for rehearsals later that same afternoon of June 3rd. Ringo was finally able to join John, Paul and George in Sydney, Australia, on June 14th.

The photos in this entry which show the Beatles and Jimmy in their gray suits with black velvet collars were taken from the June 5th TV performance in Amsterdam, Holland, for the television special, The Beatles in Nederland. This special began with an interview segment before the six-song concert. The Beatles mimed playing their instruments, but Paul and George sang along with the cv vocals, providing a quite unusual effect. By the end of the show, many members of the audience had made their way down to the Beatles and were dancing madly about, basically manhandling John, Paul and George in the process!

The other photos were taken on June 6th at the Beatles' evening concert in Blokker. I love the flower boxes in front of the stage - quite a nice touch and something perfect for folks in Holland to do!