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Gross Receipts:
•Might Mitch Mitchell, Promoter from Seattle: "The
most-the MOST-we can make from the gig is $16,000 If it's a sellout.
We have 22,000 tickets sold and we can seat about 30,000. So we
can gross $180,000, but let's be more realistic and say $130,000.
Those mothers [The Beatles] take $84,000. The city gets $19,500.
Expenses run $20,000...and to top it off the city demands and gets
50 free tickets...Geez, I wish I'd never heard of the guys [Beatles]
(Lipack, p. 327).
•The Beatles earned $90,000 in 35 minutes for their August
65 Minneapolis show.
•The Beatles earned $85,000 from The Sam Houston Coliseum
Show in Houston Aug 19' 65 (Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 200).
•Variety reported: "It will be difficult to find promoters
who will be willing to pay them $125,000 per night against 65% of
the take, as Sid Bernstein is guaranteeing them at Shea Stadium".
•The Beatle made an estimated $40,000 from their Forest
Hills, N.Y. concert, $47,600 from Cow Palace, $160,000 Shea Stadium
second tour ($25,000 to Lloyd's of London).
•The Beatles made £360,000 from their first American
tour.
•Shea Stadium. August 15, 1965. Box-office was $304,000.
Beatles share was $160,000 (£57,000) (Lewisohn. Chronicle
p. 199).
•At the second Shea Stadium concert 11,000 tickets had to
be given away. The gross for the concert was $292,000 (£104,600)
with the Beatles getting $189,000 (£67,700). This tops the
money received from the
previous Shea concert by $22,000 because of a 10% increase in the
contract terms (Lipack p. 92).
•The 1964 U.S. Tour had cash advances larger than any in
entertainment history.
•An Anglo-American tax treaty stated that the Beatles earnings
were liable to British tax. The U.S. authorities obtained a N.Y.
court order freezing $1,000,000,000 in proceeds until clarification
could be sought.
•Concerts of the Australian Tour grossed £200,000
(Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 138).
•The Beatles earned $155,000 from White Sox Park in Chicago
Aug 20 '65. Tickets for Upper Deck were $4.18 + .32 tax. (Lewisohn.
Chronicle p. 201).
•The Beatles earned $90,000 from The Hollywood Bowl Aug
29/30 '65. Gross was $156,000 (Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 201).
•LIFE magazine. Vol. 57 no. 9 August 28, 1964. A Disaster?
Well, not exactly
THERE STOOD THE BEATLES AS THE BATTLE SMOKE LIFTED But their manager,
Brian Epstein (see page 62), booked them back on a 33-day tour of
23 American cities. Though every single concert is already a sell-out
and the predicted tour gross is an astounding $2 million, the joy
is not universal. Local promoters are under contract to hire a special
force of at least 100 cops to guard the Loved Ones in every city,
and police officials worry that 100 might not be enough.
•Sid Bernstein: "The biggest gross in the history of
show business was achieved by the Beatles-$304,000. If I wanted
to charge higher prices, we could have done a million dollar gate...I
charged $4.00, $4.50, and $5.00".
•Over 200,000 ticket applications had been received by the
local Japanese promoter [in 1966], so afternoon shows were scheduled
each day (Lipack, p. 22).
•...having earned £360,000 from their first North
American tour...(Lipack, p. 49).
•17, 130 seats in San Francisco sold out for $91,670 (£32,740).
The Beatles grossed $47,600 (£17,000) (Lewisohn. Chronicle
p. 169).
•September 3 '64. Indiana State Fair. Two shows for 29,337
persons. Net: $85,232 (£30,440) (Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 170).
•How did the Beatles take to America? "Can't say",
admitted Ringo. "Didn't see much. Luv-ed the money
though". He was referring to the $2,112,000 that the Beatles
took home with them (Associated Press).
Charity:
•At the Paramount $25,000 was raised for Retarded Infants
Service and Cerebral Palsy of N.Y.
•Candlestick Park: The promoter told the San Francisco Chronicle
that he could make $16,000 if the concert is sold out. The gross
would be $180,000 but he said $130,000 would be realistic. The Beatles
would take $84,000, the city 19,500, and $20,000 in expenses. The
city demanded and got 50 free tickets (Lipack).
•After a US concert Sid Bernstein offered The Beatles $25,000
and a $5,000 donation to the British Cancer Fund for a Madison Square
Garden concert. The offer was turned down (Norman).
•Paramount Theater. New York. September 20 '64. Charity
concert for 3682. Some tickets sold for $100.
The Beatles and other artists on the bill played for free (Lewisohn.
Chronicle p. 172).
General:
•ECM's Charles Lloyd Gets Hack To Nature With Revisited
'Forest'. Author/s: Steve Graybow Issue: March 13, 1999. When the
Beatles came to the U.S. in 1964, union labor laws required that
an American group travel to Europe in exchange for the British musicians'
entry onto American soil. That American group, a sextet led by Cannonball
Adderley, included saxophonist Charles Lloyd.
•Reporter: Who decides how much money the Beatles will be
paid per performance?
Derek Taylor: Brian Epstein.
Reporter: What's the most the Beatles have been paid?
Derek Taylor: Well, I think it must have been the Kansas City concert.
50,000 pounds or $150,000.
•Charles O. Finely offered $100,00 for the Beatles to play
San Francisco. Mr. Finley also offered, in increments up to $150,000
to play other cities. The S.F. offer was worth £1,785 per
minute.
•Food concession operators did not have sales that were
to be expected at such an event asa large concert. The fans would
not go to get something to eat for fear of missing their favorite
song, being abandoned, left behind, or getting lost in the crush
(Kane, L. Ticket to Ride, p. 48).
•Epstein would soon try to hire special squads of private
security guards in every city where they might be available. This
in reference to security problems in the Beatles' first U.S. tour
(Kane, L. Ticket to Ride, p. 48).
•John: Once we went to Italy and never got paid (McCabe/Schonfeld,
p. 98. For the Record).
•Charles O. Finely offered $50,00 for the Beatles to play
Kansas City. Brian refused so Mr. Finely tore up the check and offered
$100,000. He then tossed that in the ashtray and offered $150,000.
Brian then took the check to the Beatles and asked what they wanted
to do about it. John replied: "We'll do whatever you want".
Brian went back and accepted and the Beatles earned $4838 per minute
(Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 139).
•The Beatles were scheduled to appear at the Gator Bowl
in Florida where they were told that the audience would be segregated.
John said, "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't
going to start now. I'd sooner lose out appearance money (Harry,
B. Lennon Encyclopedia, p. 269).
•Referring to the Australian Tour '64: It has since been
chronicled that this leg of the Tour was little more than a heavily-subsidized
debauch-which why it was opportune that George and Ringo's respective
parents decided not to come along for the ride (Clayson, p. 89).
•It has been reported that security guards at Beatle Concerts
could be bribed to let people in backstage who weren't supposed
to be there.
•For $10,000 the Beatles would play three shows for the
Ed Sullivan Show, two of them live. $3500 for the two live shows
and $3000 for the taped performance on Feb 23. A top act would usually
earn $7500 for one appearance on the show (Lewisohn. Chronicle p.
94).
•Strangely, in South Africa only a week prior, it was reported
that the Beatles had just turned down a concert there by refusing
a show date to play in Johannesburg (Lipack p. 15).
•In August of '66 the South African government banned the
Beatles from playing there after hearing of John's 'bigger than
Jesus' remarks. The ban lasted five years, until the Beatles' break-up.
Then all, except John were allowed to perform in the country.
•11,000 tickets would remain unsold for the '66 Shea Stadium
show out of a possible 56,000. They would be given away the day
of the concert.
•January 12 '64. London Palladium. The Beatles earn £1000.
On October 13 of the previous year they had earned £250 for
the same show (Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 142).
•Brian wanted to cancel the '66 American tour because he
was worried about the consequences to the boys emotionally and physically.
Nat Weiss told him it would cost a million dollars to cancel, and
that he'd have to refund the prices of the tickets to the promoters.
Brian offered to pay for these costs out of his own funds. Weiss
convinces Brian not to cancel the tour but to have John apologize
for his remarks. John was to tell Brian, then, that he'd rather
cancel the tour than apologize (Lipack, p. 36).
•Of the 14,500 tickets printed for the Toronto Gardens show,
close to 7,500 had been set aside for ticket agencies and radio
stations. The Garden management also held back several hundred of
the choicest seats to meet the high demand from the staff and VIP's.
About 6,500 tickets were left for sale at the arena itself. Each
buyer could buy two tickets apiece costing from $4 to $5.50 each
(Kendall, p. 31).
•Tickets for a second show in Toronto were put on sale even
though the Beatles had yet to agree to it. After negotiations between
Brian and the promoters it was agreed that the Beatles would get
seventy-percent of the gate for the second (matinee) show. That
figure was ten-percent more than the evening show. Terms were for
the Beatles to make $20,000-$40,000 per show or sixty-percent whichever
was greater (Kendall, p. 33).
•While the Beatles were playing in 115-degree heat in Cincinnati
thieves stole cash and personal items from their dressing room (Kendall,
p. 60).
•The Beatles agreed to play in Jacksonville, AL in September
'64 only after promoters agreed to admit non whites to the show
(Fulpen, 1982).
•In September 64 over 100,000 tickets had been purchased
to the Beatles Christmas Show from December 24-January 16 at the
Hammersmith Odeon (Schultheiss, p. 114).
•The Evening News reported that the Beatles were insured
for $1,000,000 for their US Tour. The Evening Standard reported
the figure at £2,000,000.
•June 9/10 '64. Princess Theater. Kowloon, Hong Kong. Neither
performance sold out. This was due mostly to the high cost of the
tickets: HK $75 (£4 10s=£4.50). This was equivalent
to the average person's weekly wage in Hong Kong (Lewisohn. Chronicle
p. 162).
•For the June 12/13 shows in Australia 50,000 applications
were filed for 12,000 tickets. In exchange for "a handsome
fee', Brian permitted one of the shows to be recorded for use on
the radio. The radio show was broadcast June 15, called the Beatles
Show, sponsored by Surf detergent (Lewisohn. Chronicle p. 163).
•Question: Do you wish they'd be quiet and let you sing
sometimes?
Paul: They paid to come in and if they want to scream, well, they
paid.
John: Why? They've got the records. (Seattle, '64).
•A situation was discovered midway through the tour in which
a mother had instructed her underage daughter to sneak into the
hotel room of one of the Beatles, get in bed with them and then
claim rape so the band would be forced to pay a huge amount of money
to keep this fabricated incident out of the press and courts (Shapiro,
p. 69).
Manila:
•At the ramp of the plane out of Manila it was learned that
the Marcos military were there to enforce a tax levy (74,450 pesos=£6,840)
against the $100,000 in gate receipts from the Manila shows. Brian
realized it would be a wise gesture to give the Philippine tax office
a share of the money. He turned over £6,800 worth of peso
notes and signed the tax bond verifying the exchange.
•There was a 50-50 split between the Beatles and the Philippine
promoter. The "official" funds were wired to Lloyd's Bank
PLC in London. That amount is what the British Inland Revenue Service
was given as a figure for income (Lipack, p. 29).
•The Beatles' open air concerts in the Philippines represented
the bands biggest single day gate ever; an
estimated attendance of 100,000 for the 4:00pm and 8:30pm shows
combined.
•Manila: Mr. Evans and Mr. Epstein were ordered to leave
plane. Military/Tax officials were there to collect tax levy on
$100,000 on gate receipts. Brian got out £6,800 and signed
tax note that verified the exchange. Brian's "brown bag"
money was mostly turned over. The rest of the money (legitimate)
was wired to Lloyd's Bank (Lipack).
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