**1965**

February 11
Ringo Starr marries hairdresser Maureen Cox at the Caxton Hall registry office. Brian Epstein worries about negative female reaction as Ringo gives up his eligible bachelor status to Maureen. George Harrison went on to say: "I don't think the Beatles' image could stand another marriage." The couple honeymooned in a secluded spot near Brighton but fans show up!

February 15
EIGHT DAYS A WEEK / I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE PARTY (single) is released (Capitol Records)

February 18
Northern Songs Ltd becomes listed on the London Stock Exchange

February 22
Beatles start filming (in the Bahamas for tax reasons) their second film, "Help!"

March 22
THE EARLY BEATLES (lp) is released (Capitol Records)

April 19
TICKET TO RIDE / YES IT IS (single) is released (Capitol Records)

June 14
BEATLES VI (lp) is released (Capitol Records)

Two rock 'n' roll cover versions recorded by George Martin and the Beatles are not intended for the British marketplace but instead are slated specifically for Capitol's "Beatles VI" album: "Recording especially for the North American market, John Lennon steered the group through raucous renditions of two of his favourite songs...'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' and 'Bad Boy'", wrote historian Mark Lewisohn regarding the May 10th recording session at EMI's Studio Two. "Minutes after the final recording, mono and stereo remixes were made of both, to be dispatched the next day by air freight to Capitol Records in Los Angeles ." The song 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' would later appear on Parlophone's "Help!" LP while 'Bad Boy' would make its debut in 1966 on a Beatles' album from the same label entitled "A Collection of Oldies."

June 24
"A Spaniard In the Works" - Lennon's second humorous off-beat book is published by Jonathan Cape . John Lennon: "There is something about changing words that I love. Instead of saying 'Walked to the door' I write 'I warped to the door', that's good. It works. It says something."

July 19
HELP! / I'M DOWN (single) is released (Capitol Records)

August 13
HELP! (lp) is released (Capitol Records)

August 15
56,000 fans show up at Shea Stadium , New York .
This was the Beatles' largest crowd on any tour, and
also the largest rock concert attendance to that point in time.

 

Fan appreciation: Beatle fan Marc Catone was actually at the Shea Stadium concert in '65 and he e-mailed a scanned image of his ticket stub. If you click on the ticket you'll get a larger view along with the flip side of the stub describing the terms and conditions for a rain check. Said Marc: "Note that the Shea had a rain date of 8/16 which probably accounts for early books on The Beatles incorrectly stating that they played two concerts at Shea in 1965."

August 23
MOTION PICTURE: "Help!" is released (running time: 92 minutes)
Released through United Artists
Screenplay by Marc Beham and Charles Wood based on a story by Marc Behm
Produced by Walter Shenson
Directed by Richard Lester
Musical Score by Ken Thorne
Album produced by George Martin
Walter Shenson reported total cost of Help! came in at $1,250,000.00

Richard Lester: "They (the Beatles) said about Help! 'It wasn't our film. We felt like guest stars and extras in our film.' I think that was true. But it had to be true, because not wanting to repeat this film...you had to make a film which didn't deal with their work, which is concerts, television, theatre, and all that....We had to create this huge baroque fantasy through which they passed....I'm very proud of Help because I think Help is as successful as A Hard Day's Night in terms of making four people enormously attractive to the audience. I think that a lot of the things that they did and the way they did them, the feeling of it - they were so bloody endearing..."

September 12
"The Ed Sullivan Show" - Taped earlier on August 14 before a live studio audience at Studio 50 in New York, this taped performance is "aired live" on this date. The Beatles perform: 1) I Feel Fine 2) I'm Down 3) Act Naturally 4) Ticket to Ride 5) Yesterday 6) Help!

September 13
YESTERDAY / ACT NATURALLY (single) is released (Capitol Records)

September 25

Beatles TV Cartoon Series aired in the USA by King Features Syndicate for the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Production highlights: Artist Peter Sander, drew the Beatle characters on "templates" for other animators to follow; Episodes were made in London , Canada and Australia ; American actor Paul Frees did the voices of John and George while British comic actor, Lance Percival did the voices of Ringo and Paul. The last Beatle cartoon aired on a US network was April 20, 1969.

October 11
Capitol Records issues a series of 45s on their "Starline" label: Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You; Please Please Me/From Me To You; Do You Want To Know A Secret/Thank You Girl; Roll Over Beethoven/Misery; Boys/Kansas City

October 16

Beatles receive MBE (Member of the Order of British Empire) medals at Buckingham Palace . Former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (Member of Parliament for Liverpool ), in 1982 interview with author Ray Coleman, had this to say: "I saw the Beatles, as having a transforming effect on the minds of youth, mostly for the good. It kept a lot of kids off the streets. They introduced many many young people to music, which in itself was a good thing. A lot of old stagers might have regarded it as idiosyncratic music, but the Mersey sound was a new important thing. That's why they deserved such recognition."

Author Nicholas Schaffner of "The Boys From Liverpool - John, Paul, George, Ringo" wrote the following regarding the political fallout over the Beatles receiving their MBE awards: "About a dozen of the queen's most distinguished subjects sent back their own medals in a huff as soon as they heard about the Beatles' getting them. Paul Pearson, a former Royal Air Force squadron leader, claimed he did so "because it had become debased." A Canadian politician said he no longer wanted his MBE because it "put him on the same level with vulgar nincompoops." John replied that most of the complainers had earned their medals "for killing people. I'd say we deserved ours more. Wouldn't you?""

December 6
RUBBER SOUL (lp) is released (Capitol Records)

WE CAN WORK IT OUT / DAY TRIPPER (single) is released (Capitol)

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys becomes inspired to out-do the new Beatles album and composes Pet Sounds, which later inspires Paul McCartney to come up with Sgt. Pepper. Brian Wilson: "...the Beatles had cut Rubber Soul, and I really wasn't quite ready for the unity; Rubber Soul was a collection of songs - of folk songs; it was like a folk album by the Beatles that somehow went together like no other album made before, and I was very impressed. It really blew me out. I had to go in there (the studio) and experiment with sounds. I really felt challenged to do it good, and I followed through with it. And I actually did it."

John Lennon: "We were just getting better, technically, and musically, that's all. Finally we took over the studio. In the early days, we had to take what we were given, we didn't know how you can get more bass. We were learning the technique on Rubber Soul. We were more precise about making the album, that's all, and (we) took over the cover and everything."

December 17
"THE BEATLES THIRD CHRISTMAS RECORD"

NORTH AMERICAN (AUGUST 1965) BEATLES TOUR: New York (August 15); Toronto (August 17); Atlanta (August 18); Houston (August 19); Chicago (August 20); Minneapolis (August 21); Portland (August 22); San Diego (August 28); Los Angeles (August 29-30); San Francisco (August 31)

Tour Fact: Larry Kane, author of "Ticket to Ride" and who was one of the reporters designated to accompany the Beatles during these tour dates, states in his book that when the Beatles landed in Houston Texas by plane, the fans managed to swarm the tarmac while the propellers on the plane were still running. This was a dangerous scene not only for the fans but also for the Beatles. Not only did they swarm the tarmac but when the engines of the planes were finally turned off, some of the older fans managed to climb onto the wings of the plane with lit cigarettes in their hands waving to the entourage inside. Fortunately for all concerned, the situation did not end in a tragic explosion!