Today in 1969, the Beatles gave their last and probably their strangest concert, up on the roof of their company’s headquarters.
It’s a part of rock music history, but during the performance there was a chance it could be part of criminal justice history… and at least one Beatle would have been fine with that.
Let’s review in case you haven’t watched that Peter Jackson documentary: in early 1969 the Beatles were working on a new project nicknamed Get Back.
After years of studio experiments, they were going to write and record a whole new album and perform it essentially live, the way they’d started.
And, since a crew was also filming the sessions for a TV documentary, Paul McCartney wanted the grand finale of the whole effort to be the band’s first live concert since 1966.
Among several other problems, the group couldn’t agree on where to hold the concert.
There were all kinds of grandiose ideas: the Pyramids, an ancient amphitheater in Tunisia, an ocean liner, even a volcano.
George Harrison voted for not doing the concert at all, and actually left the band for a few days to push back on the idea.
But in the end they decided to play, and instead of trekking to one of those dramatic spots, someone (and the people who were there don’t agree on who) said, let’s just go play on the roof.
So the Fab Four, plus ace keyboardist Billy Preston, did just that.
They offered some loose but spirited renditions of some of their new music to surprised Londoners on the street below.
But not everyone in the neighborhood of the Apple Corps building on Savile Row was up for some rock music that day, and soon the police came to the building to respond to a bunch of noise complaints.
It’s true that the police station was close by, but in all, the Beatles played for over 40 minutes.
The authorities didn’t exactly rush to shut the impromptu show down… to the disappointment of several Beatles.
McCartney urged the band to keep playing until the cops pulled the plug, while Ringo Starr said he remembered thinking that getting arrested would’ve been a pretty dramatic end to their TV special.
“It could have been incredible,” he said later, “The Beatles carted off by the police.”
Starting tomorrow in Florida, it’s the Gasparilla Pirate Fest.
There will be pirate ships, with pirates firing their cannons on the water.
Then the pirate captain “invades” Tampa and demands the key to the city from the mayor.
The piracy gives way to a big parade, as well as lots of food and drinks and live music on the waterfront.
Their slogan is “arrrgh you ready?”
Beatles’ Famous Rooftop Concert: 15 Things You Didn’t Know (Rolling Stone)
