3-6 JANUARY, 1963: TOUR OF SCOTLAND (FOUR SHOWS)
2 FEBRUARY - 3 MARCH, 1963: HELEN SHAPIRO TOUR (FOURTEEN SHOWS)
This tour featured Helen Shapiro, Danny Williams, Kenny Lynch, the Beatles, the Kestrels, the Red Price Ochestra, the Honeys and MD Dave Allen. The venues were virtually all theatres. In 1971, at his most bitter moment, John insisted that “the music was dead before we even went on the theatre tour of Britain”.
7 MARCH, 1963: MERSEY BEAT SHOWCASE, ELIZABETHAN BALLROOM, NOTTINGHAM
The first of several package concerts featuring NEMS acts, this one headlined by the Beatles.
9-31 MARCH, 1963: TOMMY ROE AND CHRIS MONTEZ TOUR (TWENTY-ONE SHOWS)
This tour included the Beatles, the Viscounts, Debbie Lee, Tony Marsh and the Terry Young Six. After the first night, the billing was changed to put the Beatles at the top.
5 APRIL, 1963: PRIVATE PERFORMANCE FOR EMI EXECUTIVES, EMI HOUSE, LONDON
19 APRIL, 1963: MERSEY BEAT SHOWCASE, KING’S HALL, STOKE-ON-TRENT
21 APRIL, 1963: NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS POLL WINNERS CONCERT, EMPIRE POOL, WEMBLEY.
24 APRIL, 1963: MERSEY BEAT SHOWCASE, MAJESTIC BALLROOM, FINSBURY PARK, LONDON
25 APRIL, 1963: MERSEY BEAT SHOWCASE, FAIRFIELD HALL, CROYDON
18 MAY - 9 JUNE, 1963: UK TOUR (TWENTY-ONE SHOWS)
The UK tour features Roy Orbison, Gerry and the Pacemakers, David MacBeth, Louis Cordet, Julie Grant, Ian Crawford, the Terry Young Six and Tony Marsh.
14 JUNE, 1963: MERSEY BEAT SHOWCASE, TOWER BALLROOM, NEW BRIGHTON
16 JUNE, 1963: MERSEY BEAT SHOWCASE, ODEON CINEMA, ROMFORD
8-13 JULY, 1963: WINTER GARDENS, MARGATE
22-27 JULY, 1963: ODEON CINEMA, WESTON-SUPER-MARE
3 AUGUST, 1963: CAVERN CLUB, LIVERPOOL
The Beatles’ final appearance at the Cavern. They shared the bill with the Escorts, the Merseybeats, the Roadrunners, the Sapphires and Johnny and the Colts.
6-7, 9-10 AUGUST, 1963: SPRINGFIELD BALLROOM, ST SAVIOUR, JERSEY, CHANNEL ISLANDS
12-17 AUGUST, 1963: ODEON CINEMA, LLANDUDNO
19-24 AUGUST, 1963: GAUMONT CINEMA, BOURNEMOUTH
Walter Cronkite introduced the Fab Four to US audiences in November 21, 1963, using footage of one of these performances. Jack Paar also broadcast clips on 3 January, 1964.
26-31 AUGUST, 1963: ODEON CINEMA, SOUTHPORT, LANCASHIRE
Footage from the 27 August show appears in the thirty minute BBC documentary, The Mersey Sound, first aired on 9 October, 1963.
4-8 SEPTEMBER, 1963: BRIEF UK TOUR (FIVE SHOWS)
The Beatles toured with Mike Barry and Freddie and the Midnighters.
15 SEPTEMBER, 1963: GREAT POP PROM, ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON
5-7 OCTOBER, 1963: BRIEF TOUR OF SCOTLAND (THREE SHOWS)
13 OCTOBER, 1963: SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM, PALLADIUM, LONDON
Perhaps the British equivalent of the Ed Sullivan Show in the US, this show brought the Beatles into 15 million homes. The next day, every major newspaper reported riots outside the Palladium. According to the Daily Mirror, “Ploice fought to hold back 1,000 screaming teenagers” as sixty men in uniform escorted the Fab Four to their limousine after the show.
As reported in Philip Norman’s "Shout", however, official photographer Dezo Hoffman witnessed quite a different scene. Pointing out that published photographs of screaming teenagers had been cropped down to only three or four anxious faces, he describes the Beatles exit: “Eight girls we saw. Less than even eight.” With a few swift strokes of the pen, it seems, Beatlemania was born.
25-29 OCTOBER, 1963: SWEDISH TOUR (FIVE SHOWS)
As the Beatles returned to England after the tour, hundreds of screaming fans were waiting on the roof of one of Heathrow Airport’s buildings. Ed Sullivan, passing through en route to the US, noted the commotion.
1 NOVEMBER - 13 DECEMBER, 1963: AUTUMN TOUR OF THE UK (THIRTY-THREE SHOWS)
This tour starred the Beatles with Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, the Brook Brothers, the Vernon Girls, the Rhythm and Blues Quartet, Frank Berry and the Kestrels.
4 NOVEMBER, 1963: ROYAL COMMAND VARIETY PERFORMANCE, PRINCE OF WALES THEATRE, LONDON
Guests on the show that night included Marlene Dietrich, Buddy Greene, Flanders and Swann and others, but the Beatles were obviously what the crowd came to see.
With the Queen, the Prime Minister and the rest of Britain’s aristocracy in attendance, John introduced “Twist And Shout” (Medley-Russell) with the request: “Will the people in the cheaper seats calp your hands? All the rest of you - if you’ll just rattle your jewellery.”
The remark was televised to 26 million British viewers on 10 November, 1963 and in one masterful stroke the Beatles rose above pop music’s run of the mill. Their image became combined with wit, intelligence, grace and charm.
20 NOVEMBER, 1963: ABC CINEMA, ARDWICK, MANCHESTER, LANCASHIRE
Footage from this show appeared in the eight minute Pathe News newsreel The Beatles Come To Town (1963).
7 DECEMBER, 1963: NORTHERN AREA FAN CLUB CONVENTION, EMPIRE THEATRE, LIVERPOOL (AFTERNOON), ODEON CINEMA, LIVERPOOL (EVENING)
Broadcast live on the BBC (title: It’s The Beatles!) before an audience of 2,500 members of the Beatles’ Northern Area Fan Club.
21 DECEMBER, 1963: THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS SHOW (CONCERT PORTION ONLY), GAUMONT CINEMA, BRADFORD, YORKSHIRE
22 DECEMBER, 1963: THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS SHOW (CONCERT PORTION ONLY), EMPIRE THEATRE, LIVERPOOL
24, 25-31 DECEMBER, 1963: THE BEATLES CHRISTMAS SHOW, ASTORIA CINEMA, FINSBURY PARK, LONDON
The Beatles Christmas Shows featured music and skits by a number of NEMS acts, including Tommy Quickly, Cilla Black, the Fourmost and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, the Barron Knights, plus Rolf Harris.