By Robert O'Brien
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 16, 1997

Ticket to The Beatles last concert

the Beatles' last tour

(Dowling Press)

Barry Tashian

Inflated ticket prices. Endorsement conflicts. Injured fans. Crazed groupies. No, not last year's Lollapalooza...

Barry Tashian's belated attempt to cash in on the 1996 revival of Beatlemania depicts August 1966 from a rather star-struck perspective. Tashian was the leader of the Remains (who?), opening act for the very last Beatles performances. His view of the whirlwind tour is unique, however, it lapses into a formulaic pattern of fan interviews, newspaper clips, and ticket reprints- which were, of course, horrendously expensive at $5.50.

The book is a fine memento for Beatles fans, however. By moving beyond the typical Ed Sullivan clips, we see the back side of the Beatles in concert. For example, the Fender-equipped Remains were coerced into using Vox amplifiers to comply with the Beatles' contract. Such data as concert grosses (a record-setting $292,000 for selling out Shea Stadium) and clumsy line drawings of the venues fill out the often exhaustive historical perspective.

Injury at concerts is no recent phenomenon, Tashian notes- 169 received first aid at the Toronto concert. The Canadians were not so mellow, eh? The photography reinforces the unusual perspective Tashian recalls. Liberally sprinkled through the book are shots of the Remains backstage and wide-eyed, roadies jumping rope, and a rather chilling view of the last ever Beatles concert, complete with fences and scowling cops.

Apart from the gee-wasn't-it-great undertone, Tashian's main contention is that this tour finished the Beatles as a live band due to one particularly well-publicized quote just prior to the tour: John Lennon's comment that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. The hysteria that this statement inspired would shame the recent efforts of the Christian Coalition et al. An East Coast bishop threatened excommunication of concert-goers. Later, an official apology by Lennon was accepted by no less an authority than the Pope.

Tashian felt that these events were responsible for the subdued demeanor of the band, half-hour sets and only an 11-song set list for example.

In sum, I would highly recommend this rather expensive ($19.95) tome to the Beatles fanatic. For the general music aficionado, the focus may be too narrow despite the quality of presentation.