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Ladies and Gentlemen...The Beatles!

A Beatles traveling exhibition presented by the Grammy Museum and Fab Four Exhibits, LLC

The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live
Los Angeles, California

July 1 - September 5, 2016

After kicking off the brand new Grammy Museum venue in Cleveland, Mississippi, "Ladies and Gentlemen...The Beatles!" traveled west to the City of Angels and the Grammy Museum's home venue located downtown in the L.A. Live entertainment complex. This time, the public opening (July 1) preceded the VIP festivities, which took place on July 6th and 7th.
 

Ladies and Gentlemen...The Beatles! has arrived
at the Grammy Museum in L.A. Live!

An escalator ride from the first floor takes you to the exhibit
in the second floor gallery next to the Clive Davis Theater.

The JFK Pan Am Lounge mockup -- a great photo op
for exhibit patrons.

The Ed Sullivan Show display.

The ticket map, highlighting unused tickets from the Beatles' North American tours...

...including the three Los Angeles concerts, 1964-66.

A show of cases. Artifact-filled displays, including the Woolworth's window, memorabilia from the Beatles' first feature film, A Hard Day's Night, and pieces from 1965 and 1966.

The First American Visit display with artifacts from the band's February 1964 U.S. "invasion".

The display focusing on the Beatles' rise to prominence in the UK in 1963.

Paul McCartney's jacket from the 1965 Shea Stadium concert is the centerpiece of this display of memorabilia from 1965-66.

Ringo Starr's Edwardian-style jacket worn on the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road LP.

The exhibit highlighted the first public display of Ringo Starr's suit from A Hard Day's Night.  The black-on-black stripe suit was also worn by Ringo on the cover of the 1964 UK Parlophone LP Beatles For Sale.

An historic legal document (left) pertaining to the Beatles' business activities in the United States. Drawn up by Brian Epstein's New York lawyer Walter Hofer, it was signed by all four Beatles on February 11, 1964, the same day that John Lennon wrote out their set list for the first American concert (right).

VIP exhibit tour, Wednesday evening, July 6, 2016

Chuck Gunderson (Fab Four Exhibits partner and Beatles author) and Bruce Spizer
(Beatles expert and author) take VIPs and invited guests on a special guided tour of the exhibit.

Chuck Gunderson (left) and Bruce Spizer.

From left to right: Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli , Bruce Spizer and
Chuck Gunderson.

FFE partner Chuck Gunderson. A guest (right)
holds Chuck's book set about the Beatles' three
North American tours, Some Fun Tonight.

Beatles panel discussion, Thursday evening, July 7, 2016

Clive Davis Theater, Grammy Museum at L.A. Live

Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli hosted an evening of lively Beatles discussion featuring FFE partners Chuck Gunderson and Russ Lease, promoter of the Beatles' three Los Angeles concerts (and former Newlywed Game show host) Bob Eubanks, Sullivan Show debut audience member Debbie Gendler Supnik
and Beatles author Bruce Spizer.

Left to right:  Bob Santelli, Bob Eubanks, Russ Lease, Debbie Gendler Supnik, Bruce Spizer and Chuck Gunderson.

The panelists on stage at the Clive Davis Theater. Left to right:  Russ Lease,
Debbie Gendler Supnik, Chuck Gunderson, Bob Eubanks and Bruce Spizer.

Chuck Gunderson talks about the Beatles' North American tours.

The panel takes a stroll across Abbey Road at the
exhibit's photo op spot.

Beatles Exhibit Opens at the Grammy Museum

 

By Gail Mitchell, Billboard.com, July 7, 2016

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen … the Beatles!" features more than 400 items & runs through Sept. 5.

 

After nearly three years and six stops thus far across the U.S., the traveling exhibit Ladies and Gentlemen … the Beatles! is now at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live through Sept. 5. In advance of Thursday’s (July 7) public opening/Q&A session, a private opening reception Wednesday took invited guests on a guided tour of the exhibit.

 

Curated by the Grammy Museum and Fab Four Exhibits, "Ladies and Gentlemen … the Beatles!" colorfully details the Fab Four’s game-changing impact on pop culture.

 

Among the standouts within the more than 400 items of memorabilia, rare photos, clothing and tour artifacts on display:

 

-- Set list written by a 17-year-old Paul McCartney for one of the group’s early club gigs in Hamburg, Germany. Primarily featuring covers of songs by Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, the list includes one original tune—“One After 909,” which didn’t appear on a Beatles album until 1970’s Let It Be.

 

-- A Gibson ES-335 guitar owned by Roy Orbison, who toured the U.K. with the Beatles in 1963. Orbison and George Harrison were later members of super group the Traveling Wilburys.

 

-- A 1963 45 single of “Please Please Me/Ask Me Why” on the Vee Jay label. The group’s first release in the U.S. incorrectly spells the quartet’s name as Beattles. To anyone owning a mint condition of that single: it's currently worth between $4000-$5000.

 

-- A display case brimming with Beatles merchandise ranging from lunch boxes and coin holders to sneakers and record carrying cases.

 

-- A black tone-on-tone suit that Ringo Starr wore in the first half-hour of A Hard Day’s Night and later on the album cover of 1964’s Beatles for Sale.

 

-- John Lennon’s gold-framed granny glasses circa 1967.

 

-- A giant map of the U.S. displaying tickets from all of the Beatles' North America tours. The cost for the group’s Hollywood Bowl show in 1964: $4.50.

 

Rounding out the exhibit are rare photos of the Beatles taken by Bob Bonis, who worked as U.S. tour manager for the group as well as the
Rolling Stones between 1964-66.

Helming Wednesday evening’s tour were Beatles historian/authors Chuck Gunderson and Bruce Spizer. For Thursday night’s public opening/panel session, hosted by Grammy Museum executive director Bob Santelli, both gentlemen will join fellow Beatles historian Russ Lease, TV/radio personality Bob Eubanks and Debbie Gendler Supnik, who was in the Ed Sullivan Show audience when the Beatles made their 1964 American television debut.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen … The Beatles! will make its next stop at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. The exhibit originally opened in February 2014 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Past locations for the exhibit include the Grammy Museum Mississippi, the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin and the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Beatles Experts Revel in the Fab Four's History at Grammy Museum

 

By Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2016

 

Five Beatles authorities from different corners of the seemingly infinite Fab Four universe gathered Thursday at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles to revisit and analyze the group’s impact on popular culture in conjunction with the museum’s just-opened exhibit “Ladies and Gentlemen … the Beatles.”

 

Museum executive director Robert Santelli moderated the discussion among Debbie Gendler, a 13-year-old fan when Beatlemania erupted in the U.S. who was in the audience for the group’s history-making live U.S. television debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show”; former KRLA-AM deejay Bob Eubanks; historian and author Bruce Spizer; and super collectors Chuck Gunderson and Russ Lease, who also co-organized the new exhibit with museum officials.

 

“We’d noticed there were museum exhibits on Lady Di’s dresses, the Titanic,” Gunderson said at the outset of the 90-minute session in the museum’s 200-seat Clive Davis Theatre. “Chocolate,” inserted Lease, prompting Gunderson to add, “and we thought, ‘Why not the Beatles?’” 

 

So, Gunderson noted, over a period of several years, he and Lease and two other collector friends pooled their memorabilia into what became “Ladies and Gentlemen … the Beatles.” It premiered two years ago in New York and has visited several other cities before reaching
Los Angeles, and will travel next to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark.

 

But Gunderson pointed out the special L.A. connection stemming from the fact that out of roughly 90 days total that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr spent together on U.S. soil during the Beatles tours in 1964, 1965 and 1966, “They spent more time in Los Angeles than any other city.” 

 

Consequently, the show has been tailored to emphasize the group’s L.A. experiences, most prominently including four concerts that Eubanks, wearing his other hat in the mid-’60s as a concert promoter, organized at the Hollywood Bowl and Dodger Stadium.

 

The show’s arrival in Los Angeles also serves as a run-up for the coming documentary “Eight Days a Week” detailing the band’s U.S. tours, a film directed by Ron Howard and slated to open in general release in September.

 

The exhibit, which occupies most of the Grammy Museum’s main exhibit space on the second floor, surveys far more than the live performances. It features a wealth of what Gunderson and others call “Beatle tchotchkes” – the merchandise that was ever-present in the early days of the group’s relatively short eight-year career.

 

Beatle wigs, lenticular rings and lapel buttons, bubblegum trading cards, Revell model kits and 45 rpm single cases occupy a full display case.

 

Others are tickets to various concert dates and show both the geographical range the act covered – “Brian Epstein thought the U.S. was about as big as the U.K.; he had no idea how big this country was,” said Gunderson – and the astonishing, at least by 2016 standards, ticket prices that typically ran from $2.50 to a top price of $7. 

 

Candid photos taken by their U.S. tour manager Bob Bonis, unpublished until just a couple of years ago, are displayed on yet another wall.

 

Asked by Santelli to single out some of the most noteworthy items they’ve collected, Gunderson cited a set list a fan saved from a 1960 performance by the early Beatles, well before Ringo Starr completed the lineup by replacing drummer Pete Best in 1962.

 

Eyeing the roster of songs after the presentation, Gunderson said, “I find it very interesting they included the Everly Brothers’ ‘Cathy’s Clown,’ which would have just come out at that time.”

 

Lease pointed to the suit formerly belonging to Starr that he acquired just last December in the auction that Starr and his wife, actress Barbara Bach, conducted through Sotheby’s to downsize their possessions and to generate money for their nonprofit Lotus Foundation. 

 

Lease noted that the suit had been worn by Starr during the first 40 minutes of the band’s 1964 debut film “A Hard Day’s Night,” but that even the Julian’s Auctions house in Beverly Hills that conducted the auction missed the fact that it was also what Starr

wore on on the cover of their 1964 British album “Beatles for Sale.”

 

“A piece of clothing from an album cover trumps one that was used in a movie,” he said.

Eubanks shared anecdotes about his experiences working with Epstein and the four Beatles during their L.A. concert appearances, and after Gendler noted how much the group’s appeal initially seemed to be among teenage girls like herself, Eubanks added that, “As their music developed, it got better and better, and they appealed to both adults and teens.”

 

The show is the fourth Beatles-related exhibit the Grammy Museum has hosted since it opened in 2008, following solo exhibitions highlighting the lives and music of Lennon, Harrison and Starr, respectively. 

 

The new exhibit runs through Sept. 5. Hours and ticket information are available at the Grammy Museum website.

The Beatles Exhibit Opens at Los Angeles Grammy Museum

 

Toronto Sun, July 8, 2016, WENN.com

 

An exhibit dedicated to the Beatles opened at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday.

 

The collection, titled Ladies and Gentlemen ... the Beatles!, has travelled to six U.S. cities over almost three years, and has now come to Los Angeles for a run at the famed museum starting from Thursday.

 

A panel discussion hosted by Grammy Museum executive director Bob Santelli was held to mark the opening, and speakers included Beatles historian/authors Chuck Gunderson and Bruce Spizer, TV personality Bob Eubanks, who was responsible for bringing the Beatles in LA for their first West Coast performance, and Debbie Gendler Supnik, who witnessed their U.S. TV debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

 

The exhibit focuses on the Beatlemania phenomenon in America between 1964 and 1966 and how the band affected pop culture at the time, especially fashion, art, music and the media.

 

The museum's website reads, "On display are many Beatles-related pop culture artifacts from the period, as well as correspondence, instruments, posters, photographs, interviews, interactive displays, and an oral history booth in which visitors can leave their own impressions of The Beatles."

 

The exhibition, curated by the Grammy Museum and Fab Four Exhibits, contains more than 400 items and runs until Sept. 5, 2016.

The Beatles Are Coming To L.A. Live

 

Music Connection, May 16, 2016

 

Continuing the celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' arrival in the United States, Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! will make its Los Angeles debut on Friday, July 1. This traveling exhibit, curated by the Grammy Museum at L.A. LIVE and Fab Four Exhibits, explores and celebrates The Beatles' impact on pop culture from the perspective of their fans.

 

On display on the Museum's second floor through Sept. 5, the exhibit features more than 400 pieces of memorabilia, records, rare photographs, tour artifacts, video, articles of clothing and more.

 

"We are very excited to finally bring The Beatles as a group to the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, after having done focused exhibits on George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr," said Bob Santelli, Grammy Museum Executive Director. "This exhibit continues the celebration of the 50th anniversary of one of the most historic moments in music history—The Beatles' arrival in the United States. We look forward to showing our Los Angeles visitors the great impact this band had on music and pop culture at large."

 

More than 50 years ago, on Feb. 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived on American soil for the very first time. On Sunday, Feb. 9, the group—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—made their live American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was broadcast from New York City and was watched by a record-breaking audience of 73 million people. The following Sunday, Feb. 16, the band made their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, again broadcast live, this time from the Napoleon Ballroom of the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. In between these first two Sullivan show appearances, the boys played their first American concert in Washington D.C., followed the next day with two performances at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall. It was during the group's first visit to America that "Beatlemania" took hold of the country and, soon after, the world.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! opened in February 2014 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts before traveling to Bloomington, MN (Midwest Music Museum at Mall of America), Miami, FL (HistoryMiami), Tulsa, OK (Woody Guthrie Center), Austin, Texas (LBJ Presidential Library) and Cleveland, MS (Grammy Museum Mississippi).

L.A.'s Grammy Museum Marks 50th Anniversary of Beatlemania in July

 

All Access Music Group, June 30, 2016

 

Continuing the celebration of the 50th anniversary of THE BEATLES' arrival in the U.S., "Ladies and Gentlemen …THE BEATLES!" makes its LOS ANGELES debut at THE GRAMMY MUSEUM TOMORROW (JULY 1st). This successful traveling exhibit explores and celebrates the band's impact on pop culture from the perspective of their fans.

 

To mark the exhibit's arrival, the MUSEUM will host two corresponding events in the CLIVE DAVIS THEATER.

 

"Celebrating Beatlemania," will take place THURSDAY, JULY 7th at 7:30p (PT), with MUSEUM Exec. Dir. BOB SANTELLI hosting a panel discussion featuring legendary television/radio personality BOB EUBANKS; DEBBIE GENDLER SUPNIK, who witnessed THE BEATLES’ U.S. debut in 1964; CHUCK GUNDERSON and RUSS LEASE of FAB FOUR EXHIBITS, who curated the show with the GRAMMY MUSEUM; and BEATLES author/historian BRUCE SPIZER. Prior to the discussion, guests will have the opportunity to tour the exhibit from 6 to 7p (PT).

 

On MONDAY, JULY 18th at 7:30p (PT), "The Record Theater: 'Revolver' By THE BEATLES -- UK Pressing in Mono" will mark the 50th anniversary of the band's' 1966 album with a listening on vinyl. After the record ends, special guests BRIAN KEHEW, co-author of "Recording THE BEATLES," and CHRIS CARTER, host of KLOS" "Breakfast with THE BEATLES," will join Record Theater creator MARVIN ETZIONI  onstage for a discussion.

Historical Beatle Gems Hidden Among Vast Display
at Grammy Museum's New Fab Exhibit

 

By Trina Yannicos, Daytrippin' magazine

 

Originally launched in 2014 in New York City to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles first visit to the U.S., the “Ladies and Gentlemen… The Beatles!” exhibit has finally made its way to the West Coast. The GRAMMY Museum, which curated the exhibit along with the avid memorabilia collectors of Fab Four Exhibits, opened the exhibit in Los Angeles on July 1, and it will be on display through September 5, 2016.

 

The exhibit focuses on the years 1964 to 1966 and The Beatles’ influence on America. Along with countless big and small memorabilia items are interactive displays, audio interviews, concert video clips and a short film shown in the Clive Davis Theater featuring musicians, including Ringo Starr, Graham Nash, Petula Clark and Ozzy Osbourne, talking about the impact of The Beatles.

 

The big ticket items in this exhibit include Ringo’s Abbey Road jacket, Paul McCartney’s Shea Stadium jacket, Ringo’s black suit from A Hard Day’s Night, and the Beatles’ drumhead which was given to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London in April 1964 when wax figures of The Beatles were made.

 

While we’ve come to expect most rock and roll exhibits to display original instruments and clothing used by the musicians, it’s the little things that make this exhibit shine and showcase its sincerity and authenticity. For example, an original program from the Beatles’ Carnegie Hall concerts on February 12, 1964 lists Paul McCartney’s name incorrectly as “John McCartney.”

 

Another unique item is the official proclamation when The City of New Orleans declared “Beatles Day in New Orleans” on September 16, 1964, which coincided with The Beatles’ concert there that same day. All four Beatles signed the proclamation.

 

The exhibit also includes memorabilia from The Beatles’ early days in Liverpool and Hamburg. A personal letter written by George Harrison in 1962 when The Beatles were in Hamburg showcases the wit and humor of the “quiet” Beatle:
 

“Thank you for the. We are all still very in Hamburg as the. I started a letter to you on Thursday but it seemed to get a bit ‘you know’, so I have decided to write another.”

 

Other items of note include the first pair of “granny” glasses that John Lennon ever wore and a lock of John Lennon’s hair given to a fan at a concert in August 1963. John Lennon signed his autograph: “Love from ‘Bald’ John Lennon.”

The exhibit also features a large display of Beatles merchandising products including Beatles coloring books, coin purses and more from 1964 in their original packaging.

 

There is much to see at this exhibit. Reserve at least two hours to take it all in. And, on your way out, make sure to get your photo while crossing Abbey Road in London with the help of a virtual scenic backdrop – luckily this photo op doesn’t require dodging the traffic!

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