The controversy erupted on the eve of the band's 1966 US tour. The strength and scale of the reaction against the Beatles led their manager, Brian Epstein, to consider cancelling the tour for fear of their lives. Two press conferences were held in the US, where both Epstein and Lennon expressed their regret at words taken out of context and offence taken. Christian spokesmen pointed out that Lennon had only stated what the church was itself saying about the decline of Christianity. The US tour went ahead but there was disruption and intimidation, including picketing of concerts by the Ku Klux Klan. At one concert the band believed they were the target of gunfire. From the close of the 1966 tour until their break-up in 1970, the group never played another commercial concert.
In August 1966, five months after Cleave's article appeared in the Evening Standard, American teen magazine Datebook printed a quote from Lennon's words on its front cover. There was uproar in response, starting with an announcement by two radio stations in Alabama and Texas that they had banned Beatles music from their playlists. WAQY DJ Tommy Charles said, "We just felt it was so absurd and sacrilegious that something ought to be done to show them that they can't get away with this sort of thing." Around two dozen other stations followed suit with similar announcements. Some stations in the South went further, organising demonstrations with bonfires, drawing hordes of teenagers to publicly burn their Beatles records and other memorabilia. The Memphis city council, aware that a Beatles concert was scheduled at the Mid-South Coliseum during the band's imminent US tour, voted to cancel it rather than have "municipal facilities be used as a forum to ridicule anyone's religion." The Ku Klux Klan nailed a Beatles album to a wooden cross, vowing "vengeance", and conservative groups staged further public burnings of Beatles records.
The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, was so concerned by the US reaction that he considered cancelling the tour for fear people would try to kill them. He flew to the US and held a press conference in New York, where he publicly criticised Datebook, saying they had taken Lennon's words out of context, and expressed regret on behalf of the band that "people with certain religious beliefs should have been offended in any way." Epstein's efforts had little effect. The controversy quickly spread beyond the US; in Mexico City there were demonstrations against the Beatles, and a number of countries, including South Africa and Spain, took the decision to ban national radio stations from playing Beatles music. Further concert performances scheduled for the US tour were cancelled by the venues. Even the Vatican got involved with a public denouncement of Lennon's comments. Shortly before the tour began, on 11 August 1966, the Beatles held a press conference in Chicago, Illinois to address the growing furore.
At the press conference Lennon described his own belief in God by quoting the Bishop of Woolwich, saying, "... not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us." When the tour began, it was marred by protests, cancellation of concerts, and disturbances. Telephone threats were received, and concerts were picketed by the Ku Klux Klan. The "cancelled" Memphis concert was held anyway, but a firecracker thrown during the performance led the band to believe they were the target of gunfire. After completing the tour, the Beatles never performed a commercial concert again.
Daily Express writer Robert Pitman, responding to the US outcry, wrote, "It seems a nerve for Americans to hold up shocked hands, when week in, week out, America is exporting to us a subculture that makes the Beatles seem like four stern old churchwardens." In the US too there was criticism of the reaction; a Kentucky radio station declared that it would start to give Beatles music airplay to show its "contempt for hypocrisy personified", and the Jesuit magazine America wrote that "Lennon was simply stating what many a Christian educator would readily admit."
The Beatles' press conference in Chicago, at the Ator Towers Hotel, August 11. 1966.
The Beatles' press conference at the Capitol Records Tower, Los Angeles on August 24th, 1966.
The press put them ill-at-ease from the start, with accusing questions to Lennon about his recent "Bigger than Jesus" remarks. A condescending reporter takes a shot at Ringo., and the cameraman can't tell Ringo from John.
The Good: They make the most of it with off-the-cuff quips from all four. Lennon pouts, but his inimitable at times raucous humor comes through. Paul and George take inane questions in stride.
Later presented with steak branding irons (huh?) and gold records from RIAA for Revolver. Closeups show Brian Epstein lecturing John and Ringo. In an on-camera interview with a Dick Clark stand-in, George is in a whimsical mood, while Paul goofs with the guy.
David Crosby, who at the time was a member of The Byrds,can occasionally be spotted in the film.
Following this interview the Beatles returned to the tour with a performance at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The group would close out their 1966 tour with their historic finale at Candlestick Park in San Fransisco - their last-ever concert. In the coming years, while there would be no more touring, the Beatles would focus on creativity in the recording studio, producing some of the finest albums of their catalogue.
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