How Elvis Convinced The Beatles to Stop Touring
The Beatles idolized Elvis Presley in many ways. From his iconic music to his eccentric performing style, The Beatles knew Elvis was the king and could only dream of reaching the global fame he achieved. The band did reach that same level of success, and arguably surpassed it. However, at the peak of their fame, the fab four decided to stop touring and the king himself influenced this decision.
The Beatles stopped touring in 1966
In 1966, The Beatles embarked on a tour of North America. It was the height of Beatlemania when millions of screaming fans would show up to see the hottest band in the world. However, The Beatles were getting tired of the love. Touring wasn’t fun anymore, and The Beatles would perform their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
In an interview with The Adam Buxton podcast, Paul McCartney explained why The Beatles never performed again after Candlestick Park.
“It was wet, it was raining, we were stuck on some little tin pot stage in the middle of this great big baseball arena,” McCartney said. “We couldn’t hear ourselves, we weren’t having any fun. And then to add to the indignity of it all, we were driven away in the back of a steel-lined meat wagon.”
A publicity stunt by Elvis Presley convinced The Beatles to end their touring days
In 1965, Elvis Presley was promoting his film Tickle Me. However, his manager Colonel Tom Parker knew the very-busy king of rock wouldn’t be able to make every stop on his press tour. So, he and RCA sent out his gold-plated Cadillac on tour. While the Memphis singer wasn’t actually there, many of his fans still turned out to see his iconic car.
McCartney and The Beatles saw this movie by Elvis Presley and figured they could do it themselves. Instead of physically going on tour, they could make an excellent album that could do the “touring for them.”
“And what happened was we’d heard that Elvis Presley had sent his gold-plated Cadillac out on tour. He didn’t go with it; he just sent it out! And people would flock to see Elvis’ Cadillac. And then it would go to the next tour and those people would flock,” McCartney explained. “That is brilliant! Only Elvis could have thought of that. What we should do is we should make a killer record and that can do the touring for us. So that’s what Sgt Pepper was all about.”
The band’s music benefitted after they stopped doing live performances
The Beatles did perform once more in 1969 on the roof of Apple Corps HQ. While their fans may have been disappointed by their decision to stop touring, their music only benefited. After 1966, The Beatles had unprecedented success with four albums: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let it Be.
These albums dominated the charts with several songs that hit No. 1. It also saw the band at their most creative, with songs that experimented with new recording techniques and intriguing lyrics. They might not have performed most of this music live, but fans were still satisfied by the fantastic and innovative music they were releasing.
