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Rock & Roll
Rock & roll first came to the Hollywood Bowl on August 24, 1958 with a Salute to Dick Clark featuring Bobby Darin, the Blossoms, and others.
But it was the Beatles that really put rock & roll and the Bowl on the map. The "British invasion" startled America in the early sixties, creating a gigantic generation gap in popular music. The Beatles were newly arrived in the U.S. when they made their Hollywood Bowl debut on August 23, 1964 in a show produced by game show host Bob Eubanks, then a DJ at local radio station KRLA.
I don't think there's another place in America that has the heart-shaking impact of the Hollywood Bowl.
— Bonnie Raitt
Tickets went on sale four months before the concert and sold out in 3 1/2 hours. Hundreds of teenage girls camped out overnight on Highland Avenue and the next day the line went from the Bowl entrance nearly to Hollywood Boulevard. At the concert, the screaming of the crowd was so loud, no one could hear the music. After the concert, kids mobbed the backstage area. According to Bob Eubanks, the producers used a limo as a decoy while putting the Beatles in a Dodge Dart and getting them out before the kids realized they were gone.
The Beatles returned the following year for two more shows: August 29th and 30th, 1965. After the previous year's pandemonium, the Bowl's management tried to avoid a panic situation by hiring a Brinks armored truck to bring the Beatles to and from their hotel.
Since then, virtually every rock star (with the possible exception of Elvis) has played the Bowl. Take a look at Rock & Roll at the Bowl (.pdf).
Bowl marquee for the Beatles, 1964.
Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild Collection
The Beatles, 1965.
Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild Collection
Screaming Girls at Beatles Concert, 1965.
Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild Collection
Video: Rock & Roll at the Bowl
"Who Are You?" is the underscore of this very fast journey through rock & roll at the Bowl. Artists include The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny & Cher, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, James Brown, Queen Latifa, Richie Havens, Elton John, Sting, the Chambers Brothers, Ozomatli, the Mamas & the Papas, Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Mick Jagger, and more.
Video production by Shelley Baruch.
Video: The Beatles
The Beatles performed three times at the Hollywood Bowl: August 23, 1964; August 29, 1965; and August 30, 1965. Capitol Records released a "live" album, The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, in 1977, featuring songs compiled from the three performances.
Video: Frank Sinatra Makes History
As the first "pop" singer to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Frank Sinatra's 1943 appearance caused quite a controversy. Some of the classical music traditionalists objected to a "crooner" appearing with the symphony orchestra, not to mention the screaming "bobby-soxers" in attendance. But Sinatra himself addressed the controversy directly in this speech he made to the audience on that summer night in 1943.
Used by permission from Frank Sinatra Enterprises.
Video: Rock & Roll at the Bowl
"Who Are You?" is the underscore of this very fast journey through rock & roll at the Bowl. Artists include The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny & Cher, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, James Brown, Queen Latifa, Richie Havens, Elton John, Sting, the Chambers Brothers, Ozomatli, the Mamas & the Papas, Bruce Springsteen, Carlos Santana, Mick Jagger, and more.
Video production by Shelley Baruch.
Video: The Beatles
The Beatles performed three times at the Hollywood Bowl: August 23, 1964; August 29, 1965; and August 30, 1965. Capitol Records released a "live" album, The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, in 1977, featuring songs compiled from the three performances.
Video: Frank Sinatra Makes History
As the first "pop" singer to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Frank Sinatra's 1943 appearance caused quite a controversy. Some of the classical music traditionalists objected to a "crooner" appearing with the symphony orchestra, not to mention the screaming "bobby-soxers" in attendance. But Sinatra himself addressed the controversy directly in this speech he made to the audience on that summer night in 1943.
Used by permission from Frank Sinatra Enterprises.