I read Sid Bernstein's book, "It's Sid Bernstein Calling" three times! Couldn't put it down each time. Incredibly touching story about family, love, humble beginnings, music and so much more. By far the greatest takeaway is about a man who believed in and had endless hope for humanity. Ought to be required reading for all especially in such cynical times.
I was listening to a jazz trio in Brooklyn this afternoon and started talking to the drummer after his set was finished. He told me about this article which I was happy to have found. My father was Sid Bernstein and yes, he loved talking about his book, but also food and music. As a kid I don’t remember him talking so much about the shows he produced. He was a very modest person, humbled by his experience stationed in France during WWII. I learned more about my father’s professional career after he passed on August 21, 2013 at the age of 95. I was born in 1973 and missed much of the excitement of the shows in the ‘60s. As for Brian Epstein, my father adored him and they planned the Carnegie Hall show way in advance of Ed Sullivan ever knowing about the Beatles. Ed was a good friend of my father and asked if he could put them on his show before they played at Carnegie. My father never said no to anyone. He also let Ed be the MC for the Shea event. My father introduces Ed and then Ed introduces the Beatles. One thing I learned after my father’s passing was that Ed was hired and paid by Brian to do the recording of those shows. My father was not aware of this side deal. That footage has been re-purposed over the years in many anthologies, Ron Howard’s documentary, etc. My father never received a dime for any of the commercialization of that footage, even though it was his show. Not sure why he never made a fuss about it when it started popping up in the 90’s, but probably because he was not the kind of guy to ever make a fuss. So he let a lot of things like that go. Most frustrating was when Apple Corps took his name of the iconic Beatles at Shea poster and sold the poster on t-shirts, lamp shades and everything else they put it on. So to respond to Will’s comment on why he never talked about Brian or Ed Sullivan, perhaps its because he might have felt taken advantage by them. He never spoke ill of them or anyone for that matter, that wasn’t his style. But to set the record straight, Ed had nothing to do with bringing the Beatles to America. That was my father hounding down Brian for a long time before he agreed to do Carnegie Hall. It’s in his book which is a great read for Rock n Roll history buffs. It’s on Amazon and the title is, It’s Sid Bernstein calling. As I am writing this I am looking at the original ‘61 Music at Newport poster and to the left is another poster. From top to bottom the other poster reads… Sid Bernstein Presents… Herman’s Hermits June 12, The Dave Clark 5 June 18, The Kinks and the Moody Blues June 19, The Beatles at Shea Stadium August 15, and at the very bottom it says… The First New York Folk Festival with 60 of the Nation’s Top Folk Artists, including, Phil Ochs, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash & Buffy St Marie, Muddy Waters, Dave von Ronk, Bob Gibson, Mississippi John Hurt, 4 Days: June 17 thru June 20th at Carnegie Hall.
How great it must have been to see concerts in the 1960s. My father saw the worst of humanity during WWII. He was a dreamer motivated to bring peace and love to the world by organizing concerts. This was his simple goal. He was a great promoter, but nothing compares to who he was as a friend, father and husband. He gave everyone his time and mentored artists intil he was 93 years old. Here is a link to a great article about two other obscure and forgotten concerts that he produced…. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/remembering-sid-bernstein-beatles-booker-613714/
thank you for this! It's a marvelous mini-memoir of a great and truly important man. Thank YOU! (PS: who was the drummer that told you about my little article? I am very flattered!)
The Satch segment is incredible-any possibility of the entire show getting a release? Some label has just brought out one of Pops concerts from Grand Rapids, MI in the mid-50's so who knows?
I read Sid Bernstein's book, "It's Sid Bernstein Calling" three times! Couldn't put it down each time. Incredibly touching story about family, love, humble beginnings, music and so much more. By far the greatest takeaway is about a man who believed in and had endless hope for humanity. Ought to be required reading for all especially in such cynical times.
I was listening to a jazz trio in Brooklyn this afternoon and started talking to the drummer after his set was finished. He told me about this article which I was happy to have found. My father was Sid Bernstein and yes, he loved talking about his book, but also food and music. As a kid I don’t remember him talking so much about the shows he produced. He was a very modest person, humbled by his experience stationed in France during WWII. I learned more about my father’s professional career after he passed on August 21, 2013 at the age of 95. I was born in 1973 and missed much of the excitement of the shows in the ‘60s. As for Brian Epstein, my father adored him and they planned the Carnegie Hall show way in advance of Ed Sullivan ever knowing about the Beatles. Ed was a good friend of my father and asked if he could put them on his show before they played at Carnegie. My father never said no to anyone. He also let Ed be the MC for the Shea event. My father introduces Ed and then Ed introduces the Beatles. One thing I learned after my father’s passing was that Ed was hired and paid by Brian to do the recording of those shows. My father was not aware of this side deal. That footage has been re-purposed over the years in many anthologies, Ron Howard’s documentary, etc. My father never received a dime for any of the commercialization of that footage, even though it was his show. Not sure why he never made a fuss about it when it started popping up in the 90’s, but probably because he was not the kind of guy to ever make a fuss. So he let a lot of things like that go. Most frustrating was when Apple Corps took his name of the iconic Beatles at Shea poster and sold the poster on t-shirts, lamp shades and everything else they put it on. So to respond to Will’s comment on why he never talked about Brian or Ed Sullivan, perhaps its because he might have felt taken advantage by them. He never spoke ill of them or anyone for that matter, that wasn’t his style. But to set the record straight, Ed had nothing to do with bringing the Beatles to America. That was my father hounding down Brian for a long time before he agreed to do Carnegie Hall. It’s in his book which is a great read for Rock n Roll history buffs. It’s on Amazon and the title is, It’s Sid Bernstein calling. As I am writing this I am looking at the original ‘61 Music at Newport poster and to the left is another poster. From top to bottom the other poster reads… Sid Bernstein Presents… Herman’s Hermits June 12, The Dave Clark 5 June 18, The Kinks and the Moody Blues June 19, The Beatles at Shea Stadium August 15, and at the very bottom it says… The First New York Folk Festival with 60 of the Nation’s Top Folk Artists, including, Phil Ochs, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash & Buffy St Marie, Muddy Waters, Dave von Ronk, Bob Gibson, Mississippi John Hurt, 4 Days: June 17 thru June 20th at Carnegie Hall.
How great it must have been to see concerts in the 1960s. My father saw the worst of humanity during WWII. He was a dreamer motivated to bring peace and love to the world by organizing concerts. This was his simple goal. He was a great promoter, but nothing compares to who he was as a friend, father and husband. He gave everyone his time and mentored artists intil he was 93 years old. Here is a link to a great article about two other obscure and forgotten concerts that he produced…. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/remembering-sid-bernstein-beatles-booker-613714/
thank you for this! It's a marvelous mini-memoir of a great and truly important man. Thank YOU! (PS: who was the drummer that told you about my little article? I am very flattered!)
Thanks for an excellent article about that 1961 Newport jazz festival. I enjoyed reading that very much. Great audio samples!
The Satch segment is incredible-any possibility of the entire show getting a release? Some label has just brought out one of Pops concerts from Grand Rapids, MI in the mid-50's so who knows?
Thanks, Will. Like everything you write, full of fascinating facts.
Thanks for posting this, Will. I knew nothing about this event. The music you managed to obtain is fantastic.