The Beatles traveled to their historic Aug. 15, 1965 Shea Stadium concert by helicopter, limousine and armored Wells Fargo van.
No question the armored van’s cargo was precious. Two thousand policemen were on hand to contain Beatle fans. Police were worried people on the way to the concert would also jam tunnels in and out of New York City causing gridlock and hysteria.
Jumping out of the van, the four Beatles jogged through a tunnel and onto the stage positioned at Shea Stadium’s second base. A deafening wall of screams roared up from the crowd as the 55,600 fans spotted “The Fab Four.”
When Paul McCartney started in with “I’M Down” John Lennon reacted to the bedlam in the stadium by wildly pounding on his portable organ and then playing it with his elbows. Lennon pounded so hard on the keyboard it didn’t work right two days later for the next show in Toronto. As this was happening onstage George Harrison laughed and Ringo Starr just shook his head.
On Nov. 24, Christie’s, New York, featured the keyboard John Lennon played on stage during that infamous 1965 Shea Stadium concert.
The Vox Continental Portable organ sold in the Pop Culture Punk/Rock auction for $182,500. It was the same organ Lennon played two days earlier on The Ed Sullivan Show.
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