Sadly for Italian fans, The Beatles only toured Italy once, from 24 to 28 June 1965, playing at the Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan, at Palasport in Genoa and at the Teatro Adriano in Rome. The brief tour saw them give performances in the afternoon and evening. Each time they played for just half an hour and were supported by Italian rock stars including Angela, Peppino Di Capri, Fausto Leali and the New Dada. Nevertheless, fans were enthusiastic about the mop-haired foursome’s performances and appreciated McCartney’s attempts to introduce the set in Italian with a strong Liverpudlian accent.
Italy made The Beatles its own, and there were Italian pressings of the band’s albums and singles. Such items are now valuable to collectors and include the LP ‘Beatles In Italy’. Despite its title, the album is not live but is a compilation of 12 studio recordings released exclusively in Italy in 1965 with a photo of the band in concert in Washington D.C. on the cover. It was released to coincide with the group’s concerts in Italy during their European tour. In 1970, the album gained a new lease of life when Lennon gave an interview to ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine speculating there may have been a live album released in Italy, saying: “There’s one in Italy apparently, that somebody recorded there.” The musician’s musing led collectors scurrying to find copies of the album to add to their collections, given that the band had not released a live album. Obviously, fans were disappointed to discover that their hero was mistaken.
After The Beatles broke up in 1970, the Beatlesiani continued to follow the band members’ musical careers with fervour. When McCartney played at the Mediolanum Forum di Assago in Milan on 27 November 2011, fans threw green, white and red – the colours of the Italian flag – confetti onto the stage. When the former Beatles bassist played at Verona’s Arena Roman amphitheatre on 25 June 2013 during a leg of his Out There tour, fans carried banners saying: “McCartney is our Emperor”.
Some 14,000 fans attended the sell-out concert, where he received a standing ovation, and thousands more stood outside in Piazza Bra straining to hear the music. McCartney has reciprocated the love and, earlier this year, recorded his voice for the single ‘Out Of Sight’ released on 18 June 2013 by The Bloody Beetroots, which is the pseudonym for Italian DJ and producer Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo.
The ultimate destinations for Beatles fans worldwide remain The Cavern Club in Liverpool where they first performed in 1961 and London’s Abbey Road Studios where they made the first of numerous recordings with producer George Martin. However, there is a Beatles Museum in Italy at the Mille Miglia Museum in Brescia, Lombardy. Most of the museum is dedicated to classic cars, however part of the building complex is given over to Beatles’ memorabilia with particular emphasis on The Beatles in Italy. Exhibits include Italian record pressings, posters, photographs, lyrics and letters. It’s a place not just for Beatlesiani but anyone who still loves England’s fabbest-ever four.
