Just a year after the breakup of The Beatles, John Lennon was in Syracuse on October 9, 1971. The visit included the opening of Yoko Ono’s first major art exhibit, at the Everson Museum of Art, a 31st birthday celebration and almost a Beatles’ reunion.
David Ross, an assistant to then Everson director Jim Harithas, spent hours trying to assemble equipment for what was to be Lennon’s surprise birthday gift, a secret midnight concert of at least three of the Beatles at the theater in the Everson, accompanied by some of the greatest musicians in the nation. Paul McCartney, estranged from Lennon at the time, declined, and George Harrison couldn’t make it.
Ringo Starr was in Syracuse for the exhibition, and producer Phil Spector, poet Allen Ginsberg and musicians Eric Clapton, Jim Keltner, Nicky Hopkins and Klaus Voorman were there.
However, the secret leaked out, and people crowded into the Everson for the possible Beatles reunion concert. The concert was cancelled.
Ross told the Post-Standard in 2005: “That evening the doors to the Everson were broken down because people had heard there’d be a secret Beatles concert. The entire museum was filled with people furious ... and we were afraid they’d trash the place.”
Instead, the group went to the Hotel Syracuse, where Lennon celebrated his birthday with his wife and friends. The group sat on the floor and performed for about 45 minutes, with Starr kicking an overturned trash can for percussion. The little group is said to have played 20 songs, including “Give Peace a Chance,” “Peggy Sue” and “Yellow Submarine.”
(via syracuse.com)
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