SI46. A 1964 North American Tour Program Page Signed By The Beatles For Piano Virtuoso Liberace

Description

In the summer of what most agree was The Beatles’ most important and historic year of all, 1964, the band embarked on a month long tour of North America, which included stops in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, San Francisco and Las Vegas, among other cities.

Here is a page measuring 12″ x 12″ signed on that very tour, taken from a “1964 Beatles (U.S.A.) Ltd.” concert tour program that was available for sale at all of the Beatles 1964 North American Tour venues – signed for piano virtuoso Liberace, who was in attendance at a performance that The Beatles gave in Las Vegas on August 20, 1964 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. George Harrison has inscribed at the top of the page “To Liber-archie best wishes from the Beatles”. All four have autographed this tour program page above their respective images BEAUTIFULLY in black ballpoint pen. Paul McCartney has added “(a fan.)” after signing, as he actually WAS a fan of the immensely talented showman Liberace at the time. As a humorous counterpoint, John Lennon has added “(a band).” after signing, as he was just being silly in the vein of his witty puns seen in his writings. It was mutual admiration however, as Liberace was clearly impressed by The Beatles and at the time said that they were doing great things.

The Beatles did two performances on that day: a matinee (4:00 PM) and an evening performance (9:00), with Liberace attending the 4:00 show, before which he met them backstage. By that time in the summer of 1964, well past the point of the band’s unprecedented ascent to Worldwide fame, only someone of that stature of Liberace would be able to meet the band backstage. A Vegas pioneer of sorts, Liberace was among the first mega headliners in Las Vegas.

It is interesting to note also that this was the only time that The Beatles performed in Las Vegas. They were advised to stay out of the casinos while in town as it was feared that hundreds of underage fans would try to follow them. The Beatles received $25,000 plus 60% of the ticket sales for the two shows.

This item was sold many years ago by the Liberace estate and was seen by us for the very first time 30 years ago. The page, which was the first in the 1964 North American Tour program, is in excellent condition. It was taken from the program and the left side shows some evidence of this. The signatures on this piece are absolutely perfect in every respect – it is just a stunning set of autographs in every way and each could not have signed any better on the day. The John Lennon signature is amongst the very best he gave anyone in all of 1964! Beatles autograph sets signed for major celebrities rarely ever become available and this is an outstanding example, in large format, that would look great framed for display.