Doesn’t sound like much today. But think about it. A mere 46 years ago, a group from England had to stipulate in its contract that it would not play to segregated audiences in the US. 46 years! That’s just yesterday (pun intended).
No wonder Obama has such problems with the very people to whom the Beatles’ rider was addressed. That segregation shit is still going on, but now you mostly find it in whispers, Tea Party gatherings and the GOP, most of whom hate the Beatles and fear the ‘devil’s music’.
A contract and rider demonstrating both the political sensitivities and the relatively modest personal needs of The Beatles are to be auctioned.I
n the documents drawn up ahead of a concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, in 1965, the band stipulates it will not play in front of a “segregated audience”.
