Music fans can now see never-before-seen photos taken by a man with limitless access.
John Lennon tunes his 1966 Epiphone Casino guitar while George Harrison assists with a harmonica in this candid backstage photograph taken before the Beatles’ show at JFK Stadium (formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 16, 1966. The show was far from a sell-out, like many of the shows on this tour, thanks in part to John Lennon’s incendiary out-of-context comment: “We’re more popular than Jesus.” John’s six-string guitar, similar to one that George also had, was a staple on their 1966 world tour, as well as on the Revolver album and the song Paperback Writer/Rain. Indeed, it was in John’s hands for their final official live show in San Francisco, and most famously at their final live show ever – an impromptu rooftop performance at Apple Records’ Saville Row offices in London. Sometime before the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sessions, John spray-painted the back of his guitar, but would later sand it down to its bare wood (which George claimed really allowed instruments to “breathe”). The Casino was John’s guitar of choice until the end, seeing him through the White Album, Let It Be, as well as onscreen in various promos for Hello Goodbye, Hey Jude and Revolution. This guitar held a special place in John’s heart, and in his estate as “The Revolution Guitar.”
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Perched on a craft service table, George Harrison tunes his guitar for the Beatles’ performance that night at JFK Stadium (formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 16, 1966. George’s guitar – an Epiphone Casino, with an aftermarket Bigsby Vibrato, that he acquired in the spring of 1966 – was in the studio for their album Revolver and the single Paperback Writer/Rain, as well as on tour with them all over the world in 1966. John Lennon had one too, although his had the standard Epiphone tailpiece, the back of which he spray-painted, and which would become his guitar of choice until the end of the Beatles. Not many people know that George played a myriad of instruments – 26 in all – and was the very first to introduce the sitar to the pop world in Norwegian Wood, beating The Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black by a full year.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In a candid moment of true backstage access, Paul McCartney and John Lennon warm up on their guitars in anticipation of their show at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, on August 13, 1966. The two-show stop in Detroit drew a combined audience of 30,800 rabid Beatles fans and had an impressive set list: Rock and Roll Music, She’s a Woman, If I Needed Someone, Baby’s In Black, Day Tripper, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and Long Tall Sally. In this photograph, the creative energy between Lennon and McCartney is palpable. The legendary duo collaborated on some of the biggest records the world has ever seen, and did it all with a healthy amount of friendly competition. A writer for The Atlantic summed up their partnership best: “John was the badass older brother Paul never had. Paul was a charming sidekick who could do something rare: keep up with John.” The pair are notorious for their own version of call-and-answer: John’s Strawberry Fields Forever was answered by Paul’s Penny Lane; John’s Revolution 1 by Paul’s Blackbird. And so, one of the greatest songwriting duos of all time was created – in competition and in brotherhood – and captured beautifully here.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In a captivating moment of total playfulness, all four Beatles – Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – are photographed on vacation in Bel Air, California on August 23-24, 1964. With such an intense schedule, downtime was a luxury, yet this mini-vacation almost didn’t happen. In town for their August 23 historic show at the famous Hollywood Bowl, the boys soon found out that L.A. wasn’t exactly willing to roll out the red carpet. Lockheed Airport in Burbank refused to let their plane land, and The Ambassador Hotel cancelled their reservations out of fear of being inundated with crazed fans. Luckily, British actor Reginald Owen offered up his Bel Air manse for the bargain price of $1,000. While in town, the Beatles hit up the iconic Whisky A Go Go club with Jane Mansfield, where George Harrison infamously threw a drink at the paparazzi, but hit Mamie Van Doren instead. They also met Burt Lancaster, with Ringo Starr dressed like a cowboy wielding toy guns that were reportedly gifts from Elvis Presley. Upon seeing Ringo, Burt quipped, “What have you got there? Kids’ stuff!” He later sent Ringo two real guns and a holster, which Ringo loved: “I just wanted to be a cowboy.” This photo captures four boys who just wanted to play – and the fact that both the late George Harrison and the late John Lennon have their arms outstretched, reaching skyward, is a really beautiful button.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
With many of the Beatles’ second US tour dates being grueling double-headers, the boys often found strange ways to entertain themselves between shows, as this photo of John Lennon dressed as Lawrence of Arabia showcases. The Beatles’ back-to-back shows at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, on August 22, 1965, drew 19,936 combined fans. And “Lennon of Arabia” wasn’t the only esteemed visitor. Mike Love and Carl Wilson of rival group The Beach Boys popped up from California for the show, and they all met backstage for the first time, talking shop about girls and cars. Post-tour, the Beatles recorded Rubber Soul, an album Brian Wilson would applaud as the only one where every song “went together like no album ever made before.” It even inspired Wilson to “do my own thing [Pet Sounds], and so the next morning I went to the piano and wrote God Only Knows.” Apparently the feeling was mutual – Paul McCartney would later gush that the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds “blew me out of the water” and is still an all-time favorite.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In this energetic and unique photo taken from Bob Bonis’ unique position on the side of the stage, all four Beatles—Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon—jam on stage during their show at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City on September 17, 1964. That performance was their only unscheduled stop on the 1964 US tour. Local mogul Charles O. Finley persuaded the Beatles to play Kansas City for a record $150,000. During a press conference right before the show, a reporter asked the fab four what had been great about their reception in America. Indeed, even in the pouring rain at two in the morning the night before, about 100 screaming girls greeted them off their plane in Kansas City. Paul kicked it off, “The bigness of them. The largeness.” John added, “The immenseness.” George chimed in, “The magnitude.” And Paul brought it home: “Multitude-a-ness-es. [beat] Wonderful.” Their wonderful reception continued on stage, with so many fans swarming the stage that the show had to be stopped for ten minutes until security could regain control. You can just feel the electricity in the air in this photo.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are wonderfully unaware in this candid photograph of them reading a magazine on a plane, en route to their show at Cow Palace outside of San Francisco, California, on August 30, 1965. Also on the plane from Hollywood with the Beatles was Joan Baez, who visited them backstage in San Francisco. In the weeks before, the Beatles had played 16 shows in nine cities to more than 300,000 screaming teenage fans. The San Francisco shows would be their last before a much-needed six-week break before getting back in the studio to record Rubber Soul. Their double-header at Cow Palace drew 11,700 fans in the afternoon and 17,000 more that night—and even had to be stopped for ten minutes after fans pushed through the barricades and rushed the stage. With the Cow Palace show the band had really come full circle, as they were closing out their second US tour exactly where they had opened their first in August 1964.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
A serene crooning Paul McCartney is juxtaposed with a beyond-littered stage in this photo taken during an August 19, 1965, show at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas. The Beatles played two sold-out shows in Houston, advertised as the “Sixth Annual Back-to-School Show,” to capacity crowds of 9,200 screaming fans with general admission seating. Predominantly teenage girls suffering from Beatlemania (thanks to the recent release of the film HELP!), began tossing jellybeans on stage because George Harrison had mentioned he loved the softer (and totally unavailable) British version, jelly babies, in an interview. Along with a barrage of hard candy, fans threw paper, cups and even a few dangerous objects. Entertainment reporter Jeff Millar noted, “Nobody missed a note as cups caromed off their faces. George Harrison adroitly dodged the largest object hurled, apparently someone’s right tennis shoe.” But it was John Lennon who pithily summed up their second US tour so far: “We’ve only been to Dallas and here. And we almost got killed both places.”
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In a rare moment of downtime, Paul McCartney listens intently to an unidentified friend while riding in an airplane. Earlier that day, the Beatles had played an afternoon concert at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, because their scheduled show on August 20 had been a complete washout. After their final number, the Beatles and the other acts booked it to Boone County Airport in Kentucky for a quick puddle jumper to St. Louis for their Busch Memorial Stadium show that night. George Harrison recalls the chaos: “We had to get up early and get on and play the concert at midday, then take all the gear apart and go to the airport, fly to St. Louis, set up and play the gig originally planned for that day. In those days all we had were three amps, three guitars and a set of drums. Imagine trying to do it now!” As it turns out, August 21, 1966, would be the only day in Beatles US tour history that the boys played two cities on the same day.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Amidst hangers and locker cubbies, John Lennon lounges backstage before the Beatles’ show at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, on August 21, 1966. These few moments of peace turned out to be fleeting, as once the Beatles took the stage, they were pummeled with a downpour. Though the venue had constructed a makeshift shelter out of slivers of corrugated iron, rain still dripped on the amps and created a downright soggy attitude in the band. Paul McCartney called the show “worse than those early days” at the Cavern Club, one of the very reasons he finally agreed with the others to stop touring forever. So the 23,000 fans in attendance were amongst the last to see The Beatles on tour as they played only four more shows before retiring from touring and live performances, although London guests at the January 30, 1969, rooftop show at Apple Records headquarters have the distinction of being the last to ever see the fab four perform live.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In a beautifully intimate moment in the middle of 25,000 fans, Paul McCartney turns away from the audience and beams when he finds Bob Bonis. The Bloomington, Minnesota, show on August 21, 1965, was the Beatles’ only stop in the Land of 10,000 Lakes on all three US tours. Though it was one of the few shows on the 1965 tour that didn’t sell out, for the then-bargain price of $2.50 to $5.50 per ticket (about $20-40 today), fans sang along with: She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket to Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help! and I’m Down. Because of a security breach at the airport promoter Ray “Big Reggie” Colihan declared that no journalists, or photographers, not even the Mayor of Bloomington would be permitted on the field. So Bonis’ photographs, who as tour manager stood at the side of the stage, are the only close-up shots taken that night. And the Beatles’ genuine affection for their tour manager and friend is lovingly captured here.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Shooting upstage with the lights almost standing in for stars, Bob Bonis captured this iconic photograph of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr—along with John Lennon and George Harrison—in perfect silhouette during their show at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City on September 17, 1964 from his unique position behind the stage. As there was no audience allowed behind The Beatles this photograph could only have been taken by someone with the unequalled access that Bob Bonis enjoyed. This was the show that almost wasn’t as Kansas City was not on the scheduled tour when it was announced. The owner of the Kansas City Athletics and the venue, Charles O. Finley, pledged to bring The Beatles to Kansas City and chased them across the country on this, their first US tour, to persuade them to add this show. In the end, money talked: Offering first $50,000 and then $100,000 Finley finally convinced The Beatles to give up their valued day off by offering a record $150,000 to play this show, which calculated to $4,838 dollars per minute. On the day of the show he offered even more money to have them play longer than their usual set, to which John Lennon replied, “Chuck, you shouldn’t have spent so much money on us.” Perhaps to spite his aggressive offers the Beatles did add a cover version of the song Kansas City / Hey, hey, Hey, Hey. This stop was the only show on the tour that did not sell out resulting in a considerable financial loss for Finley, but as a benefit concert for Children’s Mercy Hospital (who received $25,000 from Finley in spite of his losses), not all was lost for everyone.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
A rare look at the shy side of notorious punk Keith Richards, pictured here with a refreshing Pepsi Cola and the guitar – a 1962 Epiphone Casino ES-230TDV – that he used on the recording of the band’s first number-one hit, It’s All over Now, in May 1964. It was also one of his main guitars during their first US tour. In his lifetime, Keith would amass a personal collection of more than 3,000 guitars.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Mick Jagger sings his heart out to adoring German fans during the Stones’ controversial West Berlin show at the Waldbuhne on September 15, 1965. The Stones rocked the outdoor amphitheater – built during the Third Reich by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels as part of the 1936 Olympic complex and was a place where Hitler had made some of his famous speeches – but not for long. A riot broke out after the first song and the Stones had to retreat to the underground bunkers for protection. After the police got things under control the Stones went back on stage and finished out their set. The real riot and damage happened after the Stones left. What came next was ugly: riots broke out and police turned rubber truncheons and fire hoses on the crowd, who destroyed the venue to the tune of 270,000 deutsche marks. The final aftermath tallied 85 arrests, 87 injured and 17 ransacked S-Bahn trains – which prompted East Berlin to use the incident as anti-West propaganda. Officials declared, “These songs are straight from the madhouse.” But a Bild Zeitung reporter summed it up the show best: “I know Hell.” This photograph, quite literally, depicts the calm before the rock ‘n’ roll storm.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Life on the road can get lonely and even a bit mundane after the high of a live performance. In the spring of 1965, the Rolling Stones stayed in L.A. for several concert performances, TV appearances (including Hollywood A Go Go and Shindig), and recording sessions at RCA Studios. Here Mick Jagger takes advantage of a little downtime to catch up on the June 1965 issue of Playboy magazine, perhaps reviewing the first ever nude pictorial spread of James Bond Girl Ursula Andress. Four years later, Mick went from fan boy to main man when he was profiled in the November 1969 issue. The Stones would later stay in the Playboy Mansion in Chicago – at Hugh Hefner’s personal invitation – because hotel rooms were scarce during their 1972 US tour (an invite Hefner likely regretted after Keith Richards and Bobby Keys accidentally set fire to one of his bathrooms). And in perhaps the strangest twist, 46 years to the month after reading this very issue of Playboy, Mick’s daughter Lizzy would bare all for the June 2011 issue.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
The Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts) arrive in America for the first time-ever on June 1, 1964, just a three days after their first album – England’s Newest Hitmakers – The Rolling Stones – was released. After a well-received first US show in San Bernardino, California they played two very disheartening shows in San Antonio, Texas where they performed alongside monkey and juggling acts and country star George Jones to an unreceptive small audience. Their manager and producer Andrew Loog Oldham cheered them up by surprising them with a trip on their four days off between shows to visit and record at Chess Records studios. Recordings from Chess records were actually the spark that led to the formation of the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards grew up one street away from each other in Dartford, Kent, England, and, starting in September 1950, would have many a play date when not attending Wentworth Primary School. Even when Keith transferred to another school in 1954, their paths would cross again in 1961 at a chance encounter at a Dartford, Kent train station, when Mick had some American rhythm and blues records that he had mail ordered from Chess Records in tow, and Keith remarked, “Oh, yeah, these are really interesting.” And so it began. Soon they were playing those records all over town, until the day they put two and two together and the singer joined forces with the guitarist—forging one of the most revolutionary rock duos of all time. Soon afterwards they would meet Brian Jones, who along with Ian Stewart were forming a band and enlisted Mick and Keith to join.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
This unassuming portrait shows Rolling Stones’ founding member Brian Jones at a rehearsal for the T.A.M.I. Show, caught up in a melody as he strums his 1964 Vox MK III “Teardrop” guitar. The one-of-a-kind prototype guitar was custom-made for Brian by Vox. Though he played it onstage frequently during the Stones’ 1964 and 1965 tours, Brian did not use it as often in the studio, because it had an odd shape and was difficult to play while sitting. In the beginning, Brian and Keith Richards rarely shared guitars (later they would become way more communal). Forever linked to Brian’s unique legacy, this stunning guitar is one of the most famous Rolling Stones instruments of all time.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
On a train en route to a show, Keith Richards takes a moment to entertain a playful Mick Jagger, who hams it up for the camera. Keith strums his 1963 Harmony H-1270 jumbo 12-string acoustic guitar, which was used to record the Stones’ earliest acoustic tracks, including As Tears Go By, Not Fade Away, Good Times, Bad Times and Tell Me (You’re Coming Back). In fact, Tell Me went on to become their first U.S. hit and also the very first musical collaboration for these long-time friends. Some even say it laid the groundwork for the Stones as we know them today. Mick talks to Rolling Stone about the creative process with the Harmony: “Keith was playing 12-string and singing harmonies into the same microphone as the 12-string… There’s a definite feel about it. It’s a very pop song.” In 2004, the guitar in this photo sold for $33,460 at Christie’s auction.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In a wonderfully meta moment, Keith Richards relaxes at a luncheon that was thrown by West German newspaper Bild Zeitung to make up for a mistake in an article that caused the Stones to threaten to cancel the rest of the tour. The caption on a photo had misidentified Bill Wyman’s girlfriend as Chrissie Shrimpton (the younger sister of model Jean Shrimpton), who was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend which caused manager Andrew Loog Oldham to force the paper to print a retraction. Bob Bonis accompanied the Stones on their brief, five-city tour of West Germany – and the tour was a riot-filled affair. Former Stones bassist Bill Wyman recalls “police dogs everywhere” and crowds “estimated at between 21,000 and 23,000.” In this photo, behind Keith is a wall plastered with German Rolling Stones posters, sponsored by Bild Zeitung’s publication BRAVO. After rioting broke out at the West Berlin show on September 15, the East and West German press reprinted descriptions from Bild Zeitung of girls throwing off their underwear in ecstasy – in an effort to censor American and British influences, just as they had done with Elvis Presley in 1956.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
A few days into their second US tour, Mick Jagger obliges a young fan with a backstage photo op during the taping of the T.A.M.I. Show “filmed in Electronovision” (video transferred to film) at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. The unique concert film stood for either “Teenage Awards Music International,” or “Teen Age Music International” depending on which piece of publicity you read and was released in theaters on December 29, 1964. The show’s music director, Jack Nitzsche, often hung with the Stones, and even played piano (and the mythical “nitzschephone” coined by manager-producer Andrew Loog Oldham) on many of their RCA sessions, from Aftermath to Sticky Fingers. The Rolling Stones followed James Brown & The Famous Flames in the lineup, who declared at the time “I’m gonna make the Rolling stones wish they’d never come to America.” In fact the future Godfather of Soul was so impressed by their performance that he congratulated them as they came off the stage and invited them to come see him perform at the Apollo a few weeks later. The boy in the photo is most likely the son of one of the VIPs in attendance, as the Stones were often called upon for forced photo ops at the bequest of big-shot record label executives and other VIPs.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Mick Jagger strides toward tour manager Bob Bonis, like a man who knows something, in this stunningly beautiful photograph. And know something he did – on this very day in 1965, Mick and Keith Richards wrote what would become one of the biggest hits of their career, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. During their third US tour, while performing at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater, Florida, the Stones stayed at the Jack Tar Harrison Hotel (seen behind Mick, which now headquarters the Church of Scientology). There must have been some magic in the muggy air, because in the middle of the night – the night before this photo was taken – one of the most iconic guitar riffs in music history came to Keith Richards in a dream. Half asleep, he recorded it on the cassette tape recorded he took with him on the road, and went back to dreamland. In the morning, he awoke to find a tape with the famous riff (which he originally intended to replace with horns) and a half mumbled title, followed by about 40 minutes of snoring. Though Keith himself came up with the chorus, together with Mick that day they penned an irreverent rock classic about sexual frustration and commercialism – all after a quick dip in the pool.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
En route to their next stop in Clearwater, Florida, on their third US tour, the Rolling Stones enjoyed some R&R at the Manger Towne & Country Motor Lodge in Savannah, Georgia, in early May 1965. Framed by poolside palms, Mick Jagger checks out his competition, Bob Dylan’s platinum-selling album Bringing It All Back Home, released that spring. Boasting an electric vibe, Dylan’s new album was a departure from his earlier folk protest songs. Perhaps Dylan was even a little inspired by the Stones, who he met at Carnegie Hall in New York City, on June 20, 1964, after the final performance of their first US tour.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
In this candid photograph of the Rolling Stones frontman, Mick Jagger, taken by the Stones US Tour Manager, Bob Bonis, the entertainer becomes the entertained in this private moment during one of the Rolling Stones’ recording sessions at RCA Studios in Hollywood, California . Once a rather shy lad, Mick fell in love with performing when he realized the girls were, as he told Rolling Stone, “going, either quietly or loudly, sort of crazy.” Here, the future legend’s boyish charm is on full display.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
Bob Bonis/Ebay
Mick Jagger sings his heart out for a totally hidden audience, as seen through the amps from tour manager Bob Bonis’ unique perspective from the side of the stage. Original Rolling Stones founding member / guitarist Brian Jones can be seen beside him on the stage. In an interview with Time, Mick admitted to stealing James Brown’s dance moves (and others’ moves, too) after meeting him when they filmed the T.A.M.I. Show movie more than 50 years ago. But it was more than just the moves, it was an attitude—an attitude that’s radiating from Mick in this photo.
(Bob Bonis/Ebay)
WASHINGTON — Bob Bonis had an unparalleled intimate view of rock and roll history.
Bonis, who died in 1992 at the age of 60, was tour manager for both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during their first U.S. tours in 1964, and continued with both bands through 1966.
As an amateur, yet talented, photographer, he captured two of the world’s biggest bands with limitless access.
Few of Bonis’ photographs were published in the 1960s.
Forty-eight years later, negatives of nearly 5,000 photos were uncovered in a basement by Bonis’ son, and now comprise the Bob Bonis Archive.
Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.
![With many of the Beatles’ second US tour dates being grueling double-headers, the boys often found strange ways to entertain themselves between shows, as this photo of John Lennon dressed as Lawrence of Arabia showcases. The Beatles’ back-to-back shows at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, on August 22, 1965, drew 19,936 combined fans. And “Lennon of Arabia” wasn’t the only esteemed visitor. Mike Love and Carl Wilson of rival group The Beach Boys popped up from California for the show, and they all met backstage for the first time, talking shop about girls and cars. Post-tour, the Beatles recorded Rubber Soul, an album Brian Wilson would applaud as the only one where every song “went together like no album ever made before.” It even inspired Wilson to “do my own thing [Pet Sounds], and so the next morning I went to the piano and wrote God Only Knows.” Apparently the feeling was mutual - Paul McCartney would later gush that the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds “blew me out of the water” and is still an all-time favorite.](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bonis5.jpg)
![With many of the Beatles’ second US tour dates being grueling double-headers, the boys often found strange ways to entertain themselves between shows, as this photo of John Lennon dressed as Lawrence of Arabia showcases. The Beatles’ back-to-back shows at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon, on August 22, 1965, drew 19,936 combined fans. And “Lennon of Arabia” wasn’t the only esteemed visitor. Mike Love and Carl Wilson of rival group The Beach Boys popped up from California for the show, and they all met backstage for the first time, talking shop about girls and cars. Post-tour, the Beatles recorded Rubber Soul, an album Brian Wilson would applaud as the only one where every song “went together like no album ever made before.” It even inspired Wilson to “do my own thing [Pet Sounds], and so the next morning I went to the piano and wrote God Only Knows.” Apparently the feeling was mutual - Paul McCartney would later gush that the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds “blew me out of the water” and is still an all-time favorite.](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bonis5-260x174.jpg)
