Before they took off on their World Tour in June of 1966, the Beatles had put the finishing touches on their new album, “Revolver.” Click below to hear the song that would prove prescient of the “Fab Four’s” horrible experience in Manila – “Taxman.”
Monday, July 4, 1966
Manila, the Philippines, the second stop for the Beatles on their 1966 World Tour
The Manila Hotel
The Beatles: (l. to r.) George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon. ca. 1966
Manila, The Philippines:
Early in the morning, Tony Barrow, the Beatles’ publicist, and Vic Lewis, their booking agent, were awakened by sharp raps on the door of their suite. Two grim-looking men in military uniforms saluted and introduced themselves as the official reception committee from Malacañang Palace, the residence of President Ferdinand and First Lady Imelda Marcos.* They’d come to make final arrangements for the Beatles’ visit to the Palace for a luncheon hosted by the First Lady. (1)
Dictator Ferdinand Marcos with wife Imelda at his 1965 inauguration in the Philippines.
Neither Barrow nor Lewis knew what they were talking about. No one had told them that the Beatles were expected to make a presidential visit. The Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – were sleeping, they explained, and couldn’t be disturbed. The band had just flown in from an exhausting concert in Tokyo. The “Fab Four” needed their rest, as they were schedule to give both afternoon and evening concerts in Manila that very day. Barrow and Lewis promised to pass along the request to Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager.
“This is not a request,” insisted the two men, one, a general, and the other, a commander, in the Philippine Army.
First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos was a former beauty queen. Here she models a traditional gown. She regarded herself as a goddess and was used to having her way. 1963
Fashion icon Imelda Marcos descends from a flight with her son Bong Bong. Undated photo
That afternoon, the Beatles performed their hits songs to an audience of 35,000. Afterwards, Tony Barrow and others in the Beatle’s entourage filed into Brian Epstein‘s suite to watch coverage of the concert on the evening news. They were pleased to discover that every channel featured scenes of screaming, swooning fans caught up in Beatlemania. However, Channel 5, one of the country’s major networks, ran additional footage not seen on the other channels. The scene showed the First Lady at the Palace with her disappointed luncheon guests, 200 children. The voice-over said, “The children began to arrive at ten. They waited until two….The place cards for the Beatles at the lunch table were removed.” Imelda Marcos was very mad as she and her guests filed into the grand dining room without their guests of honor. The spin was that the Beatles had deliberately snubbed the President and Mrs. Marcos by not showing up.
Brian Epstein went into full damage control mode. He issued a hastily written apology to the First Couple and called an interview with Channel 5 in his hotel suite, in which he professed complete ignorance of the invitation and praised the Marcoses. An hour later, the interview was broadcast but Brian’s appearance was blacked-out by static interference. That’s when everyone started to get nervous.
ticket stubs to the Beatles July 4, 1966 concerts in Manila
Worry soon turned to panic. After their evening show, the Beatles noticed that their police escort had disappeared. When their car pulled up to the Manila Hotel, the gates were locked against them. While they sat their in the idling car, wondering how they were going to get up to their suite, several dozen “organized troublemakers” attacked their car, banging on the windows, rocking it back and forth, and shouting threats in several languages. Vic Lewis shouted at the driver: “Drive on! Go through the people and smash the gates down!” The driver obeyed. At the entrance, everyone in the Beatles’ entourage ran into the hotel with the angry mob snapping at their heels.
Shortly, an official appeared at Vic Lewis’ suite demanding payment of local taxes. Lewis produced a contract stating that someone else – the promoter – had that responsibility, not the Beatles. This was brushed aside. Until all taxes were paid, said the taxman, no one in the Beatles party was being allowed to leave the country. When the man left, Lewis found Barrow. “We’ve got to get out of here – now.” He called the bell hop for help with the luggage.
The manager told Lewis that no one would be coming to help. “The whole hotel is going on strike. They think you’ve insulted President Marcos.” Bomb and death threats were telephoned to the deluged British Embassy and to the four Beatles’ hotel suite.
The next morning, Paul had seen the newspaper headlines blaring BEATLES SNUB PRESIDENT. The Beatles had known nothing of the invitation. “Oh, dear,” he thought. “We’ll just say we’re sorry.” About then “things started to get really weird,” recalled Ringo. He and John were hanging out in their bathrobes when a roadie popped his head in their room and shouted, “Come on! Get out of bed! Get packed – we’re getting out of here.”
Everyone in the entourage grabbed amplifiers and suitcases and made for the main elevators, but they were turned off. They had to take the service lift down. The halls were dark and lined with staff who shouted at them in Spanish and English. It was very frightening. When they got downstairs to check out, the front desk was deserted. Even their cars were gone. Someone managed to get a Town Car and everyone squeezed in and made for the airport.
But the airport route was sabotaged. Soldiers were stationed at intersections and roads were closed. Finally, they found a back road that led to the airport. The airport was deserted. “The atmosphere was scary,” remembered Tony Barrow, “as if a bomb was due to go off.” Once the Beatles got on the escalator, the power was shut off. As the Beatles moved through the terminal, little bands of demonstrators appeared, grabbing at them and trying to hit them.
Mobs rough up the Beatles at the Manila airport. John Lennon is at upper corner, right. July 6, 1966
They checked in for their flight as quickly as possible then were herded into a lounge “where an abusive crowd and police with guns had also gathered.” The cops began to shove the Beatles back and forth. It was impossible to tell the thugs from the military police. According to Ringo, “they started spitting at us, spitting on us.” The Beatles hid among a group of nuns and monks huddled by an alcove. Other members of their entourage, though, were kicked and beaten.
Finally, everyone was allowed to run across the tarmac to the plane. Vic Lewis felt sure he’d get a bullet in the back. The Beatles were terrified they’d be killed before they entered the safety of the airplane. Paul said, “When we got on the plane, we were all kissing the seats. It was feeling as if we’d found sanctuary. We had definitely been in a foreign country where all the rules had changed and they carried guns. So we weren’t too gung-ho about it at all.” Ringo remembered being afraid of going to jail. Ferdinand Marcos was a dictator (who, in a few years, would declare martial law in the Philippines.)
Everyone was poised for the plane to take off when the authorities came back on board and detained Tony Barrow for thiry minutes. For the plane to be allowed to take off with the Beatles on it, Tony was forced to pay a “leaving Manila tax” that amounted to the full amount of money the Beatles had made in their concerts before 80,000 fans.
Once the plane lifted off and everyone was safely in the air, all the anger of the past 24 hours boiled over. The Beatles blamed Brian for the debacle. He’d obviously received the invitation in Japan, ignoring it or misleading the Philippine authorities.
Beatlemania. October 1965, London, England, UK. Policemen struggle to restrain young Beatles fans outside Buckingham Palace as The Beatles receive their MBEs (Member of the British Empire) in 1965.
By the time the Beatles had landed in India, they had made a command decision. This would be their last tour. They were never going to go on another tour again. Never again, swore John, was he going to risk his life for a stadium filled with screaming 13-year-old girls.
Brian said, “Sorry, lads, we have got something fixed up for Shea Stadium. If we cancel it you are going to lose a million dollars.” So they played New York’s Shea Stadium later that summer. It was the first stop on their U.S. tour, their final tour as the Beatles.
Click here to read: “Imelda Marcos Almost Gets the Beatles Killed Part 2”
(1) Spitz, Bob. The Beatles: The Biography. (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005)
Lisa's History Room 
Great article! Thanks for posting.
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Thanks! Please come back.
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exaggeration!
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How do you know? The Beatles gave multiple interviews on the terror of being in that country under the newly-elected Marcoses. Keep reading.
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That was how bad Philippines was under the Marcoses regime. It was like a hell. Thanks to Cory Aquino for bringing back democracy.
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Great post! Came across this post whilst searching Beatlemania / Apple Scruffs!
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[…] was perhaps The Beatles’ attempt to reunite with audiences they could no longer visit without risking their lives. With such a glaringly simple message, the song could have been the butt of jokes in the hands of […]
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The Beatles are my favorite band and this article was very interesting. Very informative too.
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Paul was my favorite growing up but John has been the most interesting one to read about.
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Hi Lisa! I know a lot about the Beatles, but I had never heard this story before. It sounds like something from an action thriller———-might make a good movie——-Alix
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Alix, this experience scared the Beatles so badly they never toured again.
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Thank you so much for posting this article. No one believes me when I tell them this story. We get very few foreign musical acts in Manila because of this incident, even Madonna has mentioned that she will never play in Manila as a result. What is sad is that Filipinos love music and the Beatles and Mrs. Marcos’ insanity has ruined things for the rest of us. It is also not an exaggeration, she is seriously psychopathic. She killed so many people building the Manila Film Center by burying them in cement. I can’t believe shes running for Congress.
Apparently, before arriving in Manila, the Beatles thought we still lived in huts.
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Wow! I didn’t know the Beatles thing in Manila still caused problems for the country. Thanks for your interesting comments and please come back.
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Fantastic article, and well-written…
As a huge Beatles fan born in 1980, I have read blurbs and seen short clips regarding “the manila debacle” but have never read an actual play-by-play article.
And it really speaks to the social malevolence of the Marcos era that a missed luncheon date based solely in misunderstanding would have any sort of lasting global impact…
However, if I’m not mistaken, in 1966 Ferdinand Marcos was one year into his first term of presidency, and martial law was not declared until September 23, 1972, after his second presidential term had ended.
Granted, this footnote does nothing to take away from the heinousness of the Filipino government’s actions in the above true tale…
well done.
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Karaleigh, I appreciate the correction. I’ve edited my article to reflect that martial law was not in place in 1966. Please keep coming back. I appreciate your comments and thank you for your kudos.
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Super interesting article! I came across it when I heard a story on the Marcoses on NPR tonight. I googled Imelda and you came up! Thanks again!
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I’ll have to check out the story on NPR. Glad you visited; keep coming back to Lisa’s History Room.
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Hi
I am a student and i was wondering if i could use one of your photos of the Beatlemania for a PowerPoint that i would only use in a presentation for my coursework.
Thankyou
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Of course you can.
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exaggeration! Im a filipino and as far as i know that only in their hotel and in the airport had in trouble, so i did not believe in some info.
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Trouble in their hotel and in the airport is all the info I need to know what a tyrant Imelda is.
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The Marcoses were part of the reason my mother left the Philippines.
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I’ve always thought that the Beatles snubbed IM’s invitation. I wasn’t even in school yet when Martial Law ended, so I could not imagine how evil Imelda was then. Your blog has enlightened me.
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beatles songs are forever but marcoses are not forever…JESUS CHRIST is forever but the beatles are not forever.
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I don’t think this is an exaggeration. Although I wasn’t born yet at this time, I read several posts on this topic. I’m a Filipino and I do think that the things Imelda did during their reign scarred the Philippines. And those who were included in the mob were probably either scared to decline orders or were hungry for money.
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Exactly, John.
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Some people takes Philippines for granted… perhaps, this teach them a lesson. I am for MARCOS… and several years after his death… We are still for MARCOS…. Millions of us.
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I seem to recall John Lennon calling the Marcos government fascist. And it was for Bongbong Marcos’s birthday party, btw. And the Beatles were expected to perform for free — libre.
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Dear Mr. McCartney and Mr. Starr,
Greetings from the Philippines!
I’d just like to say that as of now, half of your Filipino fans were not born yet when you had your concert in Manila, so I hope you don’t have any hard feelings for the race anymore (have pity to your young fans). How I wish that incident didn’t happen, you might have returned for another show if it weren’t for that near-death experience here. Today the dictatorship has long gone, Marcos is 20 years dead. Imelda’s still alive but I don’t think the young generation cares, and I’m sure that your fanbase here will continue to grow as the population of this hot 3rd world country continues to increase.
Filipino fans will forever love and appreciate your music, whether you come back here or not.
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Reblogged this on Ka Bino Guerrero.
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Hi Lisa! I come from the Philippines and this is one part of our history I hate so much because I am a Beatlemaniac! I wish this never happened. Your article is great!
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I agree with “ixaxaxa.” The wrong doing of few Filipinos doesn’t define the Filipino race as a whole. I wasn’t born during the 1960s but I am a certified Beatle fanatic!
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[…] more details of the same event. Imelda Marcos Almost Gets the Beatles Killed Part 1 | Lisa's History Room […]
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Is it true that John Lennon said “We are here to perform a concert, not to drink pineapple juice in the president’s house”?
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James, I’d love to know that answer!
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Sorry but I had to set the record straight. First of all the Beatles was never booked at Manila Hotel for the simple reason no 5 Star would accept because they are afraid of unruly Beatle Fans. They stay in a yacht along Manila Bay. How do I know this it’s all in the newspapers ( Manila Times is only newspaper I read at that time) if Manila Times still have microfilm of issues this will bear me out. It’s true they were mod at the airport. I believe this is just to make the Marcoses look bad. So almost half of story is fadricated . This is a case simple miscommunication between the promoter and The manager of the Beatles. Btw I did watch their evening show.
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Enrique, the Beatles were booked at the Manila Hotel. They arrived there at about 4 a.m. the day of their concert. Before that time, they had been at a party on a private yacht.
The story of their terrifying ordeal in Manila is true. Nothing has been fabricated. The fiction is the belief that the Marcoses are good people. They were murderers, thugs, and thieves.
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Deliberate threats or not? Exaggerated story or facts? As long as this incident took place under his term of presidency, it speaks badly about Marcos’ administration either way. He have ridiculed his own leadership.
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As one of the aficionados, I witnessed The Beatles concert at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on 04 Jul 1966, 4-6PM. They performed so well and very enjoyable.
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anyone who knows anything about how things ‘work” in the Philippines ( especially in Marcos’s time ) and who has had to deal with the goon squads that used to run the place can tell you this whole story has a ring of truth that is so familiar….I believe every word
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BONGBONG MARCOS must never be allowed to win. Even though he is not his father but he denied the atrocities during the martial law. NEVER AGAIN A MARTIAL LAW!
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I love your article. My only small comment to refine yiur article is about “people shouting in Spanish and English.” Maybe you can say Tagalog or local language instead of Spanish.
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This is referenced in the Bob Spitz bio mentioned at bottom of post. Lisa
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