On June 30, 1969, the Beatles played their final public performance on the rooftop of their headquarters, Apple Corps, located at 3 Savile Row in the Mayfair section of London. Every day swarms of tourists make the journey to Abbey Road Studios—made famous by the Beatles album of the same name—but the Apple Corps building is often overlooked.
My advice, don’t overlook it. Situated a block from Regent Street near Piccadilly Circus, you’ll most likely find yourself in this area whilst vacationing in London. Don’t miss it!
The Rooftop Concert
The Beatles final concert would last 42-minutes before a request to reduce their volume from the police would end the show. They played nine sets of five songs, with Billy Preston, who was brought in to play keyboards with the band.
The Beatles had planned on playing a live performance to be used in their upcoming movie, Let it Be. They had considered a few locations, but ultimately it was decided to hold the concert on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building. There is a bit of uncertainty as to who’s idea it was to hold the concert on the roof; however, Ringo has stated it was John’s idea, who felt it would be easier to have it at their headquarters, rather than haul all their gear somewhere else.
The concert was unannounced, and caught many onlookers by surprise. As the concert went on, more and more people arrived in the streets below as well as on the neighboring rooftops. Someone else gathered, too—the police! Initially they were refused entry into the Apple building, but were eventually let in after threatening employees with arrest. The police ascended to the roof, yet despite realizing the show would be shut down, the Beatles continued to play. Eventually they concluded their show, with John Lennon saying, “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we’ve passed the audition.”
Set List
- Get Back (take one)
- Get Back (take two)
- Don’t Let Me Down (take one)
- I’ve Got a Feeling (take one)
- One After 909
- Dig a Pony
- I’ve Got a Feeling (take two)
- Don’t Let Me Down (take two)
- Get Back (take three)
I Almost Missed It
I set out for London with a list of “must see” places—Abbey Road, of course, was one of them. Though I was quite familiar with the famous rooftop concert, it was a destination I hadn’t planned on visiting. I couldn’t really tell you why. I guess it was partly due to the fact that I didn’t exactly know where it was. I assumed it was outside of the city somewhere, and didn’t really bother to seek it out. It just wasn’t on my radar.
As it turns out, it didn’t seem to be anybody else’s radar either. In fact, while researching ideas for this trip, the Apple Corps building never came up as a suggested place to visit. Nevertheless, I was aware of this building and it’s historical value—typically I would research something like this, ensuring I didn’t miss it—yet, I was content without it. I guess I was just satisfied visiting Abbey Road. Perhaps my agenda was too crammed; I didn’t have enough time. There’s really no good answer—and I must admit, as I write all this, I have managed to disappoint even myself! No worries, however—I was saved. A trip to the Hard Rock Cafe the night before would set me straight.
Hard Rock Cafe: The Night Before
A tour of the Vault at the Hard Rock Cafe led us to Beatles memorabilia, which in turn, led us to a Beatles discussion. I had written about London’s Hard Rock Cafe in a prior post, and I don’t mean to repeat myself—but I fear I will do exactly just that.
Our tour guide asked if we had been to Abbey Road. He expected that we had—and, indeed he was correct. However, he didn’t expect that we had visited the Apple Corps building, the sight of the legendary rooftop concert. Once again, he was correct. He added a very interesting question, “you don’t even know where it is, do you?” For a third time, he was correct. I did not!
He went on to explain that he location of the rooftop concert—unlike Abbey Road—is not very well known—and, intentionally so. Located on Savile Row, an upscale street renowned for it’s bespoke tailoring, the area’s “image” is particularly important. Crazed Beatles fans swarming the street in search of a rock ’n’ roll landmark is not particularly the image they are looking to achieve. They are quite content allowing Abbey Road to satisfy that desire.
“You will go and visit this location tomorrow,” our tour guide went on to say. It was a great idea, but I had been in London a full week, and “tomorrow” I was headed home. It didn’t really seem to be in the cards, but then again—maybe it was. He provided the address, 3 Savile Row—about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. It’s funny how things work. Just when our trip seemed to have concluded, and we had seen all the attractions we would see, it looked like I would get to see one more—one that I desperately would love to see, yet never even bothered to make an effort to do so. Our flight would depart at 4pm, leaving us ample time to squeeze this into our schedule. Indeed, a bonus—and the perfect ending to what had already been an amazing trip.
3 Savile Row: Site of the Beatles Rooftop Concert—Their Final Performance
Our final day in London: checkout was at noon, our flight was at 4pm. We were up early, and following breakfast at the hotel, we set out for one last stroll through London. Within a few minutes, we would arrive at our destination—Savile Row. Funny enough, we had ventured through this very spot during the week—perhaps more than once—completely unaware that we had passed this historic location.
This building—Apple Corps—once the headquarters of the most successful band in history, is now an Abercrombie Kids clothing store. My expectation was to merely show up out front and snap off a few pics. I had no intention of going inside . . . that is until I arrived. Other than for it’s historical importance, I really had no reason to go inside. I didn’t particularly wan’t to be the “obvious tourist” entering for no reason, but—I had to!
Unfortunately, the roof was off limits. Nevertheless, a visit to this “Abercrombie” was possibly the coolest clothing store I have ever been in. I wasn’t sure what to expect. There was a part of me that expected it to be nothing more than a clothing store. That somehow, an homage to the Beatles wouldn’t exist. Well, it did exist, and it was pretty cool.
The foyer of this children clothing store is like a little Beatles museum. A few showcases contain memorabilia such as instruments, albums, and other various artifacts. Naturally there was a display of Beatles shirts for sale—but I probably don’t need to mention there weren’t any in my size!
Did You Know?
Between 1978 and 2006, Apple Corps and Apple Computers were involved in ongoing trademark disputes. They share the same name, and you probably never even realized that. If you aren’t a Beatles fan, you probably didn’t even know that.
Steve Jobs has claimed the name Apple was chosen while he was “on one of my fruitarian diets,” after leaving an apple farm. He said the name sounded “fun, spirited, and not intimidating.” There is, however, another possibility. Rumor has it, the name Apple was chosen by Jobs—a Beatles fan—as a tribute to Apple Records. And as for the bite out of Jobs’ Apple—well, it is said that Jobs just wanted a bite out of the empire that was Apple Corps.
Today, the disputes have been resolved. The Beatles are on iTunes. Life is great!