The Beatles 1966 Shea Stadium Concert Poster from Sid Bernstein's Right-Hand Man....

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NEWLY DISCOVERED SPECIMEN FROM AN INSIDE SOURCE

The Beatles 1966 Shea Stadium Concert Poster from Sid Bernstein's Right-Hand Man. Heritage is proud to be offering another newly discovery Beatles 1966 Shea Stadium, New York concert poster, this time from a source who was right at the side of the big show's promoter, Sid Bernstein. We're all thrilled that another specimen of this concert-poster holy grail is seeing the light of day, and its provenance is about as good as it gets - right from the office of the man whose name is at the top of the poster.

"Fred Lyman worked with Sid Bernstein for many years," Toni Lyman, Fred's widow, tells Heritage. "They really were a two-man operation. Fred worked concerts acting as Sid's bookkeeper, running the office, arranging tickets, organizing leaflets and working the phones while Sid worked on promoting concerts."

Ms. Lyman tells us that Fred even attended the Beatles' press conference before the show at the Warwick Hotel on Monday August 22. "My husband is the one who asked the question, 'How did you like working with Sid Bernstein?' And I believe it was Paul who said, 'I really like his West Side Story' - making a joke about Leonard Bernstein. And everybody laughed.

"So Fred's all-time favorite concert was working at the Beatles' last concert at Shea. He told me that on the night of the concert the air was electric with energy and excitement. Fred loved the experience so much that he took home one of the concert posters as a memento. He immediately put it into a frame along with two unused tickets, to remember this special night, not thinking it would ever have worth or anything." (Those two tickets are also being sold in this auction on the Music Memorabilia side.)

"The poster hung in Fred's home over the next few decades," Ms. Lyman continues. "I have a few family photos that show the poster hanging in the background. The poster was always attached to his hip. Wherever we moved, or went, it came with us." (Please see our accompanying photo of Fred and Toni Lyman from the 1980's, plus another random shot inside their home many years ago, with the poster present... framed with their two unused tickets.)

"Until Covid came, we had no idea this poster had garnered so much interest. Unfortunately, Fred passed away. His family came to realize that it would have given him much joy and satisfaction knowing that someone else would appreciate this memory of such a special experience."

All this excitement is over an original cardboard window card advertising John, Paul, George and Ringo on their last-ever tour appearing at New York's Shea Stadium on Tuesday, August 23, 1966. This was only six days away from their final show ever at Candlestick Park, and then the Fabs hung it up for good. This poster was printed weeks before the show to goose sales for a concert that clearly wasn't selling out.

An original Beatles Shea poster is still very rare, no question about it, because the demand for it is overwhelming. All the other collectors with the few existing specimens are clinging to them for dear life. None of the Shea posters we've carried have been re-consignments by previous Heritage auction winners.

As we've stated before, "The Beatles" and "Shea Stadium" are two sets of couplets that go together in pop culture like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers up through Jay-Z and Beyonce. Not only world-changing music, but entertainment history was made at Shea by the Fabs in 1965 and '66, and it's easy to see why: by stepping on stage at Shea, the Beatles faced an audience that probably exceeded all of their 279 appearances at Liverpool's Cavern Club combined - all in one night.

For their first appearance there in 1965, no advertising materials were needed. Word of mouth alone was enough to sell the place out 10 times over. Once New York DJs started mentioning it on the air, promoter Sid Bernstein just sat back and watched the money roll in. Who needed a budget for advertising? Concert posters were just a marketing expense back then, despite collectors' love for them today. They weren't created frivolously in the 1960's; they were produced only if needed.

Bernstein did, however, take advantage of the situation in '65 by creating a small B&W 'marquee-style' poster and handbill that promoted several other shows he had coming up. Just plain, B&W and no great shakes aesthetically, although it represented a lot. (We have one of those, too, in this weekend's auction.)

Well, 1966 was a whole 'nother story. Bernstein needed a poster all over NYC and surrounds that would get peoples' attention and sell tickets.

While relatively simple and straightforward in presentation, at the same time this 1966 poster is a masterwork of charisma, color, type fonts, our heroes' faces and, of course, rarity. How many did Sid have printed up? Nobody knows. A couple hundred is a good guess, with a range ultimately of anywhere from 100 to 500. We just have to remember that in the mid-1960's, nobody saved anything. Why would they want to hang onto this piece of cardboard? It didn't have a unique photo of the Fab Four... just their current standard publicity shot. So what's the big deal? Besides, the boys were certainly returning again in 1967, and then '68, and then '69... NOT.

That's right; another thing nobody knew is that this would be the Beatles' last hurrah. Within a week of this concert, it would be impossible to ever see them live in concert again (rooftop filmmaking aside). It would all end in San Francisco six nights later, and a page would then be turned that nobody on earth except the four men from Liverpool wanted to see turned.

But first, there was the Big Apple and getting butts into those 55,000 seats. We don't know what promoter Bernstein did with radio and newspaper ads, but we sure know about this poster. It was likely stapled to telephone poles, fences, record-store walls, subway stations and anyplace around Manhattan that would gather the most eyeballs. Young eyeballs. Pop music was still a young person's game at this point. Parents were relegated to dropping their kids off at the stadium and patting them on the head for wanting to see the "yeah, yeah, yeah" quartet. Only later would everyone realize that the Beatles were making revolutionary rock-music history that would have tremendous influence well into the next century.

It wasn't too long before promoter Bernstein realized how iconic, and marketable, his concert-poster image was. Thus began the trickle, which turned to a flow, which eventually turned to a tidal wave of limited-edition lithographs, reproductions, signed editions, bootlegs, pirates, knock-off's... just pick your term. The sheer scope and variety of "Beatles Shea 1966" concert posters out there in eBay-land is staggering, and sometimes humorous. I like the one with a Dezo Hoffman shot of the group from 1963... really? They had just put out an album with "Tomorrow Never Knows," and the pirates couldn't do any better than a photo from the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" picture sleeve?

In 1966, promoter Bernstein had to pull out all the stops. The world had grown weary of Beatlemania, the band had experienced a rough time of it overseas, everyone was getting tired of the fans' screaming, and worst of all, John Lennon's "We're more popular than Jesus now" remark had exploded in the media in July, directly impacting ticket sales for this August concert. Although the Beatles were still creating fantastic music - many fans & reviewers now consider their summer 1966 album Revolver their greatest ever, even better than Sgt. Pepper - ticket sales were not robust at many stops on this tour. The upcoming hippie ethos, which would completely dominate pop culture for the next few years, had started to make a lot of noise. So... Shea '66 was anything but a sellout.

So what's a promoter to do? Market and advertise, of course. So promoter Bernstein went to the Murray Poster Printing Company there in New York and had an advertising poster (aka window card) designed, printed up and distributed, to try to increase sales.

I've been a serious poster collector for over 25 years, so between that and Heritage's enormous reach, naturally I get lots of phone calls from strangers. Honest to goodness: When somebody starts to say, "I've got this old Beatles concert poster, and...", I get bored. Immediately. My eyes roll and my goal switches to finishing the call as quickly and politely as I can. I'd much rather they've said "this old Otis Redding poster" or something. Why? Because with Beatles concert posters, they're always fake. ALWAYS! They're inevitably calling me about one of the million boots out there. I usually ask, "Does it have the year on there?" When they say, "Yes, sure, of course!" I'll respond with something like, "So what do you think of the Yankees' chances this year?"

I've been lucky enough to have thousands of rare posters pass through my hands over the last quarter-century, and I had several of my own 1961-62 original Beatles Liverpool concert posters on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio for the first decade they were open (1995-2005). But up until our first Beatles Shea '66 arrived at Heritage's offices in Dallas in 2019, I had never, ever seen or held one in person before. It is that rare. And the world's biggest private dealer of high-end concert posters told us that it's the only big poster that has never passed through his hands, either. And that he's never even been offered one, at any price. In the world of Beatles concert-poster collecting, it remains truly the holiest of grails.

Pete Howard
Director, Concert Posters
Heritage Auctions

Measures 18" x 23 ¾" and grades to restored Very Good condition. Restoration Work by Chameleon. COA from Heritage Auctions.

More Information: This original board was lovingly worked on and cared for by the world-class Chameleon Restoration. There are still plenty of surface creases evident, but only when you tilt the poster at an angle to the light, not when you look straight-on. Take a look at our pictures for yourself. There was deep creasing in the "B," "E", "A" and "L" of "Beatles," as well as in Sid Bernstein's name and Paul, and George and John's hair. It's all been nicely dialed back and minimized. The window card definitely still has solid bones. There is other surface creasing of a lesser degree going on, and yes a bit of surface blemishing and color touch-up here and there. There's even the super-tiniest of edge pushes under "Printing Co." at the very bottom. But perfection isn't the aim here, and this piece feels every inch of 1966 and retains all of its vintage magic.


Heritage Auctions provides as much information as possible but strongly encourages in-person inspection. Condition statements are offered as general guidance only, not as complete representations of fact, and do not constitute a warranty or assumption of liability by Heritage. Some condition issues may not be noted but may be visible in the photos, which are considered part of the condition report. Lots estimated at $1,000 or less are not de-framed for inspection, and we may be unable to provide additional details for lots valued under $500. Heritage does not guarantee the condition of frames and is not liable for damage to frames, glass/acrylic coverings, original boxes, display accessories, or artwork that has shifted in the frame. All lots are sold "AS IS" under our Terms & Conditions of Auction.