Review: Good Day Sunshine State - How The Beatles Rocked Florida
The Fab Four created a seismic tidal wave in 1964
The narrative for this story is not merely to chronicle the Beatles’ time spent in Florida. While that is covered in-depth, what speaks volumes is the historical backstory concerning race relations in the State and the collective individuals who make this tale incredibly impactful.
Author Bob Kealing has given us a history lesson one might not expect with such an enticing title. While most of the Beatles’ experiences in Florida are tied closely to their February 16 live appearance at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, the rich detail that went on before, during, and after that broadcast speaks more to the culture that was South Florida than Liverpool.
As Kealing delves into the racial divisions that were on graphic display, several prominent individuals stand out, notwithstanding the most vocal and prominent leader of that time: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As the voice of color inequality who could actively push against the atrocities surrounding Southern bigotry and hatred, his persona weighs heavily at the start of this story.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is hugged by Mrs. Irwin Pembleton after learning that the Senate passed the Civil Rights Act on June 19, 1964. Anonymous, AP
As the Beatles began their serendipitous journey to America, this chasm was still vast, as the assassination of President Kennedy appeared to drive down the morale and dreams once held up as the future of a free nation, no matter the color of your skin, as Dr. King so famously expounded in 1963.
However, in February of 1964, the focus would be on this group of four young upstarts from Merseyside England. As they made waves in New York City, at the other end of the seaboard, a small storm was brewing on Miami Beach. The Beatles would be heading down for a live broadcast at The Deauville Hotel and their charge was an unsuspecting member of the Miami Beach Police Department, Sgt. Buddy Dresner.
Dresner had already pulled celebrity duty for President Kennedy when he spoke the previous year at the Deauville. Now his superiors were requesting his special attention for the young kids coming in for The Ed Sullivan Show. Dresner had no idea what was heading his way.
Emerging as the heroic lifeline in Miami, Kealing details all the craziness and hyperactivity associated with Dresner chaperoning the Fabs (and their entourage) in the midst of screaming teens, Murray the K, wayward tourists, and of course, the famously staged event with the one and only Cassius Clay.
Between the seemingly endless publicity photo shoots, rehearsals, songwriting (as revealed that Lennon was composing ‘You Can’t Do That’), and some attempt at normalcy at a Dresner family dinner, the Beatles emerge as young adults not quite understanding that their fame could muster the hysteria and adulation thrust upon them in the States.
With regards to their impact that February, Kealing details the transformation on a number of future rockers - Tom Petty, to name one - but the real history marker is drawn by the presence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his stance with supporters in St. Augustine. Florida had become a flashpoint for race discrimination and as Dr. King’s arrest and incarceration in June are explained, the historical ramifications of this event reverberated down the line for the next chapter in Florida’s adventures with the Beatles.
As their North American summer tour commenced, the band (with manager Brian Epstein) had already made known in the performing contract that there would be no segregation of blacks from whites at any of their concerts. As Kealing allows for the many personal stories tied to this, he also gives a viewpoint unique to both camps. More so noted, with the unexpected September layover in Key West as Hurricane Dora raged off the east coast, with a Gator Bowl appearance in Jacksonville in jeopardy.
[The Beatles are] Scourges of Liverpool… a passing fad, perfectly timed and fitted to the mores, morals and ideals of a fast-paced troubled time.
— Jacksonville Times Union, 1964
John Trusty - a Navy hospital corpsman stationed in Key West - observed the interaction of the Beatles with several Black performers: Ringo Starr carousing and splashing in the Key Wester hotel pool with the female members of the Exciters (one of their opening acts); acknowledging the presence of another opener Clarence “Frogman” Henry and Lofton “Coffee” Butler, a local legend who played with Starr and George Harrison at the hotel’s bar. At these moments in time, coupled with the group’s vocal aversion to the Vietnam War (noted by Larry Kane’s insightful questions on this and other topical events), the tone had been set for Jacksonville’s storm-ravaged performance.
Teenage ticketholder Tom Petty couldn’t make the show due to the damage, but Kitty Oliver did. A young Black teen who favored Ringo, she attended the concert. Alone. As Kealing writes, “There were no angry segregationists to protest her attendance, no police to sanction her for sitting somewhere out of bounds.” Oliver came to appreciate all those that had fought for civil rights and was able to attend the University of Florida the following year, earning a doctorate and becoming a historian, author, and one of the devoted fans that were interviewed for Ron Howard’s “Eight Days A Week.”
The Gator Bowl concert was fast and furious and seemed like another blip on the radar, another hassle to deal with. But looking back on those embattled, youthful days, the Beatles were quietly paving the way for acceptance and understanding. It might have been hard to hear that above the high-pitched screaming, yet their insistence in bringing an audience to their table with their message now stands as a small triumph, in spite of all the danger.
Kealing has given us not only a fascinating insight as to where the Beatles’ legacy lives in Florida but also reveals the heroic efforts of the activists that need to be remembered, understood, and most importantly appreciated for the work they did.
Bob Kealing is an Edward R. Murrow and five-time Emmy award-winning reporter for WESH-TV in Orlando, FL, and is the author of five books, including “Calling Me Home: Gram Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock.” He played a leading role in the renovation of the Derry Down, a Winter Haven concert venue at which the late Parsons performed as a youth, and Orlando’s The Kerouac Project, inspiring creativity, and building a literary community that honors the spirit of Jack Kerouac’s legacy.
Thanks for this incisive and informed take Amy. Appreciate your scholarship and devotion to the Fab Four!
Thanks so much, Kal! All the credit goes to Bob Kealing... a labor of love!