Chapter 31

125 “I wasn’t saying the Beatles are better than Jesus or God or Christianity”: John Dodge, “On This Day in Chicago, 1966: John Lennon Apologized for ‘Jesus’ Comment,” CBS Chicago, August 12, 2014.

125 “just loses its meaning or its context immediately”: “The Beatles—A Day in the Life, March 4, 1966,” BeatlesRadio.com.

126 “I felt very bad for John during the whole episode”: Paul McCartney, interview with the authors, 2019.

126 “I didn’t want to talk because I thought they’d kill me”: Jordan Runtagh, “When John Lennon’s ‘More Popular Than Jesus’ Controversy Turned Ugly,” Rolling Stone, July 29, 2016.

126 “hail Beatles in Chicago”: Jack Doyle, “Burn the Beatles, 1966: Bigger Than Jesus?,” PopHistoryDig.com, October 11, 2017.

126 “the story of protest kicked up recently by Beatle John Lennon”: Doyle, “Burn the Beatles, 1966.”

126 “some foundation to the latest observations of John Lennon”: Doyle, “Burn the Beatles, 1966.”

126 Beatles bonfires: Doyle, “Burn the Beatles, 1966.”

127 “I created another little piece of hate in the world”: Leroy Aarons, “‘Can’t Express Myself Very Well,’ Beatle Apologizes for Remarks,” Washington Post, August 15, 1966.

127 “not welcome in the City of Memphis”: John Beifuss, “Memphis Leaders Gave Beatles Icy Reception,” Commercial Appeal (Memphis), August 10, 2006.

127 “actually threatening to assassinate John Lennon”: Bob Spitz, The Beatles: The Biography (New York, Back Bay, 2006), 632.

127 “You might as well paint a target on me”: Runtagh, “When John Lennon’s ‘More Popular Than Jesus’ Controversy Turned Ugly.”

127 “frightened by things”: Carol Clerk, “George Harrison,” Uncut, February 2002.

128 “There was always an edge in America”: Runtagh, “When John Lennon’s ‘More Popular Than Jesus’ Controversy Turned Ugly.”

128 ticket price of $5.50: Steve Pike, “The Beatles in Memphis,” WKNOFM.org, August 23, 2013.

128 “I love Jesus, but I love those Beatles, too”: UPI, “Beatles Win Contest,” Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro, Tennessee), August 20, 1966.

128 “they thought snipers might shoot us”: Spitz, The Beatles, 635.

128 “each thought it was the other that had been shot”: The Beatles, The Beatles Anthology (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000), 227.

128 “blast off into double-time”: “Bang That Turned the Beatles Off,” Sydney Morning Herald, July 2, 2008.

128 “The four performers didn’t bat an eye or miss a note”: UPI, “Beatles Win Contest.”

129 “The only gig we ever missed!”: Jordan Runtagh, “Remembering Beatles’ Final Concert,” Rolling Stone, August 29, 2016.

129 “I remember us getting in a big, empty steel-lined wagon”: Jeff Giles, “The Day the Beatles Decided to Stop Touring,” UltimateClassicRock.com, August 21, 2017.

129 “He was struggling mightily to get out from the comments he made”: Ken Mansfield, interview with authors, 2019.

129 “all in a big movie and we were the ones trapped”: The Beatles, The Beatles Anthology.

129 conflicting signage: Doyle, “Burn the Beatles, 1966.”

129 LENNON SAVES: Runtagh, “Remembering Beatles’ Final Concert.”

129 “Tape it, will you? Tape the show”: Runtagh, “Remembering Beatles’ Final Concert.”