Sid Bernstein (impresario)

Sid Bernstein
Born	(1918-08-12) August 12, 1918 New York, New York
Occupation	rock promoter

Sid Bernstein (born August 12, 1918) is an American music producer and promoter. Bernstein changed the American music scene in the 1960s by bringing The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, The Moody Blues, and The Kinks to America. He was the first impresario to organize rock concerts at sports stadiums.

Biography

Sid Bernstein was born in New York City in 1918. During World War II, he served in France.

Impresario career

Bernstein helped start the British Invasion by bringing The Beatles over to the United States from Britain. They played at Carnegie Hall after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Bernstein also booked them at Shea Stadium, a concert that Bernstein described as "inaudible." During the Beatles Shea concert, Bernstein had the phrase "The Rascals are coming!" displayed on the Shea Stadium scoreboard. "I had met the Rascals in the summer of '65; I put their name up on the scoreboard (at Shea) - 'The Rascals are coming! The Rascals are coming!' A lot of people who hadn't seen pictures of them thought they were a black group. I sensed something big about them."

He worked with the Rascals for five years, helping along their rise from obscurity, changing their name from "Young Rascals" to "the Rascals" in an attempt to avoid controversy.

Bernstein also organized concerts for Lenny Kravitz, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Laura Branigan, and Sly & the Family Stone. In 1964, he brought many Israeli singers to the United States for their first major concerts, among them Shoshana Damari, Shaike Ophir and Yaffa Yarkoni, who appeared at Carnegie Hall a year after the Beatles.

Bernstein was the first to stage a rock show at Madison Square Garden.

Sid Bernstein Presents...

Sid Bernstein is also the subject of Sid Bernstein Presents..., a documentary film set for completion in 2010 that details his storied career and life. Sid Bernstein Presents... made its world premiere at the DocNZ film festival in Auckland, New Zealand in February 2010.

Published works

Bernstein wrote or coauthored several books:

• It's Sid Bernstein Calling (Jonathan David Publishers)
• Not Just the Beatles ... (Jacques & Flusster Publishing)

Musical works

At age 93, Bernstein released his first album as a singer. Sid Bernstein Presents... is a collection of some of his favorite songs, and was released on February 14, 2012 as a digital download. The album is available at the iTunes Store, CD Baby, and other online outlets.

Further reading

• Harry, Bill. The Beatles Who's Who, Putnam Publishing Group, 1982.
• Spitz, Robert Stephen. The Making of Superstars. Artists and Executives of the Rock Music Business, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1978.

External links

• Galipault, Gary (2001-01-21). "SID BERNSTEIN: HE'S MORE THAN JUST THE BEATLES". Pause and Play. Retrieved 2008-12-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• "The oldies.about.com Interview: Sid Bernstein". The oldies.about.com. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
• Emmerson, Glyn (2001-5). "Sid Bernstein: The man who brought America to the Beatles". NYRock. Retrieved 2008-12-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Digger. "Digger's interview with Sid Bernstein - The man who brought The Beatles to America and triggered the 'British Invasion'". Retrosellers. Retrieved 2008-12-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Harabadian. "Not Just Sid Bernstein". Retrieved 2008-12-14.
• "Sid Bernstein Presents... (2005)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
• James, Gary. "Sid Bernstein Interview". ClassicBands.com. Retrieved 2008-12-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• "The Rascal's Biography". Last.fm. 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
• Falco, Sue (2001-02-23). "Lenny Kravitz May Play Shea, Promoter Says". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 2008-12-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)