Music
THE BEATLES SAY THEY FOUGHT DISCRIMINATION IN THE U.S. LONDON (AP) The
Beatles were musicians. But Paul McCartney says that, in their own way,
they were also civil rights activists back in the day. He says the
group had always played with black musicians and had mixed race
audiences when they performed in England. But when they got to the U.S.
they were told that when they performed in Jacksonville, Florida,
blacks and whites would have to sit separately because of segregation
laws in effect at the time. McCartney said the group insisted that the
audience be integrated and authorities relented. He says the group
included a non-segregation clause in the contracts they signed for many
of their U.S. shows before segregation was made illegal by the 1965
Civil Rights Act. McCartney and the other surviving member of the Fab
Four, Ringo Starr, are featured in a Ron Howard documentary about The
Beatles touring days. Sound: 001-a-13-(Ringo Starr, former member of
The Beatles, in AP interview)-"really great music"-Ringo Starr says it
was odd for he and Paul McCartney to be back at Abbey Road, where The
Beatles used to record their music. (15 Sep 2016) < <
