A teenage officer from police who shut down The Beatles’ final live gig in 1969 has admitted that he had no regrets, although he did admit his threats to detain the band because they played too loudly.
Ray Dagg, a former London Metropolitan Police constable and now 72, was the 19-year-old responding to noise complaints made by neighbours on January 30, 1969.
John, Paul, George and Ringo were performing their last gig, a 42-minute set that included hits Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down and I Got a Feeling, on the roof of The Beatles’ Apple Records headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London.
Dagg’s involvement in The Beatles’ famed rooftop concert has resurfaced following the release of Peter Jackson’s eight-hour documentary Get Back.
The young police officer (pictured), who shut down The Beatles’ final live gig in 1969 has admitted that he had no regrets, although he did admit his threats to arrest them for too loud music was a ‘bluff.
The man who stopped The Beatles last live performance from a London rooftop was PC Ray Dagg (pictured).
Ray Dagg, a 72 year-old former London Metropolitan Police Constable who was responding to noise complaints from neighbours on January 30, 1969 (middle), was 19 years old. Pictured: The Beatles’ road manager, Mal Evans (right)
The series, on Disney+, is based on more than 60 hours of footage recorded by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his 1970 documentary Let It Be.
Dagg is a celebrity, surrounded by interview requests and Facebook friends.
Responding to his new found fame, Dagg said: ‘It was just work, and it’s blown up into all this.
‘It’s ridiculous, I just don’t understand it,’ he told the Sunday Times.
John (right), Paul (left), George and Ringo were performing their last gig, a 42-minute set that included hits Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down and I Got a Feeling, on the roof of The Beatles’ Apple Records headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London
After the eight-hour documentary Get back by Peter Jackson, Dagg’s participation in the Beatles famous rooftop concert is now in question. Dagg was a teenager police officer.
Dagg convinced The Beatles’ road manager, Mal Evans, to stop the concert, but admitted his threats to arrest the band were a ‘bluff’.
Responding to the noise, Dagg told Evans that the West End Central police station in Savile Row had received ’30 complaints…within minutes’.
Reflecting on his role in rock history, Dagg said: ‘Well, at that time, I didn’t know that they would never play together again.’
Evans was informed by Dagg that Evans had received 30 complaints about the West End Central Police Station in Savile Row within minutes of the noise.
Dagg, who was born in Chelsea, followed his father into military service. However, he left the Met six year after seeing The Beatles perform on the roof.
Portrait of The Beatles. Ringo Starr (left to right), Paul McCartney (right), John Lennon (left) and George Harrison (circa 1965).
‘At least there’s something on a film somewhere that will forever show that PC Ray Dagg shut down The Beatles.
‘If that’s my lasting image of life, if that’s what people remember me for, that’s not bad. Thousands, millions of people don’t get remembered at all.’
Dagg was born in Chelsea and joined his father’s force. He left the Met after six years, just after the Beatles’ roof concert.
He said he’s never actually owned a Beatles album and preferred Simon and Garfunkel.