The Beatles Recalls Visiting The US For The First Time
The Beatles‘ official Instagram account took to social media to recall the band’s visiting the United States for the first time in the 1960s.
The Beatles was a 10-year band officially activated between 1960 and 1970. Throughout that 10-year career, the band released twelve studio albums to make their name bigger in the rock scene. In 1964, while they already had their first two albums, The Beatles flew to the United States to meet fans in there, which was six days before they hit their first US with I Want to Hold Your Hand. Over 3,000 people went down to the airport to meet the band at the time, which was huge.
However, two days after the band came down to the US, they made their first on the Ed Sullivan Show. As reported, over 73 million viewers in the US watched the show on television. On February 11, The Beatles‘ concert at the Coliseum in Washington marked their first United States appearance with more than 20,000 attendees. The next day, on February 12, The Beatles rocked at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Finally, on February 16, the band performed at Deauville Hotel in Miami. On February 22, The Beatles returned to their hometown, Liverpool, England.
Recently, the band shared a photo of the band members while they were in front of the press at the airport. The astonishment of every player was evident in their eyes. Sharing the photo, the band captioned:
“#OTD in #1964, #TheBeatles began their first US visit – a 10 day tour – with a (hilarious) press conference at Kennedy Airport, New York.”
Ringo Starr’s Reaction To The Crowd
The band’s drummer Ringo Starr shared his experiences in the Anthology back in the day. The band wrote his words on the caption to reveal what he thought that day. The drummer confirmed it was great to meet a crowd like that. Starr also stated that it was like a dream.
“It was so exciting. On the plane, flying into the airport, I felt as though there was a big octopus with tentacles that were grabbing the plane and dragging us down into New York. America was the best. It was a dream, coming from Liverpool.”
John Lennon’s Words On The Beatles’ Visiting US For First Time
The band also added John Lennon’s words on his band’s visiting the US back in February 1964. He said they were nervous while they were answering the press’ questions. They joked about answers after the reporters asked them joking questions.
“We were funny at press conferences, because it was all a joke. They’d ask joke questions so we’d give joke answers, but we weren’t really funny at all. It was just fifth-form humour, the sort you laugh at at school. The press were putrid. If there were any good questions about our music we took them seriously. We were nervous, though I don’t think people thought so.”
Paul McCartney On The Beatles’ First US Appearance
Furthermore, the band’s guitarist Paul McCartney, the richest rockstar in the world, also talked about The Beatles‘ first United States appearance in 1964. Recalling that they were told there was a huge crowd in the airport, McCartney was clear that it was unexpected. Just at that time, he thought they “really made it,” as he told in the Anthology:
“There were millions of kids at the airport, which nobody had expected. We heard about it in mid-air. There were journalists on the plane, and the pilot had rang ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them.’ We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.’”
Also Read: Paul McCartney Recalled John Lennon’s ‘Shocking’ Words
The post was liked by more than 65k people on Instagram. There were more than 150 fans who shared words in the comment section. A fan even defended The Beatles on their press conference, saying, “It’s so great. The press had no idea what to do with them, they didn’t expect so much unity from a rock group that had no real spokesman—all four of them were funny and were on top of things.”
Source: Instagram
