She became a fan the day she met the Beatles

September 14, 2014, 5:46 pm

Usually we read stories of fans who met the Beatles on this blog. This time we will read about a girl who was sadly going through a tragedy in her life in 1964 and was out of the loop about the Beatles. Yet she somehow found herself at the Beatles press conference in Pittsburgh (that part is somehow missing from this story) and became an automatic Beatle fan.

“One final thing for the Beatles,” an announcer said over the public address system, “if you’d just line up (for pictures) with a little girl for the local papers, that would be fine.”

An audio recording of the next several minutes is chaotic, individual voices nearly impossible to distinguish, but one of the Beatles can be heard calling out, “Where’s the little girl?”

Then, in a sing-song manner, as if calling for a lost child, “Little girl?”

A tiny, 17-year-old brunette named Barbara Shapiro emerged in the midst of the Beatles. Barbara -- daughter of Sam Shapiro and a cousin of Joyce Barniker, who’d been watching Paul doodle -- was surprised to be thrust into the enviable role of the “little girl” posing with the Beatles. In fact, the band meant very little to her. She couldn’t understand the fans. All that silly screaming, the hysteria, the worshipful adoration. It was demeaning.

“How’s it going?” one of the Beatles asked.

Under a mix of voices and noise, a young woman can be heard talking and, at times, laughing.

“Let’s sing for her,” a Beatle said. Then, the world’s most famous voices harmonize for a brief moment.

“Lovely,” the young woman said.

Barbara Shapiro was in the midst of an odd and eventful day, one that would include moments of celebration and shock. For starters, she was two days shy of her 18th birthday. Her aunt that day had given her an early gift -- a $100 bill -- which Barbara stashed in her purse. Any happiness Barbara experienced on this day, however, was tempered by painful memories triggered by an event just a few days earlier: The unveiling of her mother’s gravestone.

Pearl Shapira Shapiro had died several months earlier after a two-year battle with cancer. It was, for Barbara, a horrendous experience. She’d watched her mother waste away and, in some of the worst moments, vomit blood. There were countless trips to the hospital. All of this was hidden from her younger brother and sister, who wouldn’t be told about their mother’s illness until the day of her death. It was all hush-hush.

“Look at John,” someone called out to Barbara.

Which one was John? Barbara was perhaps the only young woman in Pittsburgh who didn’t know. She’d not paid enough attention to the Beatles to distinguish one from the other.

It was too embarrassing to ask, “Which of you is John?” So Barbara started to turn to her right. There stood Paul. “I looked at him right in the face,” Barbara recalled. “He was absolutely mesmerizing. I got stuck on him.”

As for the rest of the Beatles, Barbara thought they needed a serious amount of dental work.

Someone suggested that Barbara pretend to faint, so she threw out her arms and threw her head back in a mock swoon.

Cameras clicked. Finally, much to the relief of Press drama critic Kaspar Monahan, the conference ended after 40 minutes.

Story from this site
http://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/longform/stories/beatles1964/index.html

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Throwing tomatoes

September 14, 2014, 5:51 pm

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When the Beatles arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 14, 1964 they were welcomed by flying produce....again. This wasn't the first time tomatoes and the like were thrown at them (see the tour of downunder earlier in the summer). A reporter asked Ringo about this as he stepped off the plane:

“What’s that stuff they were throwing?” Al McDowell asked.
“Looked like a tomato, to me,” Ringo responded, pronouncing it toe-mah-toe in his thick Liverpool accent. “It’s always the same, you got a couple of lunatics in a couple of thousand … .”

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Pittsburgh press

September 14, 2014, 6:03 pm

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Photo by Donnie Johnston

Donnie Johnston entered Conference Room A in the bowels of the arena and was struck by the room’s bland, coldly functional decor -- bare, off-white walls and steel doors. Four chairs had been placed before two drab, gray folding tables that would have been more at home loaded down with casseroles at the local Presbyterian church. Donnie assumed the venue would be a bit more regal.
Reporters and technicians were busy hooking up microphones and stringing cables across the tables.

Donnie got busy with his own bulky equipment. Once everything was ready, Donnie placed his finger on the record button and waited. He had one chance at this and he didn’t want to blow it.

Suddenly, a door opened and Ringo, John, George and Paul were ushered into the room.

No screams or gasps of excitement greeted the Beatles. Most reporters assigned to cover the event were men old enough to have daughters in the throng gathered outside. One was Kaspar Monahan, a bespectacled man in his 60s with a wave of gray hair atop his head and a deep vertical wrinkle in the skin between his eyes. He seemed to be either deeply curious or enduring a twinge of pain.

As drama critic for The Pittsburgh Press, Monahan spent the 1940s and ’50s reviewing films and visiting elaborate movie sets, where he interviewed legendary stars like Humphrey Bogart, Doris Day and Jimmy Durante. In 1938, he reviewed “The Wizard of Oz,” then playing at the Loew’s Penn (“Definitely … a picture to see,” he concluded).

Now he was stuck in a small, sterile conference room that was becoming increasingly smokey from lighted cigarettes. Before him were four odd-looking young men from Liverpool. Guys like Monahan remained certain that songs like “She Loves You” and “Please Please Me” would age like room-temperature fish. Sooner or later, America would wise up and get back to real music by true artists like Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.

In an article that fairly grunts with sarcasm, Monahan gave this account of the Beatles entrance:
“No burst of trumpets -- but, heavens to Betsy, suddenly there they are, girls -- and in the flesh. Not looking too rosy either, sorta muddy pale, and those egg-beater hairdos do nothing for them in the way of sex appeal.”

The Beatles were by now accustomed to skepticism and even mockery from the American press. As they settled into their seats, Paul whistled a tune. Cameras clicked. “Look down here, Paul,” a photographer called out. Paul was the epitome of cool. He continued to whistle. Then he began softly singing lyrics.

“Well no one told me about her,” he sang, almost in a whisper, “the way she lied.”

Few in the room could have recognized the tune -- “She’s Not There,” by another British band, the Zombies. The song was then No. 12 on the U.K. singles chart. It would reach No. 2 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, but not until December.

Paul wore a gray-blue suit with a tie. The rest of the band wore gray or blue sport coats -- John’s being darker than the rest, and his shirt louder, with those wild blue polka dots. And, of course, there was the hair, which dropped down over the forehead before abruptly veering right (or, in George’s case, left) at the eyebrows.

Outside, thousands of fans waited for the arena doors to open. Several pressed their faces against the arena’s thick glass and peered in. They could sense something was happening. Reporters inside heard their screams and howls.

After several moments, a male voice called out, “How about the wear and tear on the clothes, boys, how many sets did you have to bring?”

And so the Pittsburgh press corps’ first meeting with the musical group that had become a worldwide phenomenon began with a question about the lifespan of clothing.

It wouldn’t get much better.

“What do you like for women’s fashions?” one reporter asked.

"I like long hair, you know,” Paul said. “And modern-type clothes.”

Another question: “How do you fellas go about writing your songs?"

"We sit down in a room and just pick up a guitar or any convenient thing," John said dryly.
"Then I go, 'Hmmm-hmm-hmm-hmm,'" Paul added.

Then John: "Sometimes Ringo and I go …” And he begins to whistle melodically.

"Would you repeat that?" a reporter requested.

"Yes, “ said Paul. “Hmmm-hmm-hmm-hmm.'"

Very cute. Kaspar Monahan wasn’t happy. He didn’t bother asking any questions. Nothing seemed worthy of jotting down. At one point, someone asked about all those buttons overeager admirers tore off the Beatles’ jackets. “Paul or John or one of them said something funny, for there was a laugh, but I missed the riposte,” Monahan wrote.

Seven minutes into the session, Donnie saw an opening. His voice rose up, higher pitched and obviously younger than the rest, the words bent by a slight Southern twang:

"Ringo, there's a rumor that you're running for president. Do you have any comment on that?"

“No,” Ringo replied, “I’m not running.”

This was followed immediately by a question about Ringo’s tonsils, and whether he’d have them removed in the U.S. (No, Ringo said, he’d undergo the procedure in England.)

Sitting in the second row of reporters was a young woman who had no notebook and was keeping a low profile. Joyce Barniker wasn’t a reporter, she was a 22-year-old recent graduate of Wheaton College whose uncle Howard Shapiro was one of the concert-promoting Shapiros. That connection resulted in a pass to the press conference and, later, a front-row seat to the concert.

Joyce had a good view of Paul. She could clearly see that, in the midst of this noisy and somewhat chaotic press event, he was doodling on a piece of paper.

What on earth was he drawing? she wondered. Joyce determined to get that piece of paper.
Flashbulbs filled the room with quick explosions of light.

Donnie raised his Brownie Starflash camera, a simple device that cost about $8. Donnie knew it made him look like a small-town hick among the professionals using more expensive Nikon models. But he didn’t care.

He moved close and popped off a few images -- George staring into the camera and smiling, John looking down with a cigarette between the fingers on his right hand, Paul leaning forward and answering a question while a man in a suit emerges from behind to offer a drink in a glass with a straw. Donnie’s images are rare color pictures of the event.

The Beatles answered random questions from the crowd of reporters for about 20 minutes. Then began the press event’s second stage. Radio reporters lined up in front of each Beatle to get brief one-one-one interviews for on-air use. After several minutes, the television reporters would get their chance.

Donnie got in line. He had a favor to ask of one of the Beatles. He’d considered asking John Lennon, but Lennon’s sarcastic wit and the withering look he shot at reporters asking stupid questions gave Donnie pause. Maybe Paul would do it, Donnie thought.

He’d have to wait, however, behind KQV’s Steve Rizen, a cowboy-hat wearing DJ proud of his Texas roots. Clutching a microphone, he leaned close to Paul and asked, “Have you ever seen a Texas hat like this before?”

“Yes,” Paul replied.

“You been to Texas yet?” And then, “What is your opinion of Texas?”

Thus began the first extensive face-to-face interview with a Beatle in Pittsburgh -- with talk of cowboys and oil wells.

During the entire press conference, Rizen’s colleague Bill Clark was stationed just outside the room, where he could look inside and provide narration, repeat questions radio listeners couldn’t hear and offer comments and observations. Live broadcasting was prohibited, but Clark’s radio audience got the next best thing.

KQV used special equipment, recently developed by ABC, that allowed the station to air its coverage on a seven-second delay. Those standing outside the arena could listen to transistor radios and hear updates about events happening inside, sometimes just a few yards and seconds away.

From where he stood, Clark could see cheering fans pressed against plate glass windows “two door thicknesses away.” The crush of people was alarming.

“Frankly,” he said, “I would very sincerely urge those of you out there listening to KQV …. that you not press that hard. You’re going to come through that glass.”

Fans outside chanted, “We want the Beatles! We want the Beatles!”

And still they pressed against the glass.

“Take it easy out there,” Clark urged.

One of the arena’s glass windows would give way that day and shatter into thousands of pieces, newspapers later reported, but no one was injured. Replacing the window would cost concert organizers $450.

The room by now, Clark said, was hot, the air filled with cigarette smoke.

Rizen had finished his brief interview by accepting a sip of Paul’s drink -- “7Up, or something,” the Beatle said.

Finally, Donnie’s turn arrived. He stood in front of Paul and made a special request: A girl named Susan from Culpeper wanted a Beatle to say ‘hello’ to her.

“Paul accommodated me in the most gentlemanly manner,” Donnie recalled.

After several minutes, the radio reporters moved aside to make way for television crews. The press conference was nearing its end.

This story can be found on this site: http://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/longform/stories/beatles1964/index.html

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Rush to the Beatles

September 14, 2014, 6:20 pm

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I am sure this happened in other cities during the 1964 tour, but Pittsburgh seems to be the other city where there is a lot of documentation of it. Fans were milling around outside of the Civic Center, where the Beatles were going to play for hour before the show.

Here are two adorable fans with their buttons on, getting a photo snapped to remember the concert.

Cute photos of fans waving Beatle photos and banner and showing off their tickets for cameras.

Then word started to get out that the Beatles were headed to the Civic Center and the car was coming that way! Now this past summer, I did the "limo watch" for Paul McCartney and it was pretty exciting....I can just imagine that excitement was so much more for all four Beatles.

police hold back the fans so that they don't attack the Beatles car

This fan got close to the Beatles but was quickly stopped.

And then all heck broke loose and there was no stopping the Beatlemaniacs!

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Report from the Little Old Lady Not dressed in Blue

September 14, 2014, 7:53 pm

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Barber shop Quartet Candidates, Swingin’ fan’s report on Beatles: Still they seem like nice guys

By Connie Kienzle

The Pittsburgh Press

The shrieking of the audience almost made the Little Old Lady wish she could hear the screaming from the stage instead.

But not quite.

They seem like nice boys, she thought. And they certainly hare having a good time. But their mother should send them to a good barber.

The Beatles were mouthing the words to a song that the Little Old Lady turned off the last time she heard it on the radio. At certain intervals the screaming 13,000 little girls would swell so that she had to disconnect her hearing aid.

She looked around. There were little girls jumping up and down, clapping, swaying, crying, screaming and waving. They stood on seats. They implored. One girl, standing up to scream, jammed the woman’s hat down over her eyes.

Land sakes, the Little Old Woman thought. I believe that child is going to have a fit. Look at those tears. In a moment she’ll be in shock.

From her spot at the foot of the stage she could see Ringo Starr perspiring as he shook his long hair in an ecstasy of song. The din increased, but she still couldn’t hear what the Beatles were “singing.”

Feet began stomping all over the Civic Arena. Too bad I wore my tennis shoes, thought the Little Old Lady, who was beginning to hear the beat.

In other parts of the Arena, there were grandpas, grandmas, whole families, neighborhood groups, scholarly gentlemen and older couples who were also digging the whole Beatle bit. Some of them had their fingers in their ears.

Right in front of the Little Old Lady was a policeman wearing earmuffs. He was one of a group who hugged the front of the stage, looking grim and shaking heads but not in time to the “music.”

She heard one of them saying how orderly the crowd had been.

Why did they pay all that money to come down here and yell like that, wondered the Little Old Lady. They only sounds discernible over the bleating of the crowd were Ringo’s drumbeats and an occasional twang of John’s guitar.

She had taken the tin lizzie to the Greater Pittsburgh Airport earlier in the day to watch the Beatles arrive. There were about 5000 children and some parents, all crunching against the airport’s snow fences which had been specially erected behind the metal railing and it seemed as if the screaming had hardly diminished since the Beatles flew in.

There was a hodge-podge of County deputy sheriffs, all looking bored, and an assortment of other uniformed men standing in the immediate area where the plane landed. Some had cotton in their ears.

Four shaggy youths disembarked and were whisked away before the Little Old Lady could get a good look. That hair looks longer than any of the pictures I’ve seen, she thought.

Later at the press conference where the Little Old Lady sneaked noiselessly by a regular garrison of armed policemen and detectives, she heard Ringo saying he was afraid to trust an American barber and the hair would have to wait until the end of the United States tour. “But it could stand abit of it off now,” he said.

She hobbled up the immobile escalators with the first mass of screamers and made her way to what seemed like a good spot by the stage. Police were everywhere.

These children are really having a good time, though the Little Old Lady as she looked around the Arena, but they’ll all going to need some goose grease and a flannel wrapper on their throats tomorrow.

I’d like to hear the Beatles sometime, she said to herself as she watched George and Paul smiling at each other and then at the audience. John gave a funny little hop and the screaming shrilled higher.

I’d rather listen to music but I really don’t mind them, she thought, feeling a little silly. She began to unbutton her elbow-length gloves so she could clap a little harder. Her tennis shoes began to tap, gently. Why didn’t I wear those regular high-button shoes with the cleats, she moaned inwardly.

“Yes yes yes” screeched the Little Old Lady, as she threw her second best black velvet tam into the air. She thought “yeah yeah yeah “would be going a bit overboard.

But the amazing phenomenon wasn’t over. After the Beatles left the stage, the little girls converged on it with ear-splitting yelps.

Besieged policemen defend the stage which the Beatles had stood upon from bodies hurling forward just to touch the boards. Tears flowed.

Feeling creaky and brittle, the Little Old Lady decided not to add her bones to that pile of Beatle-bugs.

Besides, she thought, I have something better, and she patted her old black handbag which contained two of Ringo’s cigarette butts, pilfered after the press conference.

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The only Beatles concert in Pittsburgh

September 14, 2014, 7:55 pm

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I was there, it was surreal. Like a dream, really. We all piled into my friend's Dad's station wagon, 6 of us girls. I honestly cannot remember hearing any of the music, just the continual screaming, me included.. We all looked like zombies coming out of the Arena.. What a NIGHT! – Patricia K.

I was at this Beatles concert with my family. My dad was out of town & my grandfather took us. I don't think he enjoyed it. We sat on the main floor. I took some photos which I still enjoy. I rushed closer to the stage for pics and got halfway there. The girls constant loud screaming did drown out most of the music. A very cool time for this then 14 year old boy. – Steve H.

I was at that concert - I was 14. It lasted about 20 min.........because the Beatles only had 4-5 songs to sing. You couldn't hear anything. Young girls were crying - a bunch of them fainted and had to be removed by the cops. But hey.........it was the Beatles. –anonymous

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No Beat in Beatles for Teen Reporter

September 15, 2014, 7:39 pm

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Sharon Robbins and John Lennon photo by Robert J. Quinlan

No Beat in Beatles For Teen Reporter
By Sharon Robbins
The Plain Dealer-- September 16, 1964

Editor's note: Sharon Robbins won the Plain Dealer's contest to select a local teenager as the PD Beatles reporter. She is a secretary at the Downtown YMCA. Here is here report, gathered at the Beatles' news conference last night at Hotel Sheraton -- Cleveland.

I took 15 color photos of the Beatles yesterday at their news conference for teenagers, but I didn't get to ask a single question!

The scene was a room on the parlor floor of Hotel Sheraton- Cleveland.

Jan Mellow, The Plain Dealer's professional Beatles reporter, wasn't allowed to attend this news conference because it was closed to adults.

But Bob Quinlan, PD photographer, was let in to take my pictures with the Beatles -- or one of them at least.

I almost didn't get into the news conference myself. It was arranged so winners in the WHK contest could talk to the Beatles. Some WHK person had my name on a list but he couldn't seem to find it.

We waited for the disk jockeys who were running the conference. One of them remembered me and I got in!

We were told that the first person who sighed --- let alone screamed -- would be put out of the room. So we were very quiet.

Then the Beatles arrived, shook hands with everyone, sat down on four chairs right in front of us, and the questioning began.

Another Englishman -- I don't know his name, asked some questions. you couldn't ask your own questions directly to the Beatles. They had to go through this other man. It wasn't very fair!

The questioning lasted for three or four minutes. Then we were told, "That's all girls," and cleared out of the room. So it wasn't much of a news conference after all. But I did get to take close up pictures. And I'm sure they'll turn out good.

And I WAS in the same room with the Beatles--for a little while.

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Emperor Joe

September 15, 2014, 7:49 pm

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This is an exclusive story written by disc jockey, Joe Mayer, for the 'With a Little Help From my Friends' fanzine. I contacted Pat, who was the editor of WALHFMF and asked for her permission to share this story with you all on this blog. She was very kind in allowing this exclusive to be shared and was confident that Joe (who passed away in the 1990's) would have agreed to share his story with another group of Beatle fans.

The Beatles-September 1964

Hi! This is Emperor Joe Mayer from radio station 1220/WGAR in Cleveland, Ohio.

I was the morning disk jockey at radio station WHK in Cleveland, Ohio in September 1964 when we brought the Fab Four Beatles for their first appearance in the United States. I’d like to share some of my thoughts, remembrances and my feelings of that fantastic era of show business, including “that night” of their performance at Cleveland’s Public Hall.

Before getting into it, I want to preface it all by saying at that time I was just like all their teenage fans. Looking back on it now, I have to say everyone at the radio station was in awe of the Beatles. They had taken England, Germany, Europe and all of the United States by storm! Everyone spoke in hushed tones about the fact that we were bringing in the Beatles—everyone wanted it to happen. We had signed them to a contract, and yet couldn’t, or wouldn’t, believe it until they were here and on stage performing. It was a stroke of genius to be “the” station to be first to bring the Beatles to Cleveland, and I was glad and proud as hell to be a part of it. Nothing could compare to it, not even Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley. This was to be the biggest thing ever, and it was! I can honestly say, there never has been anything like it, and never will be.

The signing of the contract and all its details took months and had started in the spring of ’64. Once those formalities with Brian Epstein were worked out, the next big thing was figuring out the details of how to make the tickets to the concert available to the listeners; most importantly on how to do it fairly. Ticket sales, of course, were not a problem. That simply was set up at a certain time, place and on a first come, first served basis. The contest ticket winners were the problem. That was finally solved by putting all the names entered into a computer. The computer simply “spit out” names at random. No set time or space. It was a “cold” way of doing it I guess, but it sure took the element of human frailty and judgment out of it. By that I mean, there was no “hanky-panky”, or dealing to ones friends. It also took the jocks off the hook of being bugged for tickets, free, or otherwise. Reading the above over, I’m sure I’ve over simplified things, but it covers some of the action that took place leading up to the concert at Public Hall.

Promotion in two words was : “No problem.” The Beatles appearance in person, live, created all the excitement, publicity and word of mouth, person to person advertising anyone needed or could ask for. It was a sellout as soon as I announced the Beatles coming concert on my morning show, and there never was any let up!

The Beatles arrival was something else. It was like a scene form an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Their arrival at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was to be secret. The time and place both leaked out to their fans, but not the exact location. Thousands of fans, curiosity seekers, young and old, radio and television people, and just about anyone that could make it, showed up at the airport and waited. However, they landed about two miles away from the terminal, near the NASA building on the airport grounds. Their landing must have been done by instruments only. When they landed, all of the people from the radio station were in our own cars, plus some Limos for the Beatles were standing by, and when the plane stopped, we pulled out onto the field and formed a fairly good sized semi-circle and turned on the car headlights. The passenger door opened, the steps to the plane came down, and they were here---live! We could hardly believe it. It was fantastic! I still can’t get over it. Here, about three or four miles from my home after all the hullabaloo, the Ed Sullivan Show, the Jack Parr show, the Beatlemania they were here! It was something else. The living end.

Then, the quick caravan trip to the Sheraton-Cleveland hotel on Public Square. I can still feel the moments of happiness, giddiness, elation and yes—silent shock. Public Square was jammed with bodies. Some of the limos and cars went to the front entrance, and were swallowed up with fans. Two of the limos went separately to the back, or service entrance, and there quickly, quietly and as secretly as possible the important stars—the Beatles and Miss Jackie DeShannon were all moved inside the hotel under heavy police guard. If member serves me correctly, there were a few teenagers in the area of the ack entrance looking for ways to sneak into the hotel, but to this day I don’t’ think they really realized who was being moved into the hotel.

That night was wild. The halls of the hotel were loaded with guards. They had a job to do, and it was to keep the fans, or kids, away from the Beatles. Somehow, some of the kids managed to make it to the same floor, I believe we were on the seventh floor, but never really made it inside the room. WHK had a separate suite on the same floor, but I know hardly anyone was in it or used it. We all wanted to be with the Beatles. As I said earlier in the article, we, the disk jockeys, were just as star struck as you the fans. So much happened in those hours, it’s almost hard to remember it all.

As I said, I was the morning jock and had to be on the air at six, but I sure didn’t want to miss a thing. I remember the program director, the other jocks, the station manager, and yes, even the Beatles saying I should hit the sack and get some sleep. No way man. I stayed up. I remember lying down on the floor of the suite, but I didn’t get any rest that was as there was just too much going on. Sleep I could get anytime, so I stayed p. The adrenalin was really flowing. The Beatles all had gone to in to freshen up after their flight to Cleveland, and when they walked into the living room of the suite, once again the evening seemed like a dream. We were all introduced around again, since the airport greeting was quick and brief. Food and liquid refreshments were sent up to the room and the conversations and fun began for all of us.

I remember they really knew how to unwind. Man, the drinks were stiff. John was drinking water glass tumblers of scotch at that time. He and I were sitting on the couch, and the others, Paul and George in overstuffed chairs, with Ringo going form chair to floor to chair again. We talked of many things, their flight, Cleveland, music, concerts, our radio station, their backgrounds, their beginnings in Germany, England’s pirate radio stations, other rock groups like the Stones, Dave Clark Five, Billy J. Kramer, Herman’s Hermits, Ed Sullivan and the TV shows, Chuck Berry, Elvis, “birds” and of all things, religion. In fact, John and I got into a heavy discussion about religious thinking and John’s beliefs, and when it’s tired out and the scotch is flowing, one shouldn’t do that. We all discussed their free use of the four letter word. That “word” by the way, is a form of legal abbreviation used in their courts. I can say, we in the United States were considered pretty staid or “prim,” and that that Mother Country, England, is far freer and more broadminded in their thinking. We were (and may still be) really considered very, very conservative in America.

One of our jocks had brought along his camera, and in the middle of the evening took one flash picture. He, like the rest of us, was in awe and wanted to take some casual pictures. NO WAY. That one flash was it. There was some shouting and yelling, and if I remember correctly Paul, George and Ringo got up and left the room (they came back into the room about 10 minutes later). The rule was NO pictures, and that ended that. It’s really a shame that we weren’t allowed to take pictures, not necessarily candid to the point of embarrassment, but casual “posed” pictures, but Brian had said no pictures and they had meant it. It’s probably just as well though, as sometimes candid shots can be misinterpreted or misconstrued. One picture I would like to have though was when the oriental waitresses came up from the Kon-Tiki room in the hotel with some food and beverages. I can tell you; even then John had an eye for the oriental woman. Can’t blame him though, they were really something else too! Anyway, in the wee hours, about four or four-thirty in the morning, Paul, Ringo and George went off to get some sleep. John finally decided to go to sleep at about five in the morning. Me, I had to try and freshen up, leave the Beatles, go on the air at six, hopefully sound good, and hope and pray the four hours on the air would go by fast, and that nothing too exciting would happen until I got back to the room.

Fortunately the four hours went fast. At ten I was off the air and on my way back to the Beatles. It still didn’t seem real. I felt like I was riding on cloud nine. What an upper. There was a press conference scheduled and I didn’t want to miss that. I made it.

While we were waiting for the Beatles to awaken (they slept in late), we kept busy just hanging around the room taking to Brian, the band’s roadies and some of the “groupies” that had been picked up along the way. I hadn’t talked to my wife for many hours, so I decided to call home and report what was happening while they were still sleeping. My wife, Ginny, was happy to know I was still alive and had followed most of the happenings over radio, television and from other phone calls from other people. She was going to the concert that night, along with my brother, Bill, his wife, daughter and two of her girl friends. After the phone call, some of the Beatles (Paul and Ringo) were up and dressed and we all started to sail paper airplanes out of the hotel room to the still thousands of kids hanging around the hotel and public square. John and George joined us later. I wonder if any of the kids realize that some of the airplanes they may have caught and threw away were actually made and thrown by their favorite fab four!

During this period of time, when they had gotten up and we were all getting ready for the press conference, is when the Beatles individually became members of “Emperor Joe’s Commandos.” There were “Emperors” in most of the major radio markets in the United States. It was started by a jock out in Los Angeles by the name of Bob Hudson, and later was franchised to the number one rock jock in different markets. In Cleveland, that was me, so WHK had printed up very official looking membership cards and certificates. In a fun-filled ceremony, I presented one to George, John, Paul and Ringo individually. It caused a good many laughs and comments from the guys.

One other thing that comes to mind is the thousands of plush toys that had been given to me personally, both at the radio station and at my home, to give to the Beatles. Actually, I think I had two carloads (station wagons) full, that I had seen to it that they were delivered to their hotel room and dressing room at public hall. Some of the larger and more unusual ones I made sure were sent to their room. They got quite a kick out of them but they really couldn’t take them with them. It’s a shame too, because some were very large and expensive plush toys that the kids had bought for them. I’m sure they did take three or four with them, but I really don’t’ know which ones.

Back to the press conference. We, the WHK jocks went down to the special room set up for the conference. It was a very limited audience that would be attending. They were the very lucky kids from school newspapers, plus the writers form Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio’s daily and weekly newspapers. We went in first, and after that seemed an eternity, once again in walked the Beatles. Cameras (permitted) appeared everywhere, and some quick posed and un-posed shots were taken. There were some professional photographers there too and some pictures did appear in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Press. I know sat in each of the Beatles chairs, and pictures were being take, but I have never seen any of those. Some of the pictures of the press conference appeared on the front page of the Plain Dealer, and there with the Beatles was Emperor Joe! Man, oh man, I sure was proud. I saw a copy of that picture at the recent Ohio Beatle Convention and it sure brought back a flood of great memories. The conference was all too short for all of us, even though it lasted quite a while. There was a good deal of kidding amongst the Beatles throughout the question and answer period, mostly about “birds” and Paul’s good looks. Let me tell you, he was more handsome in person than even his pictures. Ringo was like a friendly, loveable puppy; George was the quiet, serious one and John was the one-line comedian with a touch of cynicism even then. To me then, and now, I think George has the most individual longevity as a musician. He really is talented. Paul was a very close second, followed by John and then Ringo. That’s strictly a personal opinion, and I’m sure open for debate.

Following the press conference, we all wound our way through the crowd, with police escorts, and went back to the room. Somewhere in here I’m sure we ate, but for the life of me I couldn’t’ tell you if we did or didn’t. It still was like a dream to all of us. Food and beverages came and went, and the Beatles finally took some time for themselves and rested up for the concert. The excitement and tension continued to mount. We all knew the lineup for the night. I was to introduce Jackie DeShannon, the only girl traveling (officially) with them, and then bring on The Beatles. God, I was getting nervous.

It was a warm fall night; school had started, and all the fall colors were everywhere. I remember peeking out at the audience from behind the huge stage curtains, the colors were fantastic and the place was jammed. My wife commented later on that form her seat in the balcony above the stage, “it was like looking at a sea of scattered, fallen leaves of red, yellow, deep greens and golden hues.” There was a great deal of noise, talk, hysterical girls screaming, crying and occasionally becoming ill all over everything just form the sheer tension and excitement.

I know there was a stand-up comedian on the bill that night, but I can’t recall who he was. In fact, I doubt whether many people could. Then I introduced Jackie Deshannon. She was good—great---but again, everyone was on pins and needles waiting for the Beatles. She finished her encore and received a great ovation. Then while we waited for the Beatles roadies to get everything together they lowered a huge sign that said, “WHK PRESENTS…THE BEATLES,” we had to go out front of stage and try to fill time. We showed some of the items kids had sent in, and one of the biggies at the time was a very, very long gum wrapper chain that was given to the Beatles. No one wanted to hear us. No one really cared. They wanted the Beatles. Then the chanting began, and the tension mounted even further. There was a line of Cleveland Policemen in front of the stage. I remember watching them from the wings while the comedian was on, and when Jackie was singing. Most of them were intent on watching the show too. The policemen were big men to their children, and to their neighborhood children, because they were guarding the Beatles. They enjoyed the glamor you could tell, but they sure weren’t thrilled with the crowd control responsibility.

Trying to control that audience, and getting them somewhat quiet was no easy job. In fact, it never really happened. It became a shouting match, and all you could do was hope that you’d be heard over the mikes and the big public hall sound system. Rhythmical clapping…chanting…”We want the Beatles. We Want the Beatles…” Screaming. “Paul I love you” “George George!” “Ringo!” “John!” “We want the Beatles, we want the Beatles.” It just kept building to a feverish pitch. Somewhere amongst all this noise was a fraction of a second and I screamed, “Ladies and Gentlemen—The Beatles!!!”

What a helluva feeling. The curtains parted, the gigantic sign, the fantastic sound of the Beatles. It all was here! God it was great. I want to tell you I have never felt the likes of it before, and probably never will again. As I have said so many, many times since that night, I honestly could feel a concussion of air from all the shouting, screaming, yelling and applause. I actually could feel the thrust of the pressure of air, it was just fantastic. From then on, the public hall looked like thousands and thousands of fireflies popping all over the place. Flash cubes flashed all over the hall from the highest places right down in the front row.

They played, they flirted, John did some crazy dance steps, Paul winks, the cameras kept winking back, and the excitement built to such a high emotional pitch that some of the fans could no longer contain themselves, and I saw the line of policemen in the front begin to crumble as the audience surged forward towards the stage. And then the show was stopped by a Captain Blackwell of the Cleveland Police Department. He was made. He was upset and I think he was also scared. I saw it, and it was frightening. It was a sea of kids fighting, rushing, pushing, shoving, anything to get to touch their idols. If this kept up, someone would get hurt. I, along with some of the other jocks, were literally thrown out on stage to try and help the police restore order. John had some words (heated) with Captain Blackwell and the Captain threatened to close the show. I kept thinking, this would be a helluva way to end, after all the pressure and tension, the worry and the months of anticipation. I, along with everyone else, including some of the policemen kept repeating the Captains threat of closing the show. I think the police caught good deal of abuse that night, and many nights and concert to follow, but I can’t help feel it was bordering on being dangerous to the point of someone or many being injured. And more important than anything, I did not want the concert stopped. I wanted to see the Beatles as much as most of the kids in the audience. I ended up pleading with anyone that could hear me to quiet down or the show would be stopped. I was yelling into the mike. I was beginning to lose my voice. Then finally some semblance of order and quiet (certainly not total) was restored, and the show was underway. God it was good.

In the back of my mind as I write this, I can still hear the bass guitar, the drums, the harmony, the drive, the throb, the reverberation. I can still hear the Beatles. What a night.

Damn, it seemed over to quick. The shouting for more, the encores and suddenly, it was all over. The curtain closed, the roadies began dismantling the equipment, and there I was, emotionally drained and yet high, wandering around the barren stage trying to pick up the pieces of the biggest night in my life. I looked for anything. Broken guitar strings, broken drum sticks, picks, anything. Anything to help keep that night of nights alive. It sure was a gas.

Gosh it felt empty. Kids and people were still milling around both on the main floor and up in the balcony seats. The sounds of the Beatles kept ringing in my ears, the chanting, the encores, and the shouts for more. But they had gone off the stage and into a waiting van that whisked them back to the hotel and then quickly off to the airport and to another chanting, Beatle crazed mob in another city.

It was all over. My wife, Ginny, said she just sat there stunned, and then like the others; she simply put her head down and cried. It was that kind of night for everyone. Thanks God for letting us be a part of it.

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Reports back from the press conference

September 15, 2014, 7:53 pm

≫ Next: Cleveland '64

≪ Previous: Emperor Joe

This reporter has lived!

By Dorothy Renker

According to today’s standards. . . . this reporter has lived!

On Tuesday evening I was within two feet of the four Beatles and I have eight photographs to prove it. I also came away with two pencils used by Ringo and George, matches that lay where John and had been sitting and a partially doodled head of a man, the work of one Paul McCartney.

The WHK arranged press conference held in the Empire Room at the Sheraton-Cleveland was packed to capacity when the stars made their appearance.

Derek Taylor, the Beatles’ road manager had set forth rules for the members of the news media before their arrival and had irked many of those present with his ineffable manner.

Fortunately the Beatles were not the least bit like Taylor. Quick to answer questions thrown by the reporters, the four sat patiently through the whole routine. The endless pictures, the same old questions they have answered from coast to coast.

Their educational background? “Lousy,” they said in unions. Do they ever reflect on their pasts? “These thoughts only come when one is dying.” They quipped.

Having heard from a dyed-in-the-wool Beatle fan, 15 year old Bonnie Kamps of 903 Tuxedo Avenue, that everyone likes to hear about the clothes they wear, I herewith report the following:

· Ringo was wearing a powder blue suit with a dark plaid shirt.
· John, the handsomest of the group with really pretty reddish hair, long tho it was, was attired in a conservative black suit and matching tie.
· George looked as under-nourished as his magazine pictures often show him, received his color form a pink shirt. His suit was gray.
· A dark blue suit and a light blue shirt is what Paul chose to wear for his appearance.

They all disapprove of their fans’ habit of throwing jellybeans to them on stage. “An eye could be seriously injured in such a barrage,” they said.

Their favorite city in the U.S. is New York. Cleveland’s police are “just fine.” Jacksonville, Florida was not one of their high spots on the current tour. It was much too windy when they were there, said Paul.

Do they ever quarrel? Said John, “Of course, we argue the same as everyone else does at some time or another.”

What is the first thing they will seek when they get back to England? “A jolly good cup of tea,” said Ringo.

The fellows were very cordial to pretty Debbie Deluca, 14, daughter of the mayor of Ashtabula, who presented them with the key to their city, but seemed to resent the chiding of a woman with a British accent who was aghast that they did not care for a game about which she inquired.

And then the press conference was over. That was when I picked up the souvenirs and said adieu to the policemen who had patiently posed for me prior to the interviews while I experimented with various camera settings.

One of the boys in blue on duty at the Sheraton-Cleveland checking press credentials was Patrolman Ray L. Pope, husband of Parma’s Donna Pope, who ran for council last year in Ward 3.

It was fun seeing the Beatles first hand and they don’t seem like a bad lot. Almost wish I had gotten tickets for their evening performance.

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Cleveland '64

September 15, 2014, 8:02 pm

≫ Next: Bye Bye Beatles -- police sigh YEAH!

≪ Previous: Reports back from the press conference

There are some concert stops on any Beatles tour that stands out to me more than others. For me, Cleveland 1964 is one of the best. I guess the energy from the audience to the point where they rushed the stage and the concert had to stop is something I find fascinating. If you want to read about the riot at the Cleveland 1964 concert and the one at the 1966 concert (those Cleveland fans were hard core!), I HIGHLY recommend reading Dave Schwensen's book on the topic called The Beatles in Cleveland. And if you ever get a chance to hear one of Dave's presentations, don't pass it up. Dave shows some extremely rare color footage of the concert that will knock your Beatles socks off!!!

a screen cap from the film Dave Schwensen shows at his Beatles presentation.

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Bye Bye Beatles -- police sigh YEAH!

September 15, 2014, 8:38 pm

≫ Next: Beatles Cleveland concert memories--- these fans won't forget!

≪ Previous: Cleveland '64

photo by George Shuba

Bye Bye Beatles Fans, Police sigh YEAH!
By Bill Barrett
The Cleveland Press September 15, 1964

The Beatles were safely hedded down in New Orleans today, and no one was happier about this than Cleveland policemen who:

Stopped the show when the hysterical audience at Public Hall threatened to riot. Suffered the bitter criticism of the indignant Beatles who called them "amateurs" for bringing down the curtain.

Struggled to free a CTS bus full of guitars, drums, and other members of the show. The bus became jammed in the Public Hall passageway and threatened to postpone the Beatles' departure.

Inspector Michael Blackwell and Deputy Inspector Carl C. Bare stopped the show when a group of pushing, screaming youngsters threatened to storm the stage shortly after the Beatles began their 30 minute act.

More than 100 officers and Public Hall guards leaned into the point of the teenage attack but they were slowly and steadily forced back toward the stage.

Bare came charging out of the wings. He shouldered the Beatles aside, grabbed a microphone and bellowed:

"Sit down, sit down -- the show is over!"

Still the Beatles continued -- they were in the middle of one of their hit numbers, "All my Loving."

Blackwell stormed out. He waved the group off the stage. He took one -- George Harrison --- by the elbow and steered him toward the wings. The hall roared with protest as the music stopped and the Beatles slowly and reluctantly left.

Temporarily withdrawing to their dressing room, they grumbled their displeasure into the microphone of KYW Radio news director Art Schreiber who is with them today in New Orleans.

"This has never happened to us before -- anywhere," said John Lennon. "We have never had a show stopped. These policemen are a bunch of amateurs."

But in the wings, Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles had an entirely different view.

"The police were absolutely right," he shrugged. "This has never happened before but it was clear to me from the start that there was something very wrong. The enthusiasm of the crowd was building much too early."

The Beatles family were allowed to continue after Blackwell, at the microphone, laid down the rules -- the children were to stay in their seats and one more charge would stop the show for keeps.

The Beatles greeted by a storm of yells, resumed where they'd been cut off, and the show went on but the house lights were kept on as a brake on emotions.

"I don't blame the children," Blackwell said when it was all over. "They're young, and they can't be expected to behave like adults. And I don't blame these Beatles -- there is nothing wrong with their act. But if we hadnt' stopped it, there would have been serious injury. One little girl was knocked down in the charge, and there were 300 other youngsters about to trample her."

The audience filed out in good order when the show ended, many of the young girls sobbing in apparent ecstasy.

There was a short lived assault by some 500 youngsters on the stage door of Public Hall, but police broke it up. The Beatles, meanwhile, were speeding over a back route to their waiting airplane at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

As a decoy, police ran their "riot bus" -- a converted paddy wagon -- at high speed out of the hall while the Beatles were zipping out a back door.

The riot bus was on decoy duty all day, in fact. Again and again it made empty runs from Sheraton-Cleveland hotel, home of the Beatles here to Public Hall until the teenagers gathered there grew to ignore it. Then, just before showtime, it made the trip with the Beatles as passengers and the crowds of youngsters made no fuss at all.

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Beatles Cleveland concert memories--- these fans won't forget!

September 15, 2014, 8:58 pm

≫ Next: Confessions of a Beatlemaniac!! -- Book Review

≪ Previous: Bye Bye Beatles -- police sigh YEAH!

These memories were found in the comments section of the Beatles Bible

My mom now deceased told me of a story that when she was a teenager living in Cleveland she went to the Beatles concert. At the concert, they heard rumors that a decoy was going out one exit, but they heard that the Beatles were actually going out another exit that they were fortunate enough to get to and see the Beatles get into a limo. Being the crazy fan that she was, she proceeded to rush the limo & climb on top & she said she actually rode atop of the limo that they were in as they drove away. –Carrie

I was there. I remember Paul giving a “thumbs-down” as the police pushed the Beatles off the stage into the wings. - Joe

I was 8 and my father took my sister and I. I remember Paul announcing ‘a song from our new album. Something new Something New, the Beatles” and they went into Things we Said Today….. –Barry

For even more memories---

http://medinagazette.northcoastnow.com/2014/09/15/teen-years-adulthood-still-beatlemaniac-five-decades/

http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/history/local-history-silver-lake-girl-had-fab-time-meeting-beatles-in-1964-1.522650

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Confessions of a Beatlemaniac!! -- Book Review

September 15, 2014, 9:17 pm

≫ Next: Beatles' Appearance in New Orleans

≪ Previous: Beatles Cleveland concert memories--- these fans won't forget!

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then I am going to assume that you enjoy reading stories of Beatle fans who met at least one of the Beatles in person.    And if you enjoy reading those types of stories, you will love the book Confessions of a Beatlemaniac by Dee Elias.

Her book is her true life story of being a Beatles fan in the Cleveland area from 1964-1966. The book was written when she was young and was taken directly from her diaries. She drew some adorable cartoons that go along with the little stories (as you can see in the photo above).    You will join Dee as she and her BFF, Paulette fall in love with the Beatles, have Beatles parties (the song she wrote for the party is hilarious and adorable!), and do whatever it takes to meet the Beatles in person.

Dee and her friends have a very sad story about how they obtained tickets to see the Beatles in Cleveland (50 years ago today). They did not get the tickets they should have gotten, but they were in the Public Hall. And (get this) they snuck into the Public Hall before the show to practice rushing the stage! Two of the girls would pretend to be police and one of them would run up and try to get past them and then they would switch roles. What happened when they got caught in this practice is so funny!

Dee then saw the Beatles in Chicago in 1965, but she still didn't get to meet them. That happened in 1966 when the Beatles came to Cleveland again. I will not let you know HOW she got into the Beatles hotel room with a special gift, but I will say that she was there and talked to John and Paul. George was on the phone to England (talking to wife Pattie most likely) and Ringo was asleep in the other room.    She has one photo of George on the phone that survived and if you want to see it, then you are going to have to "like" this book on facebook! Dee has the photo she took there for you to see.   Her page only has 100 likes and it is deserving of so many more.   Spread the word!
https://www.facebook.com/Confessionsofabeatlemaniac

As you can tell, I like just about every book about the Beatles that I read.   But this one seriously was one of the funniest and heart warming Beatle books I have read in years.    You will find yourself laughing out loud so many times and you will feel a friendship with Dee and her friends during their adventures to meet the Fab 4.   And even though you know she is going to meet them, you find yourself routing for Dee to meet the guys....to meet them for those of us who will never have that chance.


Dee holding her photograph of George Harrison

Dee Elias is a Beatles fan. She wasn't someone on the inside or someone who traveled with them. She was one of those screaming girls who tried to rush the stage. She is like you and me and yet she accomplished something that most of us dream about.

When I met Dee at Beatlefest last month, I first heard her talking about this book and I said aloud, "I have to meet her.....we will be friends." There was just something wonderful about Dee and her passion for the Beatles that made me want to get to know her. I am so glad that did! She is a sweet woman who is still trying to meet Ringo Starr.

If you would like to purchase her book, you can go through her website www.confessionsofabeatlemaniac.com or through amazon.com (for the kindle ebook)

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Beatles' Appearance in New Orleans

September 16, 2014, 7:27 pm

≫ Next: It is Beatles Day!

≪ Previous: Confessions of a Beatlemaniac!! -- Book Review

Teenage Bedlam Reigns at Beatles’ Appearance

By Clarence Doucet

The Times-Picayune

September 17, 1964

Some 700 teenagers broke out in disorder at City Park Stadium Wednesday night midway through a spirited stage appearance by England’s madcap Beatles.

It took 225 New Orleans policemen and special patrol guards more than 20 minutes to restore order while an estimated 12,000 persons watched the wild scene from the stands.

Policemen had ot physically tackle some of the youths—mostly girls--- who broke away from the stand attempting to crash through barricades separating them from the longhaired singers.

The crowd was finally brought under control after police “roped off” most of the spectators on the sidelines of the football field.

Police Supt. Joseph I. Giarrusso who estimated the number of youths who broke through the barricades, callt he episode one “that was both amusing and tragic at the same time.” He said he could not recall a similar incident in the city involving teenagers.

Police Sgt. Ray Aldich said he and Ptn. Roger Leon Cabella administered spirits of ammonia to more than 200 youngsters who collapsed from the excitement.

He also reported that one teenage girl suffered a broken arm, but refused to be taken to the hospital. He said that after the girl’s arm was bandaged, she returned to the stands.

The Beatles had been on the stage only 15 minutes when the spectators began rushing to the field. During the final half of their performance they had to share the spotlight with what Beatle Paul McCartney called “the football game.”

Mounted policemen patrolled the area around the stage.

When the Beatles mounted the stage about 9:25pm, the audience began screaming and the wild cheering continued, reaching its climax when groups began jumping from the stands to the field.

The Beatles, meanwhile, appeared unconcerned about the disorder and continued with such songs as “She Loves You,” “Shake it up Baby,” and “Can’t buy me love.” They capped their act with “A Hard Day’s Night.”

The wild scene at the stadium climaxed the Beatles’ visit to New Orleans which started 19 hours earlier –at 3am.

The hairy Britons left the city Wednesday night after their performance, flying to Kansas City where they will perform Thursday night.

Unfortunately they were not as delighted with New Orleans, as New Orleans teenagers were with them.

At a press conference earlier they termed the New Orleans visited the “roughest” of their current tour of the U.S. It was a press session in which they proved they were as quick with the quip as they are appealing to audiences.

America’s favorite Beatle, Ringo Starr, was the star of the session. Starr was asked what the Beatles enjoyed most about their wealth. His quick reply was “money.”

Paul McCartney also came up with a one-liner that got a big laugh. Asked what he thought about topless bathing suits, he said, “We’ve been wearing them for years.”

The Beatles said New Orleans was the “roughest” stop in their current tour because of a series of mix-ups in their schedule. Asked if they intended to visit New Orleans again, one of them replied, “Yes, when we’re older.”

At the beginning of the press conference, held at the Congress Inn on chef Menteur hwy., Mayor Victor H. Schiro presented each of the Beatles with a key to the city and a certificate of honorary citizenship.

When he handed a key to Beatle John Lennon, Lennon replied “I want to put my arm around you. You look like a nice fellow, Lord Mayor.”

Schiro then asked each of the Beatles for his autograph. When Lennon returned the pen, he said, “Your pen, your lordship.”

About 13 hours earlier at the Congress Inn, at 3 a.m., the scene was somewhat different.

The Beatles, England’s repayment in four for Elvis Presley, had arrived at the motel minutes before in a smashing climax to a series of unscheduled events.

Lennon, the one who writes, was wearing a pair of dark glasses, apparently seeking to avoid recognition. McCartney, the most outwardly friendly member of the Liverpool bunch, was smiling and talking to someone.

The group stood in a small hallway leading to a laundry room of the motel. To their right was a deep sink for cleaning mops.

Their arrival was planned to be quite simple. They would arrive at New Orleans Lakefront Airport and be taken by helicopter to the Congress Inn.

Any similarity between that simple plan and what actually happened had to be purely coincidental.

Councilman Daniel L. Kelly, representing the mayor, and Orleans Levee Board president Milton Duputy, representing Gov. John J. McKeithen, were officially to welcome the quartet at the lakefront airport, but they never got a chance.

In the first place, the helicopter at the lakefront airport blew a tire. So limousines were ordered but by mistake were sent to New Orleans International Airport (Moisant Field).

But it did not make too much difference because the Beatles’ plane, a chartered Lockheed Electra, was directed to land at Moisant. Meanwhile, a large crowd of teenagers had formed at the lakefront airport by the time it was announced the Beatles would not arrive there.

Dupuy then gave up and secured his detail of 30 levee board policemen who had been pressed into duty at the airport. Kelly, meanwhile, rushed by automobile from the lakefront airport to Moisant, arriving there just as the Beatles were boarding limousines, and in time to make the trip back across the city to Congress Inn.

The arrival time and place was to be secret, but the police escort that accompanied the motorcade from Moisant to the motel was accented by screaming sirens and flashing blue lights.

Some 100 people, mostly teenagers, were awaiting the Beatles’ arrival at the motel; and they lined up along what was to be the singers’ route.

But there was another mix-up. Every car in the motorcade – except the Beatles’ limousine followed this route. Their vehicle was on another roadway. The teenagers began screaming hysterically when they spotted their idols and within seconds surrounded the Beatles’ automobile. Police forced the youths away, and as the car was backing up it hit a Kenner police patrol car. Damage was slight.

The time the Beatles ran into the lobby of the motel. They were led down a hallway to the laundry room and then outside and to their three room suite, room 100.

Councilman Kelly stood outside their door waiting to present them Mayor Victor H. Schiro’s proclamation making Wednesday “Beatles Day.” He never was invited to make the presentation.

One teenager, Karen DeHority, 16, burst into tears when she saw the Beatles. Two young married women, past their teens, said they would not stand so long to see the President as they did the Beatles.

One young girl kept screaming, “If I can just touch one of Ringo’s rings!”

Another carried a sign that read, “Ringo for President.”

Three teenage girls traveled from Memphis, Tennessee, with the mother of one fo the girls, just to attend the show Wednesday night at City Park Stadium. Congress Inn manager Paul Bomberger was so much impressed with their loyalty he invited them to be guests of the motel for the night.

By 4a.m., most of the crowd had disappeared Councilman Kelly was leaving and police were still guarding the Beatles’ suite (windows in it were boarded up).

And two Beatles were sleeping; the other two were hungry.

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It is Beatles Day!

September 16, 2014, 7:32 pm

≫ Next: New Oreleans tidbits from Beatlefest

≪ Previous: Beatles' Appearance in New Orleans

If you are like me, then every day is Beatles Day in your mind. However, in 1964, the mayor of New Orleans at that time declared September 16, 1964 officially as Beatles Day in his city. As Bruce Spizer can confirm, if you went down to city hall, you could get a copy of the official declaration that was signed by the Beatles.

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New Oreleans tidbits from Beatlefest

September 16, 2014, 8:42 pm

≫ Next: Congress Inn press conference

≪ Previous: It is Beatles Day!

The Beatles 1964 New Orleans concert has always been one that has been covered in mystery to me. I guess it is because up until this year, there had never been any actual photographs from the concert available and very few stories had came out. Really all that was available was some grainy video footage. So all I had known about the New Orleans concert was that the fans were hurt by police who were on horseback and that the Beatles called them "football players" during the show. However, as the 50th anniversary approached more stories from this show started to come out and I heard many of them from Bruce Spizer and Ivor Davis at the Fest for Beatle fans in Chicago this past August. I took notes during these talks so that I could pass these little nuggets of information back to you.

According to Spizer, the Beatles really wanted to meet Fat Domino. As a matter of fact, he was the main celebrity out of all the people in the United States that they Beatles really wanted to meet. Davis explains: "Paul was really into Fats. He was the one that revered him, and Paul was the one that made it happen." And so, thanks to opening act, Frogman Henry, before the concert in New Orleans, the Beatles met Fats Domino backstage. As Paul McCartney famously recalls in the Beatles Anthology: "He had a very big diamond watch in the shape of a star, which was very impressive." Davis recalls that the Beatles, particularly George wanted to listen to jazz music in New Orleans' nightclubs. But of course, the tight schedule and Beatlemania did not allow for that enjoyment.

Speaking of New Orleans music, Deacon Jones (not the football player that was on the Brady Bunch), the musician was in the audience at this Beatles concert. As a musician, he was interested in the Beatles music.

Both Bruce and Ivor talk about how out of control the fans and the police were. Bruce said that some girls were pushed in wheelchairs, and they didn't need the wheelchairs, just so they could get out on the field and be closer to the Beatles.

I am not sure if this is one of the fans in question, but you can see empty wheelchairs behind her.

Those who didn't have wheelchairs tried to run onto the field. The fans in this stadium were quite far from the Fab 4 and so between 100-200 ran to get closer. Many police officers were on horseback and they injured many of the fans. New Orleans had more injured fans than an other stop on this tour. Ivor Davis said that he felt fear because a lot of the kids were bleeding.

Beatles collector, Jeff Augsburger had many artifacts from the 1964 North American tour including part of one of the microphones one of the guys used during this concert.

Jeff Augsburger collection Photo by Sara Schmidt

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Congress Inn press conference

September 16, 2014, 8:52 pm

≫ Next: Hallway walking

≪ Previous: New Oreleans tidbits from Beatlefest

photo by Red Rozumalski

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Hallway walking

September 16, 2014, 9:04 pm

≫ Next: Fans remember it with fondness

≪ Previous: Congress Inn press conference

Found on Chuck Gunderson's "Some Fun Tonight" facebook page

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Fans remember it with fondness

September 16, 2014, 9:13 pm

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photo by Ted Rozumalski

All of these concert memories were found on youtube comments or youtube videos

“I was there...14 at the time. I had to get approval of our Junior High School principal to leave school early. My Mom and another friend's mom chaperoned about 4 of us gals. We all got crushed against the gate before it opened up. Girls rushing across the field, girls fainting. You could barely HEAR The Beatles sing from all the screaming! But, there they were!” –Cathy

“I was there. THIS ------- was one of the most important experiences of my life. I will never forget it it. 12 years old and knocking over the barricades to get to the Beatles ----- and I did.”—Lucy

“I was there but only nine years old. My sister, Kathy took me. I remember all the girls screaming and pulling on their hair. There had also been a rush of fans, breaking through the barricade. I saw a policeman try to stop a girl and her dress ripped.” – Claire M.

“I was there. I was 10. My grandfather took my cousin Keith and me. We were directly in line with the PA speakers on the poles, so we could hear the music over the screaming.”—Tab

“I was there! I was 11years old, but, I was so mad, I couldn't hear them. No I did not run and scream. Yes, I was screaming ‘shut up, so i can hear them’. Oh, my neighbor on the right Mrs., Mickey got to serve them breakfast. She said that they looked pretty nervous. 30 years later, I Met Paul McCartney in a studio in new Orleans, he showed me how to play let it be!” –Suzanne

“I was backstage at City Park Stadium on September 16, 1964, as my Dad set up the sound system for the Fab 4. We arrived in my friend’s brand new 1964 ½ Mustang in lemon yellow and we thought we were the bees knees. I touched the back of John Lennon’s jacket, and it was days before I washed my hand. I was the talk of St. Mary of the Angels School.” --Molly

“My very first concert, the Beatles at City Park Stadium. I was there to see Paul because he was my favorite Beatle. I screamed my voice raw that night.” -- anonymous

For another story about this concert, check out this blog
http://www.joeyaguzin.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-beatles.html

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Beatles arrive

September 17, 2014, 6:13 pm

≫ Next: The Melody Lingers on

≪ Previous: Fans remember it with fondness

Beatles arrive

By C.W. Gusewelle

Kansas City Star

There must be something sad and unfulfilling about being the rage of your age at 2 o’clock in the morning, with the rain pelting down and maybe 100 wet persons looking at you from behind lines of policemen who will not let them touch you.

The four young men came singly out from the plane and down the steps – George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon (although later, among the waiting 100, there was some uncertainty about the order of their emergence).

What the eye remembered was a sharp image of the faces of enthusiasm and indifference, of arrogance and imitated joy. And, of course the hair.

The hair of the Beatles is undoubtedly coiffed and sanitized beyond suspicion. But there is no escaping that it is the way you see hair worn by gandies and alkies and forgotten men, hanging lank and forlorn over the backs of their collars.

The small crowd surged forward against the police line, waving and crying out in a brief spasm of excitement.

Then the limousine carried the Beatles away. A youth in shorts and a sweatshirt ran a little way beside it, grinning in through the window and pointing frantically at his own shaggy hairdo.

The car outdistanced him and he stopped, looking embarrassed, his legs spattered with water from the tires. No one fainted.

“I got three pictures of him,” screeched a girl with a box camera, the cords standing out in her neck. “I got three pictures of George Harrison.”

Following Beatles fans is like fighting the Viet Cong: they are possessed of a mystifying mobility. Already some of the same ones had gotten to the entrance of the Muehlebach Towers.

Policemen barred them from the elevator doors that led to Mecca—the 18^th floor suite where their heroes had settled in.

Seven bellmen wrestled 200 pieces of luggage. Another, John Shamel, 24 years old, waited to take their orders for room service.

Three buckwheat cakes and tea for Ringo, Shamel reported. Two orders of bacon and eggs; one grilled cheese sandwich. Also four orders of coffee, a plate of sliced tomatoes, two glasses of milk and a pitcher of orange juice.

They were sitting around a table, Shamel said, with their coats off, playing cards. Pitch, he added discreetly.

Already in the room were a Missouri country ham, apple cider, a mincemeat pie and a watermelon, gifts from a Kansas City actress.

The cider was open, Shamel noted. The pie was cut and the watermelon eaten. It was going on 3 o’clock. No wonder the boys had looked sallow.

Below, the stories were endless and tragic. The girls who had gone to the wrong airport, Mid-Continent International in Platte County… Others who still clutched long-stemmed roses they hadn’t been able to deliver.

One who had waited at the hotel since 3 o’clock, had gone out for a package of cigarettes at 2 o’clock and had missed the completely. She sat now, alone with her misery, at a table in a darkened ballroom.

By the slim margin of the last police line of defense, two girls were deprived of immortality. They found a single, unguarded elevator on the floor below the main hotel lobby, rode it to the third floor and walked to the eighteenth.

“Hi,” they greeted the waiting detective. “You’ve got the wrong floor,” he told them and ushered them back downstairs.

More coffee, Shamel reported at 4:30 o’clock, and an order of toast. More of the mincemeat pie had been eaten.

“They’re real nice fellows,” he said. “They called me by my first name. It was a pleasure to serve them.” The card game wore on, but Ringo, he noticed, had gone to bed.

Later a physician was called to the suite to treat one of the musicians, he believed it was Ringo, not for indigestion but for a sore throat.

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