On Feb. 7, 1964, the Beatles were met by thousands of screaming fans at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as they arrived to begin their first American tour.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr boarded Pan Am Flight 101 in London for their first U.S. visit, they had little idea what lay in store for them.
John calculated the Beatles’ odds as the plane began its descent. There were so many variables that would determine their success: whether “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” released in late December, would sustain its initial impact in the States; how tickets there were selling for their upcoming concerts; whether their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show would capture the imagination of American teenagers. Sure Beatlemania had already gripped Britain, but… in the U.S.?
Minutes before landing, news filtered from the cockpit through the plane that helped to put their minds at ease. As Paul remembered it: “The pilot had rung ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them.’ ”
Wall-to-wall kids, who had scrambled over barricades and fences to get a look at the Beatles. Applause and cheers broke out inside the plane. Just before 1:30 p.m., Flight 101 taxied to a stop outside the terminal and the aircraft door popped open. An explosion of cheers and screams rang out as the crowd stormed forward.
“We heard that our records were selling well in America,” George noted (Capitol announced that they were the fastest-selling in the label’s history), “but it wasn’t until we stepped off the plane … that we understood what was going on. Seeing thousands of kids there to meet us made us realize just how popular we were there.”
More than 200 reporters of them were crammed into Pan Am’s smoke-filled lounge, grumbling about the lousy assignment, when the Beatles finally paraded into the room. The reporters opened fire, question after question without letup, until it all just fused into babble.
Brian Sommerville, the band’s new press officer, tried desperately to impose order but eventually succumbed to shouting back. “All right then. Shut up!” he insisted. “Just shut up!”
“Yeah, yeah, everybody just sharrup,” barked John, which stunned the crowd into applause.
Whatever the press expected from these boys, it was completely unprepared for what it got. The Beatles were irresistible; they made great work.
As everyone prepared to head for the exits, Paul commandeered the mike. “We have a message,” he announced with great significance. The reporters flipped their notebooks back open, as photographers pressed in to get the crucial shot. “Our message is: buy more Beatles records!”
At the airport, Pepsi had given each of the Beatles a transistor radio, and throughout the trip in, they flitted from station to station, unable to wrap their heads around it.
“We were so overawed by American radio,” John confessed. In England there was only one station, the BBC, which basically ignored the type of music the Beatles craved. Suddenly it was all at their fingertips—a nonstop jukebox of those American R&B hits they’d been dying to hear: Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, the Shirelles, the Ronettes. And sandwiched between each two, a Beatles record!
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