On Feb. 11, 1964, Beatlemania blasted Washington
— all shrieks and Arthur haircuts and songs people couldn’t quite
make out. ¶ Two nights after their hysteria-inducing welcome-to-America
appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the Beatles played their first
U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. With “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
sitting atop the American Billboard chart, 8,092 people crowded into
the arena near Union Station and witnessed the band perform a dozen
songs that changed everything. ¶ “It was one of the most exciting live
performances the Beatles ever gave,” says Beatles historian Bruce
Spizer, who has studied footage of the concert at the long-defunct
Coliseum. “And it gave them great confidence that they indeed could
conquer America.”
Here’s the tale of the historic 1964 visit, as told by some of the people who lived it.
John B. Lynn, son of Harry Lynn, who owned the Coliseum:
My father got the call asking if he’d be interested in having the
Beatles. He, of course, had never heard of them. But he said yes. He
brought home a box of Beatles albums and singles to give out, and my
brother and I became the most popular people in school.
Paul McCartney: We’d seen a lot of British stars come
back from America with their tails between their legs. We made a promise
to ourselves to not go until we had a No. 1. We were so excited to be
madly popular in America, which was to us the Holy Grail because every
shred of music we ever loved came from there. It was euphoric, and now
we were heading to Washington on the train, which was very glamorous.
And to cap it off, there was that beautiful snow.
Bill Eppridge, former contract photographer for Life magazine who died in 2013
: We were going to fly down from New York, but a big snowstorm
hit Washington. The Beatles reserved a couple of cars on the train and
got tickets for the press traveling with them. I couldn’t have had a
better time. We all liked them. They were always looking for something
to do. They had a race up and down the car, and two of them went up and
over the seats and two of them crawled in the baggage racks. And then
they grabbed the waiters’ uniforms and served drinks.
Albert Maysles, documentary filmmaker (“What’s Happening! The Beatles In the USA,” “The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit”):
All kinds of funny things happened on the train. They were behaving for
the camera. Ringo carried some camera bags and worked his way through
the coach. They were strangers in a new land, enjoying that kind of
fresh experience. I remember a child meeting Ringo and the conversation
they had, which was so endearing.
Linda Binns Liles, train passenger on Feb. 11, 1964: My
family was riding back [to Richmond], and we happened to be in the only
car that got to see the Beatles. They walked through and gave
autographs. I was like, “Well, I got two of their autographs; I think I
need all four.” I was 9 years old, not a crazy teenager — when we
stopped at stations, there were teenagers jumping up and down, trying to
look in the windows — so I was able to get back there. I introduced
myself to Ringo Starr and promptly sat down and started talking with
him. “You went to New York for the first time? So did I.” We had a
normal conversation. I was sure he was interested in my fourth-grade
teacher as much as I was interested in what he was doing. Paul
McCartney, who had me calling him Uncle Paul, asked me if I was coming
to their D.C. concert, and I was like, “No, I’ve got to go to school
tomorrow.” I was perfectly serious.
Lynn: My father wasn’t in the habit of meeting his acts
when they arrived in town. But he met the Beatles. He had been
stationed in Liverpool during the war, so I think he might have felt
some connection to them. He didn’t expect the crowd — especially on a
snowy day.
Maysles: There was an enormous crowd waiting when we got to Union Station.
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