60 Years Ago: Beatles Conquer U.S. Without Playing a Single Note

The Beatles were sent off from London’s Heathrow Airport on the morning of Feb. 7, 1964, by a swarm of well-wishing fans. They didn’t know what to expect.

The group had a No. 1 hit with “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” but they’d heard enough stories about other British musicians who failed to connect in America to question whether or not their success in England would translate on the other side of the Atlantic.

Then an estimated crowd of somewhere between three and five thousand greeted Pan Am Flight 101 at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. The Beatles had been tipped off during the flight, but that didn’t make them any less incredulous about the scene.

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“We heard about it in mid-air,” Paul McCartney said in Anthology. “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.'”

The Beatles were rushed into Pan Am’s cramped office for a press conference, winning over a condescending media gaggle who were concerned mostly about their hairstyle with wit and charm.

Watch the Beatles’ Press Conference at JFK in 1964

‘It Was Like a Dream’

From there, they were ushered to the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, where another mob scene was waiting for them.

“I remember, for instance, the great moment of getting into the limo and putting on the radio, and hearing a running commentary on us,” McCartney added. “‘They have just left the airport and are coming towards New York City. …’ It was like a dream. The greatest fantasy ever.”

There’s a scene in the Maysles brothers’ 1991 documentary, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit where the group is listening to 1010 WINS en route to the Plaza, fascinated by the patter of the DJ but bemused by his claim that the group would be stopping by the next day to recite their poetry. (“We ain’t written no poetry,” McCartney joked.) The video is the real A Hard Day’s Night, which began filming shortly after the Beatles returned to England.

After watching the footage of themselves on the evening news, they went to the theater where the Ed Sullivan Show took place for a rehearsal. However, George Harrison brought a cold with him from England and, under doctor’s orders, couldn’t make it. In his place, road manager Neil Aspinall strapped on a guitar and stood in Harrison’s spot so that the proper camera angles could be set for that Sunday’s big event.

Without even having played a note, the Beatles had conquered America.

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