Girl Touches Beatle Paul

 

Girl Touches Beatle Paul

By Lynn Birch

The Macon News

September 13, 1964

    "The Beatles have made more of an impact on Jacksonville than the hurricane did," said one of the many policemen on duty at the Beatles concert here. In my opinion, he was right, And I was there.

     Since the policeman's statement may seem rather incredible, I will explain it by relating my own experiences in Jacksonville on Friday, September 11.  After buying a ticket and getting a motel room, I went to the George Washington Hotel, where I had heard the Beatles would hold a press conference. 

    It was not difficult to figure out how they would enter the hotel, because one street was being blocked off at 5pm when I arrived.  At 6pm the time for the press conference, a crowd of about 200 fans approached. I had decided that the Beatles would probably go in the side door, which was one of two possible entrances. I planted myself firmly in front of it and thought I might even be able to get an autograph. Suddenly, they arrived, and much to my horror, they went through the other door.

    Nevertheless, I did see George and Ringo quite well. After abandoning all pretenses of sophistication, I screamed like everyone else and rushed to the auditorium where the press conference was being held. The police formed a line across the entrance, but we caught glimpses of the Beatles when someone would go in or out. The noise was deafening at these times. One boy had touched Paul, and everybody else had to touch the hand that touched Paul. 

    Soon, a mob gathered at the side door to see the Beatles leave. I saw the Beatles being driven into the garage and ran after it. Luck was with me for after a fair struggle with other people who had the same idea, I was standing beside the rear door of the car. The Beatles ran out of the building and piled into the back seat. Paul McCartney was the last one to get in the car, and I reached through the window and touched his arm. I don't suppose I will ever get over that. I saw all four of them very distinctly. They were not smiling and looked worried about getting out of the garage. For now, there were about 300 people pushing against the car. My straw pocketbook was crushed before I got out of the garage.

     Equipped with powerful binoculars, I went to the Gator Bowl and discovered that I had an excellent seat. Excitement was in the air, and it was fun watching the crowd before the show started. I bought a Beatles hat and portraits. Then I made the mistake of telling the girls behind me that I had touched Paul, and they asked me so many questions, and I wished even more than ever that the show would start.

     When it did, there were some other acts before the Beatles, and excitement mounted. Finally, they came on the stage, and the crowd went wild. It was difficult to hear the songs, as most of the estimated crowd of 40,000 people were screaming Ringo, George, Paul, or John as loud as they could. I wondered how their vocal chords could be strong enough to last the whole performance, but they did sing.

     The Beatles on television would not even have compared to seeing them in person. There were three main differences that I noticed. One, of course, is the wild, contagious enthusiasm of the crowd and the feeling of being part of the show. The other two concern the Beatles themselves. They move around the stage, which is more at a concert, and look like they're enjoying it as much as the audience. Also, they talk to the audience between songs. For instance, after their last song, Paul asked the audience if everyone had fun, "Yes, yes, yes!" roared the fans.

     I raced to the airport on the chance of getting one last glimpse of the Beatles and climbed a Rio Grande fence to get to the field. The Beatles were already on the plane.  I  joined a group of fans that were waving goodbye to them. Sadly, we watched the plane disappear.

     Although the Beatles are gone, I believe it will be a long time before, Jacksonville forgets them. I know that I will never forget the Beatles and that wonderful day in Jacksonville.