Back Route Getaway Lead to The Beatles

 

Back Route Getaway Leads to The Beatles

By Karen Christienson

The Albert Lea Tribune

September 1, 1965

Part 2 of 3

    As Paul McCartney neared the limousine, a young girl broke through the police line and grabbed him. She cried, "I love you, Paul. I love you," over and over. Paul only smiled and continued to wave until the policeman pulled the girl away. 

    Then all the Beatles quickly entered the limousine and locked the doors. I saw Chris running toward her car and followed. Don Glass joined us, and we took a back road from the airport, only to find ourselves in the official cavalcade and only two cars behind the Beatles' limousine.

     Shortly afterward, however, the highway patrol pulled us over, but when Mr. Glass showed his credentials, we were quickly waved on. It was a wild ride to Met Stadium where the Beatles were due for a 5:30pm press conference in the Minnesota Room. 

    We drove through the gates and were locked inside. Mr. Glass said he would try to get Chris and me into the conference, but he was afraid it would be impossible, because the security was tight and we were not properly authorized. 

    After waiting nearly an hour for him, Chris and I went through the stadium to the Minnesota Room. The room was packed. No one else was allowed inside. We waited outside until the press conference was over and Mr. Glass came out.

     He told us to go to our seats in the stadium and wait for him there. It was the first time I had been in Met Stadium, and I was very impressed. The gates were not due to open for 10 minutes, and 1000s of empty seats surrounded us.

     At 5:55pm, the gates opened and the fans began to pour into the stadium. Mr. Glass joined us and played back his tape of the entire press conference, which ended with a presentation of a 12-string guitar to George Harrison. He was very pleased. 

    The performance began at 7:30. The Beatles were preceded by the King Curtis Band, Cannibal and the Head Hunters, Brenda Holloway, and Sounds, Inc., a great band from England. 

    At 8:40, Bill Diehl announced the group that everyone had eagerly been waiting for, the Beatles! With John, Paul, and George carrying their guitars and John wearing a Twins cap, the Beatles walked casually from the dugout to the large platform on the pitcher mound, waving piley all the way. 

    The stadium seemed to explode with the sound of screams, shouts, clapping hands, and stamping feet. The Beatles mounted the platform, and Paul introduced and sang the first number, "She's a Woman". At every wave of a guitar and hand or shake of Ringo's head, the stands would burst with screams.

     Then the Beatles sang, "I Feel Fine", "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy", "Ticket to Ride", and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby."  Paul said during this next song, "You can do whatever you feel like doing. You can clap your hands, shout, stamp your feet, or snap your fingers."

    Then he yelled, "Can you hear me?" And we all yelled back, "Yeah!". Paul shook his head and said, "No, no, you're supposed to say 'Yes, Uncle Paul.'" Shouts of "Yes, Uncle Paul" resounded in the stadium. 

    After this introduction, the Beatles swung into a wild "Can't Buy Me Love". The next song was "Baby's in Black", a slow, mournful ballad. And introducing it, John said "It's from another one of our albums, because that's the only one we know. It's a waltz. You know, a slow waltz, and you can waltz to it, if you like."  During the song, Paul began to waltz around the platform with his guitar, much to the fans amusement. Then Ringo Starr put forth a lively, "I Want To Be Your Man." As he sang, the fans cried, "Ringo Ringo! We love Ringo!" The last three songs were "A Hard Day's Night," "Help", and "I'm Down". By this time, John sounded as though he had a bad case of laryngitis.