It’s a Wild Press Session – Beatles Style
By Betty Carrollton
The Atlanta Constitution
August 19, 1965
Everyone takes the Beatles most
seriously except Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon.
The four-- the Beatles themselves were about the only ones not impressed, one
way or another, with the British imports.
The mop tops staged a press
conference at the Atlanta stadium
Wednesday afternoon to answer frantic questions from some 150 people. Observers
who looked long and hard and counted slowly could spot at least a dozen
legitimate members of the working press. The rest, mostly teens, were winners
of contests or special fans.
Paul McCartney shrugged his shoulders and
smiled when asked about published reports that he plans to wed Miss Jane Asher.
“I've never said anything about that,” he declared, “but it's been written up
in the paper so much I'm beginning to believe it. I really have no marriage
plans. “George Harrison, to whom most of the questions were aimed, admitted he
was proud when a nightclub was named for his hairstyle, until he added, “I saw
the nightclub.”
For the most part, it was a “me too”, press conference with one
Beatle giving a direct answer to a question, the others echoing his opinion,
“me too”, “So do I”, “I agree.” They like many, “hundreds, actually”, of
American record artists, but frown on Elvis Presley. “We liked him when he
first started, but now he's more for the middle-aged. “
The Beatles were sarcastic when
answering some of the questions
“George, since you're the only
unmarried Beatle, what are your matrimonial plans? “
“That's a stupid question. Since
Paul is single too, you want to start over?”
“Who's your A&R Man? (That’s record world professional
talk). It's such a big mystery.”
“His name is on every one of our
album covers.”
They dismiss casual references to the
controversy that erupted when Queen Elizabeth II honored them as members of the
Order of the British Empire. “It just gave them something to write about instead
of Vietnam.” They commented that the
Beatles enjoyed the screams from their fans. “They didn't scream for five years
when we were playing around Liverpool. It's better now.”
They appeared delighted when presented with
four life-sized Beatle dolls made by fans from Ohio. George and John promptly
staged a fight between their dolls while Paul and Ringo cheered them on with
frantic waves from their dummy counterparts.
The special badges required for admission to
the press conference were of unexpected value. Desperate fans offered money,
promises, and sad tales in frantic efforts to buy their way into the inner
sanctum. Three out-of-towners, who told a reporter they were from Birmingham,
England, and loyal Beatles fans, came all this way just to hear them in
Atlanta, but were denied a press badge. One of the girls turned her wrath on
the reporter in an accent that was definitely from Birmingham --- Alabama.
Two 15-year-old girls from
Rochester, New York, turned up at the stadium at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, hoping
for a glimpse of their idols. “We couldn't get tickets for their New York
appearance,” explained Sue and her companion Candy Platten. Their parents
agreed to bring them to Atlanta at the last minute for Wednesday's concert.
Despite their efforts, it was strictly by accident that the two got a brief
glimpse of the Beatles as they arrived at the stadium. “Gosh, aren't they
gorgeous?” Sue sighed.
Pleading for admission to the press conference,
Candy said the real fans don't want to mob them or cause trouble. “We just want
to see them to say hello.” The security
measures taken for the conference would make a team of Secret Service agents
envious. Press credentials were checked at the parking lot entrance, the press
gate, and the room where the event was held. Miss Cindy Bridges, wife of the
famous artist and promoter who had arranged the concert, accepted several
special assignments from the singers. Her first job upon the Beatles' arrival
was to get them a hair dryer.
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