Salute and shake

 

Goodbye Baltimore!

 

PR Paul is at it again

Beatles in Baltimore 1964

Flash bulbs

Peeking behind the scenes

Photo by Curt Gunther 

Baltimore Beatles concert memories

I was at this show in the evening, 8 rows from the front. I could not speak for one week. People were passing out. You could not hear one word sung or spoken but I was there. – gina

I was at the second show! I was 14 years old. Sat in the 2nd balcony, 2nd row–great seats, with my girlfriend and her 18 year-old sister who drove us from Virginia to Baltimore that day. I still have the program (that I wrote stuff on) and the ticket stubs taped to the program. I remember John Lennon joking around. No way you could hear them play. Screaming and hysteria everywhere. Somehow I remember the glass doors at the Civic Center getting broken. What an awesome experience! –Chandler E.

I was at the Civic Center at the afternoon show. Couldn’t hear a word The Beatles sang.  I was too busy screaming & crying "George."  WJZ was there filming, I was in row AA, well when I got home I watched the news with my family and low and behold there I am on the news, screaming and crying "George". – Colleen R.

I was there,afternoon show I was sixth or seventh row front. I was seven yrs. old, parents brought us from philly.  You guy’s remember the gap below the curtain?  Before the show, every time there was a shoe, mike stand,or someone bumped it,” Hysteria” ! I do recall hearing the songsn but not positive it was a lifetime ago. I remember Paul kept moving to left stage talking to someone. Also teen girl (braces maybe)right behind me screaming “George” the whole show, (colleen maybe).   Jackie D. wouldn't get off, the Beatles were gone in a flash!!!  best day of my life, never will forget it!!!!!! – Jerry


I also was at the evening show. I was the “mercy date” for a girl at my workplace. At ages 22, Krissy I were among the oldest ones there except for two of the Beatles and the cops. As seen above, the median demographic was a 12-13 year old girl. We were in the last row. Krissy and I entered on duty at a government agency on the same day in June of that year, both recent college grads. Since I was (and still am) a classical violinist, I had marginal interest in the Beatles. Krissy, when she found out that our agency had a ticket counter asked if they had Beatles tickets. The fellow who was giving up our “first day on the job” briefing had no clue, but said she should check during our lunch break…and she indeed got the tickets. I was not friends with her at this point, but later we ended up in the same apartment building and she rode to work with me every day. [There was no romantic interest here at all, I was engaged at the time to my now-wife, but she was still in the Midwest finishing college.] Krissy figured by the concert time she’d have a boyfriend who she would go with to the concert. Well that did not happen and I was the only one she knew with a car…so she provided the tickets and asked if I would take her to the concert. And so I did…not with the greatest of enthusiasm I might add (though in retrospect, I treasure the experience.) As others have described, you couldn’t hear a thing and we were in the dead last row of an upper balcony. I have since learned the tickets in that section cost $2.75. The Beatles themselves only played for about a half-hour. The warm-up acts were dreadful as I remember. I have no souvenirs from the concert as I bought a program and gave it to her. She remained at my workplace for a couple of years and was friends with my wife and I (we married shortly after my wife graduated) and then she resigned and returned to Michigan. I have totally lost track of her. The Beatles soon realized the limitations of three guitars and a drum set a year or two later and limited their activities to recordings and movies until they broke up. The recordings were done at Abbey Road and often had London-based symphonies as backups. (Think “Eleanor Rigby” as an example.) About 5-6 years ago, one of my symphonies obtained these orchestral arrangements from the Beatles’ licensees and did a Beatles set at one of our Pops concerts. As the oldest playing member of that group, I was also the only one who had ever seen the Beatles.  -- John O.

I was there for the second show. I was twelve at the time and my Dad and Mom had driven my cousin Leilani and two of her friends from Bethesda to see them. Loni was the type of person who always just seem to be placed in your life at those moments when you look back, were the most significant and as you might guess, it was her who introduced me to The Beatles music. After checking out the crowd, Dad, to my surprise handed me a ticket. I don’t recall Frogman or Jackie DeShannon too clearly but I do remember that every time Bill Black said the name, Elvis, everyone screamed. My cousin and her friends left me to try and make a rush for the stage. That night was truly a turning point
in my life. Even though you could barley hear them, after The Beatles took the stage and I saw the crowd reaction, I remember thinking to myself something along the lines of, “Now that’s a good job”. I have been a musician for my entire working life largely due to my experiences that evening. I met Dad and Mom out front after the show and Mom went searching for my cousin and her friends. In her search she actually was next to The Beatles as they were escorted across the street. Mom explained to a police officer what she was doing and he asked her if she wanted to go along with them to find my cousin. I could not believe it when Mom told me that she declined the offer. We found my cousin and her friends. Leilani has since passed away and even though I didn’t actually watch the concert with her I have a special treasure and moment in my life that I will always share with her.  – Tim L.

My dad took two of my friends and one of the friend’s dad to Baltimore to see the Beatles. I was 14 at the time, and i ordered the tickets thru the snail mail – they were $5.00 each and couldn’t believe when they arrived in our mailbox. we sat on the very top and last row, so they were very small on stage, but we had a speaker right above us and we could hear them like we were on the stage w/ them. needless to say, we screamed like everybody else – just couldn’t help it!! I’ll never forget that day – Sept 13, 1964. –Donna

I was there with two good friends (we were 13 years old) .... so exciting! It was actually quiet enough at a few points between songs that John was talking and I whispered to my friends, "Hey, on the count of three, everybody yell 'Ringo'!" (He was my favorite.) So we did, and he looked over toward us (close to the left of the stage, several rows up), and we were too stunned to respond at all, even with a wave, haha. So glad I got to see them

Our local radio station, WGH in Hampton, VA, got a block of tickets that they made available to their listeners at cost: $2.50. I got the maximum, 2 tickets, and a friend of mine and our moms drove to Baltimore for the Sunday afternoon show. Jackie DeShannon was the last act before the Beatles, and I remember how restless the crowd got during her set. I always thought the Beatles should start their show with A Hard Day’s Night, because of that awesome opening chord, but they had their own order of songs. It was an awesome show, despite the screams. I have always been extremely proud to say I saw the Beatles in concert. Thanks, Mom. After they dropped us off, our moms went around the back of the Civic Center and saw a lot of commotion with some guys with long hair running from the adjacent Holiday Inn into the building. Wow!

Because of the block of seats, we were surrounded by others from the Peninsula/Tidewater area of Virginia, and 2 of my cousins were sitting right behind us. They had driven up the day before and had gotten a room at the Holiday Inn. After the show we all went to visit with them – couldn’t even get into the lobby without showing a key – their room was on the floor right below the Beatles. No, guards at the doors prevented anyone from getting onto that floor. But my cousins said they could hear the Beatles practicing the night before (no, not The Night Before). My friend had a Beatles haircut; when he stood at the window facing the front of the hotel we could hear the crowds scream.

Before we drove back home, we went to dinner at the revolving restaurant on top of the hotel. This is the same restaurant that Larry Kane wrote about in his book, Ticket To Ride. The Beatles reserved it for a late dinner for the entire crew after the last concert. So one of the Beatles may have used the same dinnerware that I had used earlier!I still have the program and ticket stub (they kept the part that had “The Beatles” on it, so all we got back really was the stub), and a picture of Ringo I bought for $3 because that was all the money I had. I was 14, and this was my first concert.  –Peyton C.

I was 10 years old at the time when my dad took me to see them at the Civic Center as it was known back then, our seats were way in the back, their first song was Twist And Shout which really made all the girls you know Twist And Shout lol, 50 years ago and now that I’m 60 years old I still kept part of the ticket stub and the program, sadly my father passed away in 1994 30 years after taking me to the Civic Center I will never forget that September day, they looked very tiny on the stage since our seating was very far away and it was quite impossible to hear them even with the Vox Amplifiers it wasn’t enough to make them hear themselves play over the screaming teenage girls. I even remember which matinee I attended, it was the afternoon show at 4:30 as I remember can’t really remember the exact time but I think it was around 4:30 cause I know that the evening show started at 8:30. Now Baltimore Civic Center today is known as The 1st Mariner Arena. All I can remember was I was so grateful for my dad giving me the opportunity to see the most greatest and most popular band in The History Of Rock N Roll The Fab Four Beatles. –John B.

I was at this show with a girlfriend. Her dad drove us from Monmouth County, NJ to Baltimore on Saturday night, we stayed at her aunt’s house. Our tickets were for the evening show. It was amazing. We had to go home that night because we had school the next day! Don’t think either one of us could talk for two days! –Linda

Is Paul Married? Ringo has the scoop!

photo by Curt Gunther

Baltimore press conference

Backstage girls

I was looking at my copy of Curt Gunther's wonderful photo book of the Beatles 1964 tour and noticed these backstage photos from Baltimore.  These two girls are in most of the photos and they are just sitting on a couch.  I wonder who they are and what they were doing hanging out with the Beatles.  Were they reporters?   Fans?   Girls that the Beatles (or one of the other guys) chose to party with?  

photos by Curt Gunther

Good Morning Baltimore!

photo by Morton Tadder

photo by Morton Tadder

Read about photographer Mort Tadder and how he got to photograph the Beatles i Baltimore on accent here"   http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/topic/ph-ms-beatles-0911-20140911,0,6809675.story

They came, they saw, they conquered

The Beatles Came, Saw, conquered
By Peter Schneider
The News American

Sirens blared, teenagers screamed, and three cars--one of them with four shaggy maned occupants screeched up to the Hopkins Place entrance of the Civic Center.

The Beatles were here.

A young blond girl, her face twisted with emotion, darted across the street and barreled into a burly policeman, sending him sprawling to the pavement.

Screaming, "I love you.  I love you," she clawed at the door of the black Cadillac limousine.  Thousands of other youths heard the commotion, responded with a roar, and stormed up Hopkins Place.

The felled policeman with reinforcements tore the sobbing girl from the car and
 joined a cordon to head off the stampeding mob.  The British moppets, surrounded by blue uniformed officers, dashed into the building and disappeared behind the descending street door.

It was a brief, but terrifying moment.

A woman rushed up to the girl and shouted into her face "What made you do a thing like that?  The girl stopped.  And with a look that seemed to sum up the teenager's attitude toward those puzzled by the Beatle phenomenon, answered, 'Because I love him, that's why."

She went on , then to join the 14,000 others packed into the Civic Center.

They were polite even orderly, as they patiently applauded the preliminary performers.  But they were there for only one reason, and their shrieks at the mere mention of "Beatles" was chilling

How do you describe the moment the Beatles appeared?  As a comedian once limply excused when his best line fell that "You would have had to been there."

The roar was deafening.  It reverberated off the walls and ceiling and rolled in a solid wave of sound over the teeming, screaming, mass of youngsters.

Flashbulbs fired with the staccato pop-poppity-pop of popping popcorn.  In the darkened hall the flashes were like lightning in a severe storm, or fireflies on a summer night.

The Beatles sang and it was pandemonium.

Adulation radiated from tear-streaked faces.  Thousands of arms and heads waved and bobbed and flailed as if from one frenzied body.

And for the two performances together -- 75 girls were treated with ammonia capsules, iodine and ice packs in an emergency first aid station.

Between shows, the Beatles appeared for a press conference.  Their words weren't exactly candidates for Bartlett's Quotations, but in case you're interested:

Paul McCartney, who plays bass guitar, says he doesn't like to be asked what he'll do when the Beatles popularity has waned.

George Harrison, who plays lead guitar, says he isn't worried about competition.  "After all, " he said, "there's enough money for everybody."

John Lennon, who plays rhythm guitar, says he's backing Eisenhower in the current U.S. Presidential contest.

And Ringo Starr, who plays drums says he'll undergo a tonsillectomy this year, but it'll be done in England, "where it's for free."

Just prior to the press conference, a group of girls pulled the ancient "Trojan Horse" routine and tried to smuggle two of their clan into the Beatles' dressing room.

The stunt failed, but you have to admire their initiative.

The girls were in a cardboard box, which was tied with a large red ribbon and labeled, "Beatles fan Mail."  A guard checked the box as it was wheeled into the Civic Center, and the jig was up.

At every entrance, ushers, Civic Center guards and city police constantly were retrieving determined teenagers who slipped through their straining fingers.

One girl made it all to the mezzanine corridor before she was stopped.  Others, when caught at the entrance, battled ferociously.  At the close of the evening performance, the 360 policemen detailed to the Civec Center were augmented by K-9 patrolmen and mounted police.

The numbers were necessary to handle the mob that surrounded the Holiday Inn, which as 'Hotel X" turned out to be the worst kept secret since the Liz Taylor - Eddie Fisher rift.

All in all, it was a Hard Day's Night. 

Baltimore story

I spotted this remembrance of the Baltimore 1964 concert in a 1976 issue of Maclen fanzine and I just thought it was great.   I love these types of stories because Susan wasn't some insider but just a regular Beatles fan telling her story from her point of view.

Beatles 1964

By Susan Lytle

For Maclen fanzine Issue 10/11 (April-May 1976)

Just how do you go about relating an event that happened 11 years ago?  My first reaction as to re-read the 5^th grade-style composition I wrote way back when for my own personal reminder.  Along with fact about the concert, there are minute details such as what color nail polish I wore, what I ate for breakfast, etc.  My reactions to the day are more vivid than the day itself.

The date of the concert, Sunday, September 13, 1964, is more familiar to me than my own birthday.  My girlfriend, Cathy, and I were all dressed p in our look-alike blue outfits.  Blue was Paul’s favorite color, you know.  And I don’t remember ever seeing so much blue and red in one crowd as on that evening.

It was my first rock concert so I was thoroughly convinced that I and my 10 year old companion could rush the stage with no trouble at all.  After seeing the policemen and their dogs surrounding the Holiday Inn, we were too afraid to even consider anything disorderly.  I was angry at the Beatles because I couldn’t get near them and I vowed to tear down my posters when I got home.  (I didn’t).

There was a mob of girls around the entrance to the Baltimore Civic Center.  Someone said that the Beatles were signing autographs, but of course, it wasn’t true.  I began to get that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.  You know the butterflies you get when a Beatle is close by?

Cathy and I bought programs and “I Love Paul” buttons.  My mother attended the show, too.  Her favorite was Ringo and we couldn’t understand at the time how she could resist a Ringo button.

The wait for the concert to begin seemed endless.  Girls all around us were giggling, stomping their feet and shouting out cheers.  And after the excruciatingly long opening acts, THEY came out.  A flood of screams filled the auditorium and the first thing I saw was George’s hair.  “Where’s Paul?  Where’s Paul?” I thought, and after a minute of hysterics, I finally located him.

The Beatles seemed to be having so much fun up on stage.  George kept ducking behind John and Paul.  Paul jerked his bass the way he always does.  John did his foot stomping, hand clapping routine.  Ringo was Ringo.

The song that stands out in my mind is “And I Love her.”  It is such a lovely, romantic song and of course, Paul’s.  During this number, I elbowed my mother to take pictures with my super-duper brownie camera.  We were only hundreds of feet away.   “Mom, take it now!  Take it now!”

My eyes remained glued on Paul.  All of a sudden, I burst out into tears.  I had to do something, but what?  It was like telepathy because Cathy looked at me just as I turned to look at her.  “Let’s scream Paul!”  We waited for what was a quiet moment considering the circumstances.  Then, after a countdown, we let out what seemed to us the loudest screams in the room.  I honestly think Paul did hear us (or was it the dream of a 10 year old?) because he looked up suddenly, stared into the darkness of the audience and gave a quick jerky wave.  It was for us, we just knew it and that’s what mattered.

By the time Paul announced, “for our last song….”, our hands were red from applause, our ears were ringing and our throats felt like cotton.  Yet we didn’t want it to end there was something so damned final about it.

Suddenly, just as a dream ends, it was over and the house lights went on and girls were still standing in awe with tear-stained faces.  My mother led the way for us out of the building.  We were speechless.  Three girls in front of us were sobbing bitterly.  One was moaning, “It’s over.  They’ll never be back!  I’ll never see them again!”  Although we didn’t know at the time the Beatles would never perform in Baltimore again, there was a general feeling that they wouldn’t’ which made the end even sadder.

The aftermath of the concert was typical of the era.  Fainting girls were being stretched out on tables in the corridors.  Red-faced girls and puzzled policemen and parents wandered out onto the street.  A vendor made one last attempt to sell Beatles banners.  We bought the last two blue ones.

I remember trying to force myself to cry.  I actually wanted to but couldn’t anymore.  I had long since run out of tears.

Later that evening, Cathy and I wondered if we’d ever see the Beatles again.  We came to the conclusion that they had to come back.  But that night, I literally cried myself to sleep.