Beatles’ fans never got to 2nd base
By Paula Brooks
Anyone who is an avid Beatle fan as I am, understands how I
felt upon receiving word that I would be representing the Beaver County Times’
Young World at the Beatles’ Press conference in Cleveland last August. This was a dream of a teenage lifetime, to
actually see the Beatles in person and possibly talk to them! As you can imagine, I could think of nothing
else form that moment on.
Unfortunately, two days before their scheduled stay in
Cleveland, their manager announced that all press conferences were cancelled
for the remainder of the tour. To say I
was disappointed is an understatement.
However, I recovered and decided to try to see them somehow.
I arrived at the Cleveland Sheraton early in the
afternoon. Although the sky was gray and
overcast, this didn’t dampen the spirits of the many fans clustered around the
hotel. At regular intervals, a unified
scream could be heard signifying that someone, possibly a Beatle, had been seen
at one of the windows.
No one knew for sure if it was john, Paul, George or Ringo,
but that didn’t matter to many of the girls who kept their vigilant watch all
afternoon. As long as they saw someone
they thought was a Beatle, they were happy.
As I stepped off the elevator on the parlor floor where the
Beatles suite was located, I was really excited. The security guard read my letter of
introduction, but told me he was very sorry but no member of the press was
permitted to see the Beatles except the few reporters who were traveling with
the tour. It was rather frustrating to
be so very close to them, just down the hall from their rooms, and not be able
to see them. The security guard told me
I should talk to some of the people traveling with them. I saw two British disc jockeys in the lobby,
but they too said they were very sorry but there was nothing they could do to
help me.
Again I took the elevator up to the parlor floor. This time the guard permitted me, along with
four other girls who had press passes, to stand at the end of the hall and wait
in case any of the Beatles came out of their rooms. One girl told me that about two minutes
before I arrived there, they had seen John Lennon walk down the hall. Before he went in another room, he waved and
called hello. While I stood there I did
see Brian Epstein, their manager. He was
friendly but was too busy to stop and answer any questions.
The security guard would only let us stay there for about 15
minutes at a time, and he told us we should come up one at a time. I made a total of seven trips up the elevator
that afternoon. Although I did not see
the Beatles it was an experience I will never forget, and I feel fortunate that
was able to get even this close.
On my way to the Cleveland Stadium for the concert, I
noticed a large crowd around the back exit of the hotel. This, along with two limousines, and two
police cars could mean only one thing—the Beatles were going to leave by this
exit.
After waiting for over half an hour, I figured they must be
leaving by another exit. Since the
concert was to start in two minutes, I decided I’d better leave. No sooner had I walked to the end of the
block, when a scream went up that I knew signaled the Beatles departure.
Never have I run so fast as I did back up that street. First came a police car, to clear the
way. Next came a limo. Thinking it was the Beatles; I rushed up and
took a picture of it. It turned out to
be a decoy car.
The next thing I knew, there was George Harrison right in
front of me with only the car window between!
The car was moving pretty fast, but I also had a glimpse of John Lennon.
The concert was as wonderful as I expected it would be. The only incident that marred it was the
mobbing of the stage by 3000 fans. One
girl jumped the fence during the third song and ran toward the stage, which was
set up on second base. The police caught
her and carried her off the field.
However, this started a chain reaction and before the police
could stop them, fans began pouring onto the field. Some girls even climbed onto the stage. The police escorted them into the mobile home
set up behind the stage, which served as a dressing room.
The DJ’s from radio station WIXY, who sponsored the show,
warned the fans that the show would not continue until everyone sat down
again. After one half hour, everyone had
returned to their seats.
The performance continued without further interruption.
All four of the Beatles gave a good
performance, especially Paul. He showed
a great deal of personality and animation and would wave to the audience during
songs, causing the already deafening screams to become even louder.
During the last number, the fans again rushed the
stage. As soon as the song was over, the
four Beatles were whisked into the waiting limousine and rushed back to the
hotel
