They made it alive!

The Beatles weren't sure if they would make it into Indianapolis alive.  Famous psychic, Jeane Dixon, a woman who had (sort of ) predicted that John F. Kennedy would die, predicted that the Beatles plane would crash when flying from Philadelphia to Indianapolis.  This obviously made all of the Beatles and crew a bit nervous.    Of course, the Beatles plane landed safely at 1:00a.m. in Indy and all was well.    Year later Ms. Dixon claimed that she never said such a thing about the Beatles and that it was just something the media made up.   Right.....

Indiana

Hello Indiana!

These photos come from a current ebay auction from someone selling photos from the 1964 tour stop in Indianapolis.   The following story is also included. 




A former teaching colleague of mine presented me with an autographed photo of the Beatles and asked me to market it for him on ebay.  Additionally he gave me some press photos, which were taken by the official Indiana State Fair photographer.  He told me the entire story (which he repeated in an email letter of provenance at my insistence) telling how he was in a room with the famed quartette for over an hour in 1964 at the age of 17 while he was working a summer job for the Indiana State Fair Board.

   “My job involved riding a golf cart to all the judging (of various fair competitions) and returning to the communications building with the results.  They were then written-up and sent to all of the newspapers in the state.  In the late afternoon on the day the Beatles came I was told to set-up the wooden folding chairs for the press conference that was to be held that evening.  Sometime later that evening, a station wagon arrived from the Speedway Motel.  Again I was given instructions.  This time my duty was to bring up the catered food for the Beatles and small staff.  I stayed in the room behind the press conference and helped set up the table for food and drinks.  In the room the Beatles would relax, eat, rest and change before their second show in front of the grandstand.  Before I knew it they were in the room.  The door was closed and no one entered or left for about two hours.  I was in awe!  At that time I was not sure who was John and who was George.  But by the next day, I had figured it out. They gave me an autographed picture!  The only conversation I had with them was when I was trying on their “fruit boots.”  I asked how much they cost and Paul said “Don’ try to pinch them, Mate.”  And then while John was getting dressed and I was staring at him he said, “Are you queer?”  Before leaving for the grandstand performance, their manager, Brian Epstein said I could have Ringo’s drumsticks.  We wen out the backdoor onto the track and walked to stage.  I stood on the west end of the stage behind the side curtains.  I never did get the drumsticks, but I did get a five dollar tip.  Brian game Mr. Goodman, the Speedway Motel manager, a ten dollar bill.  He game me a five dollar bill and the other five went to his employee who was also there.  I knew Mr. Goodman because his daughter was in my graduating class at Shortridge (High School).  The next day, after I came down off my cloud, I was given four photographs by an official fair photographer.  One of the pictures shows The Beatles coming off the plane in Indianapolis.  The one I like best shows them on stage in the Coliseum and their hair was really flying!” 

A tall beauty queen

The Beatle girls

So some fans in Indianapolis in 1964 decided it would be cute to get together and put a letter on their sweater so that when they all stood together it would spell out "BEATLES." They stood at the airport in Indy as the Beatles were leaving for the next city and waved goodbye. From the look of the photos, they did seem to grab the attention of Paul. Sometimes you gotta find a gimmick to meet a Beatle!

Indianapolis press conference

The Beatles hard at work yet again at a press conference. This time it was in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1964 Indy press conference

The only thing I can question about this photo is why on earth was it put with an auction for the 1966 Toronto press conference tapes???

Indy '64

Here is another cool ebay find. This photo was taken by a Louisville, Kentucky police officer working the Beatles concert in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1964. You can always tell the Indy concert because of the large windows and lights at the foot of the stage.