Are Mop Tops Real? Yeah Yeah Yeah (Minneapolis Press Conference 1965)

 

Are Mop Tops Real?  Yeah Yeah Yeah

By Allen Holbert

Star Tribune

August 22, 1965

The Beatles – the most Interesting thing about England since Christine Keeler- held a press conference Saturday in the Minnesota room of Metropolitan Stadium.

It was a 12-microphone and five TV camera press conference with about 150 warm bodies crowded into an even warmer, smoke-filled room. At 5:27 p.m., the Beatles walked into the room, led by five policemen carrying wooden sticks that were 42 inches long.

 First was Ringo Starr, still wearing his red and white striped polo shirt with a brown coat over it. Then came John (the poet and author) Lennon with a similar red and white polo shirt with a black long-sleeved shirt over it and a blue cap with three brass buttons on it. Next was Paul McCartney in a gray suit. Then George Harrison, who wore a suede coat and jeans. All of them were smoking, except Paul, who was chewing gum.

 The questions covered a number of significant topics, including:

 Disc jockey:  Paul, would you hold up one of these shirts? (The disc jockey thrust one onto the table in front of him.)

 Paul:  No.

 Disc Jockey: Please!  My station said, I have to have you do it.

 Paul:  Don't do everything you're told, or you'll get in trouble.

Q:  George, hold up this cigar.

George:  I don't like cigars.

Q:  John, how much was your hat?

 John:  I got it free when I arrived in Minneapolis.

Q:  Ringo, what do you think of your fans?

 Ringo: The ones who scream and shout are a bunch of idiotic lunatics.

 Q:  Is your hair real?

 George:  Our hair's real, lady. What about yours?

 Q:  What do you do with all your money?

Ringo:  We bury it.

 Q:  When you do a new song, how do you decide who sings the lead?

 John:  We just get together, and whoever knows most of the words sings the lead.

 Q:  How do you sleep with your hair that long?

George:  How do you sleep with your arms and legs still hooked on?

 Q:  I'm such and so from wonderful rock and roll, such and so radio station.

 George:  How do you do? I'm wonderful George from wonderful, WWW.

 Q:  I understand you're all good friends of Elvis Presley.

 Beatles  (In unison):  We've never met Elvis Presley.

 After the Beatles, who mumbled to each other and laughed throughout the press conference, had finished putting down all the teenagers and disc jockeys, they ended the fun, but not until one blonde teenager stood up and yelled, “If you ever come to Omaha, you can stay at my house!”  Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Replied The Beatles.

 

 

Photos from Minneapolis

 

Beatles are People Just Like You and I

 

Beatles Are People Just Like You and I

By Karen Christianson 

The Albert Lea Tribune

September 2, 1965

Part 3 of 3

    Before the end of the last number, Chris and I ran to her car. As we neared the gate where it was parked, a small green and white laundry truck sped past, followed by a limousine. We later learned that the Beatles were in the laundry truck and that a Minneapolis band had been used as a decoy in the limousine. Ringo sat in the front seat of the truck wearing a laundry cap, and the others were hidden in the back. 

    The fans would not believe that the Beatles had left the stadium, and they pounded on the gate until they broke through. The security police quickly shoved them back, telling them that The Beatles were gone. 

    Chris and I waited for Mr. Glass, and when he finally appeared, He was accompanied by Don Short and Chris Hutchins, two men closely associated with the Beatles who work for the London Daily Mirror. Mr. Hutchins wore his hair rather long, and as we drove through the gates, fans jumped on the car, pounded the windows, and pulled wildly at the locked doors with cries of "Ringo's in there. I know he is!" "I can see him!"  We were all terrified. With horns blaring to clear the way before us, we drove through the mob and left the stadium. 

    From there, we slowly made our way in heavy traffic to the Lemmington Motor Hotel, where the Beatles had taken the entire fifth floor for themselves and their entourage. After telling the security police that we were with the Beatles' party. Mr. Short and Mr. Hutchins asked us to wait in the lobby until they could arrange for us to meet the Beatles.

     We waited for several hours, then they appeared and motioned us into the elevator, which took us to the fifth floor. Security Officer at the elevator was shown Mr. Short and Mr. Hutchins credentials, and was told that we were with the Beatles' party. He let us pass. We walked to the end of the long corridor. 

    We were admitted into room 550 and, on shaking legs, we stood face to face with John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They were sprawled casually across the two double beds, watching a James Stewart Western on television. 

    I uttered a rather weak "Hello."  They all looked up, grinned, and John said, "Hello, come in and sit down if you can find a place."  Louise Harrison Caldwell, Georgia's older sister, was sitting in the only chair. So Chris and I sat at the end of Ringo's bed with Ringo's feet between us. 

    John and Ringo were dressed in matching sweatshirts. Paul badly needed a shave, and George's hair was quite untidy. Other than that, all the Beatles impressed me as being much better looking in person than in their pictures. They have fair complexions, no blemishes, and are slightly built. Paul has the darkest brown hair of the four, and George has the thickest British accent. 

    I asked Ringo if he liked to watch television. And he answered, "Yeah, I do." Then, I asked him if he liked American television programs. He said, "Yeah, I really like those westerns, you know." Incidentally, the Beatles' next movie is going to be a Western. 

    Paul asked us if we would each like one of his British cigarettes as a souvenir. It is a rare brand manufactured in South Africa. Of course, we said, "Yes."  Paul impressed me as being the most polite Beatle. George asked us if we were hungry. Neither of us had eaten all day, so we gladly accepted the sandwiches and orange juice they gave us.

     Once, I went to the window to look down at the crowd of patient fans five stories below. Immediately, they began to scream, "There's a Beatle. It's John." "No, it's George." "Oh, it's Paul. Paul!" I quickly withdrew my head. 

    We watched more television and chatted until a security officer asked us to leave so that the Beatles could rest up for their trip to Portland, Oregon. Chris and I said goodbye to the Beatles and reluctantly left the room. 

    My impression of them has changed slightly. There are four very nice, polite young men, but I now realize that the Beatles are real people, just like everyone else. They are neither Gods nor idols. Any fascination with them that I had before I met them is now completely gone. I no longer consider myself a true fan. I still enjoy their music, but I consider myself only a casual observer of their phenomenal career.

     At times, the experience of meeting them seems unreal, like a faraway dream, but it was not a dream that I met, touched, and talked to the fabulous Beatles; it was very, very real.

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.

She will Long Remember Day The Beatles Appeared

 

She Will Long Remember Day The Beatles Appeared

By Karen Christianson

The Albert Lea Tribune

August 31, 1965

    (Karen Christanson, daughter of Mrs. Catherine Christanson of Albert Lea, a 1965 graduate of Albert Lea High School, was one of the lucky ones by teenage standards, to get a glimpse, to talk, and spend some time in Minneapolis when the Beatles appeared there recently. The account of her experience before and during the show starts today in a three-part Tribune series.)

 Part one of three.

     August 21 was a very special Saturday for 1000s of Minnesota teenagers. It was the day the Beatles arrived in Minneapolis to do a swingin' show at Met Stadium, and it was a day I will long remember.

     The Beatles were due to arrive at the old terminal building on Wold-Chamberlain field at 415 on Saturday afternoon. After my press card passed the inspection of five top security police, I was let through the gate onto the strip of field where the Beatles' plane would finally taxi to a halt. 

    My triumph was the fan's dismay. Screams of "Get her out of there!"  "How does she rate?" And "Don't let her near the Beatles!" pierce the air.

     One of the security police kiddingly told me that he was "my personal bodyguard."  At 3pm, many of the 3000-4000 fans had already gathered to welcome their idols, carrying large signs, reading, "Welcome Beatles," "We love the Beatles!" and  "Paul, Paul, Paul." They crowded against the heavy, spiked-topped fence, singing, "Help," the Beatles' current hit. 

    Several rescue squad ambulances were standing by in case of casualties and an estimated 95 tan uniform police were prepared to hold back the mob. Hoses were uncoiled in front of the fence. 

    Time slowly wore on. I became acquainted with Don Glass, a Canadian and personal friend of the Beatles who had acted as master of ceremonies during their highly successful Toronto performances. As we talked, he mentioned that he would be staying with the Beatles at their hotel. I asked him if there would be any chance for me to meet the Beatles. He said he would "think about it."

     A short time later, Mr. Glass introduced me to Chris Hill, who works for a Minneapolis radio station. He said that we could use her car and he would try to use his influence so that Chris and I could meet the Beatles.

     At 3:45, one of the policemen went to the center of the field with a loudspeaker and announced that The Beatles' plane would arrive four minutes earlier than scheduled. The announcement was greeted with screams and sighs. "If weather permitted", he continued, "The Beatles would pose for a 15-minute picture-taking session, as long as the fans stayed where they were. The minute any of you tried to climb the fence or make any move to get close to the Beatles", he said "they would have to leave."

     At 4:11 pm., approaching any plane or jet that passed overhead caused screams and shouts of "there they are! and They are early." One could almost feel the extreme tenseness in the air as police, firemen, ambulance squad, press, photographers, and fans strained for the sight of the Beatles' charter jet.

     I chatted with Bill Diehl of  WDGY and Ray Colihan, promoter of the Beatles show, for a few moments. Then, at 4:12, a huge silver jet taxied around the corner of a nearby hangar toward the waiting crowd. John, Paul, George, and Ringo had landed. Pandemonium broke loose. Girls screamed hysterically. Police sprang into action, and the press and photographers ran forward. 

    The door of the jet opened,  and the steps were put into place. Several men quickly left the jet when Ringo Starr appeared, wearing large sunglasses and a happy smile. He stood for a moment, surveying the fans, then he waved and descended the stairs. John, Paul, and George followed close behind.

     Everyone was jostled in the rush, and several girls were flung bodily away by the police. Despite this, I managed to take several pictures of the Beatles and escaped with badly bruised ribs.

The boys

 

John always has an answer

Come sail away

I love how creative Beatle fans were in the 1960's.  How could the Beatles miss seeing this sail boat?

Up front and personal

Welcome to another Beatles press conference

The arrival

It always throws me when the Beatles arrive and there aren't a bunch of people crowding around the plane to see them.   Why only the one photographer and one police?

Is it them?

One overzealous fan

She should have waited just a few more seconds and the Beatles would have been coming off the plane instead of Tony Barrow, Bob Bonis (I think) and Wendy Hanson. 

Advertisement for WDGY

Break for a quick bite

Sign this please

Close but no cigar

For those of you who don't know (or dont' remember) what this photo is all about, here is the story that goes along with it.

http://www.meetthebeatlesforreal.com/2012/01/another-installment-of-girls-who-met.html

The Beatles rock Minneapolis

Photo by Bob Bonis

Anyone know what is going on in this one?

Fan fondly remember the Beatles at the Met

I was 16 and a devoted Beatles fan when I saw them at Mets Stadium. We had very good seats right in front of one of the monstrous speakers so we heard the music quiet well. It was like having an out of body experience. You just could not believe you were hearing the Beatles live in concert. Paul would wave in our direction and hundreds of girls would literally pass out. Thousands of flash bulbs were going off making the sight absolutely surreal. Seeing the Beatles quite literally changed my life because after that August night me and my mates went back home and started a band and became professional musicians, and I am still playing music to this day. Thank you John, Paul George and Ringo for the music and inspiration you have given to me and to millions. – Doug

My two cousins and I went to The Beatles concert on August 21st,1965.We sat in the 1st deck, section 5,row 17,seat 6. I was 17 years old. We enjoyed the concert so much!. We screamed threw the whole concert and it was hard to hear from all the other screaming fans.My oldest brother had bought me the ticket to see the concert. I was a night I will never forget. I still have the ticket stub to this day. – Anonymous

I was a Bloomington Police Officer and part of the personal body guard attached to the Beatles at Met Stadium, Aug. 21 , 1965. I got all four of their autographs while riding with in a laundry truck to their Minneapolis hotel. Still have them. – Butch

"It was just so much fun to be with so many people who loved the Beatles just as much as I did." –Carol

“When they came out we were just crazy nuts.  "Everybody just screamed from the beginning to the end -- you could barely hear the music." – Candy

"Our whole section would hold Paul's picture up, and he would nod to us,"We went through all of them. We'd get a little nod or they'd tip their guitar." – Mary Kay

I remember we sat through what seemed liked hundreds of opening acts, even though there was probably only three,” she said. And then when the Beatles finally came on, “it was so quick. Only about a half-hour. The only song I remember seeing is ‘I’m Down.’ ”—Kathy

“You could hardly see them, and there wasn't a sound system like there is now, so you know, you just kind of knew you were there and you were part of the experience." --  Helain