Coming back to Sydney

John, Paul and George had been to Sydney once before.  They arrived in the pouring rain and waved to everyone waiting at the airport.   Then they gave a press conference, but they did not perform a concert in Sydney at that time.    Ringo had also been to Sydney because that is where his plane from the United States had landed when he first came to Australia.   He, too met with the press before he left again for Melbourne.     This second time in Sydney was a much nicer day, weather wise and all four Beatles were together to wave to fans and on-lookers. 


About 1,200 fans showed up, which was a small number compared to previous days.   One fan in the crowd was a 68 year old woman who was wearing a "I Love the Beatles" pin and was very excited.  She told reporters that she was a big fan and she had a ticket for one of the concerts in Sydney.  

At one point, John saw a pretty blond reporter in the crowd and tried to get her attention by pretending to climb over the railing of the truck they were riding in .

I always can tell if the crowd is from this Sydney arrival by the heart shaped "I love the Beatles" that everyone seems to have.   There recently was a video out that says it was new footage of the Beatles in Melbourne.   I am not sure about the Beatles, but the fans were Sydney because of the heart papers. 

Kisses for Ringo

At 6:30a.m. two sisters named Dorothy and Judith Howe got to claim a prize that they had recently won.   That prize was to travel with Ringo Starr from Sydney, Australia to Melbourne, Australia where he was set to meet up with the rest of the Beatles.   What a prize!!!

I found a sight that show a painting of the sisters with Ringo where both of them had left comments.   Dorothy (the blonde sister) is a mother and grandmother of two.  One of her grandchildren is a budding young drummer and she likes to call him "Ringo."   Both sister are still Beatle fans (Judith's screen name was "HeyJude") and have happy memories of those days.   To see the painting and comments you can visit here.

Leaving Sydney

The Beatles had just stopped off in Sydney for the press conference and some rest.  They did not perform there that first day in Australia, that was to come later.   They boarded an airplane in Sydney that morning  and headed out for Adelaide for their first performance.

Fans were there waiting to bid them a temporary farewell.  One of them was a 15 year old girl named Mary Kostin who was wearing her maroon and grey school uniform.  She lept over the police barriers and ran towards the Beatles car on the tarmac.  She ran past several police officers before she was caught.  As she was getting caught, she threw a copy of John Lennon's book toward the Beatles and it hit George on the shoulder.  The three three Beatles and Jimmy Nicol signed the book and it was returned to Mary.    Good aim Mary!!!

Margaret Paul, age 22 was the stewardess on the flight from Sydney to Adelaide.  "the airline had prepared all these expensive savories with caviar and oysters but all the Beatles wanted was peanut butter sandwiches.  John came to the gally area himself to ask for them and I nearly fell over.  I thought he was one of the most beautiful men I'd ever seen.  Before they left the plane they all autographed a sick bag for me, which I presented to my 14 year old sister, who promptly lost it."

Press conference number 1

This is the press conference when they were asked what they expected to find in Australia, Paul answered, "Australians."    What a great line!   And also what a great way to start off a tour.

I love seeing John peeking out

Someone asked Jimmie for his autograph

This is a nice photo----but Jimmie just doesn't quite look right in it---I am ready for Ringo to be in the group again.

Hungry Boys

Before their press conference, the Beatles got to get something to eat.   Of course, that means that first they had to pose for photos with the chef, Peter Stross!

Fans standing the rain

Once school was out for the day, the streets around the hotel were jammed packed with Beatle fans.   The Beatles, at George insistence (this surprises me) made several appearances to the crowd on the balcony of the hotel.  Paul, being the joker, once put his leg over the ledge and acted like he was going to climb over, which caused even more screams.

Here is what John had to say about the fans,
"I wish they'd go to school, they make me feel guilty standing there like that.  I mean standing out in all that rain and muck, well you'd have to be crazy, wouldn't you?  I think they're wonderful.  I wish I could be down there with them."

What the crowd looked like from the Beatles point of view

These fans brought their own Beatles music

The cape caper

The story behind the cape that the Beatles wore when they came to Australia was that in Amsterdam, when they were on the canal trip, waving to all of the fans, John spots a young man wearing a cape.   He really likes it, as do the other Beatles and they say something about wanting one of those capes to Mal Evans.   Mal chases this young guy down and finds out what he can about the cape.   If I remember correctly, the guy gives him the cape and the boys have a set custom made for them.   But that part might not be totally correct. 

Anyhow....Neil Aspinall talks about this in the Anthology, that they must have been made out of poorly made materials because once they got wet in Sydney, the dye in the cloth ran and when they took them off in the hotel, the Beatles had blue-ish (not Blue Meanie) skin!  

However, they obviously really liked the capes because they continued to use that style in the movie and cover for Help!

This past fall, Paul's cape that he wore in Sydney was up for auction.   However, Paul's people pulled it from the auction a few days before the auction started.  I am not sure if Paul has the cape back in his possession or what happened to it.  

A wet welcome in Sydney

Where I live, near St. Louis Missouri, it has been raining a lot this past week.   It isn't unusual for this time of year to get a lot of rain.   However, this year it made me think of 50 years ago when the Beatles first landed in Sydney, Australia in a downpour of rain.    I think their entrance to Australia is one that is the most burned into my mind...seeing them with those umbrellas trying to wave to their fans.   I am not sure if any performers today would be willing to do such a thing for their fans.   I am not sure if I would be willing to stand out in the rain to see the Beatles----oh who am I kidding?   I would be grouchy about it while we are waiting, but glad when I got to see them.   

This story does make one mistake.  Did you catch it?

Here is the newspaper report about the Beatles arrival.   A special thanks goes out to "the Gilly" for all of the research she did on the Beatles Australian tour of 1964.   She currently is not updating her sight, but it is still a treasure-trove of information and I appreciate all of the work she put into digging information.   This article came from her files.

Sydney fans' Welcome to Beatles near Wash-out

Not even the Beatles could beat Sydney's weather today.  The expected tumultuous, riotous Australian airport welcome for the British quartet was almost a washout.

Bedraggled fans, drenched by the heavy rain that had fallen all night did their best to give the Beatles a big welcome.

They roared, "We want the Beatles" as the BOAC Comet airliner came to a halt on the tarmac.

The Beatles did not disappoint them.  Sheltering under huge airport umbrellas, they were driven around the tarmac on a specially decorated lorry.  But the rain became heavier and they were soon very wet Beatles.  Airport officials whisked them into a car and they were driven to their city hotel.

Hundreds of fans spend the night behind a specially constructed steel-fenced open enclosure which has been wind-lashed and rain swept for days.

Heavy rain was falling as the aircraft taxied to the tarmac but this did not deter the screaming, squealing teenagers.

It has rained for days in Sydney.  More than seven inches has been recorded.   More than 150 police were on duty to keep an expected crowd of 10,000 in check. The hardy ones did not let the weather dampen their andour.  As they waited for the airliner to land they waved welcoming banners and brightly coloured umbrellas.  Periodically they burst into choruses of "yeah yeah yeah,"  "We love you Beatles" or "Happy Birthday Paul."  Paul McCartney will be 22 on June 18.

As the plane circled Sydney's Mascot Airport, after an unscheduled stop at Darwin to refuel, a crescendo of squeals and shrieks arose.

The rain became heavier when the Beatles appeared at the aircraft door.

The gust of wind whipped Paul's umbrella out of his hand and wearing a big black top hat, he stood in the rain saluting the crowd.  John Lennon, George Harrison, and "stand in" for Ringo Starr, Jim Nichol waved and smiled.

Their umbrellas and capes sheltered their heads but the lower sections of their bodies were soon drenched.

John Lennon and George Harrison stood looking at the small crowd and waved their arms two or three times.


The Beatles looked cold and startled by the Sydney weather because they had flown overnight from tropical Hong Kong.

As the truck moved away to transfer the Beatles to a private car, the fans burst through the barricades and ran after them.  But the Beatles' car left for their city hotel before the fans reached them.  The tarmac was like a sheet of water as rain poured down as the Beatles left.  Ten minutes later the sun came out for a few seconds, then the rain  began again.

A special ambulance squad at the airport had a quiet time.  No collapse cases or other causalities were reported.  "But I bet there'll be a few fans with pneumonia and heavy cold tomorrow" an ambulance attendant said.

A group of youth who paraded with a sign saying "Stamp out these bugs" was booed and hissed by Beatle fans.

Mr. G. Inglis, the airport manager said, "It is all a little disappoint.  We had expected about 10,000 here, although we really didn't know what to expect.  There is no doubt that the weather has made a tremendous difference."

Mr. Inglis said most of the early arrivals at the airport had spend teh night int eh rain by the barricades.  Only a few had found shelter by huddling in doorways of the domestic airline terminals.

Deafening screams greeted the Beatles when they appeared on a hotel balcony.

George appeared dressed in a white shirt and a towel, and indicated that he was wet and cold.  The others appeared in jackets and waved.

John Lennon told a reporter, "How could we be disappointed when they came out to see us and stood in all the rotten wind and rain to wave to us?  They were great, really great. We came in just waving to people, the wind blowing us around adn wet as anything, but it was great fun for us too."

Paul McCartney said, "You might think they are daft--but to us, mate, they are terrific."

Snapshot from Sydney