Beatles Sing New Tune in Subdued Tone Here
By Jean Etsinger
Chicago Tribune
August 13, 1966
On my way to the blasphemous Beatles press conference, this cab driver told me, "I guess they didn't really mean it. (You know whose remark about you know what) But they shouldn't boast about themselves."
Well, if they ever did before, they don't any more. I was prepared for most anything from the Beatles, except quiet, polite, and thoughtful replies to reporters' questions. From what they've been saying during their brief stay in Chicago, the four floptops not only don't think they're greater than Jesus, they don't even wish they were.
In the press conference Thursday, the Beatles apologized for a slur upon Christianity attributed to John Lennon in an interview. Lennon told reporters he didn't mean it, and "I don't have unchristian thoughts."
Their first night's headquarters were at the Astor Towers Hotel, Astor and Scott Streets, but they slept at the Ascot Motel, 11th and Michigan Avenue, and spent last night at another undisclosed hotel. The secret maneuvers were undertaken to prevent teenage crowds from creating incidents outside the Astor Towers Hotel.
Things weren't up to Beatlemania standards. Some 200 teenagers, mostly girls, dutifully demonstrated for their idols. Now and then. Mostly when the television cameras were grinding, and the flash bulbs were flaring in their faces. When "they" tossed a paper object from a top-floor window, dozens of screaming girls dived to the pavement, trying to grasp it. A few emerged triumphantly with wadded scraps. One of the few males noted, "Maybe next time they'll throw something big -- like Ringo."
Are the Beatles still number one? Not according to a group of teens I talked with outside the hotel. One boy said the Byrds are the most popular, but the other voted for the Stones and the Raiders. "Mostly because we see them a lot on television and dance to the records."
John Lennon says "We don't think we're slipping. Our music is better. Our sales are slipping," he says it as if it's no big thing. In fact, I got the impression that being a Beatle isn't the greatest sometimes. This is the group's third visit to Chicago on tour, and they've yet to see anything of the city. George Harrison notes philosophically that if they really do slip in popularity, "Then we'll get to do things like visit Chicago." That made me feel sort of sad.
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