ON THIS DAY IN 1964, THE BEATLES WERE MIDWAY THROUGH THEIR FIRST WORLD TOUR, AND HALFWAY THROUGH THEIR AUSTRALIAN VISIT

After huge successes in Adelaide, where assistant tour manager Malcolm Cooke claimed, “I didn’t know that many people were in Adelaide.” Their arrival was marked with over 3000 fans lining the roads near the airport, with various Beatle’s saying it was the largest reception they had received to date. Interestingly, Ringo did not join much of the tour and was replaced by lesser known drummer, Jimmy Nicol, much to the frustration of George Harrison, who threatened to pull out but was convinced he would be letting down thousands of fans if he did not appear.

On the 14th, the group caught a midday flight to Essendon Airport in Melbourne, where more thousands of fans were assembled to greet them. Epstein and a recovering Ringo also flew in, increasing the chaos outside, as the navy and army cadets were called in to help the 300 policemen keep order.

Nicol returned to the UK barely 2 days later, with his role no longer required. He was presented with an engraved gold watch as a token of thanks, though he reportedly smashed the watch years later, angered by his footnote role in the band. This trip was also notable, as it marked John Lennon’s only visit to Australia.

ON THIS DAY IN 1964, THE BEATLES RELEASED EARLY EP, “SOUVENIR OF THEIR VISIT TO AMERICA”

The EP featured four previously released songs and therefore didn’t perform overly well in the charts, especially as this was the beginning of the boys careers. Despite being the most common Beatles EP in the US, many of those sales came from mail order and thus couldn’t be included when it came to tallying the charts. There was also trouble with the record label, Vee-Jay Records, a small company that ultimately couldn’t afford to promote, publicise or even pay royalties to the band and subsequently lost the rights to the Beatles after the EP’s release.

The EP was produced by George Martin and featured two McCartney-Lennon collaborations as well as an Arthur Alexander cover and a Ric Marlow/Bobby Scott cover. The EP is one of three US-released Beatles EP’s, all recorded at EMI Studios in London between 1962 and 63.

Nowadays, a 7” vinyl of the EP varies from $50 for a reissue to up to $400 for one of the original copies, an insane amount for an EP, but perhaps not so crazy to a collector.

ON THIS DAY IN BEATLES HISTORY, IN 1964, THE BOYS WERE BUSY FILMING FOR THEIR FIRST FILM, A HARD DAY’S NIGHT

Over six days of shooting was required to get all of the required shots of the band, and they spent over 2500 miles on the tracks to get it. The movie itself was released in July of the same year and was immediately considered a financial and commercial success.

The band starred as themselves in the film, the plot following their journey to and from a London show, facing troubles like regular interruptions, hoards of screaming fans, hotel boredom and an arrested Ringo in the company of his troublemaking grandfather. It was also during the filming of this production that George Harrison met his wife-to-be Patricia Boyd, who played a schoolgirl in the film. Interestingly, Phil Collins also appeared as an extra in the movie, one of the concert audience, though no-one yet knew that he would also launch a successful musical career in the following years.

The film now sits on numerous greatest films lists, including that of Time Magazine’s, as well as holding a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and being number one on their list of Top Ten Certified Fresh Musicals, an impressive accolade, going on to inspire other musicians and filmmakers in their own creative ventures. A Hard Day’s Night is now renowned as essential viewing for any Beatles fan and is also considered by some as a good introductory point for new listeners.

ON THIS DAY IN 1964, THE BEATLES RELEASED ONE OF THEIR MANY EARLY SUCCESSES, “TWIST AND SHOUT” TO THE US PUBLIC

A cover of the 1961 song by Phil Medley and Bert Russell, the song shot to top 10 positions on music lists worldwide, and only failed to reach number one in US lists because the other top spots were already occupied by other Beatles hits.

Released on their first album, Please Please Me, the song would be the highest charting Beatles song to have no writing or co-writing credits to any of the bands members. The song maintains its high regard due to the power of the vocal track by Lennon, described as raucous and dynamic. Interestingly, he was known to have been suffering from a cold and producer George Martin deliberately left the song until the end of the recording session as he knew Lennon’s voice would suffer and that there would likely only be opportunity for one take. Lennon drank milk and sucked cough drops in an attempt to soother his throat, unsuccessfully as his coughing is still audible on the album. He later said that his voice had been slow to recover and his throat had felt like sandpaper afterwards.

The song recharted in 1986 after being featured in popular film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The combination of the two periods in the charts amounted in the song becoming the longest-running top 40 hit for the Beatles, at 23 weeks and making it the second most successful Beatles single in history after “Hey Jude”.

On this day in 1964, The Beatles paid a visit to Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali

The group had been in America for just 11 days when they were whisked to Miami Beach’s 5th Street Gym for a photo opportunity with the then-22 years old boxer. 

At this time Clay was preparing for his big fight with Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston, but was the 7-1 underdog and was anxious to drum up ticket sales and press attention. The Beatles were happy to meet with a boxer, though the group had made it known that Liston was who they had wanted to meet and not as Lennon described “that loudmouth who’s going to lose.” Liston however had no interest in meeting any kind of rock band just one week before a big fight and so they settled on Clay.

Photographers captured snapshots of the group goofing around with the boxer, with shots of Clay pretending to punch Harrison and the boxer lifting Ringo in his arms appearing in the news soon after. The band had already returned to London by the time the big fight went ahead and they were surprised to see Liston withdrew after 7 rounds, leaving Clay to claim “I’m the greatest!” which is said to be the inspiration behind Ringo Starr’s track of the same name, written by John Lennon.

On this day in 1964, The Beatles performed their first US concert

Two days earlier, the group had been introduced to the United States when they made their legendary performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The band then headed south to their first show in Washington, D.C.

The band performed at the now-defunct Washington Coliseum and faced many issues. Problems with amplication and the noisy screams of the crowd made it difficult to hear. The band were placed on a stage in the centre  of the crowd and so their instruments had to be moved throughout the concert so they could face each section of audience.

None of these issues seemed to phase the crowd, who screamed throughout the entire show. The success of this concert led to the group planning a bigger tour of the States that summer as well as ushering in the beginning of the so-called “British Invasion”.

ON THIS DAY IN 1964, THE BEATLES MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE BRITISH INVASION BY PERFORMING ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.

In front of a sold-out crowd of 728 screaming fans and an estimated 73 million more watching on the television at home, it was safe to say the Beatles made an impact. In fact, the numbers ended up breaking the record of number of viewers tuned in to a live program. It has been estimated that approximately 3/4 of the American adult population was watching the performance.

Ed Sullivan had been a fan of the band for some time and spectated their rising popularity in Britain from afar, before deciding “this was the same sort of mass hit hysteria that had characterized the Elvis Presley days.” (New York Times). Interestingly, Elvis appeared to sense the threat to his popularity and sent a congratulatory telegram to the band, read out at the start of the episode.

The band themselves played five songs, All My Loving, Till There Was You and She Loves You at the start of the show and then I Saw Her Standing There and I Want To Hold Your Hand at the beginning of the second half of the show. During Till There Was You a close-up of each Beatle is shown, with Lennon’s featuring an extra caption – “Sorry Girls, He’s Married.”

This performance has become iconic in the pages of rock history and is remembered as changing the landscape of popular music drastically, particularly in the US. It inspired countless musicians from numerous recognisable bands to pick up an instrument and have a try at rock and roll music. Ultimately, the show is now a huge part of the Beatles story and the history of popular music and rock and roll altogether.

ON THIS DAY IN 1964, BEATLEMANIA REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH AS THE BAND ARRIVED IN THE US FOR THE FIRST TIME

Landing at JFK in New York, The Beatles were greeted by a group of around 4,000 screaming fans, mostly female. The band was then split into limos, 1 limo per person, and driven to the Plaza Hotel, where they were once again besieged by fans and reporters.

Some people say that the hysteria surrounding the Beatles was due to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, claiming the band reignited the sense of excitement and possibility that faded after the assassination. However, music journalists and historians dispute this, some going as far as to call it “willfully dismissive” of prior and concurrent music developments.

The group made their live US debut just days later on the 9th of February, drawing close to 73 million viewers, about two-fifths of the American population. They continued their press run, drawing large audiences wherever they went, as well as selling 2 million records and about $2 and a half million before heading back to the UK on the 22nd February. Arriving at Heathrow airport at 7am, they were met by yet another crowd, this time of approximately 10,000.

ON THIS DAY IN 1964, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT BEATLEMANIA HAD TAKEN HOLD IN AMERICA, AS BEATLE’S BEGIN A SEVEN WEEK RUN AT #1 IN THE US CHARTS

The song to begin this run, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and was the first Beatle’s song to be recorded on four-track equipment. Advance orders in Britain reached over 1 million copies before the release date of 29 November, 1963, and would have assured the group a #1 debut had their previous track, “She Loves You” not blocked the way. After two weeks, the new single reached #1 where it stayed for five weeks, and remained in the charts for 21 weeks total.

The track entered the Billboard charts in America at #45 on the 18th January 1964, and by the 1st of February it had surged to #1, giving the band their first US hit. It remained in the charts for 15 weeks, and held number one for seven before being replaced by “She Loves You”. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” went on to become the Beatle’s best-selling single worldwide, and earned numerous accolades, including 44th biggest song of all time on the Billboard charts as of 2013.

On this day in 1963, a Beatles record was played for the first time on American radio

Throughout the year the group had made a mark across Britain but had not yet seen much success in the US. This changed when WWDC DJ James Carroll obtained a copy of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” from his air stewardess girlfriend who brought the single back from Britain.

Though some reports say Chicago’s WLS began playing “Please Please Me” in February, Caroll is most commonly mentioned as being the first disc jockey to play a track from the band on American radio when he started broadcasting “I Want to Hold Your Hand” throughout DC on December 17.

Due to listener demand, the song was soon played daily, every hour. Since the song had not officially launched in the US, Capitol Records considered taking legal action but instead decided to release the single earlier than planned.