BEATLES 1966 NEW YORK PRESS CONFERENCE JUST BEFORE TEENAGE FANS, RECEIVED AN INVITE TO QUESTION THE FAMOUS FOURSOME.

The following press conference held in August 1966, just one week before their final live concert in San Francisco, California, occurred slightly ahead of a marvelous contest to which 150 winners/fans took part in a closed question and answer session with the biggest pop stars the world had known, the very event covered in my blog last week. Here now, presents the media reporters chance to interview the renowned band members.   

Q: "Would any of you care to comment on any aspect of the war in Vietnam?"

JOHN: "We don't like it."

Q: "Could you elaborate any?"

JOHN: "No. I've elaborated enough, you know. We just don't like it. We don't like war."

GEORGE: "It's, you know... It's just war is wrong, and it's obvious it's wrong. And that's all that needs to be said about it."

(applause)

PAUL: "We can elaborate in England."

Q: "I have a question for Paul. I don't know if you know about it yet, but two young ladies threatened to jump to their death from the twenty-second floor of the hotel here in Manhattan if they could see you. How do you feel about young girls acting this way?"

PAUL: "If they could see me?"

Q: "They wanted to see you-- If you came over they wouldn't jump. The police finally rescued them. They threatened to jump unless you came over."

PAUL: "Good god, you know... Phew! I don't understand it. I don't know. Umm... silly, that. I'll see 'em, you know."

(laughter)

Q: "Will the Beatles be inactive when John goes on movie location for the (How I Won The War) motion picture?"

RINGO: "Yes."

JOHN: "I'm only doing it because we've got a holiday, you know. I wouldn't do it if we had any work. (pause) We're not out of work, mind you."

(laughter)

Q: "When you arrived at the airport, there were only nine girls waiting to meet you, were you disappointed, and do you think that's a reflection of a loss of popularity in this country?"

JOHN: (jokingly) "Yeah, we're real brought down by it."

PAUL: "Really disappointed!"

(laughter)

PAUL: "Three o'clock in the morning they expected millions."

(laughter)

Q: "Now that Paul is the only bachelor Beatle, do you find that the girls gravitate more to him than they do to the rest of you fellas? How do you feel about that?"

JOHN: "They always did!"

RINGO: "Yeah."

(laughter)

PAUL: "Well, the thing that we found... We found after all this business, of all the buttons that say 'I love Ringo,' "I love John,' John's were outselling everyone's."

JOHN: "A rather distinctive Beatle."

PAUL: "A distinctive Beatle."

Q: "This is for Paul and John. Do you think that happiness is really egg-shaped, or is it just a rumor from the egg marketing magazine?"

PAUL: "Hooo-hooo-hooo."

JOHN: "Ho, ho."

Q: "Do you think happiness is real, or just a fantasy?"

JOHN: "It's real, alright."

RINGO: (jokingly) "Depends how the eggs are cooked."

(laughter)

PAUL: (laughs) "That was about as good as anything."

Q: "Ringo, now that George has joined John and Paul in writing songs are you going to start writing your own songs?"

RINGO: "Umm, no."

Q: "Why not?"

RINGO: "I can't write them. I try, you know, but... a lot of rubbish."

Q: "On your new album, 'Revolver,' I noticed a lot of violins and even trumpets."

GEORGE: "Very observant."

(laughter)

Q: "How come you decided to use violins and trumpets?"

PAUL: "There were, uhh... I think there were three violins on the whole album and three trumpets. So, we're not exactly going overboard on 'em, you know. We don't use them all that much, but it was just that those tracks sounded better with violins and with trumpets than with us, you know. That's the only reason we use them."

Q: "This one to John, please. Any remarks whatsoever on some of the recent remarks attributed to you and the Beatles concerning religion?"

JOHN: "Well, I think I've said enough about that. I can't say any more, and just sort of going over the same thing over again. You know, a lot of it just is a lot of rubbish and a lot of hysteria."

Q: "Uhh, to John and Paul-- It's been said that Lennon and McCartney may someday replace the names, Rogers and Hammerstein. Have you ever considered discontinuing performing and instead just keep on writing?"

JOHN: "No."

Q: "Would you rather perform, then?"

PAUL: "I mean, you know... When we're eighty, we won't be performing. We may be writing."

JOHN: "And we don't want to be Rogers and Hart, either."

(laughter)

Q: "This is to all of you. You seem to be doing a Bob Dylan in reverse. That is, you became popular playing rock and roll, and now you seem to be doing a lot more folk rock. Would you care to comment on that?"

RINGO: "Folk rock."

PAUL: "It's not folk-rock. Honest. Yeah, somebody said that the other day."

Q: "Songs like 'Eleanor Rigby' and..."

PAUL: "No, the thing is that-- That thing about Bob Dylan is probably right, in reverse, because we're getting more interested now in the content of the songs, whereas Bob Dylan is getting more interested in rock and roll. It's just; we're both going towards the same thing, I think."

Q: "Paul, I believe you have just recently purchased a farm in Scotland. Have you any intention of purchasing any further, being in the United States?"

PAUL: "No. I just bought that farm because it was very cheap. And, uhh, I always wanted a farm. And it's a nice place. But that's as far as it goes."

Q: "This is for John. There have been reports from Europe about too much reaction to your Christianity remark. They say it represents a possibility of immaturity in American society. Do you think so?"

JOHN: "Uhh. Who says so?"

Q: "It was said in overseas press."

JOHN: "Well, I mean... It's an opinion. That's all, you know. I don't... They're entitled to their opinion."

PAUL: "I think the thing about that is that, uhh, there are more people in America, so there are more bigots... just by head of population."

(laughter)

PAUL: "No, well... There are, you know."

JOHN: "What about Scotland?"

PAUL: "Well, you know... but I mean, you hear more from American bigots than you do from Russian bigots."

(laughter)

PAUL: "That doesn't mean the whole country's bigoted, you know. Does it?"

Q: "This question is to John and Paul. Is there any special significance in the use of the term, 'Yellow Submarine'?"

PAUL: "It's a happy place, that's all. You know, it was just... We were trying to write a children's song. That was the basic idea. And there's nothing more to be read into it than there is in the lyrics of any children's song. 'Sparky,' you know, it's the same kind of thing."

JOHN: "Sparky?"

PAUL: "Sparky. Correct."

(laughter)

Q: "Two years ago I traveled with you as a group, and this time you seem to be much quieter, much more restrained. Do you think you're getting older, or are the tours getting to you?"

JOHN: "I think we're probably getting older, you know, each year."

(laughter)

PAUL: "I've got older."

Q: "How do you think Prime Minister (Harold) Wilson's austerity program is going to affect London as the capital of rock and roll, and what's it going to do to you financially if the pounds devalue?"

JOHN: "We don't know. You know, we don't know what he's done, yet, because we've been away. I mean, we've seen a bit of it, you know. If it affects us, that's alright."

Q: (female) "I must say you're a cute looking bunch."

PAUL: "Gee, thanks, Ma'am."

(laughter)

Q: "I'd like to ask you sort of a personal question. Do you bring your own barber with you when you travel abroad?"

BEATLES: "No."

Q: "Do you have your hair cut, then, wherever you are?"

RINGO: "Umm, no. Well... We usually have it cut at home, you know. Well, I do."

Q: "How do you define glamour in a girl?"

RINGO: "Glamour?"

JOHN: "Don't like glamour."

PAUL: "You can't define glamour, really, you know. It's just there, or it isn't."

JOHN AND PAUL: "Glamour."

Q: "There was a rumor carried in the New York press and on radio this past week that you're all wearing wigs because you were trying to join a London club which is very exclusive. Is it true or false? Are you wearing wigs?"

GEORGE: "No."

PAUL: "Oh. Do YOU believe that? Do you? No."

Q: "Your hair looks much more uniform than it did two years ago."

PAUL: (effeminate) "Thanks, silly."

(laughter)

PAUL: "No, that's not true, you know. But thanks all the same."

JOHN: (giggling) "No comment."

(laughter)

GEORGE: "To George-- Now that you've learned to play the sitar, do you expect to learn any more instruments?"

GEORGE: "I haven't learned to play the sitar. I mean, Ravi Shankar hasn't LEARNED to play it, and he's been playing it thirty-five years."

(applause)

PAUL: (excitedly, to George) "Woo!"

Q: "A question to John and Paul. Is there any theme to the 'Rubber Soul' and 'Revolver' albums..."

PAUL: "Theme?"

Q: "...a general theme with variations on it?

PAUL: "No, not really, you know. (to John) Is there a theme?"

JOHN: "No. The only theme is that you do them at the same period, so they have something in common when they get on the same LP. That's all."

Q: "A question to George. Do you feel that Indian music will be more influential in the future of rock and roll and pop music?"

GEORGE: "Umm, well... I don't know. I personally hope it will become more-- that there'll be more Indian influences just generally in any music because it's worth it. It's very good music. I'd just like to see it more popular-- more people appreciating it."

Q: "This question is addressed to all of you. Do any of you ever get tired of all this hocus-pocus, the press conferences, the screaming girls, the crowds, and decide that you would like to just sit back on your fat wallets and forget the whole thing?"

PAUL: (laughs)

JOHN: "Well, when we feel like that, we take a fat holiday on our fat wallets..."

(laughter)

JOHN: "...and then you get fed up with that, and you feel like coming out and doing this."

(laughter)

Q: "How would you describe the reception you received on this trip to the States? Has it increased, diminished, or remained the same?"

PAUL: "The actual numbers of people, umm... recepting, or whatever the word is, is bigger... so I hear. Who knows."

RINGO: "Yeah."

PAUL: "Well, Brian (Epstein) knows. You know, ask him."

GEORGE: "We're playing to more people on this trip than we have on the last tours."

Q: "You said that you and Dylan are heading towards the same thing. Where do you see your music going? Things have changed."

PAUL: "Well, it's going... I don't know. The thing is, uhh... It's going forwards. I don't know toward what, but it's gonna go forward. We're trying to take it forward, and Dylan's trying to take his forward, but it just looks as though it's going backwards."

(laughter)

PAUL: "You know, I'm not trying to be funny, but it does... It's gone from very complicated to less complicated."

Q: "But certainly it's changed since your advent. I'm wondering where you consider yourself to be now, music-wise."

JOHN: (jokingly) "On Decca Records."

Q: "Do any of you have plans to record on your own?"

JOHN: "We do at home, you know. We might."

GEORGE: "In fact, we have done, I think."

JOHN: "I think so."

GEORGE: "'Eleanor Rigby' was Paul on his own."

JOHN: "We were just drinking tea."

(laughter)

Q: "No, the thing that I'm trying to get at is, do you have plans like anything definite at all?"

PAUL: "Not for separate recording careers, if that's what you mean."

Q: "Have you written any good books lately, John?"

PAUL: (misunderstanding) "Blues?"

JOHN: "Books?"

PAUL: "Books?"

JOHN: "Books or Blues, I haven't written anything, you know."

(laughter)

Q: "Paul, according to wire reports you became a little ill after you got off the plane last night. What happened? Air sickness?"

PAUL: Yeah, something. You know, I haven't been too well on the tour. I just felt a bit ill, that's all, and I was sick."

Q: "One of you, I believe it was George, said that you couldn't comment on Vietnam in this country but you could in England. Could you elaborate on that a little bit?"

GEORGE: "I didn't say that. Maybe one of us said that, but I didn't."

PAUL: "It was me. I mean, you know about that, anyway, you know. I mean, we could say a thing about... like John's religious thing in England and it wouldn't be taken up and misinterpreted quite as much as it tends to get here. I mean, you know it does. The thing is that I think you can say things like that in England and people will listen a bit more than they do in America because in America somebody will take it up and use it completely against you and won't have many scruples about doing that. You know, I'm probably putting my foot in it saying that, but..."

JOHN: "You'll be explaining to the next bunch."

PAUL: "Yeah, I know."

(laughter)

PAUL: (jokingly, in American accent) "Oh well, it's just wonderful here."

(laughter)

Q: "There appear to be a much smaller number of fans outside the hotel and the..."

JOHN: "Yip yip."

Q: "...concert tomorrow night at Shea Stadium is far below a sellout. How do you feel about this..."

JOHN: "Very rich."

(laughter)

Q: "...not being quite as popular as you were?"

JOHN: "It doesn't matter, you know."

Q: "Do you make the same money?"

PAUL: "Well, I don't know, but the thing is-- Do you expect us just to go on forever making more and more money, making more and more figures, bigger and bigger? You can't just go forever!"

GEORGE: "And if certain people have decided they don't like us after John's statement then, you know, we don't want..."

JOHN: "We'll have to get rid of them."

GEORGE: "We'd rather just have people who like us, and really like us, rather than pretend to like us because we're the in-thing."

(applause)

JOHN: "The first house in Memphis-- two-hundred didn't turn up who were meant to, or something like that, but the second house was wild, you know, and we thought that would be the place that would show any sort of real doubt about what was going on."

Q: "Do you think that with the new mini-skirts and wild fashions that young women are exposing too much these days?"

BEATLES: "No!"

(laughter)

JOHN: "You get quite used to it. It's not as wild as you think it is, when it's sort of, everybody's wearing clothes like that. It just looks sort of normal, and you get used to it, the same as people got used to long hair."

Q: "When you go to San Francisco then, will you visit some of the topless restaurants?"

GEORGE: "No, we'll only be there long enough to do the concert and then fly back to Los Angeles."

JOHN: "Well, they could come to the show-- we'll get 'em a couple of tickets."

GEORGE: "Yeah."

(laughter)

GEORGE: "They could dance on stage while we do our act."

JOHN: "Nah, we wouldn't be able to do it."

Q: "What music do you listen to for relaxation?"

RINGO: "Uhh, all sorts, you know."

PAUL: "All kinds of music. I don't think anyone of us has got..."

JOHN: "Except for him."

PAUL: "Well, George is mainly interested in Indian music, and we all share the interest, and like all other kinds of music as well. Good music, you know."

Q: "Here's a question for the entire group. I noticed that Brian Epstein is sitting up on the platform with you gentlemen. After all these years how are the Beatles and Brian getting along, aside from the financial considerations?"

JOHN: "We get on just fine."

PAUL: "Good friends."

GEORGE: "He wouldn't be sitting on the stage with us now if we didn't."

JOHN: "He'd be sitting on his fat wallet somewhere."

(laughter)

Q: "If it could be arranged would you like to include, in your '67 or '68 European concert itinerary, concerts in the satellite capital countries such as Warsaw, Moscow, and Budapest? Can you answer that, please?"

JOHN: "We can't, you know. We'd like..."

GEORGE: "Personally, I wouldn't like to play there because I just don't fancy going there at the moment. There's lots of other places I'd rather see first. But that's a personal whim, you know."

M.C: "These are now the last three questions."

Q: "I got a tough question for Ringo. Your boy is a year old next month, right? September?"

RINGO: "Yeah."

Q: "What kind of gifts does he want for his birthday?"

RINGO: "Well, how do I know. He's not talking yet."

(laughter)

PAUL: (giggles)

Q: "Do you feel responsible for the Mod fashion revolution in the United States?"

BEATLES: "No."

JOHN: "We haven't noticed it."

GEORGE: "We're not responsible for ourselves, never mind fashions."

JOHN: "Mental as well, eh?"

Q: "A couple of years ago, you said that you were most influenced by people such as Chuck Berry, Laverne Baker, etcetera. Now that they're more or less over the hill as far as pop music is concerned..."

JOHN: "They were then."

Q: "...who do you admire now? You mentioned Indian music-- Are there any pop stars in the United States today that still influence you?"

JOHN: "We like a lot of American groups, still, you know."

GEORGE: "Elvis."

JOHN: "We still like Chuck Berry... I haven't burned his records or anything."

PAUL: (laughs)

(laughter)

JOHN: "The Lovin Spoonful are nice."

PAUL: "Beach Boys are great."

RINGO: "Mamas and the Papas."

JOHN: "We like a lot of things, and are influenced by everything that's going on."

PAUL: (jokingly) "Especially Bill Haley."

(laughter)

Q: "What about the downfall?"

PAUL: "What about it?"

GEORGE: "Well, the downfall won't be a downfall for us because we won't really..."

JOHN: "...feel down."

GEORGE: "If we'll have a downfall it will only be for all those people who think, 'Hee hee, the Beatles aren't making hit records anymore.' We won't particularly be worried. So it won't be a downfall."

Q: "You're looking forward to it? Getting out of all this?"

PAUL: "No, we're not."

JOHN: "We don't sort of dread it. It's just something that'll happen."

GEORGE: "When it happens, we'll accept it."

Q: "Ringo, do you have any comment on fatherhood?"

RINGO: "Ahh, it's okay! You know, that's about all. I like it."

M.C: "This must be the last question, I'm afraid, time-wise."

Q: "One of the disc jockeys in the local area said that one of the songs, I believe it was 'Rain,' was recorded backwards. Is this true?"

JOHN: "Uhh, it is true. After we'd done the session on that particular song-- it ended at about four or five in the morning-- I went home with a tape to see what else you could do with it. And I was sort of very tired, you know, not knowing what I was doing, and I just happened to put it on my own tape recorder, and it came out backwards. And I liked it better. So that's how it happened."

M.C: "I'm afraid that has to be the last question."

(applause)

Next week, I’ll share with you a radio interview presented on January 24, 1964, from Paris, France, just a couple weeks before the famous Liverpudlians conquered America.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

BEATLES NEW YORK PRESS CONFERENCE JUST FOR TEENAGE FANS, AWESOME.

On August 20th 1966, with just two days before the Beatles arrival in New York City, Gary Stevens and 'The Good Guys' at radio station WMCA invited Beatles fans to take part in a contest of which winners would attend a Beatles Junior Press Conference and be able to talk directly with the four pop stars.

75 postcards were drawn out of a huge bin, and those selected winners receive a seat to attend this Beatles Junior Press Conference for the chance of a lifetime… to ask the Beatles any question they’d like. There was a similar contest also held by the official American Beatles Fan Club, and they had picked 75 winners from their club as well. So, the entire conference wound up consisting of 150 excited attendees. In just 48 hours, WMCA Radio received 48,000 postcards. John Lennon and Paul McCartney both confirmed that the idea for the special fans-only event came from the Beatles, themselves, and held this special fans only occasion on the same day but separately from the usual Beatles press event for New York City reporters.

Gary Stevens stated just after the one-of-a-kind affair, "We were cordially invited 75 lucky guys and gals to attend a special Beatles Junior Press Conference... The (kids) did a great job, and I'll tell you something, the Beatles got such a kick out of it. I could tell they were really digging it."

Q: "Paul McCartney, are you going to get married with Jane Asher?"

(crowd of youngsters’ yell with excitement)

JOHN: (loudly) "Yay! Tee-hee!"

PAUL: "Umm, I'm PROBABLY gonna get married with Jane."

(crowd of girls scream)

Q: "I want to know who your favorite American group is."

JOHN: "Just one? There's a lot of them."

PAUL: "There's quite a few of them, you know. Beach Boys, Lovin' Spoonful, Byrds, Mamas And Papas."

Q: "I'd like to know, John, are you making a movie without the other Beatles?"

JOHN: "Yes."

Q: "When?"

JOHN: "When I get home from doing this."

Q: "Are you gonna have a lead part?"

JOHN: "No."

Q: "A small part?"

JOHN: "It's... you know. I wouldn't take a lead part. I wouldn't like to."

Q: "Will they put your name in the movie? You know, in the umm credits?"

JOHN: (jokingly) "I'm big enough to get a mench."

(laughter)

Q: "I'd like to ask Paul when the whole group is going to make their next picture."

PAUL: "The next picture -- We'll probably make it, I think, early next year. But at the moment the man's writing a script, and it depends on the script, you know, when we make it."

Q: "I'd like to ask John -- Is it true he went around London in a gorilla suit?"

(laughter)

JOHN: "No. That was a film called 'Morgan.' I've got a gorilla suit, which I've worn about twice to frighten a few people, and it's too hot."

Q: "I'd like to know -- Do you mean all the lyrics that you write?"

PAUL: "We mean them as lyrics. But I mean, if we write 'We all live in a Yellow Submarine,' we don't REALLY mean THAT."

(laughter)

Q: "Paul, is Eleanor Rigby cryptic? Does it got a hidden meaning?"

PAUL: "No, no. No. It's just a straight song."

JOHN: (comical voice) "That ain't no hidden meaning, baby."

(laughter)

Q: "I wonder, being in a group with four people and becoming famous so young, how you managed to evolve with separate personalities."

PAUL: "The main thing is, it's true that we're a group of four people together with an image, but we don't believe that. We don't take that bit of us too seriously."

JOHN: "We're still us, you know."

PAUL: "We're still individuals."

Q: "I'd like to wish John a happy wedding anniversary."

JOHN: "Oh, thank you!"

(crowd yells and applauds)

Q: "I want to know if any of you know Patricia Flater in Cumberland, England."

PAUL: "Patricia who?"

Q: "Flater. F - L - A - T - E - R."

PAUL: (pause, then comically) "Suuuuuure!"

(laughter)

Q: "I'd like to ask Paul, who is Eleanor Rigby? I read in The Beatles Book that she is a person. Who is she?"

PAUL: "No, she isn't. It was just a name. It was nearly gonna be Daisy Hawkins."

(laughter)

Q: "I read that she was someplace with you fellas -- That she met you."

PAUL: "No, it's not a real person. It's only imagination."

Q: "In the beginning of your album (Revolver), right before Taxman, there's a lot of squeaking..."

GEORGE: "It's just the bit before we recorded it, what happened to be on the tape. That part usually gets cut off. We thought you'd like to hear it."

Q: "I want to know - How come you don't have the same 'Help' movie and 'Hard Day's Night' movie here in the United States... It's not as long... Why did you cut it?"

GEORGE: "United Artists cut the pieces out of it. Not us."

PAUL: "It's got nothing to do with us, you see. Other people do that -- Cut it. We just make it."

Q: "I heard that Sid Bernstein offered you to come back next year. Are you looking forward to it?"

JOHN: "We never heard about it."

Q: "What do you think of miniskirts, and do you think they will go higher?"

PAUL: "Well, I like miniskirts. I think they're fine. The thing is -- At the moment it's miniskirts, but in Victorian times people were ashamed to show their ankles, you know."

(girls giggle)

PAUL: "It's just got a bit higher, now. It may go even higher. (smiling and rocking his head side to side) WHOOPIE!"

(laughter)

Q: "George, do you have a cousin named Maggie?"

GEORGE: "No."

Q: "I'd like to know what you think of the boys that followed you from the airport last night."

JOHN: (jokingly, in effeminate voice) "We didn't notice them."

(laughter)

Q: "I'd like to ask any of you -- Have you seen the Beatles cartoon show?"

RINGO: "Yeah."

Q: "What do you think of it?"

RINGO: "It's okay."

Q: "Do you think it's a good portrayal of your character?"

PAUL: "It's not really like us, but it's fun."

Q: "I'd like to know if this press conference was your idea or if you're just here because of..."

JOHN: "Ours."

PAUL: "Yeah."

RINGO: "Everybody's having a good time."

(crowd yells)

Q: "Ringo, where do you get all your rings?"

RINGO: "Umm, people buy them for me, you know."

BEATLES PRESS SECRETARY: “One final question, please.”

Q: "I'd like to know -- How do you decide who is going to sing the lead in any of your songs?"

JOHN: "Whoever knows most of the words."

(laughter)

Now, another point of view. Sit back and relive this event as one of the lucky postcard winners shares her participation at the incredible conference…

Q: "What do you remember about the Beatles Junior Press conference at the Warwick Hotel in New York City in 1966? How did that come to be?"

FELICE: “My recollection was that it was around August 20th that WMCA Radio DJ Gary Stevens announced on his show that the Beatles wanted to have a press conference with the fans asking them questions instead of the regular media reporters... that they felt it would be more fun and that they would finally be asked some different questions for once. So Gary told his audience that there would be a contest held where you could win the chance to attend a Junior Beatle Press Conference and ask the Beatles a question. All you needed to do was mail a postcard with your name, address and phone number to WMCA Radio Station for a chance to win."

Q: "How many winners were they going to select?"

FELICE: “Gary said that 75 postcards were to be picked out of some sort of bin, and those winners would be able to attend this Beatles Junior Press Conference for the chance of a lifetime… to ask the Beatles any question they’d like. The conference was to take place just a few days later as I recall. I decided that I would mail seven cards in so that would give me more of a chance to get picked.”

Q: "There were more winners than just those 75 selected by WMCA radio, correct?"

FELICE:  "Yes, there was a similar contest that was held by the official American Beatles Fan Club, and they had picked 75 of THEIR winners from their club as well. So the entire conference wound up consisting of 150 attendees."

Q: "So you'd have to be very lucky to be one of the lucky ones."

FELICE:  "Yes, it was outrageously lucky. I could not believe how exciting this opportunity was. Especially for a huge Beatles fan like me. I adored them, and here I was being offered a chance to win entry into the same room as them….and even a chance to ask a question. Nothing could be better than that."

Q: "I can't imagine how that must have felt... like an overdose of anticipation."

FELICE: "Being a 15-year-old kid from New Jersey, who never got close to winning anything in her life, and who was totally and completely in love with the Beatles, I ran over to my neighborhood church and knelt in front of the Sacred Heart statue, praying desperately to win for three solid hours... because everything happens in three’s, I was always told. I prayed harder than I ever prayed in my life with such passion that I actually remember crying and pleading with God because I wanted to win so bad."

Q: "So you were just waiting to see what came in the mail then."

FELICE: "Yes, and the anticipation was overwhelming. The mail arrived, but not a trace of any Special Delivery mailings. So, I ran to the phone and called WMCA and asked if I had won the contest. They said, 'No, I’m sorry, but if you didn’t receive the Special Delivery by now, that means that your postcard was not picked.'  My heart sank big time, and I was totally depressed.  I remember crying on my parents' bed for what I recall was about half an hour straight. Then suddenly, I hear my Mother coming into the house yelling, 'Felicia, you got something in the mail.' "

Q: "That must have been a serious adrenaline rush."

FELICE: “To put it lightly, yes! I knew it had to be the Special Delivery... the LATE Special Delivery... but the Special Delivery regardless. I found out after the Conference, that in just 48 hours, WMCA Radio received 48,000 postcards as I recall, and I was one of the 75 winners picked.”

Q: "So you went from total depression, to...."

FELICE: "I was ecstatic. I have never been happier about anything else in my life like I was at that moment. It is beyond words how overjoyed I was to win. I worshipped the Beatles. They were the best thing that ever happened in my life. So winning this contest was just like heaven."

Q: "What an incredible moment that must have been."

FELICE: "It was indescribable. I was so incredibly excited. I then begged my Mother to at least buy me a good dress to wear... one that looked Jane Asher-like, of course. And she did, believe it or not. But there was no family camera to bring, so I did not have a camera with me during the conference, and it turns out that we WERE allowed to take pictures... something unheard of nowadays."

Q: "So you were looking mod in your new dress."

FELICE: "Yes, as much as I could possibly pull off. I remember even ironing my long hair like girls used to do in the 60’s. I wanted to look so great and 'with it' for the Beatles."

Q: "What do you remember about the big trip to New York City that day?"

FELICE: "Besides an overwhelming amount of anticipation and a feeling of total bliss, I must admit there was one thing that put a damper on things, and that was being forced to leave some of my closest girlfriends behind as I was allowed into the conference. My friends had accompanied me on the bus trip from Hoboken, New Jersey to New York City, and we were all crazy with happiness up until the security point where you had to show your two special passes. At that point, obviously, I was forced to wave goodbye to my friends as I continued on towards the Warwick Hotel’s entrance. It was a very heartbreaking experience for me not to be able to take them along. I recall one friend made a tribute book to Paul and asked that I give it to him at the conference. Believe it or not, I did get to hand it to one of the managers before the conference began, and I asked that he give it to Paul. He apparently did, because I saw Paul thumbing through the book right at the conference table, and he even looked impressed at what he was reading!  Later on, sometime after the conference, my girlfriend received a response from someone in Paul’s camp thanking her for the book."

Q: "It must have been a fan and media zoo outside of the hotel with the knowledge that the Beatles were inside."

FELICE: "Arriving for the conference was like arriving at an event where the President of the United States was appearing along with the Oscar Award Show going on at the same time and in the same place! That’s how many fans and security surrounded all blocks around the entire perimeter of that Warwick Hotel area in mid-town Manhattan. New York literally came to a stop in that section of the City. It was amazing. The excitement was overwhelming. You could actually feel the air having almost a thick quality to it, thick with an emotional high and energy, if you know what I mean. There were fans standing shoulder to shoulder screaming and carrying on, but being held back by continual barricades separating them from any hotel entrance. The loud excitement of the fans permeated the New York air, but as far as I can remember, no 'crazy' incidents to speak of took place, at least at those moments. I do recall that a day or so before, there was a fan who threatened to jump off a New York building if she wasn’t allowed to meet the Beatles. Besides the fans, the press most likely saturated the entire area. However, my main focus was very concentrated on just getting myself as quickly as possible into that hotel."

Q: "Beatles events in earlier years were not as secure as one would have thought... but by August 1966... this was in midst of all the controversy of Lennon's 'Jesus' statement by this time. How secure was security at the Warwick Hotel that night?"

FELICE: "No one was allowed past a certain perimeter of the hotel area. All fans and the public were held back by barricades. Cops were all milling around that section, so I approached one, doing my best to quietly tell him that I had special passes to attend a Beatles conference inside the hotel. Obviously, I was paranoid that some fan next to me would hear and jump me for the passes. Then, when I very carefully showed him the identifications, he directed me past the barricades and towards the hotel. This seemed to me to be quite a long walk, in a way, but I believe it indicated that security’s main objective was to keep everyone far back from any hotel entrance. When I continued to get closer and closer to the Warwick door, there were plainclothes guards that approached me to see the passes again. These men, along with the regular uniformed police, stopped me around 3 or 4 additional times as I approached the door.  When I actually got to the building itself, they lead me into what appeared to be the back entrance and then down into what seemed to be a basement. I got a little frightened at that point, thinking, 'Where the heck are they taking us?' At that point, I was in a small group with some of the other winners that happened to be entering the building at the same time as me. We were led up a flight, down a hallway, around a corner and finally into the Warwick Press Conference Room."

Q: "What are your memories of entering that room?"

FELICE: "When I walked in, the lights were really bright. They were the kind that you would see on a movie set. Seeing those lights made it all come together in my mind that this wasn’t a fantasy, but it really was going to happen. Plus, the room had a definite buzz to it… an electricity. The kids already in the room were pretty loud, and there were some adults milling around. The first thing I thought was, 'I’m running for the best seat I can possibly get!'  So, I grabbed a seat in the 2nd row, a little to the left of dead center, and it was around 10 feet away from the Beatles' conference table. I was thrilled that I got such a good seat."

Q: "What happened next?"

FELICE: "Before the Beatles came out, I saw Gary Stevens in the front area. He was making sure things were going OK. I also saw Brian Epstein and Neil Aspinall walking around the front area as well. Gary and the other adults were trying to quiet the screaming kids down.  However, everyone was pretty much continuing to talk and kind of scream, as we were all waiting for the Beatles to show up. No one was really listening to the adults, and I think they were starting to get kind of pissed at the kids. Then, we were all handed a little gift packet. It contained four individual and professionally-taken pictures of the Beatles that were all personally autographed!  I think there might have been one or two other items as well in the gift envelope."

Q: "What happened as the Beatles entered the room?"

FELICE: "The 150 winners went wild with screams when the doors behind the Warwick conference table opened, and the Beatles all appeared. I remember the four of them kind of jumping down a step onto the level of the conference table and then taking their seats. The room went ballistic. Kids were screaming their heads off. It was magical."

Q: "What were you thinking and feeling at that moment?"

FELICE: “I cannot really describe how unbelievable that moment was for me. My idols, right there before my eyes! And so close, even. About 10 feet away. How amazing the feeling was. All four Beatles looked even better in person than any photograph or movie I had ever seen them in. Paul has what I call ‘Liz Taylor hair,’ jet black and beautiful and darker than all of the photos we’ve all seen. And although he seemed totally shaven, I recall that he still had this dark 5 o’clock shadow on his face, indicating how black his hair was. He was divine looking, of course….amazingly handsome. And John’s hair looked way lighter than photos and movies had shown. You could tell he was originally a kind of blond kid when he was very young. He, too, was gorgeous and so sexy and irresistible. It was just amazing to be in his presence. Ringo and George had a kind of richness to their faces, really attractive, with Ringo’s big, beautiful, blue eyes piercing through you, and George’s deep, dark stare making him so appealing. I felt so incredibly lucky and thankful for this moment that it is truly hard to express how happy I was in that room.”

Q: "I assume it must have been chaos trying to hold a teenage press conference with the Beatles in the same room."

FELICE: "There were constant pleads from Gary and the other adults and the managers to please quiet down. The kids, unfortunately, did not listen and kept on screaming. I had never really been a screaming fan… I was more of a crier. I didn’t believe, even at that young age, that my loud screaming should be overpowering their music during a concert or hearing what they were answering during an interview. So, if I screamed, it certainly wasn’t like most of the girls, lasting through practically the whole interview. Therefore, those kids were starting to really piss me off actually, because I just wanted to hear every word that the Beatles said."

Q: "What do you remember about the questions and answers?"

FELICE: "The Beatles' four individual personalities really came out in the way they answered questions. As all Beatle fans know, John has that sharpness and wit about him, and Paul is the one who explains answers more fully. George and Ringo tend to speak up a lot less than John and Paul do. I remember one of the fans presenting Ringo with a white spider-type toy for his son Zak, and Ringo seemed very appreciative of her thought. I also remember one of the more outgoing type fans saying something comical and making all of them laugh, especially John."

Q: "Did you get to ask a question?"

FELICE: "Yes, I did. I was extremely nervous about asking my favorite Beatle, Paul, a question. So, as to not lose it completely, I decided that if I did get a chance, I would direct a question to my second favorite Beatle, John. Being young and quite shy, I couldn’t seem to think of an appropriate question, so I resorted to asking if a certain newspaper article was true or not. This article had stated that John ordered a guitar from a manufacturer in Hoboken, New Jersey, my hometown. Thinking that this seemed a bit odd to me that John Lennon would order a guitar from little old Hoboken, I decided that I would ask John if it were true or not. I must admit, that if I had been a bit older, I would actually have asked something different. In any case, when I did ask John the question, there was so much loud screaming going on from the fans in the room, that he didn’t understand or hear my full question... I think half due to the kids screaming and half due to Hoboken being kind of a weird name to throw at an English guy. I seem to remember being asked to repeat the question multiple times. I noticed Neil Aspinall wanting to help clarify, leaning over and whispering in John’s ear that Hoboken was a town in New Jersey. At that point, John said, 'Oh, OK, well no, that’s not true. And, you shouldn’t believe most of what the papers write about us. Most of it is not accurate.' "

"At the very end of the conference, something happened that indicated that the article might have been half true after all. Unbeknownst to John, and to me, a guy marched up to the conference table just as the Beatles were leaving and presented John with a guitar. Apparently, it was a custom-made gift for him from a Hoboken guitar company to be presented at the conference. So the newspapers got it half correct because John did not order it, nor did he know anything of this presentation. Meanwhile, I’m witnessing this taking place, and thinking, ‘Wow, this must be related somehow to the question I asked John!’. Obviously, there was no way I would have been allowed to run up to the table and communicate my thoughts on the subject. The next thing that took place was the Beatles exiting through the Warwick door behind conference table.”

Q: "What an amazing experience and wonderful memory that day must have been."

FELICE: "A shy kid from Hoboken who adored the Beatles more than life itself actually got to sit 10 feet away from all 4 of them for the entire conference and even got to speak directly to John Lennon! The feeling was indescribable. Remember, especially in those days; you couldn’t even get remotely close to the Beatles, let alone sit in the same room and even speak to them! This was heaven for a real Beatles fan. I had just received the best gift that I ever could have received in my life. The only thing better would have been to leave WITH the Beatles as they exited the Warwick Conference Room that day. It was truly the best day of my life."

Q: "What happened once the conference was over, and the Beatles made their exit?"

FELICE: “It ripped my heart out to see them leave. I wanted so bad to run through the same door that the Beatles were exiting. As all the fans were leaving the press room, one of the girls -- who I had met while walking into the Warwick -- ran back towards the table and grabbed the ashtray that Ringo had been using during the conference. She started running out of the room with it. I grabbed her and begged her for at least some of the contents. She reluctantly gave me one of Ringo’s cigarette butts and ashes. I was ecstatic. At that point, we continued exiting out of the Warwick Conference Room, completely high on happiness. Short of meeting the Beatles personally, just them and me, nothing could compare to this experience. I was so very grateful.”

Q:  "Did you also have tickets for their 1966 concert at Shea Stadium?"

FELICE: "Yes, I went to the concert the next day. Believe it or not, I think I went alone, due to my girlfriend’s parents not allowing them to attend. I recall riding and then exiting the New York train to Shea and being scared about getting lost, but it actually wound up being very easy, because I just followed the crowd and the yellow lines on the subway floor leading everyone to the Stadium. I had really bad seats, pretty high up in the stands, but was still so thankful that I was there that day. When the Beatles came out, they looked like four little ants really, because I was so very far away, but it was still exciting as hell. I wouldn’t have traded the experience for the world. The feeling in that stadium was outrageously exhilarating. The screams were deafening, and it sounded just like an extremely loud jet engine or siren-type noise that was right on top of you and never, ever stopped through the whole concert. It actually hurt your ears. I have never heard that kind of sound at any event in my entire life. The electricity and energy in the air was amazing. Again, a day I will never, ever forget.

Please feel free to leave any comments or corrections and share these articles plus the blog's website with your friends, especially Beatles’ fans. You and they might also enjoy knowing more about my Love Songs CD and my novel, BEATLEMANIAC. Just click on the “My Shop” tab near the top of this page for full details.

Another Fun Mad-Cap Press Conference by The Beatles Held Sept 17, 1964.

The Beatles weren't originally scheduled to perform at the Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Their day off was canceled, however, after local promoter Charles O Finley persuaded the group's manager Brian Epstein to let them play.

Charles Finley was the controversial owner of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team, who at the time operated in Kansas City. He initially offered Epstein $50,000 but was turned down. He increased his bid to $100,000 but was again rejected. Finley then raised his offer to $150,000 - at the time the highest sum ever paid for a single performance - which Epstein accepted.

Kansas City Press Conference 

Q: "I'll direct my question to Paul. Have the receptions in the United States been what you expected them to be, or had hoped for?"

PAUL: "They've been better, actually. Somebody said they'd be good, but these have been marvelous, you know. Fantastic."

Q: "What has it been, about your reception...?"

PAUL: "The bigness of them. The largeness."

JOHN: "The immenseness."

GEORGE: "The magnitude."

PAUL: "Multitude-a-ness-es. (pause) Wonderful."

Q: "Is there any place in America that you wanted to see but did not get a chance to?"

JOHN: "New Orleans is one of them."

FEMALE: "Ringo?"

RINGO: (hurriedly and loudly) "YES??"

(Laughter)

FEMALE: "Would you ever date a fan?"

RINGO: "Yes. I have done. (pause) Honestly."

Q: "I'd like to know, do you fellas hear what you're playing when the screams go on, and how do you keep going together?"

JOHN: "It sounds louder to people who haven't been to the shows before. We're immune, you know."

Q: "Do you do much rehearsing on your tours?"

PAUL: "No. We only rehearse the new numbers when we change the act, actually."

Q: "You have inspired Beatle hair-dos, and do you enjoy and appreciate seeing these styles on other people?"

RINGO: "It's quite good. It's nice. We always change when we see someone else with them."

Q: "Do you plan to change your hairstyle..."

RINGO: "Not our hair, just our clothes. We don't plan to change these. No."

Q: "Are you concerned about the poll in Britain which indicates that a group called the Rolling Stones..."

BEATLES: (suddenly, jokingly) "Wooo! Wooo!"

(Laughter)

RINGO: "There's many polls, you know, and they just won one of them."

GEORGE: "And they won that one last year, as well."

JOHN: "They won it last year too, that one. You know, I mean, that's their poll."

(chuckles)

JOHN: "It doesn't make any difference."

RINGO: (jokingly) "We own the paper."

(Laughter)

Q: "John, there have been a recent anti-smoking reports. Are you trying to give up smoking?"

JOHN: "No, I've never even thought of it, you know. When you gotta go, you gotta go."

(chuckles)

Q: "Do you have any open public statement about American police?"

BEATLES: "No."

PAUL: "Private secret statements."

JOHN: "Not when we're playing, anyway."

Q: "Are you writing any new songs while on this tour?"

PAUL: "John and I have written two since we've been here."

Q: "Where do you do it? On the plane, or..."

PAUL: "We did it in Atlantic City, actually. Plus, the two here."

Q: "What's the most annoying thing that is bothering you on the whole tour?"

PAUL: "Hmm."

JOHN: "I keep forgetting. There's one thing..."

RINGO: "I think not being able to see the fans at the airport."

PAUL: "Too much security."

RINGO: "You know, we just get... The plane goes to the far end of the field, and then we just get put in the car, and away we go without seeing anybody."

JOHN: "Away we go."

RINGO: "So blame them, you see. It's not us; it's them."

Q: "George, what prompted you to throw that scotch and coke at the reporter?"

GEORGE: "Well, he was a very nasty young man."

(Laughter)

RINGO: "Old man."

Q: "How so?"

GEORGE: "Well, he had been told to leave the place, anyway, you see. And he insisted on jumping and trying to take pictures. And we couldn't see, as it was, without some idiot flashing in front of us. So I thought I'd... (pause) baptize him."

(Laughter)

Q: "It's assumed that you will sing for quite some time yet, but what do you plan to do after..."

GEORGE: "...the bubble bursts."

PAUL: "Nobody's made any plans, but John and I will probably... (laughs) Ooo, we have this one every day, you know. John and I will probably carry on songwriting. And then George will go into basketball."

GEORGE: "Or roller-skating. I haven't decided yet."

(Laughter)

FEMALE: "Ringo, would you show us your grey hair?"

RINGO: "No."

(Laughter)

JOHN: "Only if you show him yours."

RINGO: "I'm not messing it all up, you see. And we're on telly. You gotta look nice."

Q: "What do you do about barber shops when you're on tour?"

JOHN: "We never go to them."

GEORGE: "We never do anything about them when we're not on tour."

PAUL: "We don't even think about them."

Q: "Is this the highest guarantee you've had in the United States?"

JOHN: "Yes, I think so."

RINGO: "Is it, Derek?"

DEREK TAYLOR: "Yes."

PAUL: "Very high."

DEREK TAYLOR: "Highest-ever in the world, we're told."

Q: "Back to the hair-do... What care and treatment does the hair get?"

PAUL: "A bit of combing."

JOHN: "Washed and combed."

PAUL: "A bit of washing."

RINGO: "Nothing special."

GEORGE: "No treatment. We never put any hair oil on it, because it makes it go funny, you see... makes mine go funny."

PAUL: "Makes everyone's go funny."

Q: "It was rumored all over town a couple days ago that you all had tried to get reservations at one of the hotels in Springfield and you were turned down repeatedly. Is this true?"

PAUL: "No."

JOHN: "We don't make 'em anyway, and the ones that have turned us down, well, it's their privilege."

GEORGE: "And we're not going to Springfield anyway."

(Laughter)

Q: "What is one question you would like to be asked at a press conference that probably nobody has ever asked?"

JOHN: "Can't think of one."

RINGO: "No."

GEORGE: "I think everything's been asked."

Q: "George, whatever became of the car wreck that you had in London?"

GEORGE: "Oh, it wasn't a wreck. I only just tapped into some fella and knocked the headlamp in. But you see, the further away you are the worse the damage appears. I mean, over here the car was a write-off, but actually it wasn't. And it was fixed within three days."

Q: "Did you have to pay anything?"

GEORGE: "No. The other fella's insurance company paid 'cuz it was his fault. (pause) I'm a GOOD driver."

Q: "We wondered, are you considering making America your home? Would you consider that?"

BEATLES: "No."

PAUL: "'Cuz England's our home, you know. We like the place, but not to live here."

(John whistles the patriotic tune of 'Rule, Britannia!')

Q: "Is there any other city in particular that you've enjoyed visiting?"

JOHN & RINGO: "New York."

RINGO & PAUL: "Hollywood."

PAUL: "Los Angeles."

Q: "Have you got a favorite entertainer or author?"

JOHN: "We like a lot of people."

RINGO: "There's a lot."

PAUL: "American soul groups... (pause) and Sophie Tucker."

Q: "You gentlemen play cards between performances. What kind are you playing?"

PAUL: "Poker."

RINGO: "Poker and Crazy Eights."

(Laughter)

RINGO: "I haven't won YET."

Q: "I'd like to ask Paul how his feud with Walter Winchell is doing?"

PAUL: "It's not a feud, he's just soft, you know."

(Laughter)

PAUL: "I give up, you know. I'm not talking to him."

Q: "How much of the hysteria that greets you do you feel is real, and how much is pretended by the little girls that adore you?"

JOHN: "You can't tell. It doesn't matter."

PAUL: "There's a lot of it that the papers, you know, help create that's probably not real. But there's also a lot, I think..."

Q: "The name Beatles, why did you choose that?"

PAUL: "John thought of it."

JOHN: "I just thought of it, you know. There's no reason, same as you pick a name for anything, really."

Q: "John, how does your wife feel about girls screaming and running after you?"

JOHN: "She knows they'll never catch me."

(Laughter)

Q: "Paul, how did you enjoy the vacation to the Virgin Islands?"

PAUL: "It was nice, thanks."

Q: "I heard Ringo was having trouble with his throat. Is it alright now?"

RINGO: "Yes, thank you. It's fine now. I haven't had any trouble for the last two months."

Q: "Have you ever measured your hair to see whose is the longest?"

BEATLES: "No!"

GEORGE: "I think mine is anyway, 'cuz it grows faster than the others."

JOHN: "I'm usually a close second."

Q: "Ringo, are you going to have your tonsils taken out? And have you had that offer yet from the girl to send the tonsils to her?"

RINGO: "Yeah."

(Laughter)

RINGO: "I'm gonna have 'em out. And we got the telegram, but I don't think I'll give 'em to her."

JOHN: "We're gonna auction 'em off."

(Laughter)

PAUL: "Oooo, that's disgusting."

Q: "We'd like to know if there was ever any truth to the rumor, John, that you might leave the group?"

JOHN: "No. I don't know where it started. It just sort of appeared somewhere."

Q: "Did you make any new records with Capitol while you were in Hollywood?"

JOHN & RINGO: "No."

PAUL: "We did do an album (1964 Hollywood Bowl, live) but it was only for a souvenir."

GEORGE: "Not for general release."

PAUL: "Not for sale. It was so terrible, that's why."

(Laughter)

Q: "After you return home, where will your next tour take you?"

GEORGE: "Around Britain."

RINGO: "We do a month's tour of Britain."

YOUNG GIRL: "Paul, how do you feel about reports which say you're conceited?"

PAUL: (laughs) "Yeah..."

RINGO, JOHN & GEORGE: "They're true."

(Laughter)

PAUL: (laughing) "Thank you, chaps."

Q: "Is there anything you wanted to do in Kansas City on your visit here that you didn't get a chance to do? Anything in particular that you wanted to see, or anyone that you wanted to visit, by any chance?"

JOHN: "No, I didn't hear about anybody that we know, so..."

Q: "Mister Truman?"

JOHN: "Not particularly, no."

(Laughter)

Q: "Have you bought any clothes in the United States, or is everything you wear from England?"

RINGO: "This is American."

PAUL: "I bought four shirts."

JOHN: "This is! A fella described it on the radio yesterday as a typical Liverpool dockers outfit."

PAUL: (laughs)

JOHN: "I got it at Key West."

Q: "Do you ever wear a tie?"

JOHN: "Me? Yeah, when I can find it."

(Laughter)

YOUNG GIRL: "After all this is over which will you miss more, the fans or the money?"

(Laughter)

JOHN: "Well, we'll still have the money, so we'll miss the fans. They'll be the ones that have gone. The money will still be there."

Q: "I'm with Variety."

PAUL: "Really?"

JOHN: "Good for you."

Q: "I'm sure you've got some supporting acts with you, but I can't find out from anybody who they are."

BEATLES: "Tonight?"

JOHN: "The same acts that have been with us everywhere."

PAUL: "The Exciters, Clarence 'Frogman' Henry."

GEORGE: "Bill Black Combo."

JOHN & GEORGE: "Jackie DeShannon."

JOHN: "And that's it."

Q: "Another English group is going to play Kansas City. The Dave Clark Five."

RINGO: "We know 'em."

(Laughter)

Q: "How did they come out in the poll?"

JOHN: "Which poll? The one..."

RINGO: "The Melody Maker one, you're talking about? A British one?"

PAUL: "They didn't win, you know."

JOHN: "It varies from each musical paper, how they sold and, sort of, readership. So the votes go one way or another almost every year."

Q: "Did you talk with Charlie Finley when he was in San Francisco?"

JOHN: "We haven't met him, I believe."

GEORGE: "I met him this morning."

PAUL: "I met him last night."

GEORGE: "And Brian Epstein was the only one who saw him, I think, in San Francisco."

Q: "He said he was very fond of you men."

RINGO: "Oh. We're fond of HIM, now."

(Laughter)

Q: "What do you call your famed sound? Rock and Roll?"

JOHN: "WE call it Rock and Roll, you know."

PAUL: "Roughly."

JOHN: "A lot of people call it all sorts of things. But we call it Rock and Roll."

Q: "Ringo, what do you do when you're confined in your hotel rooms all the time?"

RINGO: "We just sit 'round, watch telly, or radio, or play cards or something. Or talk... We even talk to each other."

(Laughter)

YOUNG GIRL: "How much does the United States government get from what you earn?"

RINGO & JOHN: "NOTHING!"

JOHN: "Heh, heh, heh."

(Laughter)

Q: "What about the British government?"

RINGO: "The British government are getting..."

JOHN: "Oh, they're getting a LOT !!"

RINGO: "We'll end up with ten dollars when we get home."

Q: "With your return to America this time, have you been asked to reappear on Ed Sullivan’s program?"

RINGO: "I believe so, yes. I'm not sure about that."

JOHN: "I don't think we've got time, though."

DEREK TAYLOR: "Uhh, yes you were. Hopefully fit it in yet."

RINGO: "Well, there WON'T be time, now."

Q: "You were talking earlier that the two of you might continue on, and the rest... you break up the act. Is there a date set for this that you are going to break up?"

PAUL: "No, all I meant was that, if we DO break up... He asked when we do break up, which, it's gotta happen... that John and I will probably carry on songwriting. We didn't mean singing or anything."

Q: "How long do you think it will be before it does happen?"

PAUL: "No idea, really. Could happen tomorrow, you know. (chuckling) After the Kansas City date."

(Laughter)

Q: "We hear and want to know if you're going to the Playboy club tonight."

RINGO & JOHN: "No."

JOHN: "We're leaving after the show, I think."

Q: "When you were in Florida before, did you talk with Cassius Clay (Mohammed Ali) and how well do you know him?"

JOHN: "We only met him the once for that sort of publicity stunt which he came off best at."

(Laughter)

PAUL: "It was organized by the newspapers down there. They asked us to come along. He's a good fella, though, isn't he."

Q: "Do you like baseball?"

JOHN: "Not particularly."

(reporters comically overreact with gasps at John's response)

PAUL: "Oooooo. Very good game, Mister Finley! Very nice!"

(Laughter)

JOHN: "Only on T.V."

RINGO: (loudly) "Oh dear!"

PAUL: (jokingly) "Great game!"

RINGO: "No it does, you know. You throw the ball, and then another ten minutes you have a cigarette and throw another ball."

Q: "Is it true Charlie Finley asked you to wear kelly green and gold baseball outfits?"

(Beatles laugh)

BEATLES: "No!"

GEORGE: "Not true. We wouldn't wear 'em, anyway. Not even for $300,000."

Q: "Has it been decided about your next picture?"

GEORGE: "It's been decided on the date. I think it's supposed to be next February, but nothing else has been decided. No title, no script."

JOHN: (giggling) "No script, no nothing."

GEORGE: "No, other people are drafting' it."

Q: "Would any of you care to give us any of your views... I don't mean to be smart by this... on anything on religion or politics?"

JOHN: "Well, we're not interested in either."

PAUL: "No."

RINGO: "That's about it."

Q: "Would you consider, or is it being planned, that a movie will be made of your whole life? The 'Pool, Cavern Club..."

JOHN: "They couldn't put that kind of thing on the screen."

(Laughter)

JOHN: (giggling) "Not yet, anyway."

Q: "One of you, I can't remember which one, said you didn't like politics. It was like beer -- you didn't like the taste. Yet when you were in Chicago, you made the comment if you were going to be for anyone in the Presidential election, you'd be for L.B.J."

JOHN: "We didn't. We said, Eisenhower."

(Laughter)

Q: "What about in your own country? You're going back to a general election campaign over there..."

RINGO: "We're not going to vote over there. I don't know enough about it, but I'm not voting'."

PAUL: "None of us do, you know."

RINGO: "I don't follow it."

JOHN: "If I can find out which one takes the least tax, I'll vote for them."

Q: "In New Orleans, you met with Fats Domino. Can you tell me how the meeting came about and what occurred?"

JOHN: "Uhh, Frogman Henry said he'd try and arrange for us to meet him, 'cuz we've always liked him. And he brought him 'round with a friend of his..."

PAUL: "They found him..."

JOHN: "...in a store for about an hour, and had a couple of shots taken for his kids."

PAUL: "...found him getting groceries in a store or something."

JOHN: "Had a sing-song with him."

Q: "Paul, is it true you lost your driver's license, and how did you do it, if it's true?"

PAUL: "Yeah, uhh, I lost it a year ago. I just got it back now, actually. Speeding, three times. If they catch you three times, you lose it. Got caught."

RINGO: "Wasn't fast enough."

Q: "Why did you want to go to New Orleans? What about the town?"

JOHN: "Well, the clubs and that."

RINGO: "You just hear about all..."

JOHN: "To hear the sounds, man."

Q: "The music?"

PAUL: "Yeah."

RINGO: "You know, it's all good clubs and that."

Q: "Ringo, what do you think of Jayne Mansfield?"

RINGO: "She's a drag."

(crowd hoots and gasps at Ringo's response)

JOHN: (joking disbelief) "Ringo...!!"

GEORGE: "I second him."

DEREK TAYLOR: "It's a word D - R - A - G, and it means simply a bore."

JOHN: "It's an American word."

Q: "What about Mamie Van Doren? She was..."

GEORGE: "We never met her. (pause) Her publicity agent wasn't as good as Jayne Mansfield's."

Q: "What is your reaction to these girls who come up to your hotel room and tear up sheets and anything you've discarded, or the cigarette butts that you leave around?"

JOHN: "Well, they do it after we leave. It's alright, you know if the hotel manager doesn't mind."

RINGO: "Not if they come up there ripping' 'em while we're still asleep."

(Laughter)

Q: "With all these girls chasing you all over the world, who is probably the most exciting woman you've met throughout the world?"

JOHN: "Ringo's mother is pretty hot."

(Laughter)

JOHN: "Only joking, Elsie!"

Q: "Do you like American cigarettes and which ones are your favorites."

GEORGE: (not seriously) "Yeah, we like American cigarettes, and we smoke filters."

PAUL: "Ho, ho!"

GEORGE: "But we're not advertising anybody's cigarettes unless they're gonna give us a few million free."

(Laughter)

Q: "Do you do anything for free at all?"

JOHN: "Yeah. Our charity shows. That's about all."

Q: "I'd like to ask George... I heard in the Lafayette Hotel in Atlantic City, a girl had climbed eight stories on the side of the building, jumped in the window and grabbed you in your night clothes."

GEORGE: "No, it's untrue. I heard a noise in the next room, but it was just policeman chasing her around. And she jumped on Ringo, actually."

(Laughter)

JOHN: "Remember? When that bird was running 'round the room."

RINGO: "I was chasing' her."

(Laughter)

Q: "How many of your records have been sold?"

JOHN: "We were told 83 or 85."

RINGO: "85."

Q: "Million?"

JOHN & PAUL: "Yeah."

JOHN: "It's amazing, isn't it."

(Laughter)

RINGO: "And we're still touring."

JOHN: "We hear them every day on the radio."

Q: "What do you do with all the money that you make?"

GEORGE: "I'm going to change all mine into cents, fill up a room and dive in it."

Q: "I'm just curious, just how MUCH money have you made?"

PAUL: "None of us know yet."

RINGO: "We don't know yet."

JOHN: "A LOT!"

PAUL: "Our accountant just deals with it, you know."

RINGO: "We can't find HIM at the moment."

(Laughter)

Q: "Everywhere you go you get tons of gifts, some good and some bad. Whatever becomes of all this?"

RINGO: "Some of them get shipped to England. If we get cakes and that, we try and get the fella who is promoting the show to give 'em to hospitals, because we can't eat all that cake."

Q: "How about jewelry?"

RINGO: "Well, I've got a case full, man, if you want to route through it, and see what you like."

Q: "Do you have any extensive musical training?"

PAUL: "None of us can read or write music."

RINGO: "We're all self-taught."

PAUL: "We've all been to school, you know, I mean... ordinary educations."

Q: "Which of you do you consider the best singer or the best musician?"

JOHN: "Ringo."

RINGO: "Well, I think John's the best."

JOHN: "No, I think you."

RINGO: "No, John."

GEORGE: "We don't consider it."

RINGO: "No, I don't think ANY of us are very good."

(Laughter)

Q: "John, there's a report you speak German. How fluent?"

JOHN: "Enough to get 'round in the Reeperbahn in Hamburg."

(chuckles)

Q: "With all the traveling that you've had, is there any place in the world that you'd like to return to?"

JOHN: "Britain."

GEORGE: "England."

JOHN: "I'd like to return there."

Q: "On times off, I've read, that you visit children's hospitals. Have you visited any in America?"

RINGO: "No."

JOHN: "We've never visited one at all."

Q: "Well, there's a picture of you in one?"

JOHN: "Where?"

Q: "In a children's hospital."

JOHN: "We've never been to one."

GEORGE: "Oh, we have. While we were making a film, they brought up a lot of orphans to see us."

PAUL: "It was at Easter."

RINGO: "We didn't go there. They..."

PAUL: "We don't normally have time."

GEORGE: "We went to one hospital, I think, ages ago. And some girl had hitch-hiked to see us."

PAUL: "Oh yeah."

JOHN: "Yeah, that's right."

GEORGE: "And somebody stabbed her on the way."

JOHN: "That's right, yes. It's true."

Q: "With all your world travels, when do you have time for social activities?"

GEORGE: "When we're not touring. We don't tour all the time."

RINGO: "We don't tour all year 'round, you know."

JOHN: "We tour about half the year."

Q: "As idols of rather impressionable youngsters, do you ever feel a heavy responsibility."

JOHN & RINGO: "No."

JOHN: "Only towards the press. It's the only time we watch it."

Q: "Are you as closely guarded in England as you are here?"

JOHN & RINGO: "On tour."

RINGO: "When we're not on tour they just leave us alone."

Q: "What do you think of the American press?"

PAUL: "They're quite fair."

RINGO: "They're all nice."

JOHN: (jokingly) "Except for you!"

RINGO & PAUL: (giggling) "Except for you."

JOHN: (giggling) "Can't stand you anymore."

(Laughter)

YOUNG GIRL: "Paul, I saw a picture of your father and I notice that he has thinning hair."

PAUL: "Mmm-hmm."

RINGO: "But he's 65, what do you expect!"

(Laughter)

YOUNG GIRL: "When your hair starts thinning, what will you do?"

PAUL: (laughs) "Let it thin, you know."

GEORGE: "Grow a beard."––At that point, the event likely came to an end with Mr. Taylor removing his four stars to rest up for the unscheduled show.

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