It Seems Like Yesterday
At 1:20 p.m. est, on Friday, February 7, 1964, John, Paul, George, and Ringo, followed by someone who looks a lot like me, stepped off Pan Am Jet Clipper Defiance #101 from London onto the tarmac at the newly renamed John F. Kennedy airport, and the rest is, may I say, history. The screaming fans were held back by the police on the upstairs lookout area while the waiting reporters, many with their old fashioned press passes in their hats, were on the tarmac to greet us.
That day began a whirlwind couple of weeks. We all stayed at the Plaza Hotel where my laundry was stolen by some extremely enthusiastic fan thinking it belonged to one of the Beatles.
On Saturday morning, George had a sore throat and we went to a doctor before the other three and I ventured into Central Park to promote their upcoming live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show the next evening.
They were all excited as The Ed Sullivan Show was an extremely popular television program that everyone stayed home to watch on Sunday night.
At the time, Beatlemania was just beginning to impact the music scene and the way the fans thought, dressed, lived… The closest phenomena today is the talented Taylor Swift, and although she is making a huge impact, no one has changed the world like the Beatles.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr at John F. Kennedy Airport on February 7, 1964. Photographed by Harry Benson.