Before touching down on American soil, the Beatles were the nation's number one group. Unprecedented hysteria filled John F. Kennedy Airport, the streets of New York, and the Plaza Hotel-- surrounding the Beatles' every move.
This first American press conference was held at JFK Airport on February 7th 1964. Disc jockey Murray the K, who would soon befriend the Beatles, was also in attendance.
Q: "What do you think of Beethoven?"
Ringo: "Great. Especially his poems."
(laughter)
M.C: "There's a question here."
Q: (yelling over the crowd noise) "Would you tell Murray the K to cut that crap out?"
Beatles: (yelling, jokingly) "Cut that crap out!"
Paul: "Hey, Murray!"
(laughter)
Reporter: "Is that a question?"
M.C: (attempting to calm the chaos) "Will you be quiet, please."
Q: "In Detroit, there's people handing out car stickers saying, 'Stamp Out The Beatles.'"
Paul: "Yeah well, we're bringing out a Stamp Out Detroit campaign."
(crowd noise in the room increases)
Q: "What about the Stamp Out The Beatles campaign?"
John: "What about it?"
Ringo: "How big are they?"
Q: "What do you think of the comment that you're nothing but a bunch of British Elvis Presleys?"
John: "He must be blind."
Ringo: (shaking like Elvis) "It's not true!! It's not true!!"
John: (dances like Elvis)
(laughter)
Female fan: "Would you please sing something?"
Beatles: "No!"
(laughter)
Ringo: "Sorry."
M.C: "Next question."
Q: "There's some doubt that you Can sing."
John: "No, we need money first."
(laughter)
Q: "Does all that hair help you sing?"
Paul: "What?"
Q: "Does all that hair help you sing?"
John: "Definitely. Yeah."
Q: "You feel like Sampson? If you lost your hair, you'd lose what you have? 'It'?"
John: "Don't know. I don't know."
Paul: "Don't know."
M.C: "There's a question here."
Q: "How many of you are bald, that you have to wear those wigs?"
Ringo: "All of us."
Paul: "I'm bald."
Q: "You're bald?"
John: "Oh, we're all bald, yeah."
Paul: "Don't tell anyone, please."
John: "And deaf and dumb, too."
(laughter)
M.C: "Quiet, please."
Q: "Are you for real?"
Paul: "For real."
John: "Come and have a feel."
Ringo: (laughs)
Q: "Listen, I got a question here. Are you going to get a haircut at all while you're here?"
Beatles: "No!"
Ringo: "Nope."
Paul: "No, thanks."
George: "I had one yesterday."
(laughter)
Ringo: "And that's no lie, it's the truth."
Paul: "It's the truth."
Q: "You know, I think he missed some."
John: "Nope."
George: "No, he didn't. No."
Ringo: "You should have seen him the day before."
Q: "What do you think your music does for these people?"
Paul: "Uhh..."
John: "Hmmm, well..."
Ringo: "I don't know. It pleases them, I think. Well, it must do, 'cuz they're buying it."
Q: "Why does it excite them so much?"
Paul: "We don't know. Really."
John: "If we knew, we'd form another group and be managers."
(laughter)
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