Monday, February 10, 1964
Last updated on February 10, 1964
On 10 February 1964, the day after their record-breaking first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles held press interviews with Associated Press and CBS News at their suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The day also saw the group spend time at the hotel, receiving visitors and preparing for their first American concert, scheduled for the following evening at the Washington Coliseum.
The press conference and interviews formed part of an extraordinary media offensive mounted during The Beatles’ first American visit. Since arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport on 7 February 1964, the group had given dozens of interviews to American journalists, who were captivated by their wit as much as by their music. Their New York press conferences became famous for the quick, often sardonic humour with which the four deflected questions, setting the template for how rock musicians engaged with the media.
“We got a lot of questions like, ‘Will you get a haircut?’ And we just gave silly answers. It was great fun. We treated it like a game — try and get a laugh out of every question. The American press were great. They were sharp, they could take a joke, and they gave as good as they got.”
Paul McCartney – From “Many Years From Now” by Barry Miles, 1997
The AP and CBS material was broadcast across the United States on 10 February. The CBS interview, in particular, was widely seen as evidence of The Beatles’ media savvy and contributed significantly to the overwhelmingly positive coverage that helped sustain Beatlemania through the remainder of their American visit. The group left New York by train the following morning for Washington, DC, for their first US concert.
The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years
With greatly expanded text, this is the most revealing and frank personal 30-year chronicle of the group ever written. Insider Barry Miles covers the Beatles story from childhood to the break-up of the group.
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