Photo of the Day: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney, 1964.

Beatles Interview Series: 1964 - Beatles Chicago Press Conference

As part three of our series, The Beatles Interview Series, we have for you, a press conference The Beatles held in Chicago in 1964 after someone in their camp decided to land the plane in a more secluded spot at the the airport, away from, and to the disappointment of, the large crowd that had spent many hours waiting on the boys' arrival.  According to Jay Spangler of The Beatles Ultimate Experience, "The Beatles felt they were being incorrectly blamed for the incident by reports in the Chicago news, and sought to set the record straight.  This press conference was held at the Stockyards Inn on September 5th 1964 before the Beatles performance at Chicago's International Amphitheatre."

 

Fans lined up, waiting at Midway Airport in Chicago.  1964

PAUL: "It was yesterday we heard about it. Umm, we heard that we had to land at a secret spot on the airfield. I'm not sure whether it happened or not today. Did it? Was it a secret place today?"
JOHN: "It was a different one from the one we were meant to land at, but luckily somebody found out, you see, so somebody did see us."
PAUL: "Yeah. The only thing is, you know, if we come in sort of secret..."
RINGO: (regarding the reporter) "I don't think he's getting it, you know. He's looked away. Are any of these (microphones on) in the P.A.? Then you can tell him."
PAUL: (laughs) "If we come in secretly and there's people there to see us at another place..."
Q: (rudely) "Can you ALL speak?"
JOHN: "Yeah, but we can't all speak at once, can we? And as he's answering the question, what's the point of us all butting in?"
PAUL: "True."
JOHN: "'Cuz you're finding it hard enough to understand him."
Q: "What was your impression of the Chicago skyline?"
JOHN: "Oh, yeah. Good."
Q: "That's it?"
JOHN: "Well, it looks like any other, you know."
Q: "We thought it was rather distinctive."
JOHN: "Oh, well... each people... you know-- Everybody likes their own hometown, don't they."
Q: "You've been on this tour for quite some time now in America, and I'm sure you've learned quite a bit. If you had it to do again, and chances are you're planning that, what would you change, if anything?"
JOHN: "Well, we'd probably just go to different cities-- not go to the same places we've been to."
Q: "Are you satisfied with the security? Are you satisfied with the arrangements that were made?"
PAUL: "Yes."

JOHN: "Yeah, it's been quite good, except for the slip-ups where we don't see the fans."
Q: "And you say this is not your fault."
JOHN: "It's never... we never arrange anything. The only thing we arrange is what numbers we're gonna sing."
Q: "Whose fault is it?"
JOHN: "I don't know. It could be-- it's different people. Half the time it's the police or half the time it's-- I don't know, you know. There's always somebody that does something."
Q: "Don't you think it's done for your good?"
PAUL: "But see, if anybody thinks..."
RINGO: "They think it is."
JOHN: "They think it is, but it isn't. It's harmed us all in the end anyway because the poor fans that have been there for twelve hours think, 'Why aren't they coming to see us.'"
PAUL: "See, the worst thing from our point of view is that it looks as though it's us who's done it, too. And, uhh... I was watching the TV last night, and on the news they just showed all the fans sort of disappointed. And they didn't actually say anything about who's fault it was, but they just said, 'Police commissioner so-and-so said the Beatles WANTED to land there.' And they said no more. That really sounded as though we'd said, 'Please don't let us amongst all those fans. We hate them,' which is completely untrue, you know. We definitely asked to meet them or at least drive past 'em, and they told us, 'No.'"
 

Beatles at a press conference in 1964.

Q: "Quite a few of the girls are concerned about John's throat. How is it today?"
JOHN: "Well, it's better than it was yesterday. It's not ninety percent, but it's..."
Q: "Have you fellas given any thought to what you're going to do when the bubble breaks, so to speak?"
PAUL AND GEORGE: (laugh)
JOHN: "Well, we're gonna have a good time."
GEORGE: "We never plan ahead."
Q: "How about your retirement or buying into a big business..."
JOHN: "We already are a big business, so we don't have to buy into another one."
Q: "Well, I'm talking about if this business should wane slightly."
GEORGE: "We'll start planning when it starts to wane, but at the moment we'll just let it go on as it is."
PAUL: "Anyway, yeah. We've never made plans for anything, so there's no real reason to make plans now."
Q: "Well, in your particular case, do you think you'll go into songwriting as a business?"
PAUL: "I should imagine that John and I..."
JOHN: "Well, it is. Paul and I make more money out of songwriting than we do out of doing everything else. So we'll just carry on with that, probably."
Q: "What do you do with all your money?"
JOHN: "Put it in a bank... or the accountant looks out for it. We have people to look after it."
Q: "Are you just going to save it?"
JOHN: "Well, I don't know."
PAUL: "No."
JOHN: "He does tricks with it. That's his job."
(laughter)
GEORGE: "And anyway, it wasn't legally ours until we paid tax on it. So the money's got to keep in the accountant's place until he's paid tax."
PAUL: "At the moment it's pretty hard to spend it, you know. We all came away with about a hundred and fifty dollars each."
JOHN AND PAUL: "And we've still got it."
PAUL: "I haven't spent a penny or a cent."
Q: "There was a report today that amongst your fans is the Internal Revenue Service."
BEATLES: (laugh)
Q: "They're supposed to be following you around. Have you noticed them around anywhere?"
JOHN: "I haven't seen any of 'em. No."
(laughter)
PAUL: "Now, mind you, you gotta pay it. But umm..."
Q: "What do you think of the American girls as opposed to British girls?"
GEORGE: "They're the same only they speak foreign-- I mean, with a different accent."
PAUL: "They're all good, you know."
GEORGE: "They're the same everywhere, basically, aren't they. They just talk different."
Q: "Alot of the girls seem to feel that you prefer the celebrity-type woman better than the average girl."
JOHN: "That's the first time we've heard it. I mean, are you making that up, or does somebody say that?"
Q: "No, I've heard it before."
PAUL: "Well, John's married to a non-celebrity, so there you go."
Q: "Have you dated any American girls since you've been here?"
PAUL: "Yeah."
RINGO: "A couple."
PAUL: "Yes, I mean... you know, dated 'em but..."
GEORGE: "We can't really, you know. On this tour we don't get much time, you know, to do anything except go to each place and perform."
JOHN: "I haven't even seen any celebrity girls. Have you?"
GEORGE: "No, I haven't seen any."
Q: "Will you tell us why you think you are so popular?"
JOHN: "We don't think about it. We get asked that, you know-- somebody asks us that everyday, and we've no answer."
Q: "Do you want to go to the Soviet Union for a tour?"
GEORGE: "No, I don't."
Q: "Where would you like to go that you haven't gone yet?"
JOHN: "Home."
(laughter)
Q: "You don't like the U.S.?"
JOHN: "I mean, we haven't been home for months-- so you say, 'Where do we wanna go?' We'd like to go home next."
PAUL: "But see, you're trying to put answers into our mouths. We like the U.S., I mean..."
GEORGE: "We wouldn't be here..."
PAUL: "We wouldn't be here if we didn't. We've been here once before, we liked it, and we came back. It's a great place, you know, but naturally you get homesick. You would if you were in England for a long time..."
JOHN: "Maybe HE wouldn't!"
PAUL: "...maybe you wouldn't."
Q: "Do you think the kind of music you're doing was fostered here and became popular over there, and consequently you made it popular again back here?"
PAUL: "Yeah."
JOHN: "The only difference is, we write it now. It's the same music."
Q: "Do you boys sense that the American boys might be a little jealous of you?"
GEORGE: "The American boys?"
JOHN: "Do you mean the teenage boys or..."
Q: "The fans."
JOHN: "No. I mean-- they buy us."
PAUL: "Not the ones we've met, anyway, you know. They're not."
JOHN: "There's quite a few of them waving at airports and things."


 

Source: Transcribed by www.beatlesinterviews.org from audio copy of the press conference

Photo of the Day: John Lennon

John Lennon in a disused British Rail Station near Gatwick Airport, 1964.

Photo of the Day: John Lennon

Fantastic photo of John with his Rickenbacker in 1964.

Rare Beatles Photographs by Henry Grossman

The Beatles were probably the most photographed band on the planet. There are billions of photos of them that have been published, there's the well known ones like their album cover shots and shots of them live but there are also ones that are less well known. Beatles photographs that you may never have seen? Yes.

Rock Paper Photo is a fantastic website that features a wonderfully rare and largely unpublished Beatles photograph collection by Henry Grossman, who is known for his contributions to Time and LIFE magazines.

Grossman's personal Beatles photo archive contains 6,000 photographs of the Fab Four and has been hidden away, just awaiting rediscovery. Henry began photographing the Beatles during their iconic appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964 and ever since then was allowed exclusive access by the band to their inner circle. The photographs he got are absolutely wonderful and I am privileged to be able to promote these images on this blog.

The Beatles give a press conference in New York City, 1964. Photo by Henry Grossman. (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

These wonderful images capture the Beatles at the height of Beatlemania. Grossman was part of a select few photographers who were trusted by the band to photograph them. His shots of the group during Help are some of the best photographs of the Beatles ever taken, capturing them at a time when they were beginning to tire of the constant screaming and mania that surrounded them everywhere they went.

John Lennon & Paul McCartney during the filming of Help! The Bahamas, 1965. Photo by Henry Grossman. (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

George Harrison and a lucky lady extra during the filming of Help! The Bahamas, 1965. Photo by Henry Grossman. (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

Ringo Starr keeps the beat going during the filming of Help! The Bahamas, 1965. Photo by Henry Grossman. (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

"The problem was that we went to the Bahamas to film all the hot scenes, and it was freezing. We had to ride around and run around in shirts and trousers, and it was absolutely bloody cold!" - Ringo Starr on filming Help! in the Bahamas.

Paul goofing around between scenes. The Bahamas, 1965. Photo by Henry Grossman. (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

George looks like he's had enough of the cold weather. The Bahamas, 1965. Photo by Henry Grossman. (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

The Beatles in Hyde Park, London, 1967. Photo by Henry Grossman (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

John looking fab in a Sgt. Pepper-esque suit at his Kenwood home in Weybridge, Surrey, 1967. Photo by Henry Grossman (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

Paul clears up his stubble at Abbey Road Studios, London, 1967. Photo by Henry Grossman (Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

These fabulous shots and more by Henry Grossman can all be purchased here.

Check out Rolling Stone.com for more fabulous shots by Henry Grossman, courtesy of Rock, Paper, Photo.com

Rare Beatles Photograph Collection by Astrid Kircherr

The Beatles in Hamburg, Germany, 1960. L-R: Pete Best, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney & Stuart Sutcliffe. (Photo by Astrid Kircherr. Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

Astrid Kircherr's photographs of the early career of the Beatles in Hamburg, Germany are well known around the world. They show the band in that halcyon time before their worldwide fame and before Ringo Starr joined the band and Pete Best was their drummer and Stuart Sutcliffe, whom Astrid was engaged to, was the band's bassist.

 Astrid's then boyfriend Klaus Voorman and mutual friend Jurgen Vollmer, who is also a photographer in his own right, influenced the band's style, cutting their hair into the famous moptop that trended worldwide when the Beatles came to prominence. After the Beatles gained worldwide fame, she was invited to take behind the scenes photos of them on their first film 'A Hard Day's Night' in 1964. These photos are included in the Astrid Kircherr collection that is available at Rock Paper Photo.

George, Stuart & John in Hamburg, Germany, 1960. (Photo by Astrid Kircherr. Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

Stuart Sutcliffe left the band in 1961 to concentrate on his painting career and stayed in Germany with Astrid until his sudden and tragic death from a brain haemorrhage in April 1962. Pete Best was replaced by Ringo in the same year.

John & George in a reflective mood during a visit to Kircherr's studio in 1962. (Photo by Astrid Kircherr. Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

John Lennon in Hamburg, Germany, 1962. (Photo by Astrid Kircherr. Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

George Harrison in Hamburg, Germany, 1962. (Photo by Astrid Kircherr. Courtesy of Rock Paper Photo)

These fantastic shots of John and George were taken shortly after the death of their friend and former band mate Stuart Sutcliffe and show the two friends in a particularly somber and reflective mood.

Jimmie Nicol: The 10 Day Beatle.

Nicol with John, Paul & George rehearsing in 1964.

If you've never heard of Jimmie Nicol, you're probably only a casual fan of the Beatles or just starting to get into them. Who is Jimmie Nicol? well he was the Beatles drummer for 10 days in 1964. Where was Ringo? In hospital, having his tonsils removed. While at a photo session, Ringo collapsed with a fever and it was discovered he had a severe case of tonsillitis and they'd have to operate. Problem was the Beatles had their first major world tour coming up the next day. The other Beatles decided not to do it without Ringo but pressures from promoters and Brian convinced them otherwise but still George Harrison remained loyal to Ringo by saying to Brian and George Martin: "If Ringo's not going, then neither am I. You can find two replacements!" but he eventually relented and George Martin called up a session drummer he knew, Jimmie Nicol. Nicol was a session drummer who was playing with various bands at the time earning a princely sum (in the 1960s) of 40 pounds a week. Nicol came to Abbey Road and met John, Paul & George and ran through a set list of the tour with them. Nicol later recounted: "That night I couldn't sleep a wink, I was a fucking Beatle!".

His first concert with the Beatles was in Denmark. He was given a Beatle haircut and Ringo's suit (on which the trousers were too short) and went on stage to 4500 screaming Beatles fans. Paul amusingly recalled: "He was sitting up on his rostrum just eyeing up all the women. We'd start 'She Loves You' one, two, nothing, one, two, and still nothing!" 

Nicol played a total of eight shows until Starr rejoined the group in Melbourne, Australia, on the 14 June. He was unable to say goodbye to The Beatles as they were still asleep when he left, and he did not want to disturb them. Epstein gave him a cheque for 500 pounds and a gold wrist watch inscribed: "From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy - with appreciation and gratitude." Jimmy flew back to London and back into obscurity. Nicol said in a 1987 interview: "After the money ran low I thought of cashing-in in some way or other. But the timing wasn't right. And I didn't want to step on The Beatles' toes. They had been damn good for me and to me." 

Although the fans may have forgotten him, The Beatles never did. During his time with the group, John and Paul would ask him how he was settling in and Nicol's reply would always be "It's getting better" In 1967, Paul, while walking his dog Martha with Beatles biographer Hunter Davies, remarked that the weather was getting better, and began to laugh, remembering Nicol and it inspired him to write 'Getting Better' which was included on the Sergeant Pepper album. Again, during the sessions for Let It Be in 1969 when discussing a possible Beatles tour, McCartney remarked "I think you'll find we're not going abroad 'cause Ringo just said he doesn't want to go abroad. You know, he put his foot down. Although Jimmie Nicol might go abroad." It's also said that McCartney wanted Nicol to be involved in the Beatles Anthology but Nicol wasn't interested. 

It was widely believed that Nicol had died in 1988 but an article in the Daily Mail in 2005 confirmed that he was still alive and living a reclusive life in London.

Photo of the Day: John Lennon

John plays George's guitar on the set of the Beatles' first film 'A Hard Day's Night' in 1964.

Photo of the Day: George Harrison

George sees you! He sees you!

Photo of the Day: George Harrison

George on stage in 1964

Photo of the Day: John Lennon in 1964

Look at him doing the Hokey-Cokey! haha!