Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! by Bob Spitz

Author:Bob Spitz [SPITZ, BOB]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JNF007040
ISBN: 9780316022699
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2007-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

The Beatles took New York by storm in February 1964, initiated by their rousing press conference moments after arriving at JFK Airport. © MIRRORPIX

It was almost a relief to get down to work. On Sunday afternoon, just before The Ed Sullivan Show broadcast, the Beatles arrived at the television studio, along with George, who was still feeling nauseous and unsteady. The boys got comfortable backstage. A stack of telegrams lay on a ledge by the mirror. One, marked URGENT, caught Paul’s attention, and as he read it his face corkscrewed into a mad grin.

It said: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR APPEARANCE ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW AND YOUR VISIT TO AMERICA. WE HOPE YOUR ENGAGEMENT WILL BE A SUCCESSFUL ONE AND YOUR VISIT PLEASANT. GIVE OUR BEST TO ED SULLIVAN. Paul looked up beaming: “Signed, Elvis.”

John, in a customary display of wit, shot back, “Elvis who?” The show itself went off beautifully. Ed Sullivan was a big, stiff man with very little personality, who sauntered onto the stage to introduce the acts. “Now, yesterday and today our theater’s been jammed with newsmen and press from all over the world,” he said, “and these veterans agree with me that the city’s never witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool who call themselves the Beatles.” As he said their name, screams rippled through the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen—the Beatles!”

Few viewers had known what to expect. Until that moment, all that most Americans had really seen of the Beatles was scattered newspaper photographs. A Beatles performance was something else entirely, and the power of it, the charge they sent through the audience, moved teenagers in ways they’d never been moved before. For starters, there was that boyish charm, which the Beatles (especially Paul) had perfected. Hearts melted in an instant when the boys looked directly at the camera and projected those gorgeous smiles.

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