Beatlemania hit New Orleans just before 3 a.m. on Sept. 16, 1964, when the plane carrying the Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — touched down at New Orleans International Airport in Kenner (now Armstrong International Airport).
The Fab Four arrived from Cleveland, one of 24 stops on their 32-day North American tour. Among their opening acts was New Orleans music great Clarence “Frogman” Henry.
Local hotels such as the Roosevelt and Monteleone opted not to host the band, fearing throngs of fans would descend on the hotel. Instead, a suite was reserved at the Congress Inn, a motel on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East. It has since been demolished.
According to author Steven Y. Landry’s book “Beatles Day in New Orleans,” once the band arrived at the motel, Ringo Starr expressed interest in going to the French Quarter, but his handlers rejected that.
This was the scene shortly before noon today as teenagers lined up at the gate to City Park Stadium for tonight’s appearance of The Beatles.
The afternoon of Sept. 16, The Beatles held a press conference at the Congress Inn. Mayor Vic Schiro (whom John Lennon jokingly referred to as “Lord Mayor”) presented them with keys to the city and made them honorary citizens.
Some 12,000 screaming fans paid $5 per ticket to attend the concert that night. Like so many other early Beatles concerts, pandemonium broke out in the crowd, with hundreds of screaming girls trying to storm the stage.
The next day was supposed to be a day off for The Beatles, who were huge fans of New Orleans music and had hoped to experience it for themselves. But they were lured away when the owner of the Kansas City Athletics baseball team offered $150,000 (about six times their normal fee) if they would add Kansas City to their tour so his daughter could see them perform.
Martin A Nethercutt is a writer, singer, producer and loves music.
Creative Director at McCartney Studios
Editor-in-Chief at McCartney Times
Creator-in-Chief at Geist Musik
President (title) at McCartney Multimedia, Inc.
Went to Albert-Schweitzer-Schule Kassel
Lives in Playa del Rey
From Kassel, Germany
Married to Ruth McCartney
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