Thousands of teens converged on Cincinnati Gardens 50 years ago to see the Beatles on Aug. 27, 1964. They came in station wagons and sedans driven by the fathers or mothers. Some rode a city bus to see the four Liverpool lads they watched on the Ed Sullivan Show in February that year. Most were teenage girls experiencing a seminal coming of age moment: their first rock concert. It was, without a doubt, one of the most memorable nights of my life, said Sallie Mullinger, a 13-year-old from Mount Lookout back then. They brought hand-drawn signs. They stood and screamed. Some fainted in the heat estimated at 115 degrees. Few actually heard the lyrics from Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison or Ringo Starr, who did a dozen songs in about 28 minutes. Once the Beatles came romping out, it was complete pandemonium. You could barely hear the music in the distance, as the screaming was so loud that it just pierced your ears, said Nancy Pelzel, then a 15-year-old from White Oak. Everyone stood up so you couldnt see at all. Then everyone stood on their chairs, said Shirly Chaney of Union, a 16-year-old Boone County High School student in 1964. We spent the entire concert standing on folding chairs with our ears covered. But it was all worth it to say we saw the Beatles. I took my binoculars. Except you cant see anything with them if youre screaming, said Karen Hughes of Over-the-Rhine, who attended as a 12-year-old with her cousin, 13, and brother, 15. I had to stop screaming long enough to get a good look, then pass them to my cousin or brother, and then join everyone else at the Gardens screaming again. Tickets sold out quickly after the Beatles managers on April 10 accepted an offer from WSAI-AM DJs to play the Gardens for $25,000 during their first North American tour. Each of the five DJs – Dusty Rhodes, Paul Purtan, Mark Edwards, Steve Kirk and Skinny Bobby Harper – put up $5,000. Rhodes, now Hamilton County auditor, wasnt surprised tickets, ranging from $2.75 to a whopping $5.50, vanished instantly. More than $30,000 in ticket requests were returned. We put on I Want To Hold Your Hand in early January, and it just exploded, said Rhodes, who started the Dusty Rhodes Beatles Boosters, North Americas First Beatles Fan Club in mid-January. By the time the Beatles played Ed Sullivan on Feb. 9, he had mailed out more than 1,000 cards to WSAI-AM listeners. cincinnati/story/entertainment/2014/08/23/years-ago-beatles-came-play/14458703/
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:22:12 +0000
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