How many Americans knew about Beatles in 1963?

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by jiminnm

Here you go:
The Classic CKLW Page!

Thanks, Jim.

I clicked on The Great Sound of the Big 8 and listened to some of the classic ID audio clips. It was fun to re-live 1967 for a few moments....and it still seems like yesterday. Where on earth did all this time go....

http://www.thebig8.net/golden.wav

We've lost so much. And I don't know that anyone truly understands why..........

[dizzybint]

Originally Posted by Weaponized_Funk

Early Beetles were insufferable trash. I blame that template for the vacuous pop nonsense we hear today.

theres an A in Beatles... and they were good song writers...what nonsense would you like to listen to then....

[English Dave]

The rise of the Beatles after Brian Epstein took over their management was amazing. Only a year before their appearance on American television, they were still appearing in small town venues. They did a show in my home town Oldham, in February 1963. The building was an old cinema until 1961.

From that, they moved into higher gear, appearing in the seaside holiday resort of Blackpool in August 1963. This is where my wife saw them perform.

Then, off to America in early 1964. Just an amazing rise from small time, to world wide fame in one year.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMq65W-0oHw

[Coney]

Tune In Volume 1 details their rise in the UK. Until Hamburg, they had a limited repertoire. They had already played on the BBC by August 1963.

Every time I asked Sid (Bernstein) about them, he kept changing his story. You would have thought that he invented The Beatles.

They were already booked into Carnegie Hall and for the Washington DC Concert before Ed Sullivan. Claiming that they were complete unknowns before their Sullivan debut is absurd. I Want To Hold Your Hand was already a number 1 song in the US prior to Ed Sullivan. It wasn't just Louise. Alistair, Brian, and George had all made trips to the states to help pave the way and met with Capitol. It was hard work and a lot of huckstering to break down the doors. I assure you that many teenagers in NYC knew who the Beatles were in the Fall of 1963 and momentum kept growing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news...s-debut-n24171

[BMI]

Originally Posted by Hopelesscause

Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan in Feb 64. What was it like before? Did young Americans play their songs frequently or was it considered to be somewhat “cutting edge” to play Beatles records and hear their music on the radio?

For most of 1963 I’m going to say not many.

The Beatles were signed to EMI Parlophone label in the UK...
EMI owned Capitol Records in the North America....and had first rights to Beatles music.

US Capitol refused to release Beatles records starting in early 1963.
EMI licensed the rights to Vee-Jay records and a one off license to Swan Records
for She Loves You as Vee-Jay was in financial trouble.
Vee-Jay had planned to release a Beatles album in mid 1963 “Introducing the Beatles”
but had to be postponed until january 1964 due to the financial problems.
It was released just a week before Capitol’s “Meet the Beatles” album.
Both albums sold well...Vee-Jay’s about 1.3 million ...Capitol’s with over 3.6 million.

Canadian Capitol DID release all the 1963 Beatle singles (45s)
Here are the canadian release dates .....
Love Me Do .... february 18, 1963
Please Please Me ....april 1, 1963
From Me to You ....june 17, 1963
She Loves You ....september 16, 1963

Here are the release dates of 1963 Beatles Singles in the US and UK....

Please Please Me....UK release date january 11, 1963
....US release date february 7, 1963 on Vee-Jay Records

From Me To You ....UK release date april 11, 1963
....US release date may 27, 1963 on Vee-Jay Records

She Loves You.....UK release date august 23, 1963
....US release date september 16, 1963 on Swan Records

I Want To Hold Your Hand....UK release date november 29, 1963
....US release date december 26, 1963 on Capitol Records.

Please Please Me in the US in 1963 sold just over 7,000 copies and did not make Billboard Hot 100,

From Me To You in the US in 1963 sold only about 4,000 copies and did not chart.

She Loves You in the US in 1963 sold very poorly...only about 1000 copies on the Swan Label.

With some media exposure and Capitol’s $40,000 promotion budget helping...
I Want to Hold Your Hand finally became the big US hit the Beatles were hoping for.

It entered the Billboard Top 100 chart on january 18, 1964 (notice not 1963)
It topped the Billboard Top 100 chart on february 1, 1964 (again not 1963)
Which was just over a week before their first appearance on Sullivan.
The Beatles got the news while staying at te George V Hotel in Paris and had a big party
to celebrate the news.

As for Beatlemania....not sure exactly when it started....

The Beatles first 1963 UK Tour started on february 2nd with Helen Shapiro as the headliner..
The Beatles did start to get some screams as they had a their first UK chart topper at the time.

The Beatles second 1963 UK Tour started on march 9th, Tommy Roe and Chris Montez were top of the bill,
it was during this tour the Beatles started to get more applause/screams than the headliners....

The Beatles third 1963 UK Tour started on may 18th, with Roy Orbison as the star....
early Beatlemania really started to kick in during this tour and the Beatles switched roles with Roy
after a couple of shows. The Beatles were huge Roy Orbison fans and Roy was gracious about
the switch. The Beatles, as fans, eleven months later, on april 23, 1964, joined Roy Orbison backstage
to celebrate Roy’s 28th birthday...there are photos of John Lennon feeding Roy some birthday cake
(the cake was in the shape of a guitar).

I don’t think it was actually called Beatlemania in the UK until early fall when
the UK went crazy over the Beatles around the time “She Loves You”...
She Loves You was still number 1 when I Want To Hold Your Hand was released!

As for the USA ....Beatlemania starting....it is really an early 1964 thing. (or very late 1963).

Most people in the US did not know about the Beatles until hearing news reports in
fall/late 1963 ....

George Harrison did fly out to visit his sister in Benton, IL USA in september 1963,
I bet he went around un-noticed. He bought some musical equipment at a local music
shop, including a Rickenbacker guitar and a Gibson Maestro Fuzz Box,
which is interesting as I don’t really hear any “fuzz” on any Beatles recordings until
Rubber Soul’s “Think For Yourself” ...Paul playing fuzz bass using George’s pedal.
Though I have seen photos taken in the recording studio (Abbey Road) fall 1963
with the fuzz box on the floor....I read that George mainly used it on a relatively “clean”
setting as a volume/treble boost.

[OzzyRules]

Originally Posted by JPD

To explain where I'm coming from with my comment that Elvis never returned to rock. My feeling is that, while he did the occasional rock song after his stint in the army, and could still rock, his post-army music career was mostly made up of dopey song from his dopey movies, gospel music, and pandering patriotism like the American Trilogy. Of course, there were some great songs in there, too. In the Ghetto, Suspicious Minds, etc. But he was no longer really a rock and roll artist. He was a star who sang lots of different types of music, including the occasional rock song.

He always did a combination. But I know what you are saying because he did more pop and country later.