released in America, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, had not been released until the day they arrived, black market copies had already circulated at radio stations in the District of Columbia. Thousands of hysterical fans met them at the airport and, after the concert at a reception at the British Embassy, they received their first dose of the hysteria their presence created among fans. As they signed autographs people screamed out, wondering if they could actually write. Others surround Ringo Starr and cut off pieces of his hair. The Beatles caused such a stir in Washington that, President Johnson, who was to greet the British Prime Minister the next day, states, “I like your advance guard, but don’t you think they need haircuts?” (Hirshberg 5).
The Beatles were only in America for two weeks during this tour but it was long enough for Beatlemania to pervade America more than any military invasion ever had. Elvis may have still been the “King” at this point with American music buyers, but the boys from Liverpool were about to redefine rock Royalty for American audiences. The Beatles were charming and humorous to all involved on this tour. The novelty of such hysteria was new and the toll it would eventually take on the members of the group was not yet beginning to show. The Beatles returned home and filmed the documentary film A Hard Day’s Night, a wildly successful film whose premier was mobbed by almost a quarter million people. The Beatles returned to the states for another tour in August of 1964 and performed a breakneck 26 concerts in 34 days (Hirshberg 6).
One year later Brian Epstein’s promise that the Beatles would be bigger than Elvis came true when the band performed a record-sh
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