Fact #98371
When:
Short story:
In their suite at the Hotel George V in Paris, France, Europe, manager Brian Epstein informs The Beatles that they have secured their first No1 in the USA with I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Full article:
Harry Benson (photographer) : We were just sitting around chatting and drinking when Breian Epstein came in to tell them that I Want To Hold Your Hand was No1 in the US, and that they'de been invited to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Dezo Hoffman (photographer) : He was sitting on a chair and The Beatles were sitting on the floor around him. He said the news had come through that I Want To Hold Your Hand was No1 in the American Top Hundred. The Beatles couldn't even speak. Not even John Lennon. They just sat on the floor like kittens at Brian's feet.
Harry Benson : They were totally elated and, because they'd had a pillow fight a couple of nights before, I suggested one. John said he thought it was childish and silly, and that they had to be taken seriously now. The others all agreed, but then John sneaked up behind Paul and bashed him on the head with a pillow. That's when the fun started.
Derek Taylor : When the telegram came through, 'Cash Box, number one - it's happened', it really took a lot of reading... But yes, it was true, and the phone calls followed it up. And they were really hopping around with delight. They were coming to America anyway, they'd been booked on Ed Sullivan for two or three shows at a good rate. Epstein had got fares paid, as well as hotels. So that was a very nice coup... And bang! They got a number one.
Derek Taylor : So, I was on the phone home, ringing Joan to say that I was OK. George said, 'Let me talk to her.' And he said to her, 'Mrs Taylor, we're number one in Cash Box magazine in America. Isn't it great?' It was a good, innocent, sincere moment. It showed that these were people that were not blase then, and never did become that way.
Dawn James (journalist) : They were very mischievous. They played a trick on me when I stayed in the same hotel as them in Paris, the Hotel George V, to cover their Paris gigs for Rave. All of them, except George, had brought girls back to their rooms and there was quite a commotion going on, glasses being broken and so on. I was amazingly innocent in those days, so I went back to my room. Next day, they asked me if I would mind, as I was going home before them, if I would take some rolls of film back with me to London and they'd collect them when I next saw them. It wasn't until I got back home that another journalist, Mike Hennessy, told me what was on the films. Apparently they'd taken some rather naughty pictures of themselves larking with these girls and they'd used me to get them through customs. I couldn't believe it at first but next time I saw them I asked, and they confirmed it.
Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) : Michael (Mike Love of The Beach Boys] and I went out to dinner about a week after I Want To Hold Your Hand hit big, and he sat there scratching his head, saying, 'What the fuck is going on here?' And I said, 'Well, I don't think we should quit.'
He was discouraged by the way that Beatlemania hit America. We were very threatened by the whole thing. The Beach Boys supremacy as the number one vocal group in America was being challenged. So we stepped on the gas a little bit.
(Source : unknown)
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Dezo Hoffman (photographer) : He was sitting on a chair and The Beatles were sitting on the floor around him. He said the news had come through that I Want To Hold Your Hand was No1 in the American Top Hundred. The Beatles couldn't even speak. Not even John Lennon. They just sat on the floor like kittens at Brian's feet.
Harry Benson : They were totally elated and, because they'd had a pillow fight a couple of nights before, I suggested one. John said he thought it was childish and silly, and that they had to be taken seriously now. The others all agreed, but then John sneaked up behind Paul and bashed him on the head with a pillow. That's when the fun started.
Derek Taylor : When the telegram came through, 'Cash Box, number one - it's happened', it really took a lot of reading... But yes, it was true, and the phone calls followed it up. And they were really hopping around with delight. They were coming to America anyway, they'd been booked on Ed Sullivan for two or three shows at a good rate. Epstein had got fares paid, as well as hotels. So that was a very nice coup... And bang! They got a number one.
Derek Taylor : So, I was on the phone home, ringing Joan to say that I was OK. George said, 'Let me talk to her.' And he said to her, 'Mrs Taylor, we're number one in Cash Box magazine in America. Isn't it great?' It was a good, innocent, sincere moment. It showed that these were people that were not blase then, and never did become that way.
Dawn James (journalist) : They were very mischievous. They played a trick on me when I stayed in the same hotel as them in Paris, the Hotel George V, to cover their Paris gigs for Rave. All of them, except George, had brought girls back to their rooms and there was quite a commotion going on, glasses being broken and so on. I was amazingly innocent in those days, so I went back to my room. Next day, they asked me if I would mind, as I was going home before them, if I would take some rolls of film back with me to London and they'd collect them when I next saw them. It wasn't until I got back home that another journalist, Mike Hennessy, told me what was on the films. Apparently they'd taken some rather naughty pictures of themselves larking with these girls and they'd used me to get them through customs. I couldn't believe it at first but next time I saw them I asked, and they confirmed it.
Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) : Michael (Mike Love of The Beach Boys] and I went out to dinner about a week after I Want To Hold Your Hand hit big, and he sat there scratching his head, saying, 'What the fuck is going on here?' And I said, 'Well, I don't think we should quit.'
He was discouraged by the way that Beatlemania hit America. We were very threatened by the whole thing. The Beach Boys supremacy as the number one vocal group in America was being challenged. So we stepped on the gas a little bit.
(Source : unknown)