Fact #98684
When:
Short story:
On arrival in Washington, DC, for their first live concert in the USA, The Beatles give a brief press conference.
Full article:
THE BEATLES' WASHINGTON PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
Q : Do any of you have any formal music training?
?John Lennon : You're joking.
?
Q : What do you think of President Johnson?
?Paul McCartney : Does he buy any of our records?
?
Q : What do you think of American girls and American audiences?
?John Lennon : Marvelous.
?
Q : Here I am, surrounded by The Beatles, and I don't feel a thing. Fellas, how does it feel to be in the United States?
?John Lennon : It's great.
?
Q : What do you like best about our country?
?John Lennon : You!
?
Q : I'll take that under advisement. Do you have any plans to meet the Johnson girls?
?John Lennon : No. We heard they didn't like our concerts.
?
Q : Are they coming to your performance tonight?
?Paul McCartney: If they do, we'd really like to meet them.
?
Q : You and the snow came to Washington today. Which do you think will have the greater impact?
?John Lennon : The snow will probably last longer.
?
Q : One final question. Have you ever heard of Walter Cronkite?
?Paul McCartney : Nope.
?John Lennon : NBC News, is he? Yeah, we know him.
?
Q : Thanks, fellas. By the way, it's CBS News.
?George Harrison : I know, but I didn't want to say it as we're now on ABC.
?
Q : This is NBC, believe it or not.
?John Lennon : And you're Walter?
?
Q : No, I'm Ed.
?John Lennon : What's going on around here?
?
Q : What do you think of your reception in America so far?
?John Lennon : It's been great.
?
Q : What struck you the most?
?John Lennon : You!
?Ringo Starr : We already did that joke when we first came in.
?George Harrison : Well, we're doing it again, squire!
?
Q : Why do you think you're so popular?
?John Lennon : It must be the weather.
?
Q : Do you think it's your singing?
?Paul McCartney : I doubt it. We don't know which it could be.
?
Q : Where'd you get the idea for the haircuts?
?John Lennon : Where'd you get the idea for yours?
?Paul : We enjoyed wearing our hair this way, so it's developed this way.
?
Q : Well, you save on haircutting at least.
?Paul McCartney : Roar ...
?John Lennon : I think it costs more to keep it short than long, don't you?
?Paul McCartney : Yeah, we're saving our money.
?
Q : Are you still number one in Europe?
?George Harrison : We're number one in America.
?
Q: Where else are you number one then?
?John Lennon : Hong Kong and Sweden ...
?Paul McCartney : Australia, Denmark, and Finland, Europe.
?
Q : And you haven't any idea why?
?Ringo Starr: We just lay down and do it.
?John Lennon : In Hong Kong and these other places, suddenly you're number one years after putting out your records. Even here, we've got records we've probably forgotten.
?
Q : You call your records "funny records"?
? John Lennon : "Funny", yeah, the ones we've forgotten.
?George Harrison : It's unusual because they've been out in England for over a year. Like "Please, Please Me" is a big hit over here now, but it's over a year old.
?
Q : Do you think they're musical?
?John Lennon : Obviously they're musical because it's music, isn't it! We make music. Instruments play music. It's a record.
?
Q : What do you call it, rock and roll?
?Paul McCartney : We try not to define our music because we get so many wrong classifications off it. We call it music even if you don't.
?
Q : With a question mark?
?George Harrison : Pardon?
?John Lennon : We leave that to the critics.
?
Q : Okay, that's it. Have a good time in America.
?John Lennon : Thank you. Keep buying them records and look after yourself.
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Q : Do any of you have any formal music training?
?John Lennon : You're joking.
?
Q : What do you think of President Johnson?
?Paul McCartney : Does he buy any of our records?
?
Q : What do you think of American girls and American audiences?
?John Lennon : Marvelous.
?
Q : Here I am, surrounded by The Beatles, and I don't feel a thing. Fellas, how does it feel to be in the United States?
?John Lennon : It's great.
?
Q : What do you like best about our country?
?John Lennon : You!
?
Q : I'll take that under advisement. Do you have any plans to meet the Johnson girls?
?John Lennon : No. We heard they didn't like our concerts.
?
Q : Are they coming to your performance tonight?
?Paul McCartney: If they do, we'd really like to meet them.
?
Q : You and the snow came to Washington today. Which do you think will have the greater impact?
?John Lennon : The snow will probably last longer.
?
Q : One final question. Have you ever heard of Walter Cronkite?
?Paul McCartney : Nope.
?John Lennon : NBC News, is he? Yeah, we know him.
?
Q : Thanks, fellas. By the way, it's CBS News.
?George Harrison : I know, but I didn't want to say it as we're now on ABC.
?
Q : This is NBC, believe it or not.
?John Lennon : And you're Walter?
?
Q : No, I'm Ed.
?John Lennon : What's going on around here?
?
Q : What do you think of your reception in America so far?
?John Lennon : It's been great.
?
Q : What struck you the most?
?John Lennon : You!
?Ringo Starr : We already did that joke when we first came in.
?George Harrison : Well, we're doing it again, squire!
?
Q : Why do you think you're so popular?
?John Lennon : It must be the weather.
?
Q : Do you think it's your singing?
?Paul McCartney : I doubt it. We don't know which it could be.
?
Q : Where'd you get the idea for the haircuts?
?John Lennon : Where'd you get the idea for yours?
?Paul : We enjoyed wearing our hair this way, so it's developed this way.
?
Q : Well, you save on haircutting at least.
?Paul McCartney : Roar ...
?John Lennon : I think it costs more to keep it short than long, don't you?
?Paul McCartney : Yeah, we're saving our money.
?
Q : Are you still number one in Europe?
?George Harrison : We're number one in America.
?
Q: Where else are you number one then?
?John Lennon : Hong Kong and Sweden ...
?Paul McCartney : Australia, Denmark, and Finland, Europe.
?
Q : And you haven't any idea why?
?Ringo Starr: We just lay down and do it.
?John Lennon : In Hong Kong and these other places, suddenly you're number one years after putting out your records. Even here, we've got records we've probably forgotten.
?
Q : You call your records "funny records"?
? John Lennon : "Funny", yeah, the ones we've forgotten.
?George Harrison : It's unusual because they've been out in England for over a year. Like "Please, Please Me" is a big hit over here now, but it's over a year old.
?
Q : Do you think they're musical?
?John Lennon : Obviously they're musical because it's music, isn't it! We make music. Instruments play music. It's a record.
?
Q : What do you call it, rock and roll?
?Paul McCartney : We try not to define our music because we get so many wrong classifications off it. We call it music even if you don't.
?
Q : With a question mark?
?George Harrison : Pardon?
?John Lennon : We leave that to the critics.
?
Q : Okay, that's it. Have a good time in America.
?John Lennon : Thank you. Keep buying them records and look after yourself.