""Congratulations, lads." "Number one in US charts" or something" "It was a great feeling because we were booked to go there directly after the Paris trip so it was handy to have a number one" "British pop stars haven't made much impact on the US, how will you fare?" "Well, I can't really say, can I?" "Is it up to me?" "No." "I just hope we go all right" "But at that time I didn't realise that Capitol Records had been told..." "John F Kennedy Airport New York 7th February 1964 They wanted the Beatles, you see" "Brian Epstein said "OK, you can have them..." ""on condition that you spend $70000," which sounded enormous" "So they had to promote us, but I think there was more to it than that" "They had a catchy single that took off plus Ed Sullivan had seen us in England and Time, Life and Newsweek had all put covers of the Beatles on their magazines prior to us arriving" "It was a surprise, though because we thought we'd have to work a little bit for this notoriety" "If there was a turning point in their career" "Voice of Beatles' Manager Brian Epstein a specific date on which the scope of their future was to be altered it was the day they touched down at Kennedy International in New York to a welcome seldom equalled anywhere in history" "Would you please sing something?" " No!" "Is there something you CAN sing?" " No, we need money first!" "How many of you are bald if you have to wear those wigs?" " All of us" "Oh, we're all bald..." "and deaf and dumb, too" "Are you for real?" " Come and have a feel" "Are you going to get a haircut?" " No, no, no... no thanks" "I had one yesterday" "That's no lie" " It's true" "What is it that your music does to these people?" "Pleases them, I think." "It must because they're buying it" "Why does it excite them so much?" " We don't know, really" "We're going to form another group and be managers" "I remember the great moment of going into the limo and there we were on American radio" "And tomorrow an exciting morning as Brad Phi!" "Ips has the Beat!" "es..." "Tomorrow night the Beatles read their own poetry on 'Meet The Beat!" "es...'" "Oh, really?" "I don't understand this" "We ain't writ no poetry" "Lock your door" "We were so over-awed by American radio" " Epstein had to stop us - we phoned every radio in town, asking them to play the Ronettes" "We didn't ask for our own records, but other people's" "This is John Lennon of the Beatles on 1010 WINS" "This is the Beatles station." "They're taking over, telling us what to play" "One more week of this and I'll become the fifth Beatle" "I liked Murray, he was a good guy." "There was him and cousin Bruce" "He became the so-called 'fifth Beatle' - he was really big on our record" "He helped make it a hit" "Paul, suppose you tell them what we got next" "We were very impressed with him, so we'd ring his show" "He'd say "The Beatles are on and I've got an exclusive interview"" "We'd ring up "Hello, excuse me, Murray." "Oh, it's George." "Hi, George..."" "We'd give him all the exclusives because we loved him" "This is Pau!" "McCartney from WINS and it's Marvin Gaye singing Pride and Joy" "It's me - you know me - yes" "We're waiting for a call from London and you're blocking the line" "Hello, John" " Hello, Brian" "What are your first impressions of arrival in America?" "I don't know." "They're sort of wild, you know... all wild" "Wilder than they are in England?" " Maybe it was the first impression" "They seemed out of their minds" "Did you get home betweeen leaving Paris and going to the States?" "We were in London for two days" " You didn't go to Liverpool?" "No." "George went but he's regretting it." "He still hasn't slept" "Is George there now?" " Do you want to speak to him?" "In a moment, but do you want to say anything to the fans here at home?" "Tell them not to forget, we're only away for ten days" "We're thinking of them" "Let's have a word with Ringo" "What was the first thing you did when you got to your hotel, Ringo?" "We had a big press interview with about 100 people" "We got out of that, then we had a Cadillac each, marvellous cars" "What sort of things do they want to know at the press reception?" "Are we bald, and what do we do with our money - the usual things" "You proved you don't wear wigs?" " Yeah, we took them off" "Well, cheerio Ringo, and the best of luck to you" "Give my regards to everyone." "Here's George now" "Hello, George" " How are you, Brian?" "The first thing you'll be doing is the Ed Sullivan Show, isn't it?" "We rehearse that tomorrow and do the show on Sunday" "What will you be doing on the show?" "I Want to Hold your Hand, She Loves You, P!" "ease P!" "ease Me" "The usual ones" "How many of your records are in the American hit parade?" "We've got six in the top hundred" "I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, P!" "ease P!" "ease Me, From Me to You" "My Bonnie, which is a laugh, and I Saw Her Standing There" "You know in New York three records are number one:" "Please Please Me, She Loves You, I Want to Ho!" "D Your Hand" "That's marvellous!" "We're all very proud of you" "Good luck, and we look forward to seeing you back home soon" "We'll see you in two weeks, I suppose" "I'd this throat thing because when you see the photographs - they did publicity shots in Central Park " "There's pictures of the three of them with the New York skyline behind them" "Our theatre's jammed with newsmen and photographers from all over" "The city has never witnessed such excitement as stirred by the Beatles" "Tonight you will twice be entertained by them" "Right now, and again in the second half of our show." "The Beatles!" "The Ed Sullivan Show New York 9th February 1964" "It's still supposed to be the largest viewing audience ever in the States and the States being the biggest show biz town ever" "People still talk about it like "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?"" "Something very nice happened and the Beatles got a kick out of it" "They've just received a wire from Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker wishing them a tremendous success in our country" "Later they said there was the least reported, or no reported crime" "Even criminals had a rest for ten minutes while we were on" "Then we did the train ride to Washington" "That's where we got to know quite a few of the press guys" "They started to get friendly and let us know they were actually there to kill us" "Beause we shouted at them, they loved us" "God knows what would have happened if we hadn't shouted" "It's great being here in New York" " Washington" "Oh, is that the place?" "Washington?" "I'm just moving so fast" "Voice of Neil Aspinall Tour Manager That Washington show was like a boxing ring, with people all round" "Every song, you'd go to a different side of the stage so you had to move the mikes all the time" "Ringo was sitting on this round thing in the middle of the stage" "He had to turn that round to face the band and it got stuck" "All this chaos was going on." "But it was a good show" "Washington Coliseum 11th February 1964" "Thank you very much, everybody, and good evening" "We'd like to thank everybody here in America, Washington" "We'd like to thank everybody for buying this particular record - for starting us off in America and giving us the chance to come here and see you all in Washington" "The song we'd like to carry on with now is one which we recorded on an LP that we made" "That's English for album, an album we made" "We'd like you to join in - clap your hands and stamp your feet" "Everybody join in all together" "The song's called I Saw Her Standing There" "Thank you very much" "We would like to sing a song now which was a record for us and it was our first hit in England" "This song was released in America." "It didn't do anything" "It was released later again and, well, it's doing something, you know" "We'd like to play for you now P!" "ease P!" "ease Me" "British Embassy Washington 11th February 1964 The British Embassy it was - there was a party" "This was starting to happen because we were now conquering America and the British Ambassador could play a role in this" "It would be good publicity for him, you know" "There were a lot of 'Hooray Henrys' which we'd never met before" "We hadn't played many Arts Balls or Cambridge May Balls" "We'd heard about these guys who got a bit stroppy after a few drinks" ""Oh, I say... play Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto, ha ha ha"" "We were standing around, saying "Hi" and having a drink" "One of them came up behind me and snipped a piece of my hair off" "I was so angry "What the hell do you think you're doing?"" ""Oh, it's OK, old chap"" "Some bloody animal cut Ringo's hair in the middle of..." "I walked out, swearing at all of them." "I just left in the middle of it" "We eventually got down to Miami which was just like Paradise" "We'd never been to anywhere where there were palm trees" "We took a lot of photos." "We were like tourists with our Pentax cameras" "We had a great time, looking down at the sand from our hotel" "The kids would write "I love John" on the sand so you could read it from your hotel room" "Who are you?" "What's your name?" "Which one are you?" "This was just the most brilliant place I'd ever been to" "People were lending us yachts or anything we wanted" "This family lent us their boat and they let me drive a 60 foot yacht, a speed boat which I proceeded to bring in to port head on" "Not really knowing much about driving speed boats and so they have those pretty rails on the front hanging over" "I bent the bugger all over the place but they didn't seem to mind" "The Ed Sullivan Show Rehearsals Miami 16th February 1964" "For the next song, we'd like to sing..." "OK, hang on..." "Shut up while he's talking" "And now from the stage of the Deauville Hotel" " Ed Sullivan!" "Thank you very much" "It's so nice to be here, thank you" "It's happened again." "Last Sunday on our show in New York the Beatles played to the greatest audience ever on American TV" "Tonight, here in Miami Beach again the Beatles face a record busting audience" "Ladies and gentlemen" "Here are four of the nicest kids we've ever had on our stage" "Excuse the mess, won't you... packing" "These youngsters from Liverpool, England..." "Their conduct over here, not only as fine professional singers but as a group of fine youngsters will leave an imprint with everyone over here who has met them" "Nobody ever made it in America - we were dying to be the first" "A lot of people had tried and failed in America" "We were very confident, our confidence was at an all-time high" "I felt we'd conquered America - it was an attitude we had" "We'd conquered Sweden and France so America was ours now" "London Airport 22nd February 1964" "What do you most like about the trip, Ringo?" "I loved it all, especially Miami" "I didn't know what 'sun' meant before I went there" "Don't you get it in Liverpool?" " No, they've finished up there" "Did you have a chance to get away without anybody recognising you?" "We borrowed a couple of millionaires' houses, you know" "You could afford to buy a couple" " We'd sooner borrow, it's cheaper" "We did a bit of water skiing" "Did your wife enjoy it over there?" " She loved it, who... who?" "Don't tell them he's married" " I'm sorry, I didn't mean to" "What about the taste of the fans over there, did you find the same stuff?" "Yeah, we expected them to be very different but they weren't at all" "The accent was the only difference" "Did they reckon you sang in an English accent or an American one?" "Some fella said, how come you're from Britain and you sing with an American accent?" "We tried to explain that it's a Liverpool accent" "I hear that the four of you will be millionaires by the end of the year" "That's nice" "Have you time to spend this money?" " What money?" "You went to see those movies with Elvis or somebody in them in Liverpool" "Everybody was waiting to see him." "I'd be waiting there too" "They'd all scream when he came on the screen" "So we thought, that's a good job" "We'd always..." "I'm talking about this progression with the Beatles" "From the Stevedores' and Dockers' Union, the Cavern, better clubs" "So films was one that we'd always thought of" "We loved The Girl Can't Help It and knew rock'n'roll could lead to films" "How do you reckon that one out?" "I loved the pictures as a kid" "I used to go a hell of a lot in Liverpool" "Great memories from the Saturday morning pictures" "If it was a pirate movie, I would be a pirate" "If it was a western, I'd come home as a cowboy" "It was a great fantasy land for me as a kid" "We were interested in films and what happened was..." "Brian started talking to people, knowing of our interest" "He came up with Dick Lester's name" "He did the Running Jumping Standing Sti!" "Film with Spike Milligan" "A classic comedy short, about five minutes long" "I don't know if it's funny now, but it was very funny then" "So they got hold of Dick Lester and we were really pleased" "Dick came round." "He was a bit of a musician, played jazz piano so he was even more interesting" "He was American but he'd worked in Britain with the Goons" "He got hold of Alun Owen, a Welsh playwright who'd written Last Tram to Lime Street" "Something like that, it was a long time ago now" "It was a very good play with Billie Whitelaw that Alun was known for" "He was a very likeable Welsh bloke and he hung out with us for a few days" "He picked up little quotes like "He's very clean, isn't he?"" "He picked up the jokes and sarcasm, the Beatle humour" "John's wit and each one of us, Ringo's laconic humour" "He picked up our characters, which was good" "Normally in pictures you do things back to front, maybe the end on one day... and the beginning the next day, but this one we almost did it in sequence" "It was very exciting." "We got on a train at Marylebone station and the next minute we're in a film" "There were little girls in gymslips who were actually models" "We were fascinated with them and George married one" "Pattie Boyd was one of the girls on the train" "The whole of the train bit - we were just going to pieces..." "It was all so romantic with the lights and coming to work in the limo" "Getting up early wasn't the best thing we could do" "The scene in Hard Day's Night, the one I got a good credit for - walking on the beach..." "by the canal with the camera and that - the lonely guy scene" "That came about because I came directly to work - very unprofessional - straight from a night club" "I was a little hung over, to say the least" "I was just so out of it, so they said "Let's do anything"" "My version of it was" " I said "Just film me walking around"" "I looked so cold and dejected because I felt like shit" "There was no acting going on, I just felt so bad" "I was less embarrassed than the others but I think John got into the movie too" "Hello" "Wait a minute, you're..." " No, I'm not" "Oh, you are." "I know you are" " I'm not, no" "You look just like him" " You're the first ever to say that" "Yes you do, look" "No, my eyes are lighter." "My nose..." "Oh yes, your nose is very..." " Is it?" "I would have said so" " You know him better though" "I do not." "He's a casual acquaintance" " That's what you say" "What have you heard?" "It's all over the place" " Is it really?" "But I stuck up for you" " I knew I could rely on you" "You don't look like him at all" "She looks more like him than I do" "Alun Owen tried to write a scene of us being harassed by the press which was part of our daily duty really" "They were saying things like "How did you find America?"" "Turn left at Greenland" "What do you call that hairstyle?" "Arthur" "Has success changed your life?" "I think it did, because Alun hung around with us and was careful... to put words into our mouths that he'd heard us speak so I think he did a very good script" "Leave those drums alone!" " Oh, just a little touch" "If you even breathe on them..." " Aren't you being rather arbitrary?" "There you go, hiding behind a smokescreen of bourgeois clichés" "I don't mess around with your earphones" " Spoilsport" "He's very fussy about his drums." "They loom large in his legend" "What's up?" " Oh, he's sulking again" "I'll show him" "Pardon, 'scuse, pardon..." "I'd like more drums, there" "No, I think it's on that..." "On the third bit... more bang..." "The next few minutes are in the lap of the gods and the hands of the Beatles" "We're going to hear versions of songs from their films" "Gather round, famous film stars, gather round" "In my young days, they used to have actors in films" "It's all changed now" " They're not doing that" "Did you find that the best bits were left on the cutting room floor?" "The good bits are in the film." "He said those were the best." "Rubbish!" "Was it really?" "Who was worst?" " Oh, Paul!" "No, I think John was about the worst" " No, it was you" "Ringo was very good." "He's a good lad" "They're saying he's the new Charlie Chaplin" "He's an old one" "We liked the bit in the field where we all jump about like lunatics because that's pure film, as the director told us" "We could have been anybody but we enjoyed it" "NME Poll Winners' Concert London" "Well John, I believe you've written a book" "This book's called John Lennon - In His Own Write, folks" "W R I T E, you see - it's a laugh a minute with John Lennon" "Some of you might find it a bit difficult to understand because it's in a sort of funny lingo" "Well, we get it." "It's full of laughs" "I don't really know how you can describe it, but..." "I've never read anything like it." "The stories are so funny" "Many little drawings to make you laugh." "It also had the wrestling dog" "Once upon a time, in a far off, distant land far across the sea, miles away from anyway, over the hills as the crow barks" "39 people lived miles from anywhere on a little island on a distant land" "At harvest time, the people celebrated with a feast and dancing" "It was Perry's" " For Perry was the loud mirth" "Job to provide" " At Perry's great pleasure, I might add" "A new and exciting..." " And usually it was thrill and spectacular performer" " Sometimes a dwarf was used" "This year Perry had surpassed himself by getting a wrestling dog" "But who would fight this wondrous beast?" "Not me, Dudley" "Mr John Lennon..." "Mr John Lennon will be back with the answers later in the programme" "From an early age, John had a fancy for that kind of thing" "At school he did "The Daily Howl" which was like a comic" "He used to draw all the things and it would be little jokes" "Today would be Muggy, followed by Tuggy, Weggy, and Thurggy" "Little teenage jokes." "He used to do a lot of that" "Long distance calling for the manager of the Beatles?" "His name, please?" "The manager's name is Mr Brian Epstein" "The manager's name is Brian Epstein" "I went to Torquay with Brian to write "A Cellarful of Noise"" "On the third day he said "I've got a lovely idea." "I want you to join us"" "I thought this is incredible, this is the idea" "Derek Taylor Beatles' Press Officer I'd given up on the idea of joining them, thinking, if it happens, it happens" "So after about 15 years on newspapers" "I just dropped out and joined the Beatles" "I was Brian's personal assistant, then eventually their press officer" "I remember we played in Amsterdam... was when Derek first came on tour with us" "We nearly didn't do that tour" "I was desperately ill, I was having my tonsils out" "George is a very loyal person and he said:" "George Martin Record Producer "If Ringo's not part of the group, it's not the Beatles." "I won't go"" "I despised the way we couldn't ever make a decision for ourselves" "It was always like "No, sorry." "But Ringo must go with us"" ""Sorry, we'll get a new drummer"" "Jimmy Nicol was a good drummer who learnt Ringo's parts very well" "He rehearsed with them and got to know the songs very well" "It was very strange" "They'd taken Jimmy Nicol and I thought they didn't love me any more" "All that stuff went through my head" "Holland 5th June 1964" "Jimmy, will you find it difficult to take over the role of Ringo?" "Not really, no" "I can never make up for what Ringo is" "How long will you be doing this?" " Until next Thursday" "You're a sort of understudy." "Do you think it a great break?" "Oh yes, excellent" "Treating you good?" " Marvellous" "How is Ringo, by the way?" "His throat is so sore - you're living on jelly and ice-cream" "I was a smoker in those days and I was smoking the next day" "That was pretty rough" "Always good for a gag is John, you know" "What do you expect to do in Hong Kong?" "I don't know, just see what's happening" "It's very different from what I've seen before, I imagine" "Will you do any sightseeing?" " I hope so" "Kaitak Airport Hong Kong 8th June 1964" "Hong Kong was different." "It was all army personnel" "It was very funny." "We'd expected Asians but it was the British Army" "It was all these British people, there weren't any Chinese there" "It was a slightly flat show, in a smallish place" "They all behaved themselves and all looked like..." "They looked like a khaki audience." "It was slightly strange" "We just played." "I don't think we enjoyed the show too much" "Mascot Airport Sydney 11th June 1964" "We had these capes and they were disasters in Australia" "The rain hit them and the dye came out" "They put the Beatles on the back of a truck" "They had umbrellas and were wearing these capes" "I was OK, I was in the cab" "The driver wouldn't go any faster, even though it was pouring" "He said "These kids have waited 24 hours to see these guys"" "We got to the hotel and everybody was blue because the dye had soaked off these coats from Hong Kong" "They played Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and I met them in Australia" "The flight was just horrendous to Australia, it still is" "It may be two hours less now but it's still a hell of a long way" "I remember getting off the plane and feeling like a disaster area" "But Australia was fabulous, being back with the boys and in the band" "They'd bought me presents in Hong Kong" "That was a really nice moment" "It's very nice for all of us to have back with us now..." "Ringo!" "Festival Hall Melbourne 17th June 1964" "We'd like to carry on now with a song we recorded not long ago" "A!" "My Loving" "When the Beatles arrived in Adelaide, they were greeted by 300000 fans" "Not surprising as they occupy the top 6 placings on the Australian chart" "Australia is truly in the grip of Beatlemania" "That was like a hero's welcome" "You'd go to the town hall and they'd all be in the centre" "I think we enjoyed all that stuff" "It could be wearing but, with that many people, we were flabbergasted" "Yes, shocked and stunned, just happy" "Everybody saying "There's more people than came to see the Queen"" "I should think so - she didn't have any hit records" "More people came to see us there than anywhere" "I think the whole of Australia was there" "We were on the roof of some hotel" "I don't know if it was Sydney or Adelaide, or where" "There were thousands and thousands of kids" "One of the things that stuck in my mind was some guy on crutches - I don't know why I focused on him" "He was shouting, getting all excited" "I saw him throw his crutches away, like he was healed and he fell right on his face." "He just fell over" "Before we go, we'd like to say to all of you here tonight and to everybody who's come to see us on this tour..." "We'd like to say, thank you all very much for coming along" "World Premiere" " A Hard Day's Night London 6th July 1964" "I think Hard Day's Night had a lot of comedy in it." "People said:" ""They're young Marx Brothers"" "There had never been four people doing comedy besides them" "Yeah, we were called Britain's answer to the Marx Brothers" "It was very well received and it did very well" "That was part of the Beatles, they were very funny" "I mean, they actually were funny" "I found it exciting." "I loved it" "When you first see yourself on the big screen, you watch yourself" "Look at that ear, that nose, my hair sticking out - each of us did that" "They're very supportive, the Liverpool people - they loved us getting on" "They felt we were traitors when we left, but the whole town was behind us" "We heard that we were finished in Liverpool" "After a bit we began to believe it." "We thought, we don't want to go home" "We'll just sneak home to our houses" "They said "I've been to the Cavern." "They don't like you any more"" "Of course, they were talking to people who didn't know us anyway" "We went back and it was one of the best ever" "Liverpool Airport 10th July 1964" "Subtitles:" "Screentext"