The night of 1,000 screams for Beatles relived

Jan 17 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

IT WAS the day Beatlemania came home – and now the Fab Four’s prodigal return to Liverpool is the subject of a new exhibition.

Another Hard Day’s Night, on display in the Picton Reading Room, at Liverpool Central Library, documents the historic day in July, 1964, when John, Paul, George and Ringo attended a civic reception in their honour before the northern premier of their debut film at the London Road Odeon.

Hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets to welcome the band back to Merseyside, having successfully cracked America.

Several teenage fans were stretchered off after fainting with excitement. The Beatles’ appearance on the town hall balcony was described in the following day’s Daily Post as “the night of 1,000 screams”.

Last night, invited guests including John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird, the group’s former press officer Tony Barrow, and Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn attended the official launch.

On July 10, 1964, The Beatles touched down to a heroes’ welcome at Speke airport, before being escorted on a route through the city to the town hall.

Mr Barrow did not attend, instead seeing to company business in London.

He said: “The Beatles themselves were very excited about it, unusually so, because they didn’t much fancy civic functions. But this was a homecoming, and they weren’t entirely sure what the reaction would be.”

On Granada TV footage of the day, an interview with the band showed them defensive at accusations they had left Liverpool behind.

“The people moaning about us not being here are the people who never came to see us when we were here,” John Lennon said.

“A lot of TV shows are in London, so we are forced to do a lot there,” added Paul McCartney.

Julia Baird, then 17, had been given the day off school to join her family at the civic reception.

“We had never expected anything like it,” she said.

“Afterwards, everyone was completely overwhelmed – all four of them as much as anybody. I didn’t know until I read years later they were apprehensive about coming back to Liverpool.”

The exhibition, which runs until February 17, includes correspondence between the Lord Mayor’s office and Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Drawn from the Lord Mayor’s archives, which are held by Liverpool Libraries and Record Office, it is the first time the documents have been publicly displayed.

Visitors will be able to see a framed print of the publicity shot for the Hard Day’s Night film, which depicts John, Paul, Ringo and George sitting in directors’ chairs. Four replica chairs are on display beneath the print, giving fans the chance to put themselves in the Fab Four’s shoes.

Historian Mark Lewisohn, who is writing a comprehensive three-volume work about the group, said of the day: “What I love about that was The Beatles made people feel so happy. Everybody felt good.”

However, not everyone was pleased to see the boys back in town. One disgruntled reader, whose letter is on display, wrote to the Daily Post, concerned about the cost to the taxpayer of the itinerary laid on for the “halfwits with the long hair”.

“If I dared, I would put a land mine on their route tomorrow,” the anonymous author griped.

vickyanderson@dailypost.co.uk