A Tribute to My Amazing Dad & The Beatles 1965
Our dad was the coolest dad ever! He wasn’t only cool, he had nerves of steel in raising his three young daughters. This story might disturb dads in today’s world, but the 60’s were a different time where innocence still existed and stranger danger wasn’t in our vocabulary.
In 1964 The Beatles were new on the scene. One Sunday night we sat in our den and saw for the first time the boot-clad long-haired English group perform “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” on The Ed Sullivan Show. I remember my first thoughts were not what they would later become. I thought their boots were strange for boys and their haircuts were silly. But, when they began to sing I was blown away, like every other girl on the planet. They were different and their sound was fresh, not to mention – Paul was gorgeous!
Immediatley, their songs were all over the radio, and my sisters and I were in love with them. It was a time when our local radio stations weren’t playing the latest music, but thankfully, at night, we were able to pick up a really good signal from WLS in Chicago and we tuned in faithfully to listen to all the latest groups and new sounds.
It just so happened that in August of 1965, my older sister was with my dad in the car going to Chattanooga listening to Jet Fly Radio when she heard about Beatles tickets on sale for a concert in Atlanta. She asked him if she could order some and he, being the great dad that he was, said yes. She called and was able to snag five tickets for the steep price of $5.50 each – rain or shine.
My older sister and I were allowed to take a friend, but the four of us were to take care of my younger sister, she was five years younger than me.
So, this is how it went. We got to the Atlanta Stadium on August 18th, the stadium of the Atlanta Braves. My dad took us inside and helped us find find our seats then left. I took pictures that night that somehow have vanished even though I have looked for them for years. All I have is my ticket, and an I Love Ringo pin which, remarkably, I somehow managed to hold on to (of course, I really wanted an I Love Paul pin, but they were sold out…sorry Ringo, you were great, too!).
Before The Beatles came on the stage, Cannibal and the Headhunters were the opening act. I’m sure they sang other songs, but I only remember “Land of a Thousand Dances”. When The Beatles took the stage there was so much screaming we could hardly hear them singing (you can be sure we were among the screamers), but it didn’t matter – the night was pure magic.
My dad was waiting for us when the concert ended. We stayed overnight in a downtown hotel where we heard later that some girls thought that The Beatles were there and raided their room taking socks and the like that they had left behind – turned out it wasn’t the Beatles (maybe Cannibal and the Headhunters…who knows), but it did create a stir. Even my dad worried that we were in on the shenigans when he couldn’t get us to open our door (that’s because he had told us not to let anyone in). When he got security to come and open the door, we were in our beds asleep.
A few years ago I ran across my ticket and my I Love Ringo pin, put them in a shadow box and displayed it on a shelf in my office. One day our secretary saw it and asked, “Did you see the Beatles” to which I proudly replyed, “I sure did.” She looked at the date on the ticket and inquired “When were you born?” I told her, and she said “You were only ten years old.” I was shocked! That couldn’t be right…I thought I was so grown up then, but the reality of it came straight at me! I had been 10, my older sister was 13 and my younger sister was 5!!!! That blew my mind…I had really never thought about how young we were.
Like I said, it was a different time, and to his credit this wasn’t the last concert he took us to, there were many more. What a great dad we had!!! I miss him so much! I love you Daddy…. Happy Father’s Day!
P.S. If anyone reading this knows Paul, please tell him I said Hello, and that he still has the magic!
