Arts & Entertainment

50 Years of Beatlemania: Fab Four Visited Baltimore, Washington

The Beatles performed Feb. 11, 1964, in Washington, D.C. A Baltimore concert stop came in September of 1964. Share your memories in comments.

Fifty years ago on Sunday teenagers screamed and cried as The Beatlesperformed for an American mass TV audience for the first time, singing “I Want to Hold Your Hand" on The Ed Sullivan Show.

An astounding 73 million viewers tuned in to see the beginning of the British Invasion.

Two days later the Fab Four performed their first concert in Washington, D.C., as Beatlemania swept the country. It would be seven months before the group came to Baltimore.

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Did you see The Beatles perform live in Washington or Baltimore? What is your favorite memory from Beatlemania? Share your recollections in comments. If you have a photo from a Beatles concert to share, email a copy todeb.belt@patch.com; we’ll share some with readers.

Rolling Stone magazine has a video clip online of The Beatles singing "Twist & Shout" from their first U.S. show on Feb. 11, 1964 at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C.

The Beatles' only visit to Baltimore came on Sept. 13, 1964, according to beatlesbible.com. The group performed two shows at the Civic Center, to a total of 28,000 fans. As fans vied for a glimpse of the band, the website says two girls attempted to have themselves delivered to the venue in a large box labeled “Beatles fan mail, but a guard checking deliveries foiled their plan.

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The Feb. 9 anniversary is being noted in various ways. CBS wraps up the nostalgia on Sunday with the broadcast of "The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles,” taped a couple weeks ago at the theater, now home to the Late Show with David Letterman.

Artists sang their versions of Fab Four classics, and were joined by surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The telecast will air Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.


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