Jack Paar First Introduces The Beatles to the U.S., January 3, 1964

[Mack A. Damia]

Before visiting the U.S. for the first time in Febuary 1964 to appear
on the Ed Sullivan Show, Jack Paar was in fact the first to introduce
The Beatles to American audiences on the 3rd January 1964 on his show
"The Jack Paar Show", the attached video shows how America would have
first seen The Beatles and how in fact Jack Paar could be the one who
helped launch The Beatles state side:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UKrZJkrT3M

--
mad

[Eric Ramon]

I'll watch it in a little while but it might be more correct to say Paar introduced the Beatles to older people (those over 25, say...maybe those over 20). Capitol had already been pressured into releasing I Want to Hold Your Hand early because the kids demanded it. The Beatles were already happening in the U.S. by the time January 3rd came along.

[Mack A. Damia]

"Introducing.....The Beatles" was their first album released in the
U.S. (Vee-Jay Records) on January 10, 1964 ten days before Capitol's
"Meet the Beatles."

Now if you mean that the music was played on radio stations before
that time, I agree with you, but they had not appeared on American
television before January 3, 1964, except, perhaps, in the news.

--
mad

[Marcus]

The Beatles on the Jack Paar Show was my introduction to The Beatles.

Haven't been the same since.

[Phil A. Scheo]

On Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 7:23:25 PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
>
> "Introducing.....The Beatles" was their first album released in the
> U.S. (Vee-Jay Records) on January 10, 1964 ten days before Capitol's
> "Meet the Beatles."

But they had several singles out already before that.

[Eric Ramon]

I Want to Hold Your Hand released by Capitol on Thursday, Dec. 26, 1963 due to the enormous demand. That was two weeks ahead of Capitol's schedule. According to wikipedia, which is probably right, that record sold 250,000 copies by the next Monday, the 30th. That's a lot of awareness before the Paar show, not that the Paar show was unimportant. But the snowball had already started rolling.

[RichL]

"Eric Ramon" <ramon...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a3b7e1b9-3202-4571...@googlegroups.com...

But there were at least three Beatles' recordings on other labels available
in the US well before the Capitol release of IWTHYH. I know of these three
in particular because I had 'em by early November of '63 (though I had to
look up the release dates):

Please Please Me/Ask Me Why, Feb 63, Vee-Jay
From Me To You/Thank You Girl, May 63, Vee-Jay
She Loves You/I'll Get You, Sept 63, Swan

I also think there was a version of Tony Sheridan/Beatles "My Bonnie"
available in the US at this time, though I can't pin it down.

[BeatleEd]

Mack A. Damia <mybaco...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Now if you mean that the music was played on radio stations before
> that time, I agree with you, but they had not appeared on American
> television before January 3, 1964, except, perhaps, in the news.
>

02/22/1963 (FRI) - Disc Jockey Dick Biondi of WLS-AM in Chicago Illinois,
USA is the first to play Please Please Me, and therefore the first to
play a Beatles song on the air in America.

03/08/1963 (FRI) - After playing it for three weeks, WLS-AM in Chicago
Illinois, USA places Please Please Me at #40 on their local charts. This
is the first DOCUMENTED Beatles airplay in the United States.

06/03/1963 (MON) - Del Shannon's version of From Me To You is released on
the Big Top label (#45-3143) in America. This is the first cover version
of a Lennon/McCartney composition to appear on the American charts.

08/03/1963 (SAT) - From Me To You is the first Beatle song to appear on
the American charts, when it premiers at #125 on The Billboard charts.

09/28/1963 (SAT) - The Beatles are mentioned in the press in North
America for the very first time in an article by Derek Jewell titled "The
Beat Sweeps Liverpool's Meeting Places" in todays issue of The Winnipeg
Free Press. The article is published "By arrangement with The Sunday
Times, London."

11/16/1963 (SAT - 6:00pm & 8:30pm) - Continuation of The Beatles "Autumn
Tour". The Beatles perform at The Winter Gardens Theatre, Exeter Road,
Bournemouth, Hampshire, England. A portion of one of these performances
is later shown on the 01/03/1964 edition of The Jack Paar show, scooping
the group's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

11/20/1963 (WED) - Several US networks show a portion of a filmed
performance of The Beatles. This is the group's first appearance on
American television.

12/07/1963 (FRI) - "The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite" features
footage of Beatles fans at a concert. This is often thought to be the
first appearance of The Beatles on American television.

12/28/1963 (SAT) - New Yorker Magazine publishes a Brian Epstein
interview. This is the first serious article about the Beatles or Brian
in the US.

12/29/1963 (SUN 12:50pm) - Disk Jockey Carroll James on WWDC in
Washington DC, is the first to play I Want To Hold Your Hand on American
radio.

01/03/1964 (FRI) - A film clip of The Beatles, performing She Loves You,
taken from the BBC film documentary The Mersey Sound, taken from The
Beatles’ Bournemouth performance November 16, 1963, is broadcast on US
television on The Jack Paar Show. NBC had obtained the film, much to the
chagrin of Brian Epstein, for £225.00. Epstein was concerned it would
jeopardize his exclusive contract with Sullivan.

[Phil A. Scheo]

On Sunday, August 9, 2015 at 3:08:33 AM UTC-4, RichL wrote:
>
> I also think there was a version of Tony Sheridan/Beatles "My Bonnie"
> available in the US at this time, though I can't pin it down.

Released in April 1962:

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/tony_sheridan_and_the_beat_brothers/my_bonnie___the_saints/

[Mack A. Damia]

I was referring to the first televised appearance of The Beatles. No
mention of your "awareness". There is no question that singles were
played prior to the Jack Paar Show and the release of the albums. I
would venture to say that some radio stations probably played bootleg
copies of amateur recordings some time before The Beatles were
introduced to U.S. audiences, but any details of that minutiae may
have been lost.

(I wrote)