Welcome to The Beatles Rarity Of the Week. This live recording of I Want To Hold Your Hand is from The Beatle’s first live outdoor concert in America. On February 11, 1964, just a few days after their historic initial appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles hit the nation’s capital. The group was to fly down to Washington from New York, but there was a snowstorm. They refused to fly down in blizzard conditions, remembering what happened to Buddy Holly a few years before. Arrangements were then made for them to travel by private coach from Pennsylvania Station in New York to Union Station in Washington DC. When they arrived there were 3,000 fans at the station, but they were prevented from approaching the band by the surrounding platform gates. They booked the entire seventh floor at the Shoreham Hotel to accommodate their entourage, but one family on the floor refused to move out of their room. The assistant manager cut off their light, heat and water and told them there had been a power failure on that floor to make them agree to take another room on the ninth floor. The Beatles took the stage at 8:31pm following Tommy Roe and The Chiffons. The crowd noise was so deafening the band could hardly hear themselves perform. Fans had heard earlier that George liked Jelly Babies, a British version of jelly beans but softer. Since jelly beans were the common equivalent in the US, the band was pelted by them onstage and later commented they felt like bullets. The show continued on though and was a tremendous success. After the performance Ringo commented, “They could have ripped me apart and I couldn’t have cared less. What an audience! I could have played for them all night.”

The Beatles in Washington, DC on February 11, 1964

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