1964 - the Beatles departing Miami International Airport in the black limo, lower center photo

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13-FEB-1964	Don Boyd

1964 - the Beatles departing Miami International Airport in the black limo, lower center

Miami International Airport

The Beatles leaving the airport in the black limo after arriving on a National Airlines DC-8 flight from New York. One Beatle on the right side of the car waved out the partially open window to the fans on the observation deck on top of what is now Concourse G (right).

Despite warnings of suspension, death, etc., to the contrary, a lot of teens skipped a part day of school to witness their arrival at the airport. I was a junior at Hialeah High and rode with Steve Boemler, a senior, and one of his girlfriends, in his two-seat MG-A convertible with glass-pack mufflers. The airport was absolute chaos because the parking lot was full so the teens abandoned their cars all over driveways, roadways, open grass areas, etc. There weren't enough tow trucks or cops in Dade County to even attempt to keep order. The terminal was full of teens and every rooftop observation deck was packed. We picked what is now Concourse G because the arrival concourse (now Concourse F) was already full and we knew we could see the DC-8 arrive from our position.

From http://www.beatles-discography.com/index.html?http://www.beatles-discography.com/1964.html :
February 13, 1964: The Beatles flew to Miami to prepare for their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Seven thousand kids were waiting at the airport, and so many chairs were chucked and windows smashed that the clean-up bill was over two grand! The Saturday Evening Post reported: "They were met at the airport by a chimpanzee, four bathing beauties, a four-mile long traffic jam, and 7,000 teenagers." A reporter said "they had a smashing welcome: smashed doors, smashed windows, smashed furniture, a smashed auto roof ... despite the crush of thousands of screaming and singing fans, the young singers with the seaweed hairdos made it through the Miami airport unmolested and were rushed off to Miami Beach in a shiny limousine, flanked by police escorts."

February 16, 1964: The Beatles second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, watched by over 70 million people. This was recorded live at the Deauville Hotel where they were staying. They played 'She Loves You', 'This Boy', 'All My Loving', 'I Saw Her Standing There', 'From Me To You', "Til There Was You', and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'.

The Beatles did a short interview before leaving Miami for the last time and you can hear it at http://www.560.com/assets/multimedia/WQAMBeatles_Interview_1964.mp3

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miamicrg 05-Oct-2007 15:45
My mother and aunt were waitresses in The Deauville's coffee shop when the boys stayed there. They were walking to their car after work in the afternoon--and they saw all of these teenagers surrounding probably the same black limo that is shown here. They quickly put 2 & 2 together--and went over to get a closer look at The Fab 4. They were both in their early 30's at the time--and they became part of the crush of people surrounding the limo. My aunt Rose made it to the rear passanger side against the limo window--and Ringo was just on the other side of course--pointing at her and laughing as her face and body was being smashed against the glass--Ringo was probably wondering how did this older lady get caught up in all of this teenager insanitiy? I was told that as soon as they checked out--everything--pillows--sheets--garbage--etc. was taken away to be sliced up and sold! Talk about pre-eBay....

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miamicrg		05-Oct-2007 15:45
My mother and aunt were waitresses in The Deauville's coffee shop when the boys stayed there. They were walking to their car after work in the afternoon--and they saw all of these teenagers surrounding probably the same black limo that is shown here. They quickly put 2 & 2 together--and went over to get a closer look at The Fab 4. They were both in their early 30's at the time--and they became part of the crush of people surrounding the limo. My aunt Rose made it to the rear passanger side against the limo window--and Ringo was just on the other side of course--pointing at her and laughing as her face and body was being smashed against the glass--Ringo was probably wondering how did this older lady get caught up in all of this teenager insanitiy? I was told that as soon as they checked out--everything--pillows--sheets--garbage--etc. was taken away to be sliced up and sold! Talk about pre-eBay....