Opinion | American Beatlemania started with George Harrison
Whether you frequent their music or not, everyone knows who the Beatles are. If you don’t, you must be living under a very large rock. The Fab Four, composed of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, were only a band for a decade (1960-1970), but during that time, they made their mark on the music world. The British quartet have since influenced generations of musicians and music fans, especially those in America.
As most fans know, the Beatles first performed live in America on the Ed Sullivan show in New York on Feb. 9, 1964. But that wasn’t the first time a Beatle had played music in the states. Beatlemania in America began with George Harrison when he visited a small town in Illinois, long before his three other bandmates arrived.
In September 1963, the Beatles had just completed a tour in the UK and Scotland and their two albums “Please Please Me” and “With the Beatles,” and were ready to take a vacation. McCartney and Starr visited Greece. Lennon and his wife went to Paris. Harrison, who was 20 at the time, decided to visit his sister Louise in her small town of Benton, a mining community in Southern Illinois.
Source: Noah Nelson/dailyillini.com
