Sixty years ago the Beatles launched their conquest of America.
On February 9, 1964, the Fab Four debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show in New York and at that moment made history by changing American culture.
The audience went into a frenzy as soon as they sang 'close your eyes', the first words of the song, 'All My Loving', written by Paul McCartney and contained in their second album, 'With the Beatles' (1963).
The phenomenon called, 'Beatlemania', had begun to manifest itself since their arrival at Kennedy International Airport on February 7th.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were greeted by an army of photographers and thousands of hysterically screaming fans.
The procession of cars in which they were traveling moved towards Manhattan and the delirium continued in front of the Plaza Hotel, where the Beatles stayed during their stay in New York.
The Fab Four received an even greater welcome than that of the then American president, Lyndon Johnson, who, despite the cold, the day before, decided to greet the crowd in front of the New York Times headquarters on 43rd Street.
As the same New York newspaper wrote, 'there were few people'.
Their debut in what was considered one of the most famous broadcasts in the United States was followed by over 73 million viewers, equal to 40% of the American population.
According to a legend of the time, the number of crimes reported in the Big Apple was very close to zero, however there is no official confirmation on this matter.
Despite the delirium of the fans, there was no equal reception for the Beatles by critics.
The NyTimes coverage of their arrival appeared only on page 25 and the article was headlined, 'The Beatles Launch Invasion, Add Long Hair and Screaming Fans.'
"Multiply Elvis Presley by four, subtract six years from his age, add a British accent and a sharp sense of humor. The answer: It's the Beatles (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)," part of the article read.
However, the SullivanShow was flooded with 50 thousand requests to attend their debut while, eight years earlier, only 7 thousand arrived for Elvis.
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