When Beatlemania came to Atlanta

“They changed the world. There were no people like them.”

“They liked the South for the gospel, soul, and blues”

Paula Crouch Thrasher

“I kept the gum I was chewing during the concert.”

“The drivers on the shuttle buses wore Beatle wigs.”

“After the concert people were picking up gum wrappers screaming ‘This belonged to Paul.’ Someone found a cigarette butt that was thought to be George Harrison’s. I kept some of the tobacco and put it in my scrap book.”

“We planned what we would wear just in case we got to meet them. I wore a yellow dress with flowers on it that buttoned up the front and had a bow at the neck. Very 60’s.”

Terry Evans

“The anticipation was just as fun as the actual show.”

“My father was part of the American Red Cross. They offered employees tickets to give to kids if they would man the first aid stations. Girls were fainting. We were so excited.”

“We all had seen them on the Ed Sullivan Show and we got to tell the kids at school we were going to the concert.”

Beth Gary

“My mother loves to tell the story that my sister, who was about 6 at the time, got bored and started crying that she wanted to go home. My parents told her she could cry and scream as much as she wanted!”

“When the Beatles finally ran out on the field, I remember the entire stadium rose and screamed in unison, and everyone remained standing and screaming throughout the performance.”

Gary Alex Coleman

“Gate B, Aisle 307, Row 19, seats 6&7.”

”We parked across the street at Atlanta City Hall and caught a ‘Beatles shuttle’ on an Atlanta Transit bus.”

“The screams were ear-piercing for the entire time the Beatles were on stage.”

“$4.50 was a lot of money back in 1965. So much money, in fact, when I invited my friends to come see the Beatles with me they all refused, ‘Are you nuts?’ they said. $4.50 for one ticket to see the Beatles? Best $4.50 I ever spent”

Republished on Aug. 18, 2014 -- the 49th anniversary of the Beatles' appearance at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

Some 34,000 of them came, teens streaming to the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, some as early as 4 a.m. on a hot August night in 1965. Georgia was getting its first glimpse of the band soon to be deemed the greatest of the age.

While the British Invasion had started the year before when the Beatles first appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” now they were here and those who experienced that concert retain vivid recollections nearly a half-century later.

“I had never seen or been around that many people in my entire life. It was chaos,” said Michael Holbrook of Atlanta.

Holbrook’s seat was in the fifth row.

“People were up and down, hanging over rails screaming and they had not even started playing yet,” he said. “They had signs and banners. You wouldn’t believe what it sounded like.”

Customarily, the deafening screams of female fans was a defeating factor for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, who couldn’t hear themselves play during their American tours. It wasn’t until the Beatles got to Atlanta that the problem was improved. F.B. “Duke” Mewborn of the Atlanta-based company Baker Audio was part of the team that allowed the lads to actually hear what they were playing.

“The stage was set on second base and all the speakers were on the field operated from the control room. We pointed the loud speaker near the performers,” he said. The sound quality was well received by the band and the audience, who made comments about it in The Atlanta Journal and Constitution at the time. Beatles manager Brian Epstein told The Journal the sound was the best they’d encountered in America.

“When the Beatles took the stage, you couldn’t even conceive of what it sounded like in there. It was a deafening roar but I could hear every note they played,” Holbrook said.

Fans had been instructed to remain in the stands. But police lined the field, some on horseback, to stop the many fan attempts to rush the stage. A limo, parked on the field throughout the performance, was later used for the band’s quick getaway at the end of the show.

The concert brought together young people of all ages, from teens to college students like John Goldsmith, a graduate of University of Georgia. Goldsmith was a member of a local band, but he was the only member who made it to the concert.

“We were so jealous of them, we wanted to be like them,” he said. “We all saw them on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ and we all went out to buy their (album) the next day.”

Guys came with their girlfriends. Girls arrived in packs with signs and decorated t-shirts. Vendors sold Beatle buttons and pricey merchandise outside the stadium. Even local stores got in on the Beatle buzz.

“This shoe store call Hardy’s Shoes downtown had Beatle boots in the window and the next day, my mom took off work, brought me back and bought me a pair of Beatle boots,” Holbrook said.

The Beatles were only in Atlanta for 10 short hours, spending about 30 minutes on stage. But the impact in Atlanta transcended those few minutes and has only grown in the memories of those who were there.

“What (the concert) represented was bigger than just a concert. (The Beatles) coming to Atlanta on a tour symbolized for an entire generation a turning point that young people had something to say,” said Stan Deaton of the Georgia Historical Society.

Amidst the fans’ screams and tears, the band played songs prompting some to dance, from “Twist and Shout” to “Help!” However, there was not much dancing during this influential show. With this band, dancing was just a distraction.

Holbrook recalled: “It was a level of energy I had never known existed. This was a religious moment, these people were serious.”

An incomprehensible passion was displayed that night, without any fireworks or video screens; just four young men on a stage with 700 watts of speaker power. Stories of the historic show have been passed down and new fans who were still decades away from birth still are sad they missed out.

“It’s amazing so much time has gone by. My kids are jealous I got to see them,” Goldsmith said.

Holbrook added, “You would have had to have been there.”

Quotes and headlines from AJC stories about the Beatles 1965 Atlanta concert