The Beatles flew into New York in the late hours of August 21st during their 1966 tour of North America. They took August 22nd as a night off in New York, still making time for the following press conference at Manhatten's Warwick Hotel.
Also on this day, separately from the usual Beatles press event for New York City reporters, the group would hold a second press conference at the Warwick Hotel that was comprised completely of young Beatles fans. Arranged in conjunction with New York City radio station WMCA, the Beatles' Junior Press Conference allowed 75 lucky contest winners to attend and ask questions at the special event.
Q: "Would any of you care to comment on any aspect of the war in Vietnam?"
JOHN: "We don't like it."
Q: "Could you elaborate any?"
JOHN: "No. I've elaborated enough, you know. We just don't like it. We don't like war."
GEORGE: "It's, you know... It's just war is wrong, and it's obvious it's wrong. And that's all that needs to be said about it."
(applause)
PAUL: "We can elaborate in England."
Q: "I have a question for Paul. I don't know if you know about it yet, but two young ladies threatened to jump to their death from the twenty-second floor of the hotel here in Manhatten if they could see you. How do you feel about young girls acting this way?"
PAUL: "If they could see me?"
Q: "They wanted to see you-- If you would come over they wouldn't jump. The police finally rescued them. They threatened to jump unless you came over."
PAUL: "Good god, you know... Phew! I don't understand it. I don't know. Umm... silly, that. I'll see 'em, you know."
(laughter)
Q: "Will the Beatles be inactive when John goes on movie location for the (How I Won The War) motion picture?"
RINGO: "Yes."
JOHN: "I'm only doing it because we've got a holiday, you know. I wouldn't do it if we had any work. (pause) We're not out of work, mind you."
(laughter)
Q: "When you arrived at the airport and there were only nine girls waiting to meet you, were you disappointed, and do you think that's a reflection of a loss of popularity in this country?"
JOHN: (jokingly) "Yeah, we're real brought down by it."
PAUL: "Really disappointed!"
(laughter)
PAUL: "Three o'clock in the morning they expected millions."
(laughter)
Q: "Now that Paul is the only bachelor Beatle, do you find that the girls gravitate more to him than they do to the rest of you fellas? How do you feel about that?"
JOHN: "They always did!"
RINGO: "Yeah."
(laughter)
PAUL: "Well, the thing that we found... We found after all this business, of all the buttons that say 'I love Ringo,' "I love John,' John's were outselling everyone's."
JOHN: "A rather distinctive Beatle."
PAUL: "A distinctive Beatle."
Q: "This is for Paul and John. Do you think that happiness is really egg-shaped, or is it just a rumor from the egg marketing magazine?"
PAUL: "Hooo-hooo-hooo."
JOHN: "Ho, ho."
Q: "Do you think happiness is real, or just a fantasy?"
JOHN: "It's real, alright."
RINGO: (jokingly) "Depends how the eggs are cooked."
(laughter)
PAUL: (laughs) "That was about as good as anything."
Q: "Ringo, now that George has joined John and Paul in writing songs are you going to start writing your own songs?"
RINGO: "Umm, no."
Q: "Why not?"
RINGO: "I can't write them. I try, you know, but... alot of rubbish."
Q: "On your new album, 'Revolver,' I noticed alot of violins and even trumpets."
GEORGE: "Very observant."
(laughter)
Q: "How come you decided to use violins and trumpets?"
PAUL: "There were, uhh... I think there were three violins on the whole album, and three trumpets. So we're not exactly going overboard on 'em, you know. We don't use them all that much, but it was just that those tracks sounded better with violins and with trumpets than with us, you know. That's the only reason we use them."
Q: "This one to John, please. Any remarks whatsoever on some of the recent remarks attributed to you and the Beatles concerning religion?"
JOHN: "Well, I think I've said enough about that. I can't say anymore, and just sort of going over the same thing over again. You know, alot of it just is alot of rubbish and alot of hysteria."
Q: "Uhh, to John and Paul-- It's been said that Lennon and McCartney may someday replace the names Rogers and Hammerstein. Have you ever considered discontinuing performing and instead just keep on writing?"
JOHN: "No."
Q: "Would you rather perform, then?"
PAUL: "I mean, you know... When we're eighty we won't be performing. We may be writing."
JOHN: "And we don't want to be Rogers and Hart, either."
(laughter)
Q: "This is to all of you. You seem to be doing a Bob Dylan in reverse. That is, you became popular playing rock and roll and now you seem to be doing alot more folk rock. Would you care to comment on that?"
RINGO: "Folk rock."
PAUL: "It's not folk rock. Honest. Yeah, somebody said that the other day."
Q: "Songs like 'Eleanor Rigby' and..."
PAUL: "No, the thing is that-- That thing about Bob Dylan is...