The Beatles Invade the Nation’s Capital
- Mark Opsasnick
- Jul 10
- 7 min read
Mark Opsasnick’s incredibly researched book, Rock the Potomac, is chock-full of stories and biographies of the people and groups who were part of the history of rock ‘n roll and country music in the DMV. “Rock the Patuxent” provides excerpts from the book that highlight the greater Laurel area.
From 1960 through 1963, nationally known rock and roll acts performing in the DC area were mainly showcased at armories, fire departments, night clubs, or the Howard Theatre. With the advent of the British Invasion—the moniker placed on a collection of musical groups from England that ventured to America in the middle 1960s and ultimately changed the course of rock and roll music—venues of greater capacity were secured by local promoters to accommodate the enormous fan base these bands were quickly cultivating. The British Invasion was initiated by the Beatles in 1964 when they performed their very first concert in the U.S. at the Washington Coliseum, a now-legendary event that launched the Fab Four to world fame, inspired innumerable young musicians to try to follow in their footsteps, and permanently moved star-studded rock and rollers into the arenas of the land.
The British Invasion was set in motion in 1963 when a 15-year-old ninth grader at Sligo Junior High School, Marsha Albert of Silver Spring, saw a story about an upcoming rock and roll band from England called the Beatles on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. She subsequently wrote to local radio station WWDC and asked to hear the group’s music. Disc jockey Carroll James had an English pressing of their 45rpm single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” flown in by a British Airways flight attendant friend and played it on the air on December 17, a month before its scheduled release in the U.S. In the process, James unknowingly became the very first disc jockey to ever air the Beatles on American radio.
The Beatles quickly became a sensation, both locally and nationwide. Capitol Records, who held the American rights to the Beatles’ recordings, began rushing their single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” backed with “I Saw Her Standing There” to radio stations across the country on December 26, well in advance of the record’s official January 8, 1964, release date. The single entered Billboard magazine’s “Hot 100” popular music chart at number 45 on January 18, soared to number three the following week, and topped the chart at number one on February 1, 1964.
With the Beatles suddenly dominating the DC-area radio airwaves, and their single racing up the charts, the possibility of having the band perform in the nation’s capital was on every local promoter and music personality’s mind. One of the more fascinating and overlooked aspects of this concert situation is that Don Dillard, the popular rock and roll disc jockey of Wheaton-based radio station WDON, attempted to bring the Beatles into the Bladensburg Volunteer Fire Department, whose second-floor space he had rented out on numerous occasions for his own teen dances and record hops. Within days of Carrol James’ initial airing of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” Dillard had contacted William Turner, the East Coast representative for Capitol Records, who was lining up potential Beatles concert dates in America for the General Artists Corporation (the booking agency that manager Brian Epstein was working with to organize the band’s American tour), in hope of booking the band into the Bladensburg facility sometime in January or February of 1964.
Dillard worked hard to sell the Bladensburg Volunteer Fire Department to Turner, even setting up a tentative date to meet with him in his office at WDON in Wheaton to iron out the concert details. In 1962 and 1963, Dillard had booked such nationally known performers as Danny and the Juniors, Joey Dee and the Starliters, Tab Hunter, the Miracles, Chubby Checker, the Shirelles, the Supremes, Bo Diddley, and Link Wray and His Ray Men into the venue, and he insisted to Turner he could squeeze over one thousand teens into a facility whose legal capacity was a mere 354 occupants. However, as “I Want to Hold Your Hand” ascended the pop music charts, Turner explained in follow-up calls that General Artists Corporation had decided that a much larger venue was needed and Dillard’s business proposition was politely rebuffed.
The Washington Coliseum (1140 3rd Street NE) was a logical choice to host the British invaders, as it was the largest available indoor facility in the city that hosted live music events. Prior to the arrival of the Beatles in America, there had been at least seven noteworthy popular music concert presentations in the coliseum: “The Biggest Show of Stars for 1961 Spring Edition,” which featured Fats Domino and His Orchestra, the Shirelles, Chubby Checker, the Drifters, Bo Diddley, Ben E. King, Chuck Jackson, the Shells, Harold Cromer, Paul Williams and His Show of Stars Orchestra; “The Biggest Show of Stars ’61,” with Brook Benton, the Platters, Del Shannon, Dee Clark, the Drifters, Gary U.S. Bonds, Gene McDaniels, the Jarmels, Curtis Lee, the Cleftones, Phil Upchurch, Harold Cromer, and Paul Williams and His Show of Stars Orchestra; “Dick Clark’s Caravan of Stars,” with Paul Anka, Chubby Checker, Duane Eddy, Linda Scott, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, the Shirelles, the Jive Five, and Jules Lavan and the Caravan of Stars Orchestra; “The Biggest Show of Stars for ’62 Spring Edition,” with Brook Benton, Fats Domino, Gene Chandler, Bruce Channel, Don and Juan, the Impressions, Marie Knight, Harold Cromer, Lou Parks, the Twisting Parkettes, and Paul Williams and His Biggest Show of Stars Orchestra; Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba; Joan Baez and Pete Seeger; and “The Original Hootenanny U.S.A.,” with the Journeymen, the Halifax III, the Geezinslaw Brothers, Jo Mapes, and Glenn Yarbrough.
The Beatles landed at New York’s JFK airport on February 7, 1964 and appeared live on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, performing five songs over two separate sets on the hour-long program and drawing the largest audience in television history. Their performance, which had registered more than 50,000 ticket requests, took place in front of 728 people, and to this day remains one of the most important milestones in rock and roll history. More than 73 million people—approximately 40% of the American population at the time—viewed the historic broadcast. On February 10, a snowstorm dumped eight inches of snow on New York and Washington, D.C., and at noon the following day the Beatles boarded a train and headed towards a musical date in the nation’s capital.
The Beatles’ first American concert was scheduled for February 11, 1964. It remains one of the greatest and most important concerts in the history of rock and roll music.
The Beatles arrived at Union Station in DC, where an estimated crowd of more than 3,000 fans (and innumerable police officers) anxiously awaited them. The band was then transported to the Coliseum to conduct a press conference with the local media. The band also gave a brief interview with disc jockey Carroll James inside a makeshift WWDC satellite radio station inside the Coliseum. During the interview, James introduced the Beatles to Marsha Albert, the teen who had requested their music be played on WWDC.
An ad in the Washington Post listed ticket prices at $2, $3, and $4. Beginning shortly after 8:30 pm, two-song performances were given by Jay and the Americans, the Caravelles, singer Tommy Roe, the Righteous Brothers, and the Chiffons. There was also a one-song performance by singer Donna Lynn, who sang her novelty single, “My Boyfriend Got a Beatle Haircut.
When the Beatles took the stage at approximately 9:35 pm, the Coliseum was filled with 8,092 screaming teens (slightly above the facility’s 8,000 capacity). Band members Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr worked their way from the dressing rooms to the center of the floor and climbed onto what appeared to be a makeshift, boxing ring-like stage that hosted a round, rotating drum set platform that was flanked by three amplifiers. Four local radio station disc jockeys sporting Beatles wigs emceed the show: Carroll James (WWDC), Johnny Dark (WCAO of Baltimore), Jack Alix (WEEL), and Dean Griffith (WPGC).
The Beatles performed a set of 12 songs: “Roll Over Beethoven,” “From Me to You,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “This Boy,” “All My Loving,” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “Please Please Me,” “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Twist and Shout,” and “Long Tall Sally.” All told, the Beatles spent a total of 35 minutes on stage. The mostly female crowd was screaming at the top of their lungs throughout the entire performance and hurled a steady stream of jellybeans at the Fab Four as they performed. The historic concert, for which the Beatles were paid $12,184.76, was recorded on black-and-white videotape by CBS for closed circuit presentation that later aired at theatres and arenas throughout the U.S.
The Beatles and the British Invasion had an amazing effect on every aspect of the DC area rock and roll scene. Local teens, like others all over the world, went absolutely nuts over the rock stars from England. Beatles-type bands proliferated in the metropolitan area as the Fab Four saturated the popular music charts with a seemingly endless stream of hit singles and albums. In addition, the Beatles’ appearance led local promoters to accelerate the practice of presenting visiting national rock and roll acts in larger venues, thus steering such groups away from the area’s night clubs, armories, fire departments, and theatres.
When the Beatles returned to DC in 1966, their concert marked another milestone in local rock and roll history: placing superstar acts into sports stadiums. The show that evening in the 50,000-seat DC Stadium (later renamed RFK Stadium), included four opening acts: the Remains, singer Bobby Hebb, the Ronettes, and the Cyrkle, and drew a total of 32,164 fans. The Beatles had successfully revolutionized popular music and the British Invasion’s infiltration of American music and culture had been activated.
Rock the Potomac is available at booklocker.com/books/10190.html.
Mark Opsasnick was born in Washington, D.C. and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland. To date he has authored nine books and innumerable articles on popular culture, rock and roll music, and unexplained phenomena. He resides in Prince George’s County and gives talks and presentations on local music history, in addition to emceeing and hosting live music shows throughout the Delmarva region.
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