Dusty Relics of Arkansas History
September 4-10, 2017
The Beatles secret visit to Arkansas
By Bob Denman
I have fond memories of February 1964, sitting with my parents and little brother Stan and watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. At the time it was the most watched program in television history with 73 million viewers, surpassed only by Neal Armstrong’s first steps on the moon 5 years later. It was so big that Sullivan moved his show the following week to Miami to catch more of the Fab 4 magic.
You probably know that Beatlemania was sweeping the country. In April the boys had the top 5 spots on the Billboard charts with Can’t Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Please Please Me. It’s the only time in music history that a single act topped the first 5 spots.
Their secret visit to Arkansas, 53 years ago this month, is a Dusty Relic of Arkansas History.
Just after midnight on Friday, September 19, a charter plane circled the Walnut Ridge airport. A nighttime landing in Walnut Ridge was rare and drew the attention of 3 teenage boys who were at the local teen hangout. Curious, they went to the airport to check it out. The plane landed and to their great surprise, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came down the steps and transferred to a smaller aircraft headed for Alton, Missouri.
The Beatles had just played Memorial Coliseum in Dallas and had chartered a plane owned by Reed Pigman, who owned American Flyers Airline. Pigman also owned a ranch just across the state line in Alton and had invited the boys up for a day of horseback riding and R & R before heading to New York for their final tour stop. They needed a remote location to transfer from the large charter to a smaller plane that could land in Alton. They also wanted to avoid the crush of fans. Walnut Ridge proved to be the perfect spot. Family, friends and locals didn’t believe the 3 teens, who enthusiastically told their amazing story.
There was a hint of truth as the large charter remained on the tarmac throughout Saturday, again an odd occurrence in Walnut Ridge. The next morning, a Sunday, hundreds showed up in anticipation of a possible return. Maybe the teens were telling the truth, after all there was that large charter out on the tarmac.
Parents took pictures of their kids next to the alleged Beatles charter, home movie cameras were out in force and of course everyone was singing Beatles songs. Every landing that Sunday morning was all but mobbed by the crowd including a crop duster, much to the surprise of the pilot. Their enthusiasm was finally rewarded when the small commuter aircraft returned and taxied up to the crowd, came to a stop, and John and Ringo stepped from the plane.
But where were Paul and George? They actually arrived an hour earlier in an old red Chevy Suburban, sat quietly in the airport parking lot, and watched the Sunday morning festivities unfold on the tarmac with great amusement. They quickly boarded the charter for New York and the rest is history.
Their visits to Walnut Ridge were formally commemorated in September 2011 when the city unveiled a sculpture designed to look like the cover of the Abbey Road album.
The Beatles secret visit to Arkansas, A Dusty Relic of Arkansas History!
Bob Denman is Emeritus Vice Chancellor for University Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. You can reach him at bgdenman@ualr.edu
PHOTO CAPTION:
John Lennon and Ringo Starr walking to the plane in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, in September of 1964. (beatlesattheridge.com)
