The Beatle Conquers America

It was on this day in 1963 that a Beatle first set foot in America. It was George Harrison. (It could have been Ringo if he'd followed through on his plan before he joined The Beatles to move to this country.  Of course, if he'd done that, there might not have been a Beatles.)

George's sister Louise was married to a mine engineer and earlier in the year they'd moved to Benton, Illinois, a mining community.  By September, The Beatles had conquered England and were on a break.  John took wife Cynthia to Paris.  Paul and Ringo took their significant others to Greece.  And George and brother Pete decided to visit their sister.

She'd already received some Beatles singles and had even gotten them played on the local radio station.  While George was there, enterprising Louise arranged for him to play with a local band, The Four Vests, at a VFW hall.  No one knew they were seeing one of the biggest stars in the UK--I wonder if they figured it out a few months later when The Beatles conquered America.  By all accounts George did a good job and the others thought he had a future in the business.

Later, a couple of the Vests went to a music store with George, where he bought a Rickenbacker guitar which he'd play when he returned to the U.S. in glory the next year.  He also bought some records, including "Got My Mind Set On You," which he'd record in 1987--the cover went to #1.

George and Pete also went to St. Louis and New York. I wonder if George lorded it over the band when they all came together. "Let me show you this great place I know."