We're Going to See The Beatles!: An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans Who Were There
By Garry Berman
Santa Monica Press | April 2008 | ISBN-10: 1595800328 | PDF | 312 pages | 11 mb 
http://www.amazon.com/Were-Going-See-The-Beatles/dp/1595800328

Comprised of fans’ anecdotes, photographs, personal stories, and mementos, the contributors’ stories reconstruct the entire history of Beatlemania in America, dating from the earliest whispers about the group to The Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and from the breakup to the present day. The stories range from hilarious to compelling and poignant—one group of friends stole maid uniforms in an attempt to sneak into the Plaza Hotel during The Beatles’ first visit to New York, one fan camped out overnight in front of a movie theater in order to be the first to buy tickets for the premiere of A Hard Day’s Night, and another attended a strict Catholic school but was so devoted to the group that she declared out loud to her class that she would rather see The Beatles than the Pope. What emerges from these stories is a richly detailed and entertaining history of the profound impact that The Beatles and their music had on their fans' personal lives—an effect that continues to be meaningful to this day.
Almost 45 years after Beatlemania swept the U.S., memories of the Beatles' legendary U.S. invasion during the mid-1960s remain fresh in the minds of those who were there. In this remarkably personal oral history of the Beatles in America, author and fan Berman (Best of the Britcoms: From Fawlty Towers to Absolutely Fabulous) tracked down 42 individuals from all over the country who cheered the Beatles at New York's JFK airport when they first landed in America, sat in The Ed Sullivan Show audience for the Beatles' live television debut, waited in line for hours (repeatedly) to see A Hard Day's Night, and attended concerts during the group's three chaotic U.S. tours. Bridging their tales with breezy narration, Berman succinctly recounts the Beatles' entire history, from 1963 through the solo years and the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison. Though some of them have lapsed in their Beatle fanaticism, all of Berman's subjects realize the significance of their experiences and relate them with gusto. As put by Dale Ford, who saw the Beatles three times in San Francisco, including their final gig, "I was thinking to myself, 'Dale, savor this moment. This is gonna go down in history.' And it did."