Nevada Bob MeetsThe Beatles and 14,000 Screaming Beatles Fans

My family moved to New Jersey three weeks after
The Beatles made their appearance on Ed Sullivan.
Beatlemania soon followed.

I have been helping Nevada Bob Gordon prepare his memoirs for publication. Now in his 80s he has a boatload of stories from a storied career. After serving in the U.S. Navy Bob went to work in the Seattle police department. One of the events that took place during his time with the force was a Beatles concert in which Bob served on the security team.

More than 14,000 screaming Beatles fans attended this event at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Tickets were $5 but scalpers were able to get $30 a ticket. The opening acts that night were the Bill Black Combo, the Exciters, the Righteous Brothers and Jackie DeShannon. The show started at 8:00 pm with the Beatles finally knocking out their hits beginning at 9:25 pm. 

Audience hysteria was typical and anticipated. For this reason the stage was 12 feet off the ground. Nevertheless, 35 fans needed medical attention afterwards for everything from bumps and bruises to full-blown hysteria.

Here's how Nevada Bob remembers that event.

The Beatles In Seattle, 1964

I ended up getting hired for some off-duty security work for a Beatles concert around this time. After arriving and performing for New York audiences, The Beatles came to Seattle, their second city of that tour. 

The crowd coming to see The Beatles had some young males with hair hanging down to their shoulders, which I distinctly remember because it just wasn’t done in the early 60s. During their short performance, I noticed The Beatles were dodging jelly beans thrown from the audience, the crowd becoming more and more vibrant and enthusiastic. I learned later that The Beatles enjoyed jellybeans, which explains the strange ammunition choice. 

Typical post-concert challenges after a Beatles concert. 
This scene took place after a Jacksonville concert.
Photo: Vern Barchard, 9-11-1964.

The problem for crowd control came after the show ended. The kids would simply not let two vehicles with darkened windshields leave the show. They thought The Beatles were in those cars, so they stopped both. Upon finding them empty, the crowd overturned the cars. We were short-handed, and there was no chance of us overwhelming these rambunctious teens. 

We ended up having to bring a greyhound bus to the back of the stadium where the performance had occurred. As they left, they seemed to be almost sashaying along without a care in the world, enjoying their prominence in the world of music. We got them on the bus, and they left the area without further incident. 

I had young girls with tears in their eyes asking if I had anything with autographs. These girls were willing to pay up to 20 dollars for anything signed by The Beatles. 20 dollars was quite a lot of money back in the 60s. I did end up forging quite a few signatures and selling them for 20 bucks a pop.

* * * 

This was Nevada Bob in his "crooked cop" days. His experience on the Seattle police force taught him important lessons about truth and integrity that became core values of his for the rest of his life. I'm fairly certain this kind of thing (faked signatures) was not isolated to Seattle, which means that if you have a Beatles autograph... well, buyer beware. 

Nevada Bob Gordon's memoirs, tentatively titled 50 Years with the Wrong Man, are slated for publication sometime in the late first quarter of 2022.