Interviews: London Airport

The BBC interview that followed was conducted by sports presenter David Coleman. It was shown during a 13-minute segment of that day’s BBC sports programme Grandstand, which was transmitted between 1pm and 5.15pm. Also on the show were horse racing, rugby league, amateur boxing and football results.

Fascinatingly, this brief interview contains the earliest known example of ‘tomorrow never knows’ a Ringoism later used by Lennon as the title of the final track on 1966’s Revolver.

David Coleman: Welcome back, boys. How does this reception here compare with America?

Ringo Starr: Oh, it was great! It was every bit as good.

John Lennon: It was better.

Paul McCartney: Better.

Ringo: It was better.

DC: I must say even you boys looked surprised as you came down the aircraft steps.

Paul: Yeah.

John: Well, wouldn’t you be?

George Harrison: It’s so early in the morning.

John: Yeah, we only just got up.

Ringo: We haven’t got up, we haven’t been to bed yet. Don’t forget, it’s four o’clock in the states now.

DC: What do you think about America? Is it very different from your point of view?

Ringo: It’s bigger.

DC: Did you get lost then, George?

Ringo: I’ll pass you on to George now.

George: No, I didn’t get lost, George.

Paul: Nobody let him out, you know. He was in the hotel the whole time.

George: Yeah, as soon as we got there they strapped me up in bed.

Paul: But it’s a marvelous place. We loved it.

DC: Is it very different for performance over there than performing here?

George: Yeah.

DC: In what way?

George: You don’t play theatres over there, you know. The places we played – Carnegie Hall and this place in Washington.

Ringo: A big stadium.

George: Yeah, a big stadium with the audience all around and the acoustics were terrible.

John: So we sparred up, you know, before we got…

Ringo: Yeah, it was good.

George: But it was good for, you know… It was quite a novelty, wasn’t it, John?

John: Yeah it was. I’ll pass you on to Paul.

Paul: It was, too. Yes.

DC: Now Ringo, I hear you were manhandled at the Embassy Ball. Is this right?

Ringo: Not really. Someone just cut a bit of my hair, you see.

DC: Let’s have a look. You seem to have got plently left.

Ringo: Can you see the difference? It’s longer, this side.

DC: What happened exactly?

Ringo: I don’t know. I was just talking, having an interview, just like I am NOW! I was talking away and I looked ’round, and there was about 400 people just smiling. So, you know, what can you say?

John: What can you say?

Ringo: Tomorrow never knows.