The King and the Queen

In August, the Beatles were back in the United States. Fifty-six thousand fans saw them at a concert in New York. At the time, it was the biggest concert crowd ever. The concert was exciting, but Ringo's memories of it weren't good. At times John was joking too much on stage, in Ringo's opinion. Also, not many people at the concert really heard the band. Like most Beatles concerts, the sound of the crowd was louder than the music. The Beatles couldn't hear much of the music either. So, of course, it was difficult to play well.

'I always wanted to play with good players,' remembers Ringo. But now the band was playing badly on stage, and nobody was listening.

On the same tour, the Beatles met one of their favourite singers - Elvis Presley. 'It was one of the great meetings of my life,' Paul has said. The boys and the 'King' had a good time. But years later the band discovered that Elvis was worried about the Beatles' success in his country. He asked the American government to send them home.

Back in Britain, the government gave all the Beatles the MBE. This award was often given to successful businesspeople or to people who fought bravely for their country. Many Britons were angry. How could the government give this award to a pop group? But the usual crowd of screaming fans were outside Buckingham Palace when the Queen gave them the award in October 1965. The Beatles were nervous - George later remembered that they rested and had a cigarette in the toilets in Buckingham Palace!