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The Beatles sneaked into Convention Hall in a fish truck on this week in Philly history

The band's first U.S. tour and Beatlemania were in full swing when they played at Convention Hall on Sept. 2, 1964.

Hy Lit (center, leaning) with the Beatles before their 1964 concert at Convention Hall.
Hy Lit (center, leaning) with the Beatles before their 1964 concert at Convention Hall.Read more

Four of the most influential musicians the world has ever seen had a concert to play in West Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 1964. But they needed an inconspicuous way to get in.

DJ Hy Lit recalled to the Daily News’ Phil Jasner in 1980 that kids were everywhere.

Philly’s finest knew exactly what to do to get the Beatles into Convention Hall.

“They came in a Hackney’s fish truck,” Lit said.

Here comes the sun

The Beatles were playing in Philly nearly eight months after their February appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which introduced the Fab Four to the U.S. audience.

By September 1964, the band’s first U.S. tour and Beatlemania were in full swing.

Lit was promoting the band’s Philly appearance at Convention Hall, at 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, on behalf of popular radio station WIBG-AM.

He paid the band’s agent $25,000 to get the band to play Philly, which was still reeling from the Columbia Avenue riots at the end of August 1964.

More than 12,000 fans paid $2.50 to $5.50 to take part in the festivities, which also featured opening performances from Clarence “Frogman” Henry and Jackie DeShannon.

Which songs the Beatles played that night are almost irrelevant, as the songs were accompanied by a chorus of teenagers shrieking.

A hard day’s night

Frank Rizzo hadn’t yet risen to the rank of police commissioner.

In 1964, he was second-in-command to Commissioner Howard Leary. But he ranked high enough to meet the band that had galvanized his city, and to help smuggle them into Philly and Convention Hall.

Lit told Jasner that it was Rizzo who came up with a plan to fake out the crazed fans.

Rizzo arranged for a couple of buses and a police escort to divert attention, while sneaking the band into what we now call University City in a very non-posh accommodation.

“I was in their dressing room,” Rizzo told the Courier-Post in 1989. “There was marijuana smoke everywhere. I shoulda run ‘em all in.”

    Tommy Rowan
    I am a programming editor who helps oversee The Inquirer's homepage, alert notifications, and social media channels. You'll also see me regularly writing about cheesesteaks, Philly history, and the Jersey Shore.