The remainder of the Beatles’ tour of America was more of the same. In Washington, to which the Beatles traveled aboard a private railroad car called the “King George,” 2,000 teenage fans mobbed the locked metal gates of Union Station. At their concert in the Coliseum that night the Beatles were showered with flashbulbs, hair rollers, caramels, and jelly beans, in some instances a bagful at a time. “They hurt,” Ringo said afterward. “They felt just like hailstones.”
“George told the American press that they loved “Jelly Babies” (soft like today’s gummy bears). The press got it wrong and the fans were pelting The Beatles-and me- with jelly beans.” R.S.
…that night we were absolutely pelted by the f*****g things. They don’t have soft Jelly Beans there, they have hard Jelly Beans. To make matters worse, we were on a circular stage, so they hit us from all sides. Imagine waves of rock-hard little bullets raining down on you from the sky… if Jelly Beans traveling about 50 miles an hour through the air hit you in the eye, you’re finished. You’re blind, aren’t you? We’ve never liked people throwing stuff like that. We don’t mind them throwing streamers, but Jelly Beans are a bit dangerous, you see! … Every now and again, one would hit a string on my guitar and plonk off a bad note as I was trying to play.”
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