Beatlemania revisited, 60 years after iconic band’s US debut

It's been 60 years since The Beatles first landed on U.S. soil, bringing their revolutionary music across the Atlantic from their native England. The Fab Four -- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison -- were well on their way to becoming one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

"We want The Beatles, we want The Beatles," fans chanted as the mop-top foursome arrived in New York in 1964.

The new documentary "Beatles '64," which hits Disney+ on Nov. 29, offers a behind-the-scenes look at the early days of the band's stardom and their historic first visit to America.

McCartney attended the film's premiere in New York on Sunday, and was joined by musicians like James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Steven Van Zandt, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

"They somehow pushed themselves and each other to levels that nobody had expected," "Beatles '64" producer Martin Scorsese said of the band's meteoric rise.

He also recalled some of the snobbery ahead of their visit.

"I’ll never forget. There was a newspaper I remember seeing the weekend before they arrived, making fun of their hair, basically saying, 'Oh yeah, let's see what you got when you get here,'" he told "Nightline." "You know, that was the attitude. And suddenly, it was a revolution."

That radical change seems inevitable in hindsight, but the trip to New York was a risk for the foursome.

"It's 1964, the Beatlemania has been going on for a couple of months. They didn't know what to anticipate in New York and they thought maybe no one would meet them at the airport," "Beatles '64" director David Tedeschi told "Nightline." "So they're so happy, gratified, joyous at what happens -- this is a dream for them."

Despite the incredible reception at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Feb. 7, luxurious accommodation at the city's Plaza Hotel and their legendary introduction to more than 73 million Americans during their Feb. 9 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," the band didn't get a warm reception everywhere they went.

"There's a scene in the film, it's a party at the British Embassy in, in their honor, and they're mistreated by the staff because the staff at the embassy thinks they are low class," Tedeschi said. "I can't quote the film exactly, because it's not safe for television, but Paul has a beautiful reaction saying, basically, we knew, we couldn't care less."

According to the director, the band's drummer also had an unexpected encounter with a blade at the embassy.

"Someone walked up to Ringo and cut some of his hair off," Tedeschi said.

The director recalled how they weren't sure they could get surviving Beatles McCartney and Starr to do interviews for the documentary.

"We did everything we could to entice them. And Paul had this wonderful photo exhibit in Brooklyn, where he himself was revisiting 1964, all the photographs are from 1964 and I think he had something else to say. So we filmed him at the photo exhibit."

In that interview, seen in the documentary, McCartney reflected on why he and his bandmates were such a hit with Americans.

"When we came, it was quite shortly after Kennedy had been assassinated," the 82-year-old, who sang and played bass in the band, said. "Maybe America needed something like the Beatles to be lifted out of sorrow."

Tedeschi is hopeful that the documentary leaves people with a specific feeling.

"The experience of listening to music and how joyous it is and how it brings out our humanity," he said. "That, I think, the Beatles, more than anybody else, achieved something."

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.