"A Really Big Shew..." 50 Years Ago Tonight!
I don't want to be 15 years older, but I've often said I was born 15 years too late.
Anyone who reads my blog knows my tastes in music. My iTunes and CD collection is pretty darn eclectic. I enjoy anything from Frank Sinatra to Dave Matthews Band, Louis Armstrong to Def Leppard, Benny Goodman to Eagles (not "The" Eagles... Glenn Frey insists it is just Eagles).
But ever since listening to "Simon and Garfunkle's Greatest Hits" and "Beach Boys Concert" when I was about seven years old, I was captivated by the sounds of the sixties.
There was something extraordinary about the songs and lyrics. I knew instinctively, even at a young age, that this music was important. Don't get me wrong... I loved KISS; I loved the loud guitars and drums and crazy make-up and stage show, but "In My Room" or "The Boxer" took me to a place no other music could.
It's still true today.
And this is not to mention the sounds of Motown and Stax Records: Wilson Pickett. Otis Redding. The Miracles. Sam and Dave. The Isley Brothers.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
But, at least for me, the 60's band that overshadowed them all, the true game-changer, was the Beatles. And that brings me to why I'm writing this today.
It was 50 years ago tonight that the Beatles performed for the very first time on American television, opening with "All My Loving" on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Interestingly, it was also a Sunday night, just like tonight: February 9, 1964.
I wished I could have witnessed this event. At the time, it set a record for the most viewed television show of all time. More than 60% of American households (unheard of!) tuned in to see this odd looking band at 7:00 PM.
The old saying is "timing is everything," and it couldn't have been more true for the Beatles. This band, basically unknown in America in December 1963, had the #1 album and single in the country just six weeks later. It just happened to all coincide with their appearance on the biggest variety show (remember those?!) in the United States.
No matter what anyone says, this was no more than a stroke of uncanny luck and terrific timing.
Paul McCartney likes to tell the story of the Beatles refusing to go to America until they had a #1 hit, but this has been proven to be complete nonsense (a good story, but not true).
George Harrison had put it more bluntly: "That is bullsh*t. We never said we wouldn't go to America. But it was handy to have a number one."
The facts aren't nearly as exciting: Sullivan and Beatles' manager Brian Epstein signed an agreement in November 1963 for the Beatles to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.
The Beatles first American #1 hit, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," wasn't even released in the United States until the day after Christmas 1963, which was a month after the Beatles committed to appear on Ed Sullivan.
Uncanny luck and terrific timing.
Somedays, you hit the bullseye.
But on this Sunday night 50 years ago, four young musicians from Liverpool working class families didn't just hit the bullseye. They blew that sucker sky high.
Big time.
...in other news, a HUGE happiest birthday to the Girl... my most favorite girl in the world... who happens to turn 8 years old today!
Anyone who reads my blog knows my tastes in music. My iTunes and CD collection is pretty darn eclectic. I enjoy anything from Frank Sinatra to Dave Matthews Band, Louis Armstrong to Def Leppard, Benny Goodman to Eagles (not "The" Eagles... Glenn Frey insists it is just Eagles).
But ever since listening to "Simon and Garfunkle's Greatest Hits" and "Beach Boys Concert" when I was about seven years old, I was captivated by the sounds of the sixties.
 |
There was something extraordinary about the songs and lyrics. I knew instinctively, even at a young age, that this music was important. Don't get me wrong... I loved KISS; I loved the loud guitars and drums and crazy make-up and stage show, but "In My Room" or "The Boxer" took me to a place no other music could.
It's still true today.
And this is not to mention the sounds of Motown and Stax Records: Wilson Pickett. Otis Redding. The Miracles. Sam and Dave. The Isley Brothers.
Lord. Have. Mercy.
But, at least for me, the 60's band that overshadowed them all, the true game-changer, was the Beatles. And that brings me to why I'm writing this today.
It was 50 years ago tonight that the Beatles performed for the very first time on American television, opening with "All My Loving" on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Interestingly, it was also a Sunday night, just like tonight: February 9, 1964.
I wished I could have witnessed this event. At the time, it set a record for the most viewed television show of all time. More than 60% of American households (unheard of!) tuned in to see this odd looking band at 7:00 PM.
The old saying is "timing is everything," and it couldn't have been more true for the Beatles. This band, basically unknown in America in December 1963, had the #1 album and single in the country just six weeks later. It just happened to all coincide with their appearance on the biggest variety show (remember those?!) in the United States.
No matter what anyone says, this was no more than a stroke of uncanny luck and terrific timing.
 |
| The Beatles first #1 single in America; the untouched original photo. Forty years later, the PC police started to airbrush the cigarette out of McCartney's right hand. I'm not a proponent of smoking, but I don't believe in editing history. |
Paul McCartney likes to tell the story of the Beatles refusing to go to America until they had a #1 hit, but this has been proven to be complete nonsense (a good story, but not true).
George Harrison had put it more bluntly: "That is bullsh*t. We never said we wouldn't go to America. But it was handy to have a number one."
The facts aren't nearly as exciting: Sullivan and Beatles' manager Brian Epstein signed an agreement in November 1963 for the Beatles to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.
The Beatles first American #1 hit, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," wasn't even released in the United States until the day after Christmas 1963, which was a month after the Beatles committed to appear on Ed Sullivan.
Uncanny luck and terrific timing.
Somedays, you hit the bullseye.
But on this Sunday night 50 years ago, four young musicians from Liverpool working class families didn't just hit the bullseye. They blew that sucker sky high.
Big time.
 |
| America's first glimpse of the Beatles. When asked about the "arrow props," a set designer on the Ed Sullivan Show said, "We weren't sure how to present them, so we just decided to say 'Here they are!'" |
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| Time is going way too fast. She doesn't look like this anymore. |
