I’m sure you all know by now that today, Sunday, February 9, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles’ first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. I saw it and for those of you who either missed it in 1964 or weren’t born when that landmark television broadcast aired, let me recap.
First of all, just so America could tell who was who, they put their names under each Beatle. (And under John’s image the caption also read, “Sorry, girls. He’s married.”)
They sang “All My Loving.” Then adorable Paul took a solo with “Til There Was You” (impossible now to think of them covering someones else’s music) and finally, they all returned for “She Loves You.
And all done to the accompaniment of screaming and crying from the girls lucky enough to be in the studio audience that night. I was too young for the Elvis phenomenon so it was the first time I had ever witnessed teen-aged girls gone wild.
I had already fallen madly in love with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”- which had been playing nonstop on WLS radio for weeks.
And although I didn’t cry or scream, I was instantly captivated by all four of them. The next day at New Trier I reported in.
“Did you see the new group on the Ed Sullivan Show last night?” I excitedly asked my friend, Meryl. “They’re called the Beatles, they’re really cute and they have long hair!”
“Are they girls?” she asked.
Just imagine that.
But when I went into my first English class, I found out you were supposed to have a favorite Beatle. And like some Clearasil Rorschach test, who you picked said untold volumes about who you were.
I thought about it and decided that Paul- the “cute Beatle”- was the too-obvious choice for me. And I wasn’t into old married men, so that eliminated John. Ringo wasn’t handsome enough to tickle my fancy and so that left…
George. The “quiet Beatle”- as he was portrayed in the press in those early days.
That worked for me. He was the more offbeat choice- and he was cute, too.
(Very deep thinking, I know. But you have to remember that I was teenaged girl myself. This “cute factor” is what drove us most of the time.)
By mid afternoon, I found out that New Trier had its very own connection to the Beatles. Sue Slingerland’s family made drums and the Beatles used them! This electrifying rumor circulated through the rotunda like lightning.
(I was terribly impressed but like most high school gossip, as it turned out, it was WRONG. Soon we all knew that Ringo used Ludwig drums.)
And by my afternoon history class I had found out something new about the Beatles.
Not everyone loved them.
The smart, popular boys were scowling.
“Big deal,” Rich*** griped facetiously. “They’re not so hot.”
“You’re right,” Jim*** chimed in. “They can’t sing and they will never be as cool as the Beach Boys. And guys will never like them. No one will care about them except the stupid girls with no boyfriends.”
***Name Change so these actual guys won’t feel dumb now.
But the Fab Four had me hooked and I had boyfriends.
And Billy took me to Comiskey Park to see the Beatles on August 20, 1965.
We had great seats on the third base line. ( A very overdue shout out now goes to Tom S. and Yellow Cab. His family always scored us incredible seats to all the rock concerts.)
But just now I had to go to YouTube to hear them sing “Dizzy Miss Lizzy.” That’s the first music I have ever heard from that concert.
You could not hear one single note.
The screaming- before you even went through the turnstiles- was nonstop.
In fact, the first Beatles’ music I actually heard that night was “Yesterday.” And only when I got back into Billy’s car and turned on the radio.
(Which you did before you even started the car.)
Each album release was an event. On my Meet The Beatles I, too, labeled them for my less-Beatle savvy friends.
When Revolver came out in the summer of ’65, OMG. I listened to the album over and over again. How I loved “Here There and Everywhere.” I wore myself out walking back and forth to my omnipresent record player to replace the arm so I could hear that track again.
Ditto Rubber Soul in December of 1965. “I’m Looking Through You” killed me.
On June 1, 1967, Andy Teton and I ditched school to buy Sgt. Pepper’s.
And I was first man through the door at Victor’s Music in Madison,Wisconsin when The White Album (actually entitled The Beatles) came off the press in December of 1968.
I spent much more time listening to those two albums than I ever did studying.
Fifty years later why are they’re still so important to me? I think because the Lads from Liverpool led all of us Sixties’ kids on a magical mystery tour.
They were like pied pipers – not only of song, but of ideas and causes. And as their music and ideology grew ever more sophisticated and complicated, so did we.
Think of the innovations they championed: A concept album, lyrics printed on the back, Indian sitar music. Who had ever heard of an ashram or a yogi or for that matter, vegetarianism before the Beatles discovered them?
The Beatles were trailblazers in all of these things.
And we trusted and adored them.
After all, we had all been hanging out together since February 9, 1964.
The Beatles Forever.
Yeah Yeah Yeah.
And they changed my (all of our) world. My guy has always been John…his art is in my home and office. Full disclosure however requires that I mention my short-lived prediction, Ellen, that the Dave Clark 5 would be making people glad all over years longer than John and the boys.
Your honesty becomes you, Gary. The Dave Clark Five were good. Remember The Freddie?
The most incredible musical group there ever was or will be. In my humble opinion. How well everyone remembers 50 yrs ago tonight. Thanks Ed!
It was so clear that he didn’t “get” them at all. But that made us kids love them even more. I mean Ed Sullivan liked Topo Gigio, for Pete’s sake! Would we have thought them gear and fab if he had liked them?
Actually Ed’s performance on Bye Bye Birdie was my fav! Not sure he got anything but he did bring us lots of great stuff.
I soooo love BBB! Did you watch the clip I put up of fabulous Ann-Margaret singing the theme song? Thanks for the memories, ML. Or should I say “What’s the story, morning glory? What’s the word, hummingbird?”
Their influence on me was profound. I immediately got rid of my pocket protector although I kept my slide rule. I wanted to be cool like the Beatles. Then I was convinced that Paul was dead. It was as clear as mud when you played “Strawberry Hills Forever” backwards. And if that wasn’t enough evidence – they drew it out for you on the cover of Abbey Road when Paul was the only one out of step and not wearing shoes. I hope I see the world as clear today as I did back then!!!!!
All I cared about back in 65 was boys, cool cars and music. NOTHING has changed for me. Thanks, for your parsing of the Beatles secret code. It really mattered then, didn’t it?
England lost the revolutionary war, but for sure won the war on pop music for a while in the mid 60’s. I was a hard core Beach Boy fan and still am (have seen them 5 times in concert over the years) but my taste in music finally included the English invasion with the Beatles, Stones, Animals, and many more English groups to numerous to list. With all that was going on in our nation, it was a great time for music….and of course some of the great groups that came out of Chicago. Thanks Ellen for a trip down Abbey Lane…I really mean memory lane!
Nice to take that stroll with you, fellow Trevian. Loved that Eric Burden. What a voice. Ta, Steve. (Don’t even tell me about the weather in sunny Tucson. I hate you.)
Great blog, Ellen. I remember so well watching them 50 years ago in our den on our black & white Zenith TV. My parents were having an anniversary party in our living room and most of the adults came in to watch. I also remember all of us going to the State – Lake Theater in the Loop a few months later to see “A Hard Day’s Night”. Girls actually screamed whenever they sang!
I saw HDN there, too! But I wasn’t one of the screamers. They were so annoying. Thanks for ringing in here, Pete.
Since I am more than old enough to be your father, you will understand my really not being a fan of the Beatles. My three sons naturally really thought, like the rest of your generation,that they were fantastic. Now you must understand that I consider myself quite knowledgeable in the field of music. When I first heard Sinatra sing “Yesterday,” I first realized what great talents they were and how wonderful their music was. Sometimes for us old geezers we have to be hit on the head to realize that maybe our kids do know something. Allan
It takes a big Scorpio to admit when he’s wrong. And yes, The Chairman Of The Board thought it was a pretty cool song. Thanks for showing how great music unites all the generations. My son loves the Beatles. (And he’s way picky about what he thinks is great music.)
Greatest musical group ever???????
Give me a break!!
I’ll take Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, etc anytime!!
Those guys are great. But they were the Beatles of the swing era. Kids loved them and swooned screamed and danced to their tunes- just like we did. Thanks, Bernie. I love your pov. You’re consistent.
I didn’t pay much attention to the Beatles until I was coming back from some high school event or other and all the girls on the bus were singing “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Even though the words I heard were “Can Bobby Love Her”, it was obvious that anything that got every girl there that excited was something I needed to have some small piece of, to have some small hope of exciting them that much myself.
If the Beatles were, to adolescent girls, that most desirable (and bankable) of musical commodities: the safe imaginary boyfriend, for adolescent boys they were the confident, cool imaginary friends whose merest borrowed aura was a means to becoming desirable to adolescent girls. Every generation has at least one of these pop phenoms, but a couple of things set the Beatles apart. First, they were SAFE imaginary boyfriends for the girls (and therefore OK with parents, who paid for the LPs and 45s) not because they were neo-eunuchoid twerps like so many of the breed, including the current one, but because, like Elvis, they were dangerous to parents, but patently unattainable, in the realm of gods. Second, they were actually phenomenal, ever-learning, ever-innovating musicians. And it was this constant quicksilver, chamelionic reinvention of themselves, and exceeding of themselves, that electrified us all with each new album and left all of their many worthy British Invasion competitors far behind in the dust.
Right up until the end, when we had it confirmed for us that “the love you take is equal to the love you make”, they were, without question, the coolest people on earth.
Uncle! I give. You should have written the post. Bravo.
Not so, E. I merely stood on the shoulder of a giant (bet nobody ever called you that before.)
Modesty (almost) forbids me from putting the preceding comment up. Thank you, Lester Bangs.
Impossible to imagine my life, from 15-on, without the sounds and influence of the Beatles. Try it. It would have been a much emptier world.
That’s the exact right word.”Unimaginable.” Thanks for supplying it, John.