The "Ladies and Gentlemen, THE BEATLES" Story

The Beatles and Ed Sullivan

It was an ordinary day.  A very memorable one to say the least.  Carol and I watched The Beatles on TV, together!  I know, I wrote about the Beatles a couple of months ago, but that was before we watched the show on CBS a few weeks ago.  Neat to watch it together and had a ball saying, "remember when we?" ….  or, remember when they?"  Hey, they were The Beatles.  I wrote about their arrival in my first story, but I have heard and have read so much since I wrote that.  They arrived on on Friday, February 7 at JFK airport in New York, but I never really paid much attention to the story after that point until they played on The Ed Sullivan Show.   On Saturday they were awakened by hundreds of fans chanting outside the Hotel were they were staying.  "We want the Beatles!  We want the Beatles!" was chanted over and over.  Right before noon John, Paul and Ringo bypassed a mob who was waiting by their limo.  

The set that was designed for them, buy was taken down
when the boss said they didn't need arrows to point them out.

George had been under the weather and stayed at the hotel.  The others hopped in a little red car and headed to Central Park for a photo shoot followed by burgers and shakes at Boathouse restaurant.  Then they headed to the Sullivan studio for rehearsal.  A production assistant, Vince Calandra filled in for George.  Pretty neat getting him to tell about the experience on the TV show Carol and I watched.  

The set that was used.

Vince said that the Beatles troupe member put a guitar around his neck and he freaked out when he said it was George's favorite guitar.  Then Vince said that John Lennon asked him if he had been there when Buddy Holly performed on the show and he told John that he, John, is standing on the exact same spot where Buddy stood.  Ringo asked him, "Are all you Americans this crazy?"  Later that evening the three Beatles were treated to dinner by executives from Capitol Records at the 21 Club.  After a tour of the club's wine cellar, Ringo asked if they had any vintage Coco-Cola.  Poor George had to miss all this, but they got together later that evening at the hotel to tell stories.  Sunday, the day of the broadcast, the Beatles left for another rehearsal with fans in pursuit of the limo.  Some fans, primarily girls caught up to the limo and scared the band by banging on the windows, but when the light changed they escaped.  2:30 was a dress rehearsal and the girls in the audience of 728 people screamed every time the Beatles were mentioned.  Ed Sullivan had to make a deal with them not to scream during other acts or he would cut their hair off.  The live show was a scream-fest.  Paul, during one of 

 his interviews on the show that I just watched, said the noise was so loud that they couldn't hear themselves perform.  

TV screen photo showing Paul perform live.

They had to rely on Ringo's drum beats to keep their songs going.  I enjoyed so much hearing many of my favorite songs sung by other artists, but still would have rather listened to the Beatles sing them.  We did get to hear Ringo sing a few, but when Paul and his band took the stage for the last 20 minutes of the show, it was pure Beatlemania in our house.  No screaming, but singing to the songs that we grew up with over the years.  Ringo can no longer sing as he once was able to and Paul has lost some of his voice, but hey, they're the Beatles.  Our local newspaper published a few of Beatles facts and titled it "The Long and Winding Road."  

Another TV photo with Paul and Ringo performing.

A few I had forgotten were: 1957 the original band was called The Quarrymen with John, Paul and George in it; John was 16, Paul 15 and George 14 (that I found hard to believe); 1960 they renamed themselves the Beatles, in honor of Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Pete Best is hired to be the drummer; 1962 original drummer Pete Best is fired and Ringo is hired; same year they release "Love Me Do"; 1964 "A Hard Day's Night premiers in London; 1965 the Beatles perform at JFK Stadium; 1966 John Lennon states that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus and protests break out in the U.S. a few months later; 1967 Magical Mystery Tour is released; Jan. of 1969 the Beatles start rehearsing for their movie "Let It Be" and it is miserable for everyone.  It is said that it was the beginning of the end; Aug.,1969 the Beatles are in the studio for the last time ever to mix "I Want You; 1970 Paul McCartney goes to court to dissolve the Beatles' contract. Legal issues continue until Dec. 29, 1974; Dec. 8 1980 John Lennon is murdered in front of the Dakota apartment building in NY; 1988 the Beatles are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Nov. 29, 2001 George Harrison dies of cancer; Feb. 9, 2014 Carol and LDub watch the "The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles" on CBS.  It was a great run while it lasted, but it's still just as great being able to listen to the music of one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Soon you will read about another band from across the pond that sang on the Sullivan show a month after the Beatles.  Any guesses?