Feb. 9, 1964. Something happened that changed pop music and culture forever. Today kids still wear long hair and play guitars. Some kids are old. Have less hair but still play guitar. That would be me. The Beatles had a number one record, I Want To hold Your Hand before that night, their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Manu history books inaccurately report they appeared on only two shows. Wrong. They appeared on three consecutive Sundays starting Feb. 9, 1964. The second appearance was in Miami, Fla. The third Sullivan appearance was, well, a tape from Feb. 9 taken during the rehearsal for the first appearance with a crowd who bought tickets to watch the rehearsal on the afternoon of Feb 9. But many were different songs, probably on purpose, knowing they would broadcast it in a couple of weeks. They say that for the 10 minutes they were on the show, no crimes were committed…even the crooks wanted to see what the big fuss was all about. Well, that’s what I read and heard somewhere, lol.

But the Beatles, who were not a religious figure or what not, changed everything. Today, kids think they are a rock band game. What they do not realize is that without them, and Elvis, and a few others, music would have been different. The Beatles had managed to rescue rock and roll from manufactured pop teen idols created by Hollywood (Fabian, Frankie Avalon, and the like). They rescued rock and roll after the payola scandals and the dumbing down of Elvis by drafting him into the army, the arrest of Chuck Berry on some phony Mann Act charge, Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 14 year old cousin, and Buddy Holly crashing in an airplane. Oh sure Ricky Nelson kept the blood circulating while Elvis was in the army, and the Beach Boys and Dickie Dale pumped the heart. But the Beatles gave it new life, wrote their own tunes, and opened the floodgates for the Rolling Stones and all who followed in their wake, and continued to innovate each year just when you thought they were washed up – Sgt. Pepper album for example, is still revered as THE ALBUM that broke new ground. Credit also goes to their manager, the late Brian Epstein, in his persistency and promotion (but lacking in good business sense no doubt), and ultimately, their producer, George Martin, for being extremely open minded and willing to take a chance on them and the later studio experimentation ( I wish I could have been that guy – what fun!).

The mop tops and collarless jackets seem so lame and tame in image now compared to today’s “standards,” yet their music is STILL selling and heard around the world in the latest media – Apple IPOD – you just cannot argue with that. The songwriting was so good most of the music has lasted almost 50 years and will continue for decades. One of their worst songs, There’s a Place, still has elements of melody, harmony, beat, form, that put most songs written today to shame when measured by the standards of all musical elements. Two of them are now gone and the other two are getting old. What an era that was, what a phenomenon it was, it will never ever happen again that way, they gave a 1,000% touring, playing the first stadium concerts ever, they had the first five spots on billboard in April 1964 (no one has ever matched that feat). SO I brag, so what? They simply were the greatest band there ever was if one measures by certain standards. After seeing George Harrison play simple lead guitar, a whole generation wanted to play guitar. Did the guitar industry ever thank him? Not much. I have switched my favorite Beatle from Paul McCartney, out of respect to George Harrison’s memory. I didn’t know these guys personally, but all of us felt like they were our best friends when we were kids.

by the incomparable mr t