Impressive debut, Ellen, and many thanks for the article link! I was 8 on that night! As for your #2 question suggestion, we may come no closer than Chet Atkins and Suzy Bogguss for a country "All My Loving": https://youtu.be/R8VGr9wo9_o
Thanks so much for your support and for those kind words, Brad! It's so much fun looking back. Amazing how many of us were glued to that Ed Sullivan show.
And thanks for sharing that video. Never heard Suzy Bogguss before not knowing a lot of C&W, what a great voice, and Chet Atkins doing his finger-pickin' magic is a treat. I should have known you could answer question 2!
The Beatles are my fave, and I believe John Lennon is one of my guardian angels. Met him briefly as a child and am devastated that I don’t remember him. Welcome to Substack!
Thank you, Thea! If he's one of your guardian angels, you are so lucky. Reading about him, what a fascinating guy, and such a great sense of humor. I can totally picture him giving witty and mischievous advice on how to deal with people and life.
The Beatles were extraordinary. Such a gift to the rest of us.
Yes they were. And I’m tickled that Blackbird and its meaning are revived and finding a new audience thanks to Bey. And Pearl Jam brings me to tears with their live cover of Imagine.
Thanks for subscribing to my wellbeing stack, coming soon once this one gets going. I'm hoping substack isn't directing people to that stack when they want this one, or vice versa, not sure how that works.
Post about the Supremes coming out today, so that may be of interest.
Okay, you got a loud guffaw out of me with that Paul and Jerry story. Did that really happen? Epic.
In terms of who is the best Beatle, there is a definitive answer, and I will fight to the death for hism. It's George. Every song he wrote was a 10 and brought us all to our knees. In 1987, I fell in love for the first time with Here Comes the Sun playing in the background. It's still one of my favourites.
The Beatles are truly great for all the reasons you list. Alas, their early days of 8 hour sets were largely fuelled by amphetamines. But I'm not here to judge, I've worked in the music industry and you do what you have to do to get it done.
So I was introduced to All My Loving sung not by the Beatles, but my Johnny Young on Young Talent Time in Australia. I was young and didn't know about the Beatles yet. It's a really pretty rendition. Oh god, I was going to share it here but I just had a listen on YouTube and it's too awful. It has not aged well.
I'm not sure which Beatle I would be. Maybe John, he had an interesting life.
Finally have you watched the Get Back video? It's tremendous.
The Paul and Jerry story comes from Paul's two-volume Lyrics. Not cheap but a treasure trove of stories and photos about every one of Paul's songs with both the Beatles and Wings. That Jerry -- you can even imagine exactly how he'd say it!
George has to have a special place in your heart if you fell in love to Here Comes the Sun. (And so appropriate.) There's a 2-part documentary about George by Martin Scorcese you might want to watch. Available on Max. I do agree, he hit his songs right out of the park.
John did seem to have a very interesting life, but also a great sense of humor and mischief, which I think makes life so much more enjoyable as well.
Saw the Get Back video on Disney+ when it came out. Fascinating. Should probably re-watch it.
Discovered just now that Philip Norman who wrote Shout!, the definitive biography of the Beatles, has recently started a behind-the-scenes substack --https://philipnorman.substack.com
Great column! I was living in Europe at the time, and we didn't see the show (actually, we didn't watch much television-the only thing I remember ever seeing was coverage of the Kennedy assassination.) But the Beatles' appearance on Ed Sullivan actually made the news in the Netherlands, where we were living.
Gracious Ellen, we're the same age (almost, born 1956)! Of course, Disney was my Sunday obsession along with Bugs Bunny and Saturday morning cartoons. Was force fed Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Lorretta Lynn et.al. (hated it) and now have come to love them. Hee Haw, hair spray and seditious comedy. Went on to become a concert breaking acid dosing freak. Now older and less pretty.
A lot of the rock and roll music community here on substack is composed of us sixty somethings. I know a number of the other music substack writers and we're almost all oldsters with gray and white hair trying to stay active and keep our brain cells working for as long as possible. 1956 is of course one of the best vintages for human beings!
Yep, same here with all those TV shows - Disney, Hee Haw, cartoons. It was a great time TV-wise to be a kid. We were pretty lucky.
Interestingly, in 1978 Steven Spielberg produced a movie greatly directed by Robert Zemeckis called “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” (wonder how they got rights to the name?). Anyway, it is all of our fantasies about Being There at the Plaza Hotel at the USA creation of the Beatles. And you know how important that is! When I was a temp worker in NYC circa 1984, I got a 2-week job at CBS headquarters but the Ed Sullivan Theatre might as well have been a shrine. Just to be in front of it…
Personally I was just a half-year or so away from becoming obsessed with them in 1964, but I made up for lost time. My aunt in her teens was with her family on mission to England then. That was as good as having met them …I cherished her air mail letter to me when she said her fave song was Twist & Shout.
That's the power of the Beatles -- the memories we have of their explosion onto the scene and how much we cherish those memories. They really changed the world in a profound way.
That's another film I haven't seen and will watch!
Impressive debut, Ellen, and many thanks for the article link! I was 8 on that night! As for your #2 question suggestion, we may come no closer than Chet Atkins and Suzy Bogguss for a country "All My Loving": https://youtu.be/R8VGr9wo9_o
All the best going forward!-Brad
Thanks so much for your support and for those kind words, Brad! It's so much fun looking back. Amazing how many of us were glued to that Ed Sullivan show.
And thanks for sharing that video. Never heard Suzy Bogguss before not knowing a lot of C&W, what a great voice, and Chet Atkins doing his finger-pickin' magic is a treat. I should have known you could answer question 2!
The Beatles are my fave, and I believe John Lennon is one of my guardian angels. Met him briefly as a child and am devastated that I don’t remember him. Welcome to Substack!
Thank you, Thea! If he's one of your guardian angels, you are so lucky. Reading about him, what a fascinating guy, and such a great sense of humor. I can totally picture him giving witty and mischievous advice on how to deal with people and life.
The Beatles were extraordinary. Such a gift to the rest of us.
Yes they were. And I’m tickled that Blackbird and its meaning are revived and finding a new audience thanks to Bey. And Pearl Jam brings me to tears with their live cover of Imagine.
Hadn't heard those covers and the Pearl Jam cover brought me to tears too.
Great personal spin by Bey. Just found Paul on a UK talk show explaining where the music came from -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UWkn55ByGM
Melts your heart!!
And thx for subscribing!
Thanks for subscribing to my wellbeing stack, coming soon once this one gets going. I'm hoping substack isn't directing people to that stack when they want this one, or vice versa, not sure how that works.
Post about the Supremes coming out today, so that may be of interest.
Absolutely!!
It never gets old. Every time it’s watched it’s more electrifying. The faces in the audience…there’s no describing it.
Agree. Lightning in a bottle. So great Ed Sullivan captured it for posterity.
Okay, you got a loud guffaw out of me with that Paul and Jerry story. Did that really happen? Epic.
In terms of who is the best Beatle, there is a definitive answer, and I will fight to the death for hism. It's George. Every song he wrote was a 10 and brought us all to our knees. In 1987, I fell in love for the first time with Here Comes the Sun playing in the background. It's still one of my favourites.
The Beatles are truly great for all the reasons you list. Alas, their early days of 8 hour sets were largely fuelled by amphetamines. But I'm not here to judge, I've worked in the music industry and you do what you have to do to get it done.
So I was introduced to All My Loving sung not by the Beatles, but my Johnny Young on Young Talent Time in Australia. I was young and didn't know about the Beatles yet. It's a really pretty rendition. Oh god, I was going to share it here but I just had a listen on YouTube and it's too awful. It has not aged well.
I'm not sure which Beatle I would be. Maybe John, he had an interesting life.
Finally have you watched the Get Back video? It's tremendous.
The Paul and Jerry story comes from Paul's two-volume Lyrics. Not cheap but a treasure trove of stories and photos about every one of Paul's songs with both the Beatles and Wings. That Jerry -- you can even imagine exactly how he'd say it!
George has to have a special place in your heart if you fell in love to Here Comes the Sun. (And so appropriate.) There's a 2-part documentary about George by Martin Scorcese you might want to watch. Available on Max. I do agree, he hit his songs right out of the park.
John did seem to have a very interesting life, but also a great sense of humor and mischief, which I think makes life so much more enjoyable as well.
Saw the Get Back video on Disney+ when it came out. Fascinating. Should probably re-watch it.
Discovered just now that Philip Norman who wrote Shout!, the definitive biography of the Beatles, has recently started a behind-the-scenes substack --https://philipnorman.substack.com
Oh my I can totally hear Jerry Seinfeld saying it. And now I'll never forget! I'm going to check out your recommendations, thanks!
Great column! I was living in Europe at the time, and we didn't see the show (actually, we didn't watch much television-the only thing I remember ever seeing was coverage of the Kennedy assassination.) But the Beatles' appearance on Ed Sullivan actually made the news in the Netherlands, where we were living.
Thanks, Charles.
It's amazing that it got coverage in Europe as well. Those media folks were clearly on the ball given how historic it turned out to be.
Gracious Ellen, we're the same age (almost, born 1956)! Of course, Disney was my Sunday obsession along with Bugs Bunny and Saturday morning cartoons. Was force fed Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, Lorretta Lynn et.al. (hated it) and now have come to love them. Hee Haw, hair spray and seditious comedy. Went on to become a concert breaking acid dosing freak. Now older and less pretty.
A lot of the rock and roll music community here on substack is composed of us sixty somethings. I know a number of the other music substack writers and we're almost all oldsters with gray and white hair trying to stay active and keep our brain cells working for as long as possible. 1956 is of course one of the best vintages for human beings!
Yep, same here with all those TV shows - Disney, Hee Haw, cartoons. It was a great time TV-wise to be a kid. We were pretty lucky.
Interestingly, in 1978 Steven Spielberg produced a movie greatly directed by Robert Zemeckis called “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” (wonder how they got rights to the name?). Anyway, it is all of our fantasies about Being There at the Plaza Hotel at the USA creation of the Beatles. And you know how important that is! When I was a temp worker in NYC circa 1984, I got a 2-week job at CBS headquarters but the Ed Sullivan Theatre might as well have been a shrine. Just to be in front of it…
Personally I was just a half-year or so away from becoming obsessed with them in 1964, but I made up for lost time. My aunt in her teens was with her family on mission to England then. That was as good as having met them …I cherished her air mail letter to me when she said her fave song was Twist & Shout.
That's the power of the Beatles -- the memories we have of their explosion onto the scene and how much we cherish those memories. They really changed the world in a profound way.
That's another film I haven't seen and will watch!
Correction: “I wanna…”