Hi, everyone. Welcome to another edition of Music Monday.
(Image found online. Original source unknown.)
This week marks 60 glorious years of The Beatles taking America by storm. The band from Liverpool released two albums in the UK in 1963-Please Please Me in March and With The Beatles in November. Building on that momentum, the group then released two records in the United States, Introducing… The Beatles and Meet The Beatles, within two weeks of each other in January 1964. That helped add to the excitement and anticipation of the band’s first trip to America which brought them to New York’s JFK Airport on February 7, 1964.
Top: The Beatles at JFK Airport on February 7, 1964. Bottom: Their first press conference later that day. (Images found online. Original sources unknown.)
Two days later, February 9, 1964, The Fab Four appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the first time where they performed a total of five songs to 73 million fans and their parents watching at home. About four seconds into the first track, the world changed into a new color known as John, Paul, George and Ringo. It was-and remains-an extraordinarily beautiful hue.
The band made a total of three appearances on Sullivan’s show that month, but that first show 60 years ago signified the pop culture phenomenon known as Beatlemania. They took the country from the darkness of the Kennedy assassination less than three months earlier and catapulted it into a musical and cultural movement known as The British Invasion.
Top and bottom: The Beatles first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Sunday, February 9, 1964. (Image found online. Original source unknown.)
The band changed our lives, their lives and history during an incredible ride that ended when they broke up in April 1970. But for 6 magical years, we watched those four men teach us all the power of love, music, life and peace. And their songs continue that legacy today.
Let’s relive the magic of February 9, 1964 with the five songs the Beatles performed that night:
The Beatles: ”All My Loving” (1963, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).
The Beatles: ”Till There Was You” (1963, written by Meredith Wilson).
The Beatles: ”She Loves You” (1963, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).
The Beatles: ”I Saw Her Standing There” (1963, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).
The Beatles: ”I Want To Hold Your Hand” (Performed live on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Sunday, February 9, 1964. Recorded in 1963, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney).
Stay safe & well.
Lilacs & Rust 