60 Years Ago Today…

The Beatles landed in a nation still grieving the JFK assassination, and completely changed the course of music history. Today is the 60th anniversary of their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Nearly half of the entire population of the USA and Canada tuned in to all three appearances to see what the fuss was about and were instantly smitten. The Beatles had been inspired by Americans like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and others and added their own twist (and the odd shout) and their own style and brought it back to the States. The ‘style’ was an important component, because it gave boys permission to grow their hair longer.

In my hometown, most of my peers had an introduction of what to expect a couple of weeks before. One of our classmates had been on a year long grand tour of Europe. While in England, perhaps in Liverpool, perhaps even in the Cavern Club, he had been swept up in Beatlemania. He sent records back to some friends. They, in turn, brought them to school and played them at lunch time, in the gymnasium, to a large crowd of curious listeners. We were all hooked…and pretty much, still are.

NB. these are 1964 Beatles albums released exclusively in Canada or North America.

Here is a link to the lesser remembered, but equally well watched, second appearance.

https://youtu.be/Ep3t451Iv5Q?feature=shared