Recollections of ‘Beatlemania’
The Beatles with Ed Sullivan
PHOENIX (Feb. 9, 2005)
I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The official introduction of the Beatles to America on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the ensuing months of intense, hysterical “Beatlemania,” was a big event – an event I experienced through the eyes and ears of a 14-year-old rock and roll lover. But it would take years before I understood that this was not just another Time magazine cover story. The advent of the Beatles in America would become one of the biggest factors in the shaping of our country and its culture.
It all took place 41 years ago this month.
By the time the klieg lights went on and the CBS TV cameras zoomed in on the Beatles that Sunday night, Feb. 9, 1964, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had been playing on my hometown radio station, Chicago’s WLS, for about six weeks and held the No. 1 position on the station’s weekly record survey. “She Loves You,” with only three weeks of radio play, had charged into the No. 3 spot.
It doesn’t seem like much time for an all-out frenzy to get going, but it was enough to warrant an extensive Beatles tour of the U.S. The quartet gained popularity so fast that it was nothing short of phenomenal. There definitely was something about John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr that kids were ready for.
There weren’t little nuances about this band that made them and their music stand out from everything that had been recorded over the previous 10 years. There were great BIG differences. First, it was the sound of their music. The lineup featured two electric guitars and an electric bass, an instrument that was starting to be widely used. McCartney’s bass lines were much more melodic than those of other bassists of the time. Then there were the trademark mop-top hairdos. And, for good measure, there was the uniform wardrobe featuring suits without lapels and “Beatle boots.”
Sure, I thought it was kind of weird to see all of the girls in the audience screaming, swooning and crying as they watched the Beatles perform “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “Please Please Me,” and “From Me To You.” But there was much substance to these natives of Liverpool, England, in addition to their seductive style. Their songs were so likeable that even guys I knew bought the records.
Fresh – that’s what the Beatles were to us American youth. Yet, incredibly, the band had been thriving on the British charts for more than a year before they “invaded” the United States. Capitol Records, the American affiliate of EMI Parlophone, held back the Fab Four’s first four singles. A company executive told Beatles manager Brian Epstein, “We don’t think the Beatles will do anything in this market.”
You might say it was all a matter of timing. “Please Please Me,” released on the Vee Jay label, charted at No. 40 on the WLS survey on March 8, 1963, after three weeks of play. The single rose to No. 35 and then took a nosedive off the chart.
On March 20, 1964, “Please Please Me” attained WLS’s No. 2 rating after only six weeks of play.
Looking back on the year before the Beatles permanently changed our music, most of the successful pop/rock acts were either soloists or vocal groups. My favorites included Dion, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vee, Lesley Gore, Gene Pitney, Lou Christie and Del Shannon. The concept of a group playing their own instruments (electric ones, at that) and writing their own songs was one that only the Beatles would make commonplace.
At the same time, the Beatles paid homage in their recordings to artists who had inspired them, calling on songs by the likes of Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins and Barrett Strong to fill out their albums.
Did the Beatles have an acoustic side? Absolutely. Some of their most notable songs were performed in the unplugged mode, such as “Love Me Do,” “P.S. I Love You,” “And I Love Her,” “No Reply,” “I’ll Be Back” and “Yesterday.”
The pop landscape of 1963 was littered with a hodgepodge of songs by an eclectic mix of artists. Some of the No. 1 songs that year were by Steve Lawrence, the Four Seasons, the Chiffons, the Angels, Little Stevie Wonder, Bobby Vinton and various one-hit wonders. Surf songs such as “Pipeline,” “Wipeout” and “Surf City” sold millions of copies.
One of the things the Beatles accomplished in 1964 was to create a common denominator for the music we heard: if it wasn’t British, it didn’t go far.
A vivid example is the shortened career of teen idol Bobby Rydell, who had 19 top 40 hits, going back to 1959. In an effort to go with the flow and stay afloat during the first four months of the British invasion, he recorded “A World Without Love.” McCartney had written it and passed it to Gordon Asher, the brother of his girlfriend Jane Asher. Forced to compete with the Peter & Gordon version, Rydell’s rendition received limited airplay and failed to make the Billboard top 40. He never had another substantial hit.
The lads from Liverpool sent six of their singles to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in ’64 and, in the process, opened the door for many of their countrymen. The next thing we knew, we were hearing the Dave Clark Five, Chad & Jeremy, Peter & Gordon, the Rolling Stones, the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer, Dusty Springfield, the Animals, Herman’s Hermits and the Zombies.
Sadly, many promising American musical careers never got off the ground because the Yanks largely were excluded from their own radio stations and record charts.
But a teenager with raging hormones doesn’t care about that, and for us rocking through the mid-1960s it was all about the great music coming from the Beatles and other British bands. The Beatles made subsequent Ed Sullivan Show appearances on Feb. 16 and 23. And, after a few months, we were treated to a Beatle movie, “A Hard Day’s Night.”
It was raw excitement for me as I enjoyed each successive Beatles album. Never before had recording artists been able to get many album tracks, in addition to their singles, played on top 40 radio. My friends and I wondered if the groovy guys possibly could top themselves with their next effort. For several years they did.
I didn’t own the Beatles’ U.S. debut album, “Meet The Beatles.” But one of my best friends did, and we nearly wore the thing smooth from playing it so much. Our parents continually told us to turn down the volume when, in reality, we wanted to make it louder. My first Beatles 45 rpm single was “She Loves You.”
“A Hard Day’s Night” became my first-ever album purchase. Today it still ranks as one of my top 10 albums of all time. And, after 1964 ended, I pegged “I Should Have Known Better” (from that album) as my favorite song of the entire year.
We who love rock and roll owe a great debt to the Beatles and their manager, Brian Epstein, and their genius for creating the music, fashions and culture that kicked the rock genre into high gear for the next 20 years. And we should be grateful to Sullivan for having the wisdom to showcase the Beatles as he did.
Without Ed’s show, we baby boomers would have been without one of the best of times in music history.
