First time hearing The Beatles at the Ed Sullivan Show "I Saw Her Standing There" Reaction

[@chrisdoyle5450]

The Beatles were incredible. They transformed an entire generation. Hard to explain unless you've lived through it.

[@ProdigyBowlersTour]

And they transformed many generations thereafter.

[@AlBarzUK]

They refused to have a racially segregated audience in the States. That’s another way they (and a few others) changed the world.

[@emeraldgiorgi9188]

I lived it and still cant explain it but they were and still are untouchable.

[@demodragon6426]

Replies! 😎👍!

[@demodragon6426]

Comments! 😎👍!

[@ryanmacd505]

So many great American rock bands say this was the moment that changed their lives.

[@alexandriamancheck3474]

That is soooo right

[@KathySandru]

The British Invasion, brought on by The Beatles was a moment in history, Just like Motown. Both were intertwined

[@jamesdrynan]

@@KathySandru Right on, Kathy! In fact, the Beatles were instrumental in bringing a focus to Motown's music. They covered many hits, " Money, " " Please, Mr. Postman, " " You really got a Hold on Me, " that white audiences weren't listening to until they heard the Beatles.

[@michaelbarat3212]

Almost all of them.

[@bryansimmons4550]

I was "there" when the Beatles first came out. They changed the whole music scene forever. 06:12 Little Richard was one of Paul's idols, and he adopted the high pitched "ooooo" from Richard.

[@mikek5958]

Not just the music scene; they changed the WORLD forever.

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@mikek5958 Not hyperbole. Their effect on Western culture is incalculable.

[@demonhoopa]

I remember my first exposure to the Beatles. I saw the Yellow Submarine cartoon on tv when I was 5 or 6. Mom: “This is The Beatles” Me: “I like The Beatles!” Mom: “They just broke up” :/

[@dwanpyrtle3134]

Yep. They discovered the Richard influence right off.

[@KathySandru]

I remember Little Richard saying he was offered 50/50 management of the Beatles by Brian Epstein (their manager) if Richard would take their acetate to his record company. Richard really liked the boys but declined saying they "won't go very far." You have to remember back then, Rock & Roll was in its infancy statges & many thought it was a passing trend, pretty much how they felt about Hip-Hop/Rap

[@justineapril7922]

When The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan, Paul McCartney was 21, George Harrison was 20, and both John Lennon and Ringo Starr were 23. So, yeah, they were kids. I saw this show live, and I was 5. Even though I was a little girl, I had a crush on Paul!! 😉😍

[@robertasirgutz8800]

The Beatles are EVERYTHING. God's gift to the universe.

[@alexandriamancheck3474]

My music instructor said tbe Beatles were tbe modern day Mozart and Bach, twenty years ahead of their time,

[@marthalowe1556]

TRUTH

[@jaknazryth2488]

When the Beatles first toured the U.S. in 1964 they had a eye opening experience in one location... In September of 1964 they were scheduled to play at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville Florida. Much to their surprise and horror, Paul McCartney and John Lennon found out that the crowd was to be segregated. Remember, not only Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis, but many African American early rock pioneers were some of the Beatles earliest influences, ESPECIALLY Chuck Berry! They LOVED Chuck Berry and Little Richard! Paul got his "OOOO" from Little Richard! Anyway... in Jacksonville the whites got to be down in front and the blacks had to be way up in the stands. The Beatles REFUSED to play unless the city revoked their charter on segregation at public events. "We never play to segregated audiences, and we aren't going to start now," John Lennon is quoted as having said at the time. "I'd sooner lose our appearance money." The City and promoters finally relented. The very first integrated concert in the south was because of the Beatles. After that, all segregated stadiums and venues eventually disappeared allowing all races to interact and have fun listing to great music. The Beatles not only changed music forever, they changed the culture forever!

[@abramking7164]

I was there!

[@sallyg.5869]

@@abramking7164 So was my older sister!

[@pauline415]

the OOO came from Little Richard.

[@mikewrasman5103]

Good for John Lennon and the Beatles!

[@mikewrasman5103]

And Paul McCartney, too.

[@gkiferonhs]

The crowd response is why the Beatles quit doing concerts. When they would come out, the girls would scream non-stop. They couldn't even hear their own instruments.

[@milton1969able]

Rivers of pee (urine) running down the steps/seating as young ladies couldn't hold themselves...crazy.

[@tvgator1]

They did manage to do it for about two and a half more years straight after this performance (after touring most of their existence prior); they were literally DONE with touring after that and spent the rest of their time exclusively in the studio transforming themselves into arguably the most innovative pop bands in history.

[@melissabrooke1146]

I agree, all I could hear was the screaming unless I plugged my ears, then I could faintly hear them. Still unforgettable of course to be there, Hollywood Bowl 😀

[@timothymartin8498]

They were the ones who truly changed music

[@Zebred2001]

Just a heads up. If you don't want to P.O. the Beatles fans do not ever refer to them as a mere "Boy Band!"

[@ProdigyBowlersTour]

LOL! Indeed. They're the biggest rock 'n roll group ever. "Boy band" was a term that wasn't even dreamed up until the '80s, and it referred to '80s bands...who mostly sucked.

[@thomaskolioupoulos6590]

Yeah, most of their music is much too complex to be dubbed a mere BOY BAND....yeesh...the thought..

[@stevejoshua9536]

@@thomaskolioupoulos6590 More importantly, was there ever a boy band who wrote their own stuff ?

[@tvgator1]

There was no such thing as a boy band back then; although the mere concept of it was possibly started by the phenomenon they created, that is how do you prefabricate an assembly of boys to recapture that kind of hysteria? That was what would bring on The Monkees, etc.

[@patticrichton1135]

@@stevejoshua9536 and NONE of these "BOY BANDS" played ANY instruments

[@dianafrost936]

The music, the way people dressed, everything changed after the Beatles came on the scene. Ed Sullivan Show was their first American exposure on tv.

[@amb2745]

The Ed Sullivan Show was their first live appearance on american TV, but The Beatles were actually on TV a few weeks before the Ed Sullivan appearance. Jack Paar, who was host of his own program The Jack Paar Show, showed The Beatles performing "She Loves You" in a video clip from England that he had come across. Jack Paar reacted to the clip as a lot of adults did back then about The Beatles. Needless to say, manager Brian Epstein was furious that this video was leaked out before the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan.

[@hyzercreek]

@@amb2745 Epstein should have kept his cool, Jack Paar was on at 11:30 when the kids were sleeping. Ed Sullivan was on at 8:00 when everybody was awake.

[@amb2745]

@@hyzercreek Had nothing to do with that. There was talk Ed Sullivan was going to pull The Beatles appearances after Jack Paar showed the film clip. Ed Sullivan's brother in law Bob Precht (who also worked on the Ed Sullivan Show) talked Ed out of pulling the plug on The Beatles. Brian was right to be furious, he had an exclusive deal with Ed Sullivan to introduce The Beatles to America. As it turned out the BBC in England gave Jack Paar the video clip. Brian was furious at the BBC for doing that.

[@bobtaylor170]

​@@hyzercreeknope, that was in early 1964, after Paar had given up The Tonight Show. Between 1963 - 65, he hosted a one hour talk show which ran at 10 PM EST on Friday evenings. So, more than a few kids would have seen it. Paar, like most adults, ridiculed them, of course.

[@abc456f]

If you didn't live through it, it's impossible to really explain. Nothing like it before or since. They changed everything. I was six years old, watching them on Ed Sullivan. What a glorious time.

[@johnbarone8240]

We waited all week !!! For the Ed Sullivan show !!!sunday evening everyone got around the Tv and well it’s hard to explain 😊

[@sjd5750]

I was only 7, but I remember this like it was yesterday...I always refer to this time as to "when they landed on this planet"..That's how earth-shattering it was..Something that can't properly be conveyed, and give it justice...This was teeny-bopper, but they moved with light speed, and you'd struggle to keep up. Their music was ever evolving.

[@jasonbroad5478]

Just wanted to make a point....the Beatles get credited with so many well deserved things but remember this....they were the 1st big pop/rock Band. Before them, most everyone was a solo artist with a backing band. Bill Haley AND the Comets, Buddy Holly AND the Crickets...or there were just solo artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry etc. They set the course for every rock band to follow...and the list is endless!!!!

[@johncampbell756]

The Beach Boys pre-dated them. Though I prefer The Beatles.

[@coleparker]

@@johncampbell756 Well, I grew up in Beach Boy territory (Huntington Beach Ca,) so I initially preferred their music. But I agree, The Beatles, who I saw on Ed Sullivan became my preferred band.

[@johncampbell756]

@@coleparker I was born in 1969 on the East Coast so The Beatles were over and The Beach Boys were on the 1970s nostalgia circuit when I was old enough to know who they were. All we had were AM clock radios and they still dominated AM playlists.

[@glasydorlan]

It was The Crickets. They were a four piece, then a three piece. J .I and Joe B were not side men and were not paid as such. Holly also had hits under his own name. Although it was exactly the same set up , these releases were not attributed to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Just Buddy Holly. Later iterations coupled the two names. The Beatles were Holly fans and it was The Crickets that inspired both the band's name and the group format .An awestruck Lennon is reputed to have asked Ed Sullivan if this was the same stage Holly played on. That must have stuck in Sullivan's craw since he famously fell ou with Holly and sabotaged his act whilst appearing on the show for the second time.

[@mikek5958]

@@johncampbell756 I love The Beach Boys but they did not pre-date The Beatles.

[@827dusty]

Greatest Rock and Roll Band in History. More #1 hit songs than any solo artist or Band ever, and that record still stands to this day. Remember, this Band was only together for 7 years. Unbelievable, what they did in that short period of time. They really did change rock music for ever. They put Elvis, and Little Richard and all of the others out of business. After The Beatles came on the scene in 63, there were many more Bands from both America, and Britain to follow.

[@mikek5958]

They were together for longer than seven years. Paul met John in 1957 and was already friends with George. They met Ringo in Hamburg in 1960 when he was with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes. They had played for thousands of hours before they ever set foot on American soil as The Beatles.

[@Guitaural.]

Elvis going into the Army in '58 kinda put him out of business, even though he still had singles released during that Army period. When he came out of the Army in '60 the big push was on to 'clean him up' and make him more acceptable in the mainstream. The Beatles idolized Elvis though...both were ground breakers.

[@robertzastrow4648]

dusty827 Agree that the Beatles could be considered the greatest Rock and Roll Band of all time. My guess is that many Rolling Stones fans would strongly disagree with that! However, to say that the Beatles put Elvis and all the others "out of business" I think is a big overstatement. There were other successful bands around when the Beatles were together who were also successful, such as the Beach Boys, the Byrds, the Doors, the Kinks and the Who. I'm a big Elvis fan, but am willing to admit he made mistakes in his career. There are many "rabid" Elvis fans who consider him to be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). Think that's debatable, as it is also about the Beatles. But I think their record of achievements speaks for itself!

[@NxDoyle]

@@robertzastrow4648 The Beatles are inarguably the greatest rock & roll band of all time. Stones fans can disagree all they like. There's no doubting the greatness of The Rolling Stones, but The Beatles were a cultural phenomenon and they caused a seismic shift in popular music.

[@danielolson5378]

@@mikek5958 Well they only existed as we know them from 1962-70 cause in Hamburg Ringo wasn't a member although he did some sessions as a replacer for Pete Best.

[@brandonflorida1092]

At the time, everything that they did was cutting edge. They revitalized rock and turned it from a minor genre to the dominant genre in the world.

[@williamjordan5554]

No, it was already major. Elvis.

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@williamjordan5554 I see that you weren't alive then. The fact that Elvis had fans doesn't mean that it was a major genre. It wasn't. When you looked at performers on TV on major variety shows, none of them were doing rock.

[@williamjordan5554]

@@brandonflorida1092 I was alive then. Man, you are culturally illiterate.

[@alexandriamancheck3474]

Notice you can understand the lyrics, start from the beginning. Go through every album. Yes, the Beatles were influenced by little Richard snd chuck berry.

[@brandonflorida1092]

@@williamjordan5554 No, you clearly weren't alive then.

[@Ikhan03]

Do “Get Back” Rooftop live

[@scapito]

Agree!

[@jutwilton7363]

Agree !!!! ..."don't let me down" Is also great from the roof top performance :)

[@scottelement]

2nd doing Don’t let Me Down as well

[@G4By_okokokok_lalalalala]

Watch until the police come..hehehe

[@randyrstevens4403]

My dad was killed March 64, then JFK was assassinated, about 10 weeks later, watched the Beatles with Grandma on the Ed Sullivan show, then had my Aunt's niece, movie star Delores Hart come and visit us. What a year that was.

[@jamespenny9482]

The studio version of this song is a must listen, Paul kills it with a much higher energy than on this.

[@brabham74]

Asia and BJ, I remember watching it that night, on TV. I was about 5 or 6, and ,my mom and dad let me stay up late, past my bed time, so I could see the Beatles. It was a real big deal back then.

[@johnmaloney5912]

When the Beatles came out there was a huge shift in American music and the change began ♥️😎

[@pholt5419]

Asia, I was in 1st grade watching the Ed Sullivan show, I was kissing the tv!!!!! I loved Paul!!

[@avlisk]

I saw this on TV in 1964 on the original broadcast. I was 12 years old. Remember, it was only about 10 weeks after JFK was assassinated, and we were still psychologically devastated. To have this joy and excitement come at that moment cannot be understated at how it lifted our spirits when it was needed so badly.

[@jnagarya519]

Speculation about "mood". There were never any facts presented that substantiated that. Perhaps it was true for the individual person who said it.

[@kathy1013]

I was 11. 😍

[@rickstermigel9687]

First time I heard the Beatles was in 1963, I was 9 years old .. everyone wanted to be a Beatle.

[@joelilley6603]

The Beatles have influenced nearly every band that has come along since then. They are the greatest band in rock history, and you really haven't scratched the surface of their music catalogue. You should go from here to I Want To Hold Your Hand, and She Loves You. Two songs that really made people stop, look and listen, and then see how they evolved from then, to Hard Days Night, Penny Lane, Hey Jude, Revolution, Sgt Peppers.......and on. 👍

[@alexandriamancheck3474]

Perfect answer.😎🦅

[@1967PONTIACGTO]

the Beatles played with Little Richard early in his career when he was touring England and he taught them to go "Woooo!" I was 9 years old and in Grade 4 when this show was on TV... it was on Sunday night, and the next day (Monday) the school yard was abuzz.... the girls AND us boys... the world was suddenly a much more exciting place for all of us, just knowing that the Beatles were on the planet.

[@Nina5144]

Nonsense

[@hyzercreek]

The Beatles met Little Richard when they were both playing in Hamburg in 1960

[@hyzercreek]

@@Nina5144 See my post

[@billspencer9430]

@@Nina5144 In what way?

[@bobschenkel7921]

Good call on the Little Richard influence, he was a large influence on Paul and John. For more proof of The Beatles popularity, check out the footage of their arrival at Kennedy Airport, a couple of days before this TV show appearance. Thousands of kids showed up when their plane landed and the authorities were overwhelmed. The press conference that soon followed is pretty funny too.

[@Barb5001]

The Beatles said that at first, they thought that maybe the US president had landed and that is what the big crowd were for, They had no idea just how popular they already were in the US before arriving..

[@Blue-qr7qe]

1963 the British Invasion. We were so knocked out by this new sound. Beatles. Rolling Stones. Kinks. The Zombies. The Who. It really was overwhelming. The Beatles became a journey for us, though. Their sound evolved and grew. Grew right up alongside us. From this early sound, through the mystical late 60's, early 70's. And on. 'Can't even begin to say how present they were in our development.

[@scozz6139]

Unfortunately, I'm old enough to remember Beatlemania!! I also watched this performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 when it happened, I was 8 years old. My sister, who is 5 years older than me, and her friend, were sitting on the floor in front of the tv SCREAMING so loud I could hardly hear the tv! That night Beatlemania hit the US and it's never been the same since. Haha! Beatlemania swept across the country, screaming girls everywhere the Beatles went.

[@jeanettesmith765]

I watched it with my 3 sisters when they did this live! And Paul is still adorable!

[@reinacarbetta388]

They opened for Little Richard in 1962 in Hamburg! They loved him. You should react to their concert in Australia (where 302,000 people showed up just to watch them driving through the streets.) The recorded portion of that concert is only about 20 minutes long but I love watching reactions to it. So great! I wish I had been alive to see all this in person.

[@loosilu]

Little Richard personally taught Paul how to go WOOOOO!

[@cathyortiz1280]

They were ground breaking back then! Played own instruments & wrote their own songs! Before The Beatles, most artists had someone write their songs for them. Little Richard toured with The Beatles in the early days in the UK. He taught Paul that rock scream. Their lookwas different too. That was one hair back in those days.

[@mikewrasman5103]

You have to understand! Being on the Ed Sullivan Show was that you made the big time! Everyone watched the Ed Sullivan Show! Ed Sullivan was a noted columnist for the New York Daily News in addition to his highly popular TV show.

[@ProdigyBowlersTour]

Beatlemania was like nothing that ever happened before...or since. Ask anyone from my generation and they'll be able to tell you exactly where they were when they heard the news of JFK's assassination, and where they were when they watched the Beatles first appearance on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show." Go back and look at the Billboard Hot 100 charts in 1964 and you'll see weeks where The Beatles occupied FIVE of the top ten spots on the chart, and in some cases, the songs were two-sided hit records (where both sides were considered the A-side, which was virtually unprecedented). The flip side of "I Saw Her Standing There" was also a hit -- they were both A-sides of the same record. Check out "I Want to Hold Your Hand." By about 1966, the Beatles were sick of touring because they couldn't hear themselves play. That led to some of the best studio work, including albums like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, the White Album, Abbey Road and more. There is no group in history that has "duplicated" what the Beatles were. They were so much more than a musical group. They fundamentally changed pop culture. Boys started wearing their hair long and wanted to dress like the Beatles. I had a Beatles wig, wore Beatle boots, when they started wearing bellbottom trousers, every hip guy wore bellbottoms, and most importantly, they opened the floodgates for what became known as "the British Invasion," paving the way for other British musical artists to have huge commercial success on the American top 40 charts -- artists like The Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, the Animals, the Hollies, Moody Blues, the Fortunes, Cream, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, Chad & Jeremy, Lulu, Peter & Gordon, Jonathan King, Freddie and the Dreamers, Spencer Davis Group, Donovan, the Searchers, Manfred Mann, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, the Yardbirds, Tom Jones, The Who, Georgie Fame, the Troggs, the Zombies, and many, many more. The Beatles started the whole chain reaction. And what you saw in the Ed Sullivan audience in this video was typical of the reaction the Beatles got everywhere they went. I really can't overstate the huge impact the Beatles had, both on music and on society as a whole. It remains one of the most under-appreciated and misunderstood things by your generation who came along too late to experience it first hand. They were simply the biggest thing going in the world of music for about seven years. They cut foreign language versions of many of their hits to satisfy the demand for their records in non-English speaking countries. And even after The Beatles broke up, their members -- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr -- each went on to have mega-successful solo careers, each one having multiple #1 hits in the years right after the break-up. To this day, Paul McCartney can fill stadiums full of screaming fans who still love hearing him perform. And he can still play and sing like Paul McCartney. Their influence on music, on pop culture, on how other artists write, was so widespread, it's hard to describe. Suffice it to say there has been no musical artist since the Beatles to come even close. Michael Jackson, I guess, you could say is the one whose worldwide popularity might have rivaled that of the Beatles. But consider: MJ was just another one of the Jacksons until he did a duet with Paul McCartney, and almost immediately after that, the McCartney/Beatles "juju" rubbed off on Michael and he soared to new heights and became the superstar we now think of him as being. He really didn't enjoy that status until releasing that duet with Sir Paul. And even at his height, Michael never equalled all the different feats of the Beatles. The Beatles were the first to record on 4-track tape. They had a number of other innovations. Again, the Beatles just had a level of influence on music and pop culture that no artist has had in the years since.

[@garyr8739]

I would only add one thing. At the time they had the 5 top songs on the chart - at the same time they also had the top 2 albums on the charts. I also believe that had 13 songs in the top 100 and by the next week it was 14. They would have had more number 1 hits but they actually kept themselves out of the top spot several times. No other artists could even come close to those kind of numbers.

[@rayjay4]

when todays singers and groups do not perform their own songs just lip-synching, the Beatles wrote most of their songs played them and wrote songs for other artists. no comparsion to anyone of the last fifty years.

[@ProdigyBowlersTour]

@@rayjay4 -- Most of the bands that came over during the British Invasion wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. Most (not all, but most) of the American artists at the time used either The Wrecking Crew, The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section at FAME Studios, or, if they were a Motown artist, the Funk Brothers, as their musicians on the backing tracks.

[@bradsullivan2495]

At one time during that year, they had the top five songs in the country.

[@susanraye3530]

"BEATLEMANIA" ... I HAD IT BAD!! MY FIRST CONCERT WAS THE BEATLES IN 1965 AT THE 0AKLAND COLLISEUM, IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA ... I WAS 15. IT'S A MIRACLE I LIVED THROUGH IT!! 😍

[@mikek5958]

That's pretty darn cool you got to see them live Susan, even though you probably couldn't hear anything but screaming! Great memory either way I'm sure!

[@melissabrooke1146]

Right? All the screaming girls scared me at first because I was only nine, but then I was wondering why some were crying, so I watched them too - Hollywood Bowl seats up front… 😀❤️

[@kens32052]

WOW, I remember watching this live on tv...now I feel really old.

[@fedodosto3162]

So have I, I feel old but so lucky.

[@Isleofskye]

They wrote 230 of the greatest songs in musical history and, before they were famous, played in a Club in Hamburg, Germany for SEVEN Hours a NIGHT, without a break, for 6 months solid to perfect their craft and went on to break every existing musical record ...

[@toniyoung5131]

I was 11, now 69 I've got a lump in my throat, thinking of the years that have passed and all the great music they inspired.

[@joruva]

There are The Beatles and the rest. Period.

[@davidspellman2566]

That night, February 9,1964, changed EVERYTHING, and not just in music, but also culture. Many future rock, soul and Motown stars, including Freddie Mercury, Ozzy Osborne, Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder point to this night as the time they decided to be musicians.

[@michaellincoln3739]

Charisma, charisma charisma. These guys have never yet been replicated. It was like having guys like Michael Jackson, Prince, etc all in the 1 group. The world today desperately needs another supergroup like The Beatles - if it's possible !

[@davisworth5114]

This was my senior year in high school, The Beatles brought joy and they always had fun performing and it was infectious. Watch them live in 1970 doing "Don't let me Down'.

[@jflaugher]

when the Beatles first came to America and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time - in NYC, while the Beatles were actually performing, there were no crimes reported in the entire city.

[@bobgarr6246]

In general, the wild teen reaction to the Beatles was due to the fact that there had never been anything like them before. Being cool, hip young, British, cute, talented, and playing really good music also helped their popularity. Talk about right time right place!

[@luiscarlosdeoliveira7638]

This guys inspired the beginning of the rocking roll and the young culture all around the world. They are not just a rock band they are history. People went crazy becase they never had seen nothing like that before.

[@alexandriamancheck3474]

Love it❤️ still love my guys. Give me the chills, even after all these years!

[@Frank-pe9pk]

I feel blessed to have seen this as a kid. My parents watched Ed Sullivan every week. Ed had great bands on his. “We got a really show tonight” Ed’s trademark entry!👍

[@pontiuspilot9301]

Frank Moffett A really big shoe, 😁 peace and love

[@ammaleslie509]

Really BIG show (shoe)

[@Tijuanabill]

True story, those screaming girls were pivotal in getting the ball rolling on making stage amplifiers louder. That quest for volume, lead to the magic of amplifier distortion that made everything since so great.

[@Barb5001]

Fact is, the screaming girls were no different that how girls reacted to Rudy Vallee and then for Frank Sinatra

[@etpelle72]

I think that’s why they stopped touring. Don’t if it’s true though.

[@Barb5001]

@@etpelle72 Not really... There were a couple of main reasons other than that. 1) They just got tired of touring and did not need the money as they were becoming wealthy. . 2) Their recordings were increasingly the results of recording studio "tricks" and manipulations and could not be performed live. Keep in mind that they were not an overnight sensation . They spent years paying their dues in bars, etc and need a break from performing live..... and wanted to concentrate on studio work . There is nothing that most musicians / bands like as much as performing live for a real audience. but performing live stopped being enjoyable for them for the most part. However, they just had to perform live just one last time and had that (farewell) roof top performance .

[@beandean23]

stage amplifiers louder. Yes. Now they go up to 11.

[@ToddSauve]

I actually hate going to rock concerts now because it is WAY too loud! It overloads the human hearing mechanism and is NOT healthy at all. The amplitude should be held to the 85 or 90 dB level, because permanent hearing damage is done when you are exposed to higher decibels for more than an hour or two. I saw the Eagles in 2018 and the sound was HORRIBLY too loud!

[@davidspalten1304]

When their first singles were released, the hard rock chords and drumming were unlike anything that had come before. It was all monaural AM radio, but it was hard and it rocked, and it was electrifying. This was the very beginning. You can spend a year on the rest of their catalogue. No one else like them.

[@jam6242]

I was 5 but I still remember how excited I was to watch The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. My sister and I sat in front of the TV set screaming and shaking our heads. Our dad couldn't get over their "long" hair, lol. Their coming to America was HUGE news, covered by all the media at the time.

[@ammaleslie509]

My strongest memory of that night: my grandmother saying "why does that one (she meant John) look like he has to go to the bathroom?" I had hardly noticed John's bouncing up and down... I was all Macca all the time from the very beginning, and already had a thing for songwriters...!

[@joycewright3136]

I was 5 yrs old too watching at my grandma’s house during Sunday dinner. I couldn’t understand at the time what the big deal was. Of course, my grandma disapproved of the way they looked. Lol

[@gpxo11]

This was at the very beginning of Beatlemania in the US. The day after this telecast aired-everything changed from the music to guys hairstyles letting their hair grow long. England experienced Beatlemania in November 1963-Ed sullivan was at the London airport as the Beatles were returning from concerts in Sweden to hordes of screaming girls. Ed was so overwhelmed that he was the first to sign the Beatles to appear on his show not knowing who they were.

[@samolevski1119]

Was it only England ??? Maybe Scotland also experienced it I think you mean Britain or UK Really annoys us when people cannot distinguish between England and GB - get an education ffs

[@pattymesagal2654]

we were 12 to 14 years old and these 4 handsome boys were singing songs we could dance too. it made us scream and have day dreams. then the rolling stones, animals, dave clark 5, paul revere and the raiders joined the bunch and too many more to list. loved it smiles and love thank you for the reaction

[@topgazza]

The lead track on their first album. Says it all...absolute banger

[@sammyholloway334]

We can never get you to realize how big ,and important they were.

[@nayf7682]

"They must of been the biggest thing out in their day!" Try ever! You should definitely listen to more Beatles!

[@michaeldavis5610]

This was a life altering moment for many.Thanks for doing this.

[@maxwellshammer5283]

I watched this live back in the day. They hit America like a storm and changed rock forever. They started the whole British Invasion. All these unknown bands from England hit soon after this. I think The Rolling Stones were the first to follow.

[@cuzz45]

Wow! When the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in February 1964, I was an 11 year old kid and I was hooked on their music and their looks from that moment on. I was so used to hearing my mom's favorite music, Elvis and the do-wop music that the Beatles music was a welcome change. They changed the music world from that point on and even after they split up 6 years later, they still were looked up to by other musicians. I'll never forget those Ed Sullivan appearances. Thanks for a great reaction to a great band. You two rock!

[@jazzminb]

Beatles set the gold standard for having fans go absolutely crazy for a band. Every since then every popular band are compared to being the "next beatles" in fan reaction/obsession

[@Ivehadenuff]

Their long hair was a huge topic of conversation. They were called girls by my father, but at 6 I was in love with Paul.

[@nancywengert7301]

The Beatles came to America a few months after the assassination of President Kennedy and helped to bring us out of our national mourning. They wrote their own songs, played their own instruments, were cute as hell with their moptop haircuts and suits. As an original Beatlemaniac, I was in front of the tv watching them on the Ed Sullivan show during this performance and every other one. They changed music forever.

[@jnagarya519]

"The Beatles came to America a few months after the assassination of President Kennedy and helped to bring us out of our national mourning." This was speculation without a shred of evidence to back it up.

[@nancywengert7301]

@@jnagarya519 I don't know how old you were in November 1963, but at the age of 15, I was mourning my president along with the rest of the country. The Beatles music helped me and my friends come out of the depression caused by the grief of President Kennedy's death. If it didn't affect you that way, I'm sorry, but I know a lot of people who were helped. A lot of us "boomer" teens used music to help with our emotions, if you didn't, so be it. I may have speculated about the whole nation being helped, but I lived through the evidence in my area.

[@jnagarya519]

@@nancywengert7301 The ORIGIN of that SPECULATION was from Walter Cronkite EDITORIALIZING. He did not have a FACTUAL basis for that speculation. He may have felt that way, but that isn't how he stated it. I was born and grew up in Massachusetts. JFK was from Massachusetts. My favorite president until then was Lincoln, and I considered myself a Republican -- until JFK ran for office. I first heard "The Beatles" in October, 1963 on Chicago radio, and began hearing "I Want to Hold your Hand" (And "I Saw Her Standing There") shortly thereafter on an all-night radio program). I never made any connection between the JFK assassination, which was certainly depressing, and the excitement of "The Beatles". That's why I point to the fact that it was SPECULATION -- Cronkite never presented any FACTS, or even "statistics," or polling, to substantiate that SPECULATION. That that SPECULATION is still believed and repeated does not prove it true. It's a handy shorthand but is unproven therefore not a truth. I'll also note that most people's "philosophies" of love and relationships -- and this goes back to at latest the 1930s -- were based on the views presented in popular music. And that was certainly true for my generation: that source of pseudo-"wisdom" was a measure to which many conformed their views, expectations, and behaviors. So people are obviously vulnerable to suggestions about how they SHOULD feel about events.

[@lisannebaumholz5028]

When I was 7 years old, this was one of the only times I remember that my parents allowed me to stay up past 8 pm to watch the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. (The other time was to watch "The Wizard of Oz".)

[@genabourassa7962]

One of the things they did that was different was they wrote their own songs, back then most singers had others write songs for them , like Elvis he didn't write his songs. They also had long hair and wore matching suits and had their English accents. all that made them really appealing. The world had never seen anyone like that. They were all good looking as compared to the Rolling Stones.

[@billshine401]

It was called Beatlemania. Great time to be young!

[@vovindequasahi]

Already here they were pretty heavy. Amazing band that is almost metaphysical. Check out the amount of great songs they made, the incredible progression in the music they made, and look at the few years they were active, and you will get it.

[@marinamartinez6886]

So fun to see your reaction. I had the 45!!! Yep, that old. 👩‍🦳 👍👍👍

[@barrycohen311]

Beatles were good friends with Little Richard...Met him on his UK tours and were huge fans of his. And yes, they stole his high note wails...lol

[@jeanmyers1787]

Greatest band ever ❤

[@revaflowers3115]

They did a concert at Shea Stadium in New York City on this same tour, and it was absolutely crazy with a stadium full of screaming fainting young teenage girls.You couldn't even hear the Beatles sing.

[@alexandriamancheck3474]

Even with the most modern up to date instruments and mic#s the Beatles could not hear themselves. Their master piece album, to me, has always been, Rubber Soul.

[@revaflowers3115]

@@alexandriamancheck3474 Rubber Soul is in my top two or 3 albums.Hard Days Night and Revolver are the other two.

[@MrBobNLinda]

Someone hit the nail directly on the head, when they described the Beatles as the world's greatest Bar Band! When I went back and listened to them in that context, having been in a couple of good bar bands, I saw just how accurate that was.

[@Katsem]

They WERE the hottest thing. Beatlemania was an incredible thing to experience. And the way they progressed and evolved over the next few years was epic.

[@dougca7086]

You got to remember there was no internet there was no cable TV they're were three channels CBS NBC and ABC and this is the first time we saw the Beatles on TV Ed Sullivan took a chance and put them there from then on every group wanted to be on The Ed Sullivan Show and you're right twist and Shout was one of their big hits right from the beginning

[@chrislofotos]

I saw them live at the Cavern club in Liverpool in 1962 just before they became famous, great times!

[@jimcarlson6157]

I saw Mozart in Salzburg in the 18th century

[@jimcarlson6157]

and it was a live performance too

[@johng.8517]

The Beatles are still HUGE even today. "The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart (15), most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (20), and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million). The band received many accolades, including seven Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be) and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards." -Wikipedia "Half a century after their breakup, The Beatles were still the biggest rock band of 2020, shifting 1.094 million album-equivalent units through the first six months of the year, 326,000 units ahead of the genre’s second-place finisher, Queen. The Fab Four also had the fifth-bestselling vinyl album of the year, selling 54,000 copies of their 1969 opus Abbey Road. They had good company in the vinyl category, including fellow classic rock icons Queen and Pink Floyd, pop supernova Billie Eilish and retro-rock heartthrob Harry Styles. The Beatles also perform exceptionally well on streaming services, with many songs racking up hundreds of millions of plays." -Forbes

[@perrymalcolm3802]

This was the start of “The Sixties” Twist n Shout was just a cover. But great. I Saw Her Standing There was HUUUGE!! Hard Days Night and She Loves You were even bigger!!! The WORLD caught FIRE with what was called Beatlemania!! Little did anyone know but the world was going from black n white to full bore COLOR!!!!

[@richdiana3663]

This was world shaking when they came to the US in '64. Every teenager was glued to the TV for this including me.

[@davidbanachek7966]

Super classic hit. If you ever watched the 1980s comedy classic movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, this song is featured prominently in one scene. Song has been covered many times including a girl named Tiffany who rose to fame by performing cover songs in shopping malls until she got a record deal. Here is a link to her cover of it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXq8loGhe7OUrLM Actually just caught a correction, it was another Beatle's song, Twist and Shout, that was prominently featured in Ferris Bueller's Day off. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpuyfIGDad9skNU

[@artandrade1]

The Beatles!!! I saw this back in 1964.

[@fatherman9]

You should watch the movie "Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years" to see The Beatles at their best with all of the crowd reactions.

[@carjam49]

If you want to know why the Beatles were so exciting, watch the rest of Ed Sullivan. It wasn't exactly scintillating. I remember this very well. It was a big night at my grandmother's house.

[@relevantbrother8964]

Besides their Boy band early magical music ,they were also dead serious young men ,fully aware of the world around them . On this 1964 US tour,the Beatles refused to play in racially segregated stadiums and authorities ensured the Beatles got their way..

[@ronrr9875]

I remember being mesmerized watching the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan show. My taste in music was instantly transformed forever. I saw them live in St. Louis in 1966. The girls were still screaming but it was really cool seeing the Fab Four live. I enjoy your reactions. Rock on. 🤘 Peace. ✌

[@vodriscoll]

That crowd reaction was actually quite mild. BTW, their haircuts were considered very long for that time. A lot of parents did not approve.

[@ernestosangiacomo2634]

"And the crowd goes crazy." It was called Beatlemania for a reason :-)

[@rellek64]

Rooftop rooftop rooftop

[@cheryla7480]

WOW! I’m back in time with eight friends, in front of a black and white tv. All of us screamed from the moment they got on stage until they left. We actually drowned them out, but we didn’t care, and by the way…….We were all in love with Paul!

[@laurakali6522]

Imagine people thinking that their haircuts were considered too long……

[@tedcole9936]

Oh, they definitely did think it was too long... Funny, though, I was 10 then, and even my grandmother, born in the 19th century, with her Victorian values, thought the Beatles were sweet with their innocent songs "I Saw Her Standing There", "She Loves You (yeah, yeah yeah!)" and "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" Despite the 'outrageously long' hair, the Beatles won over almost everybody in 1964!! It was crazy!

[@daisydukes8252]

It was a different time then, you may not understand unless you were around then. Their hair was definitely considered long and not all parents were approving of the Fab Four.It was a great time.

[@blackprix]

The Beatles has multiple number one songs more than I can count, there is an actual album of theirs call number one, which is all the number one song

[@CowmanUK]

Dude, you're amazing. You are so spot on with what you say. My granddaughter is getting to the age that she might appreciate The Beatles, and I'll direct her toward your channel.

[@MikeJThomas-medinahmike]

It is hard to put yourself back in our first experience, but if you imagine that you are watching your grandmother react like this, it gives you an idea on the magnitude of their impact. Nobody played this tight, at this speed with these harmonies. And they wrote the song.

[@BeastrealDT]

How good were The Beatles??? On the Billboard Top 10 Hits Chart. The Beatles had 5 different single songs in the top 5 positions at the same time in the same week. Wrap your mind around that. At the end of 1999 The Beatles were voted Band of the Millennium. They broke so much new ground and changed the music industry for generations. ✌️

[@TheAxisismChannel]

In 66, the Beatles stopped touring to just focus on making albums - they got tired of everyone just screaming and fainting and nobody listening to the music - in fact, the beatles couldn't even hear themselves play most the time. They got tired of it and only performed live once more, on the roof of the Apple Recording Studios just prior to breaking up in 70

[@susanelkins3068]

BEST...BAND...EVER ! More Beatles!!!!!! Thank you

[@williamjordan5554]

Still the top selling musicians of all time.

[@davidnelson9331]

I used to divide history into two periods: before and after the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan.

[@debramoore7513]

Watched this on our black n white TV as a kid in the 60’s! My mom loved Paul so we got to watch the Beatles “welcome to America” on The Ed Sullivan show! 😱And, we ate TV dinners in the living room!! What a night!! I still own the vinyl album called The Beatles Live At The Bowl. The Fab Four played their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum!

[@MrDcwithrow]

This was 1964. Check them out in the roof top concert 5 years later, 1969. Five years that completely changed music forever. There was nothing like it before or since. The Beatles stand head and shoulders above every other band as far as their influence on the world.

[@thomasjacques5286]

The Beatles took rock and roll into the future and are still considered the greatest rock and roll band of all time.