The Beatles' first appearance on American TV -- NBC News

[@josephcostello695]

Little did the u.s and the world know that almost 60 years we are still talking about them and still listening to their music in 2021. This is why children they are and will always be the greatest band of them all. Nuff Said

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

They suck

[@mrrocco7855]

Interesting. My dad in 1941 was the keyboard player on Glenn Miller's band before drafting into WWII. Spend the next 4 years on the front line in Europe. Returning home never went back to music after Miller's disappearance over the English channel. Ended up moving to and working in Washington DC in 1948 for the OSO. Fast forward to 1964 and my 17 year old sister who got see them at the Washington Colosseum that Tuesday Feb 11, 1964. I was only 7 then. My dad who was older saw them on Ed Sullivan that Sunday night and even he agreed that they might last a generation or two. Not bad for a 43 year old guy then who love swing music of the 1940s.

[@mccellen]

Watched it with my Mom; I was 18 and in love with them...still am.

[@tomhinshaw6814]

It’s hilarious how these old newsmen not just reported on the Beatles, but dismissed them. Stay tuned for the Beatles being more popular and influential than these guys could imagine!

[@deadmanrunning6670]

It wasn't just the newsmen, but the older generation. The music's too loud, or we can't understand the words, they should get haircuts, they look like girls. They didn't get it, but us 3rd grade kids did. Finally, it was our time, our music!

[@raysurx2010]

The Beatles were a phenomenon then and they're music longevity has stood the test of time like no other band or singer ever in history!

[@reboundrides8132]

Well put, they were way ahead of their time and people still try and copy their style all these years later

[@ronmartin89]

All these DECADES-hey,look at and read the recent Rolling Stone mag with Paul and Taylor on the cover.Shes friends with Stella,yet she's was practically pinching herself interviewing him-check her interview with Jimmy Fallon about it.Shell cherish those moments and their newfound friendship forever!!!And she's the biggest artist of the 2000's,so far!!!!She's no.1 with 2 albums in 2020,and probably will be the top artist of 2020,AND was in the 2010 decade!!!

[@spactick]

Ha! oh I don't know about that 'grand overstatement' my friend. Most (if not all) classical composers that you hear today have long since passed on and in 'popular' music Sinatra, Elvis, Armstrong etc; all have a huge following in today's world. I think it's safe to say tho that the Beatles are a safe bet to be heard long after you and I are totally forgotten......ha! in my case very forgotten

[@jamessilver6429]

@@spactick maybe we can get a 100,000 thousand signatures and petition paul to write a song about you ?!

[@spactick]

@@jamessilver6429 I'll mention it to him the next time I see him. We're neighbors, he's kind of a pest

[@alanr4447a]

3:06 "One reason for the Beatles' popularity may be that it's almost impossible to hear them." You'll eat those words!

[@catnc1]

alanr4447a Yes, it's amusing to watch these old news clips knowing what a phenomenon The Beatles still are over 50 years later. I became a Beatles fan because I could hear them.

[@MAXIMUMCOLLABO]

Damn he talking smack

[@randyjordan5521]

The Beatles became popular so fast because people DID hear them. The fans bought their records by the hundreds of thousands.

[@countalucard4226]

Same in Goldfinger when Bond says “it’s like listening to the Beatles without earmuffs”.

[@spactick]

actually his comment was accurate. I went to several of their concerts and you couldn't hear them, but 'that's what made them so much fun

[@roberthockett270]

Four days before JFK died. A true cusp of history - the shift from post-50s to full-blown '60s.

[@KebabMusicLtd]

I wonder if he watched this. The Beatles second album (With The Beatles) was released in the UK on the same day JFK met his destiny in Dallas.

[@lindaeasley5606]

I was just explaining to my younger brother ,who was born in 1964 what a sea change that year was for music . It started out fittingly with Beatlemania ,then legendary groups like The Rolling Stones would follow .1964 also saw the explosion in Motown groups which would be the British invasion's stiffest competition on the US pop chart for the remainder of the decade

[@owlcowl]

Absolutely. The "cultural" 60s really began that year with the British Invasion, the birth of folk rock, the Motown Sound, Ken Keyseys Merry Pranksters birthing hippiedom, the psychedelic crusade launched by Timothy Leary etc. The early 60s were a continuation of the late 50s American suburban culture with rock n roll as fun but insubstantial teen music (in decline since its peak in 1958), and including the "beats" as the artistically serious bohemian subculture whose music was modern jazz and then the folk revival. 1964 premiered a whole new youth culture which would soon merge with the political rebellion on campus to form what became referred to as "the Movement."

[@hebneh]

This obviously was the final story on this national network news show, placed there because it was considered light, amusing, and inconsequential. People in the USA at the time literally did not know there were rock groups in Britain; the latter were never heard on the radio in America. This would change hugely and dramatically within a few months of this news broadcast.

[@lilybond6485]

I remember it all as an 11 yr old. The Beatles were an instant game changer the minute we all heard them.

[@rockisheaven]

The Beatles are such mythic figures in the world of music--and popular culture, period--that it's sobering to see reports like this and remember that they were four ordinary guys who had to claw their way up the ladder like anyone else. Hard to believe that less than a year later they'd have the world in their grasp...

[@phillipsolesky2677]

No, they didn't have to claw their way up. They were a product of the Tavistock Institute think tank and MI6. Hell, they were "knighted" back in the 60's

[@evelioherrera64]

Phillip Solesky Oh shuddup!

[@MICKEYISLOWD]

Phillip Solesky What bullshit. They did CLAW their way up playing 8 hr gigs in Gremany which is where they honed their skills as a live act and learned to write songs. This is well documented from oodles of credible sources. Why should anyone believe you the Conspiracy nut...? Where is your evidence...? Don't tell me...you have your evidence from you tube videos with content derived from yet more you tube videos who got their content from other you tube videos and so on....lol. Count to 8 and sleep! Btw they were knighted for contribution to music because they were writing their own material and it was a huge boost in the industry, The Queen can knight who the fuck she wants to but that has nothing to do with a conspiracy.

[@randyjordan5521]

Actually, they conquered the world just five months later, when they had the top five songs on the Billboard chart in one week.

[@randyjordan5521]

@@MICKEYISLOWD Indeed, it was said back in those days that the biggest economic exports from the UK were the Beatles and the James Bond movies.

[@paulb2092]

I remember that Jack Parr on the Tonight show pipped his rival Ed Sullivan by showing video performances of the Beatles before their live appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. To me in Grade 10, seeing that gave me an ephemeral feeling of indefinable excitement. We loved the Beatles immediately, and we rooted for them. We WANTED their songs to be number one, and when they had five of the top ten hits on the hit parade, it felt like vindication for our initial excitement.

[@TheAerovons]

CBS had already shown them on a news report on Nov 22, long before Paar....

[@byrd56]

And Jack Paar, by then, had already "retired" from "The Tonight Show" in favor of Johnny Carson, but had a weekly hour-long chat show in primetime on NBC.

[@paulb2092]

@@TheAerovons I didn’t say we learned about the Beatles on Jack Paar. There were all kinds of reports in print and on tv reporting them and the phenomenon of crazy Beatlemania. But what we saw on Jack Parr was a real performance. Frankly I don’t know the details of the cbs report but through the fog of the years I remember it was the Jack Parr preview that pissed off Ed Sullivan.

[@TheAerovons]

@@paulb2092 Paar showed what both CBS and NBC had already shown, grainy live shows of From Me To You and She Loves You. Epstein was upset as well, because he thought it might anger Sullivan and he'd cancel the shows. Fortunately didn't!

[@sambradley2975]

Ironically, this was a few days before JFK's assassination, after the assassination, The Beatles brought a psychological uplift after the tragedy.

[@djf750]

when Paul sang "BE GLAD" on "She Loves You" at the end of the song on the first Ed Sullivan appearance the mourning for JFK officially ended Of course, then we had to deal with Vietnam

[@allymayful]

The saddest day in the life of the world,

[@allymayful]

@gumshoesoul This news report on Beatlemania in the UK was Nov 1963. Their first appearance on Ed Sullivan was Feb 1964

[@dailyflash]

They turned music from black and white to color.

[@andrewtucker94]

Why was it ironic?

[@Kohl423]

For "Hard Core Fans" I would make that "Millions of fans" because there were millions of fans and there still are despite the Beatles period being now so long ago which demonstrates the strength of their music and the attraction of their combined personalities.

[@PraiseDog]

I watched this by myself when I was 9 years old on the evening news. They used to end most broadcasts with special interest segments, this being one of those. I did not fully understand it, they were so different from anything that had preceded them. Something those growing up in this age of imitation and conformity might have a hard time conceiving of. It seemed like a circus of sorts, except that they sang. Also at some point there was a shot of a woman, I remember her as a little fat. I thought she had something to do with all this. But it was a short blip, and really they were just so unique, at age 9 I was not able to really know what the hell I was looking at, I figured it was something people in England understood better.

[@abdulmurad9354]

PraiseDo Lllm K0

[@randyjordan5521]

The Beatles just exploded from the very beginning. I was nine years old in Montgomery, Alabama when their songs first came on the radio. I remember hearing "Thank You Girl", which wasn't even a big hit, being played over and over. And I still never tire of hearing "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

[@charlespatrick8650]

good memory, most viewers probably long forgot what they watched before Friday of that week, my mom only remembered watching her favorite soap, As the Word Turns, during that time (early 60s) because of the news about JFK right after the show started

[@dianestrouse3418]

I was 9 when I saw them on Ed Sullivan. And have been a fan since.

[@bt3743]

I love how they said merseyside section of liverpool. Trust me as Scouser myself the entirety of liverpool is in merseyside. Merseysides a county not a town

[@jayonenote7527]

The County didn't even exist then

[@KebabMusicLtd]

@@jayonenote7527 It was still referred to as Merseyside due to its proximity to and by the side of the River Mersey.

[@jdollinter]

I remember when they were on Ed Sullivan, My oldest Brother was 16 and my foster Sister 19, I was a 6y/o playing hairdresser, had my foster Mom's box of curlers and clips and I was brushing and putting curlers in her hair...well.. Ha ha...Anyway the Beatles came on with big fan fare from Ed, my older siblings were glued to the screen and my foster Mom said "Oh for Pete's sake"!

[@pinoybusspotter]

it must have been mind-blowing then when they were first heard on radio as it is nearly 60 years later

[@pjmoseley243]

When I first heard the Beatles play in 1963 their songs and music seemed to connect with in the body of everyone of all ages, I de remember teachers at school who had never listened to the Beatles saying they would not last more than a year, like all the other groups.... how wrong could he be? us kids just knew there was something special about the Beatles.

[@pipsissewa6623]

@@pjmoseley243 So true! In early 1964, my 12-year-old self took my entire paper route savings - $3.50 - out of my bank account, and spent it on "Meet The Beatles." Sure do wish my mother hadn't pitched it, along with a cherished Mick Jagger poster, when I left home five years later. 😭 That first year, my father - a classical guitarist and singer - gritted his teeth at the Beatles, calling them "nothing but pure TRASH!" By 1970, he was happily strumming and singing to Lennon-McCartney tunes and labelling them "absolutely BRILLIANT musicians," LOL...

[@carseye1219]

They were the "perfect storm". They came along at a time when American music had gotten a little stale. In the UK the economy was going great and young people had "disposable income". TV was becoming omnipresent. Their comedic abilities helped soften them to older generations. They had incredible timing for knowing when to change their music. They were amazing!

[@RogerPeet]

Yes !

[@owlcowl]

"The Beatles were not a band. They were a miracle." -- David Gilmour of Pink Floyd

[@scottadler]

Most Americans of my generation don't want to discuss anything that happened during the second half of the month of November, 1963.

[@spactick]

especially the Kennedy family

[@G8GT364CI]

"One reason for the Beatle's popularity may be that it's almost impossible to hear them." Haha! All the adults bashed them back then. I'm 66 and I know. First time they played in America on the Ed Sullivan show my father kept saying "They're not playing those guitars." He did grow to appreciate them rather quickly though.

[@YakosIoakim]

Bob , that was lovely. Yakos, from Athens Greece, 49 today:)

[@Dude0000]

YakosIoakim getting ready for the big 5-0? Middle middle age, not like 40’s, which are early middle age...

[@ibberman]

@Quincy Breed They made it look easy. They were so experienced, they didn't even look art the guitars as they played and sang at the same time.

[@rickrick5041]

The guitars were on auto play

[@VictorySpeedway]

Fascinating that this would appear four days before President Kennedy was assassinated. Looking back, the Beatles have been described as "just what the U.S. needed as an antidote to the sadness we felt on 11/22/63." The Beatles were much more than that. They became the models and leaders of a musical movement unlike any in history. Yeah, I'm a Beatles fan. Since I was 12. And now I'm 67.

[@undeadnightorc]

A lot of people will say that the 60's didn't really start until Kennedy's death and the arrival of the Beatles. Looking back, the years 1960-1963 really do look and feel like they belong to the fifties era. Especially compared to the musical and societal upheavals coming in the next few years.

[@mikeedison7116]

Wonder if Edwin Newman ever grew to love the Beatles like the entire universe did!

[@sloot69x]

Old men reporting on something they didn,t have clue what it was.

[@huntmastergutentag557]

*nobody* knew what it was. still, reporters always have to have some sort of silly remark about shit.

[@rodclark7442]

Exactly . I was 12 then and it use to pis me off ,the ridicule from the jealous old men.

[@karenp1687]

Exactly! I am sure the old men reporting on the first Frank Sinatra "mania" said stupid similar stuff, then years later realized just maybe there was some talent there.

[@martygoetz5722]

Hey. Show respect! They reported on it!

[@reboundrides8132]

He says they are most likely successful because you can't hear them over the girls yelling. What a fucking boomer

[@jv-ep2tc]

if you are not old enough to remember, it is hard to convey how serious this broadcast was and how seriously it was taken by Americans. We were still in the times where adults thought of young people as those "crazy teenagers". H&B demonstrate that belief, along with Edwin Newman, in the way they report on the Beatles. Truly nobody could see then what they would become but the snarkiness really irks me. Especially when you consider that adults thought nothing of sending "crazy teenagers" into Hell in Viet Nam in the years after this. The assassination, the Beatles, Viet Nam made us feel like we were in a blender and god decided to hit the puree button. The only redeeming element of course was the Beatles who in many ways saved america's youth from going mad.

[@bayournnr]

They edited the end, where Edwin Newman could be heard yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn.

[@countalucard4226]

Still a month away from American radio playing their music. First time I heard “Hold Your Hand” I was hooked, it was far far better than most of the rock n roll we were listening to. With exceptions like “Runaway” and a few others.

[@rickrick5041]

Run Run Run Runaway. Great song

[@TheAerovons]

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" started getting airplay in Dec 63...and before that a few stations had played other songs but they had not gone anywhere. It was "Hand" that did it....

[@sanseverything900]

Yeah, "She Loves You" had also been released prior and failed to make a dent which I always found surprising given how insanely catchy it is. I Want To Hold Your Hand just seemed to have that extra little kick I guess.

[@countalucard4226]

@@rickrick5041 so good it will forever stand the test of time.

[@pipsissewa6623]

@@sanseverything900 As I recall (and for surely obvious reasons), "I Want To Hold Your Hand" appealed more massively to GIRLS - a significant extra kick.

[@LucyLennon909]

Fabulous video! Enjoyed it thru an' thru

[@tonymurphy6227]

Goodnight Edwin, who never in his life thought that 60 years later no one would remember who he was, but everyone in the world knows who The Beatles were.

[@davidboothby9772]

Yes Edwin Newman and Huntley Brinkley in the body of their report sarcastically put down the Beatles never realising that they were to be the greatest rock band of all-time.

[@scottrichardson6226]

One neat thing about my life is being born in fall of 1957 I got to see the whole Beatles story from beginning to end--and "end" which is still now ongoing! I had the Beatle wig, the Beatle boots and all the 45's for my little record player and yup, I was there when dad fired up the old blonde Magnavox, black and white 25 inches and it hummed into focus to show Ed Sullivan introduce The Beatles for the first time. It was really something to see. There was no real rock and roll then, just Sinatra and the crooners and show tunes, that was it. Elvis may have gotten the ball rolling but it was The Beatles who put their own music into the stratosphere. This was a different age too. No video tapes, no CD's no internet, no nothing really. You had to read about them in the papers then wait for the next record to come out. And when WDGY in Minneapolis, when it was a rock and roll station played the latest Beatles tune, everyone would stop to listen, you could hear the radios echoing down the block in the suburbs. Yeah. Some scholar once said that guys of this magnitude only come around maybe once every 400 years, history wise. So this was pretty cool in my life to have seen it all!

[@pipsissewa6623]

Rock and roll evolved in the US beginning in the late 1940s. By 1957, there were a number of American hit rock-and-rollers besides Elvis: Bill Haley and the Comets, Little Richard, Billy Lee Riley, Buddy Knox, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, and Jerry Lee Lewis, among others. By the time the Beatles crossed the pond and appeared on the scene, there were many more. The Beatles were new, fresh, and FAB - but they were by no means the first rock-and-rollers we listened and danced to.

[@jonahansen]

"One reason for the Beatles popularity may be that it's almost impossible to hear them." I guess even back then there was editorializing in news broadcasts...

[@PhilMoskowitz]

This actually was an editorial.

[@fromthesidelines]

On February 7, 1964, Huntley reported this item: "Like a good little news organization, we sent three cameramen out to Kennedy Airport today to cover the arrival of a group from England known as 'The Beatles'... however, upon viewing the footage, I feel there is absolutely no need to show any of that film."

[@bobtaylor170]

Huntley was a humorless drone, completely lacking insight and imagination.

[@kathy07002]

CBS Premiered the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. The World watched! I was 7. My Sister 3. It was thrilling to see them! Huntley and Brinkley should have showed a film. My Parents watched Walter Cronkite. I am sure he did.

[@stevestroh2267]

@@bobtaylor170 I imagine he never changed his opinion either.

[@hebneh]

@@kathy07002 The scorn expressed by NBC News was undoubtedly due, in part, to the Beatles being scheduled to appear on CBS, their main competitor. Thus they were not going to provide any more free publicity to a business rival which was already getting LOTS of attention for this upcoming national performance.

[@PhilMoskowitz]

@@bobtaylor170 He didn't have David Brinkley's wit.

[@jamesdrynan]

File under " Everybody wants to be the First " Dept. This report was before Jack Paar's Jan. 3rd show, both of them shown before Sullivan's Feb. 9th program. However, their fame spread so quickly that within a month, 73 million people tuned in that Sunday night. The rest, quite literally, is history.

[@spactick]

The British Invasion really kinda gave the country an uplift after the Kennedy assassination. The Beatles, The Stones, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks etc; were a breath of fresh air. I watched TV that whole weekend when JFK was shot in Dallas. I watched on live TV when Jack Ruby shot Oswald. The chaos that followed. The funeral etc; Those Brits did us a great favor by helping us out of our national funk a few months later and I don't think we ever got around to thanking them. I just hope they know what a great service they did for us.

[@yowzephyr]

Young people today know who The Beatles are and who The Rolling Stones are. But when you mention The Dave Clark Five to them they cock their heads like puzzled doggies.

[@alanoffer]

The world was about to change ... forever

[@rodgerrodger1839]

It's 2021 and they're still relevant, still the greatest group ever and still being studied as if they just played their first concert yesterday. Oh, then there's those songs they wrote while touring and playing up to 220 shows when they were here. Some shows they played twice....They were the closet thing to musical perfection. Go to Liverpool if you can. We did and I can die in peace now....

[@VictorySpeedway]

And no one remembers Edwin Newman.

[@DrHogfan]

Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Harry Reasoner , Howard K.Smith, Frank Reynolds ,that Cronkite guy....

[@hyzercreek]

Baba Wawa

[@Kittyfly223]

I like that Cronkite guy , a few months later he he brought his daughters to meet the Beatles.

[@daniellinehan63]

Roger Mudd, all WWII reporters

[@beverlykristy7513]

"The quality of Mersey is not strained." BAAAD pun.

[@pipsissewa6623]

There were THREE "Mersey" puns in Newman's report - all horrible. What does this tell us? It tells us that 70 years from now, what we find HILARIOUS on Twitter will totally bomb in the eyes of our great-great-grandchildren. (That is, IF the human species has not rendered itself and all others but 'La Cucaracha' extinct by then....☹)

[@TangoEliott]

too bad the video was not included

[@farrellmcnulty909]

Apple probably owns it.

[@sambradley2975]

Who knew that in a few days, a national tragedy would occur that would make what was a passing phenomenon a psychological uplift & cultural icon?

[@Eyyoh755]

Brian Wilson to his brothers: " Oh, we have to step on the gas!"

[@jamesduclos2545]

So sad that the video of this report no longer exists!

[@sambradley2975]

After the events of November 22,of that year, The Beatles would no longer be dismissed as an abstract foreign rock band.

[@fredkruse9444]

Typical older announcer's comment about a Beatles' concert: "One reason for the Beatles' popularity may be that it's almost impossible to hear them." 3:05

[@CastleOfThoughts]

I guess everyone is noticing the date of the report, only days before JFK was killed in Dallas. The Beatles second album in The UK was released the very day of the assassination, by the way.

[@SW2799]

I'm a long-time Beatles fan here in the USA. I was only a small child when they first came out so I basically grew up with their music. When I got into my teens in the early 1970s, I really got into them and that's when I did a lot of research about the point in time when they were first popular. Because of that (and also because of my interest in JFK), I have known for quite some time that this broadcast came out on the Saturday before the assassination. Didn't know about the second album being released on November 22, 1963 though.

[@huntmastergutentag557]

ok

[@TPTGopher]

Castle Of Thoughts And CBS had a similar feature that was going to air on the 22nd.

[@chrischampagne4307]

Anybody have Beatle bobbleheads 4 sale?

[@ktpinnacle]

The kids knew what they were screaming about.

[@michaelmichalios6485]

The best of the best ever

[@JamesMartin-hf9pe]

The start of “ Beatlemania “ .

[@MrErsamo]

"The quality of Mersey is somewhat strained" -- great Edwin Newman line.

[@ClueSign]

I get it

[@stevestroh2267]

Wow, whoever said that news reporters didn’t add in their personal bias into their reporting back then needs to hear this. I get it though. Once you hit a certain age, popular music is never as good as the music you heard at age 13.

[@jelink22]

I don't think this was a "news" story as much as what they used to call a "human interest" story or "entertainment" piece. No need to be straight-down-the-middle with either.

[@RogerPeet]

I was 7 yrs old when JFK was killed. Couple of days later, saw Ruby kill Oswald on live TV. I thought 'There is something wrong with this country'. When The Beatles debuted, the music was fantastic but their look was equally new. I thought their hair was from the middle-ages. Their hair became so popular it changed men's hairstyles around the world. Beatles4Ever

[@amexjam55]

I remember learning about them from this news report when I about 9. But quickly forgotten after the tragedy that happened 4 days later. But to be rediscovered early the follow year.

[@dragicapetrovic9470]

The November 18, 1963 start stunning Beatlemania in America ~

[@carlbaumeister3439]

Very few people will remember Huntley, Brinkley, or Newman, or the deaf artist. The Beatles, on the other hand . . .

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@ Carl Baumeister. Actually a lot of people remember the Huntley-Brinkley Report, but obviously and understandably more people remember the Beatles than those that remember Chet Huntley or David Brinkley.

[@chrischampagne4307]

@@michaelbarlow6610 silver beatles

[@bandcouver]

@@michaelbarlow6610 Chet Huntley was before my time. Maybe he was still around in the 70's ,but, David Brinkley was still around in the 80's. Got to know The Beatles' music through my sisters who grew up in the 60's. I was born in '66 so I obviously missed their initial breakthrough. I was all of 4 when they officially disbanded. So from the 70's to the present I've been a fan. When I was 6, I was at the local library with my Mom and wanted to sign out the Sgt. Pepper's album. The librarian thought it odd ,and amusing, I wanted to hear that record over say Mr. Rogers, Mr. Dress Up or Sesame Street records.

[@topologyrob]

Who or what are these "beatles"?

[@aaronpaterson1615]

An important time for the Beatles, this report was 4 days before Kennedy's assassination and they touched down in New York at Kennedy airport in February 1964, 11 weeks after Kennedy's assassination, some say they helped put a smile back on American Teen faces after the national mourning.

[@liberty4allplease]

I watched the news report on CBS News a couple weeks after the Kennedy assassination. I was 11. The report included a cut from I Want to Hold Your Hand and I remember how new and exciting it sounded.

[@fredkruse9444]

The old announcer did have one good line: "The quality of Mersey? It is somewhat strained." 2:45

[@michaelszczys8316]

Could anything good come out of Detroit. Liverpool was the Detroit of Britain

[@maxiemom1]

"One reason for the Beatles' popularity's that it's almost impossible to hear them". Clueless.

[@DanielRamirez-li6zc]

Maxiemom1 You could FEEL them!

[@pauldickinson6943]

that's the key to success, make a record that no one can hear, I wish I'd thought of that.

[@rickrick5041]

@@pauldickinson6943 It will sell millions and save expense

[@stevefranckhauser7989]

Little did anyone know.

[@stonesorbeatles6902]

Brinkley's daughter married a pop musician I believe, & from this recording am guessing he wasn't pleased

[@randyjordan5521]

I get tickled when I hear some people say that the Beatles weren't the best musical act in history. What other artist or group has had 100,000 screaming fans come to simply greet them at an airport arrival?

[@apace003]

More like 2,000. lol

[@MrDaiseymay]

I don't think that's a good measure of musical ability, frankly. IT WAS PLAIN SEX, that drove those very young girls to a virtual climax; aided by their new beat music and looks.

[@hyzercreek]

Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Rudy Vallee

[@randyjordan5521]

@@hyzercreek Nope, never happened.

[@randyjordan5521]

@@MrDaiseymay Nope. Guys liked the Beatles just as much as the girls did. Girls wanted to be with a Beatle, and we boys wanted to BE a Beatle. I was nine years old in 1964, and my older siblings and neighbor kids and I waited with excited anticipation to hear new Beatles songs on the radio. Even non-hits like "Thank You Girl" were aired. There were other popular groups such as the Beach Boys and the Four Seasons, but the Beatles were on a whole different level.

[@archer1949]

Three months later, they hit Ed Sullivan and change everything.

[@cloiddokich8696]

I remember in Long Beach just after. their television appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Walking down by the old Rainbow Pier. As it seemed all the cars were playing the same radio station of The Beatles " There is kind of a hush all over the world. You can hear the sound of people falling in love ?"It was a beautiful magic knight?

[@5star555555555]

That was by Herman's Hermits, not The Beatles.

[@tacoma5543]

5star555555555 Went right over your head

[@rivierarocket]

The Beatles " There is kind of a hush all over the world. You can hear the sound of people falling in love ?" LMAO! Beatles....I think not..Herman's hermits YES!

[@dannymoulton4829]

And that was 1967. You're only 3 years off.

[@rickrick5041]

Then another famous Beatles song Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good

[@Christopher-xn8qk]

Did I hear the announcer say "pudding bowl haircuts"?

[@JackinTheWoods]

Yes indeed sir, plus the comments regarding the band, no wonder my parents were square

[@PhatElvis7]

How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat???

[@ronmartin89]

@@PhatElvis7 Right,said Pink Floyd!!!

[@farrellmcnulty909]

@@ronmartin89 WRONG!!! DO IT AGAIN!!

[@hyzercreek]

They had Moe Stooge haircuts

[@dougrogers956]

I remember watching these stuffed shirts on TV when I was a little kid. At the time not one of these stuffed shirts knew they were covering a story that would become the most successful music group in the 20th century and beyond. Even though these guys were wrong, I am proud too have grown up during this era and was part of the baby boomer music. The best music ever.

[@jellyphish2112]

Love the slight at the end...

[@jasonrothbaum7266]

'The reason they may be so popular is because no one can hear them?' and other little digs in there just show how little they thought of popular music at the time

[@salchaos]

So Edwin and Chet are so very wrong and quite dead. Meanwhile, The Beatles music lives on into infinity.

[@juanc.ayalagonzalez4888]

Fueron autodidactas en su género musical,aunque fueron tiempos nuevos,donde estos músicos y otros que se dedicaban a este arte no las tenían claras a lo que se dedicaban pero fueron haciendo camino mientras lo experimentaban y otros músicos que surgirían en el futuro inmediato se fijarian en sus errores como en sus aciertos pero como quiera que fue su caso,tuvieron un ÉXITO ROTUNDO;aplausos a los 4 fantásticos,"The Beatles".......

[@SomewhatofanArtist]

What would I give to be in the same time during the era of the greatest band ever to walk the earth 🌎

[@ronmartin89]

It was magical- never saw anything like them since!!-Between the U.S and U .K in '63-'66 alone there were over 3,000 different pieces of memorabia,promotional items(not counting records!)produced with the group's name and/ or likenesses on the piece!!!Any other musical entity to match that ALONE,before OR since,you let me know...

[@ronmartin89]

That DOESN'T include,of course,the flood of Yellow Sub items in '68!!-and the items produced since then until now!!!

[@billinct860]

I no doubt missed this report on TV as my Dad watched Walter Cronkite on our only B&W TV. 4 days later, on a Friday, Kennedy was shot. We had a gloomy week off from school, getting let out early that Friday and a cancelled pep rally and basketball game that evening. Nothing upbeat happened until in January when we heard "She loves you" and "I want to hold your hand" on the radio. We knew it was something new and watched them on Ed Sullivan a month later. They really turned me on to music!

[@prchristman]

JFK being at all aware of the Beatles in his final days sounds so incredible, but with this report coming four days before Dallas, it's at least possible. Edwin Newman was dismissive here, but this was pre-Ed Sullivan, the invasion, and all the rest. I had no idea who the Beatles were when they appeared on Sullivan. I was more taken with the audience screaming than the performance. To this day, mid and late Beatles has usually warmed my heart than the early songs. With a few exceptions. Michelle particularly.

[@frankbarnwell____]

Edwin Neumann. Thank you for your report

[@deadmanrunning6670]

This is the first time I've seen this since it's original broadcast. The next we heard of them was Ed Sullivan saying they would be coming on the show! Money, friends, and women come and go, but I still have my original Beatles LP's!

[@hyzercreek]

Funny they saved the audio from this but the kinetoscope is gone

[@littlemissmello]

"One reason for the Beatles' popularity's that it's almost impossible to hear them" lol the _shaaaaade_ haha

[@reboundrides8132]

Haha for real, they only wound up being the most successful band in world history.

[@ronmartin89]

Even more amazing than the their records and appearances in Feb.'64 shaking up America and causing Huntley and Brinkley to eat their words already,was the fact that as that broadcast happened that Nov.18th day,Walter Shenson and United Artists were already negotiating on the Hard Day's Night movie deal with Brian and the lads!!!!Think about THAT!!!!!

[@manofiske3318]

"One of the reasons for the Beatles' popularity may be that it's almost impossible to hear them." NBC's Edwin Newman, reporting

[@bandicoot5412]

I got up to pee, I was eleven, I wandered into the TV room where Mom and Pop were watching Jack Parr, it was a bio moment hearing and seeing them for the first time, my life was changed.

[@mydozer]

The Beatles are simply the greatest band ever. Why? They have sold over 1 billion records. That’s billion, with a B.

[@cliffmcginnis3231]

I think it’s all a matter of personal preference, as there’s no accounting for taste. I like a lot of the Doors’ stuff but some of Morrison's lyrics were too out there for me. I must’ve been taking different drugs then him. As for the Beatles, by the mid 60s they graduated beyond teenybopper dance stuff. I mean, Revolution and Elenor Rigby are a far cry from All my Loving.

[@rickrick5041]

No kidding with a K

[@johnsplayworld2402]

This is november 1963 before the beatles went in the ed sullivan show 9 february 1964

[@ustheserfs]

It was supposed to have aired that insane weekend after Kennedy's assassination on the Fri. They chose to air it a few weeks later in an effort to offer something a bit lighter. I'd say it was a beam of hope.

[@BlackAndWhiteBand]

Well I guess ol' Chet & David would live to eat THOSE parting words....

[@YakosIoakim]

Fantastic!!!

[@ellenrosenblatt5463]

me still don't understands why all these teenage girls felt they had to screaming their lungs out. Why?

[@louiszepeda9254]

the beatles, of course

[@ronmartin89]

Each of them thought the Beatles would then notice them.Psychological thing.But each wasn't realizing the effort was in vain,because the one next to them was trying to get the same attention from them!!!

[@stephengalvacky5259]

The always literate Edwn Newman references Shakespeare at 2:50. "The quality of Mersey is somewhat strained" is a parody of a line in The Merchant of Venice. Portia suggests that the vengeful Shylock not make such outrageous demands as a pound of flesh to settle a debt: "The quality of mercy is not strained/It droppeth as the gentle rain upon the earth beneath/It blesseth him that gives and him that takes..."

[@njhollywood]

And goodnight for nbc news. They had no idea that their world would change very soon.

[@clarkewi]

I was 12 and heard this report on TV and saw a pic of the Beatles in Time magazine. There was alot of good music on the radio at this time ie "Little" Stevie Wonder "Fingertips" part 1 and 2. Other great Motown groups like Martha and the Vandellas "Heat Wave". "Freewheelin' " Bob Dylan. So the Beatles had competition. "From Me To You" played on the radio that summer and thought it was a great song but it didn't go very high on the charts. Another Beatle song had gotten alot of airplay in LA where I lived (KFWB, KRLA) "Listen Do You Want to Know A Secret" but it was Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas not the Beatles Then JFK was assassinated. Set the stage for the Ed Sullivan Shows which blew all of young America away. I know, I was one of them.

[@becbecdumelod6660]

Beatlemania!

[@starguy2718]

Keep an eye on those guys; they just might go places.

[@countalucard4226]

About a month later U.S. radio stations played us the Beatles for the 1st time with “I Want To” well you know it.

[@Tunz909]

I'm besides myself trying to recall which song I actually heard first. At first I believed it was "I Want To Hold Your Hand"..then again I think it must have been "From Me To You"...anyway it had to have been in December of 1963..cause I was well aware of them by the time they appeared on the Sullivan show in Feb. of 1964

[@countalucard4226]

@@Tunz909 I can say with 99.9 per cent assurance that it was “Hand” in U.S. in Canada they heard something before it because U.S. radio stations would not play them until Dec. 63 when they could not say no to this one.

[@Tunz909]

@@countalucard4226 all right....I do recall though they started to play in rotation all thru the day and evening.....1.) 'hold your Hand" 2) From Me to You 3.) I saw her standing there 4.) She Loves You 5.) Please, Please Me 6.) "I'll get you....then I believe "Meet The Beatles" came out, then a short time later "Introducing The Beatles" came out...in the Cleveland, Ohio area, they had a Top 50 tunedex and it changed weekly...recall The Beatles around January/February of 1964..they would hold maybe 5 of the top 10 spots.....our radio stations were WHK 1420 am and WIXY 1260 am.....they would on most evening around 8 or 9PM hold nothing but "Beatles Hour" play nothing but Beatles for an hour straight. the airways were just flooded with Beatles by this time....

[@Tunz909]

@@countalucard4226 ok thanks:-) Happy New Year

[@countalucard4226]

@@Tunz909 so glad you mentioned song “I’ll get you”. It was the B side of “She loves you”. It’s such a great song. And probably would of been #1 on its own. The Beatles sold double hits on their singles because they were just churning out great songs. “Yes It Is” is another great B side.

[@sambradley1968]

Who knew what would happen in just a few months? 🤔

[@cynthiaforsythe8989]

My mother heard this news story and told me, a fifth grader already glued to radio, about “this musical Group from England that everyone was going crazy over.” Four days JFK was assassinated. Come January, 1964, Beatlemania invaded the USA. I’ll never forget the intrigue I felt when I first heard of The Beatles from my mom.

[@Beatlejoose56]

I remember watching this when I was a kid,I got scared for a second when they showed the girls crying and screaming thinking they were being attacked. I was out of school all that week with the flu, J.F.K. was killed that Friday.

[@reboundrides8132]

You have an amazing memory and I'm envious you got to grow up in such a cool period of time

[@obviously6thbeliever]

4 days later, you-know-what

[@rontheviking]

well chet the world heard and love it

[@c.a.g.3130]

The Beatles saved America.

[@dailyflash]

The was BEFORE Kennedy was assassinated. Amazing. That means there's a tiny chance Kennedy had heard of The Beatles. Now what?

[@sharigreen9252]

Don't know if JFK was aware of the Beatles, but I'm sure he would have "liked" them had he lived. He was charismatic and had a charming personality.

[@apace003]

nope. He was on a tour of Texas to mend fences between a congressman and the senator from Texas

[@billareaband1]

Obviously, only the audio here is original. Someone assembled this video montage to accompany it. Either it was only a radio broadcast, or someone found the audio recording of a TV broadcast.

[@Tunz909]

I'm 70 and recall hearing about them and seeing photos of them for the first time in Life Magazine, and I'm sure that magazine had to have come out during November of 1963. PRIOR to Kennedy's assassination on the 22nd. Was totally floored seeing them on Ed Sullivan 's Show 3 months later Feb 9th, 1964.

[@jarrowmarrow]

Shortly thereafter with the Ed Sullivan show performance, 73 million views later the network saw wich side their bread was buttered on.

[@davanmani556]

NBC really blew it with the Beatles. They should had them in color features on their shows.

[@hyzercreek]

There wasn't a whole lot of color in 1963. Walt Disney on Sundays was in color but not much else. CBS (Ed sullivan) and ABC had almost no color at all, NBC was the only network that did