In the annals of rock n' roll history on television, there's only one date you should concern yourself with; February 9, 1964. From this moment on, everything changed. The date I am referring to is the Beatles debut performance on American shores on the Ed Sullivan Show. Rock N' Roll has never been the same, heck who are we kidding the world has never been the same since. They were the musical equivalent of the atom bomb. Over the last two decades, seeing musicians on television shows is a daily (if not hourly) occurrence. However, one has to remember this wasn't always the case. While we're inundated now with carefully placed performances 24/7 these days, when the Beatles arrived, it was an event. Over 73-million people tuned in to see the band perform five songs (the equivalent of 86-percent of US households). It's unlikely any music performance by anyone would ever be seen by that many people again. Sullivan wanted to be the first to book the band after seeing a huge reaction while at Heathrow Airport when he was visiting London, he approached Beatles manager Brian Epstein with a top dollar offer. What Sullivan didn't expect was Epstein to ask for a low dollar offer. Instead of one show at a premium price, Epstein negotiated a deal for three shows where the band would open and close the show on consecutive weeks. This was unprecedented at the time. The band ruled the airwaves on not just February 9th, but the 16th and 23rd as well. If you weren't old enough to witness this magic, now you can through the new superb 2 DVD release of The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles. There was a release of these shows a number of years ago, but this latest package (from Universal Music) has upgraded picture and sound (including a 5.1 mix and the original mono) and an additional 13-minutes of extra Beatles footage that appeared on the show in the years following their debut.
Each show is presented in its entirety, which includes some hilarious commercials. It takes you and gives you a front row seat to the actual experience. These shows look better now than they ever have and are being watching on television's bigger than anyone could have imagined in 1964. The first show is the one most seen and buzzed about. The Beatles play five songs ("All My Loving", "Till There Was You", "She Loves You", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand") and things were never the same again. Besides the Beatles, the show also includes the cast of "Oliver!" and magician Fred Kaps. Watching these shows makes you realize what entertainment these shows were. Talk was minimal and entertainment was non-stop. The second show a week later may be the least interesting of the four on this set. Broadcast from Miami Beach, it featured several repeats from the week before, but the band still managed to charm with remarkable performances of "This Boy" "From Me To You". The final show, back in New York, features visceral performances of "Twist and Shout" and "Please, Please Me" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Watching these shows is a trip, for both those who saw it originally and those who have never seen them. Watching the sight of little girls lose their mind while the males in the crowd watch on unimpressed. The strange but peculiar puppet work of Pinky and Perky captured my daughter's sightline and it entranced her. Comedian Dave Barry provides some comic relief and lastly, Cab Calloway almost steals the show from the Fab Four with a jolting "'Ol Man River". If all this wasn't enough, there are commercials you won't want to miss; Anacin, Chef Boy-ar-dee pizza, Aero Shave, Lipton Tea (It's Instant!) and Pillsbury Pancake Mix.
The fourth and final performance the Beatles gave on Sullivan's show was on September 12th, 1965, after they had conquered not just the US, but the world as well. Soupy Sales and the magician Fantasio make appearances, but this show is notable for providing what was probably the best overall performance from the Beatles. Performing six songs, they were electrifying in every single performance. "I Feel Fine", "I'm Down", "Act Naturally", "Ticket To Ride", "Yesterday" and "Help" all find the band at their best. Whereas the previous three shows from 1964 had some overlap, this one had none. In the time between their first performance and their second, they had filmed two movies and this show features a number of songs from the Help! album. Despite having sixty-percent of homes watch this performance, this one tends to be forgotten as it didn't have the same level of anticipation as the three February 1964 performances. It's a shame, because this is the best.
This set was issued a number of year back but has been upgraded with improved sound, picture and the aforementioned 13-minutes of bonus spots from other Sullivan broadcasts that featured Beatle related items. If you have the other set buying this one will depend on how badly the improved picture and sound is to you. If you have never seen these before, then the answer is as simple as counting off "1,2,3,4!".
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com and can be followed on Twitter
