50 Years Ago Today

[BrotherBart]

Chit happened.

 

[WiscWoody]

I wish I could see the CBS Beatles special on tonight but I'm too far in the sticks to get broadcast tv. I'd have to have a 120' tower to overcome the curvature of the earth. So all of my tv is internet based. Maybe I can find it online sometime.

 

[begreen]

I remember that day. Couldn't figure out what all the screaming was about.

 

[fossil]

I was 15, building a hydroplane in the basement. Ran a pair of wires from the radio in my bedroom to a speaker down there, and a switch to turn off the radio speaker. Every time I hear any of the early ones...I Want to Hold Your Hand, etc. I'm right back down there building that boat.

 

[johneh]

I was 14 when the show came on I can still hear my Grand Mother saying
" Those boys need a hair cut "

 

[BrotherBart]

I was in the five and dime store two weeks before the show. While flipping through record albums I came across "Meet the Beatles". Ninety-nine cents. After the show it went up to $2.99.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I wasn't an itch in my old man's pants yet. Always been a Stones fan, though I understand that the Beatles opened a few doors.

 

[Paul L]

In a world of "John or Paul?" with an occasional voice for George, I was a Ringo guy. Cool is cool, after all.

 

[BrotherBart]

I wasn't an itch in my old man's pants yet. Always been a Stones fan, though I understand that the Beatles opened a few doors.

A big one. And the Stones and a dozen other Brit groups ran right through it. It was known as the British Invasion.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

A big one. And the Stones and a dozen other Brit groups ran right through it. It was known as the British Invasion.

I listened to a biographer that claimed the MAIN thing that the Beatles did was change the naming paradigm. Before them- it was always "Joe Shmoe and the Midnights" or "So and So and the Such and Suches". Their name was more reminiscent of the way that American bands of other genres were named. "The Penguins", "The Orioles", etc. and it was seen as very risky.

The Stones were around before 1962, and gained popularity here by '64. I think their sound tied into older blues and rock in the US more than the Beatle's "boy band" approach (that they would abandon).

you know- that's what I read from 6 years before I was born

 

[BrotherBart]

The Stones didn't hit the scene here until the Summer after the Beatles were on Sullivan. The tour was a mess.

 

[DAKSY]

Meet the Beatles was the first LP I ever owned. My USAF lifer Dad was stationed in Rome, Italy, 63 - 65, so we didn't even KNOW they were on a TV show until we read the "Daily American" paper a couple of days later...

 

[Bobbin]

I was 4, nearly 5. My brother was 13. Mum was all about "things hip", Dad was a jazz guy and skeptical. All 4 of us watched that show. I didn't know it at the time but it changed my life. After that, my big brother brought home 45s. And the first thing he did was teach me how to dance and how to use the record player properly! "This is how you do it, be careful! if you aren't careful you'll scratch the record and it won't be fun to listen to it anymore". Martha Reeves and the Vandellas are another very early memory. "Long hair", MoTown, and jazz went hand in hand with "civil rights" and questioning the status quo.

How great is that?

 

[Bobbin]

The best part of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and several other British groups is that, because they were white they were able to reconstitute the fabulous blues/R&B/jazz records of black American artists in a way that evaded the color barrier, and introduced "us" to how great the music was, even if it was barred from mainstream airplay. Fuel to the embers of the Civil Rights movement. How cool is that?! (can you say, "secondary burn"?)

 

[BrotherBart]

The best part of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and several other British groups is that, because they were white they were able to reconstitute the fabulous blues/R&B/jazz records of black American artists in a way that evaded the color barrier, and introduced "us" to how great the music was, even if it was barred from mainstream airplay. Fuel to the embers of the Civil Rights movement. How cool is that?! (can you say, "secondary burn"?)

Well that and I quit football, grew my hair, bought a drum set and pointy toed boots and met a lot of cute girls that the football players missed out on.

 

[Bobbin]

The good man began playing the bass shortly thereafter. He loved that playing in band attracted girls, but later lamented that he was too shy to really go for it. (prolly a good thing!) Played professionally for years, but the venues grew increasingly tiresome (cigarettes), although the music did not. Now plays "with himself" in his own studio or with friends. I often drift off to sleep listening to him... most recently I hear a vintage BeeGees' tunes... (late '60s). But Beatles tunes and Cole Porter, Gershwin tunes are common, too.

(anyone else love the Dominoes? "60 Minute Man"?)