By Earl McElfresh
Buffalo, NY – Forty years ago this week, February 9, 1964, The Beatles made their first national appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Billed by their American record label as England's Phenomenal Pop Combo , the group was seen by over 73 million television viewers. Even by today's standards it's an astounding audience. The Beatles played a pleasant mix of American pop standards, their own oddly melodious rock and roll repertoire, and finished with I Want to Hold Your Hand. This last was a truly dazzling song. It featured a sturdy chugging rhythm, the groups trademark block harmonies, and ecstatic falsettos. The tune was at the top of the American charts at the time. A couple of minor chords and a peculiar key change in the final measure gave the number a slightly meditative, melancholy tinge and accounted for the haunting quality of a tune which was, after all, only rock and roll.
The Beatles appeared at the beginning and end of the show and spent about 14 minutes on camera. Among the 73 million viewers was me. I was completely oblivious to the rapturous tumult that surrounded the Beatle's presence on the stage of CBS's studio 50 in New York City. It was the look of the group that was mesmerizing. For one thing, to me they looked a bit old. The pop idols I knew about were teenagers wearing bulky high school sweaters. The Beatles were brisk and business-like. Very grown up. They could have been four IBM executives with guitars and drums. They wore crisp white shirts, black knit ties and neat dark suits. Except that the suits were tight and slightly dandified. And their footwear was glamorous and exotic - sleek black boots with high Cuban heels. They made the shoes and sneakers we wore seem as clunky and fashionless as pots and pans. And of course there was the hair. Their hair was mythic - just absolutely mythic. Another thing that stood out was the way the group's name was lettered on the drum kit. The words The Beatles were in a very staid, a very formal font. It was the sort of lettering you'd expect over the door of a bank or insurance company - engraved in stone. It seemed to imply that this was a classic act that would be around for a long, long time.
The overall effect of the performance -- the symmetry of the guitars achieved by Paul's left-handed bass and the deft choreography of three singers using two microphones - was very classy, very orderly, very organized, quite establishment . But it was also stunning.
Nobody in the United States of America had ever seen anybody like the Beatles. Elvis Presley was a conventional rebel with his outlandish outfits, hep-cat music and wild gyrations. Parent disapproved of Elvis. In contrast, the whole country, young, old and in between, was staggered by The Beatles. The Beatles on the first Ed Sullivan Show were elemental. They were like an eclipse: the sort of meteorological event that had primitive people kneeling on the ground in awe. When the TV transmission ended at 9:00 PM, it seemed as if The Beatles had vanished into thin air like some magician's vase of flowers. It was hard to believe what had just happened.
From that moment to this day, I have loved the Beatles. Their appearance on American television 40 years ago this week was an epochal event for me. I was the smallest kid in my class and I was growing up in a basketball town. I was looking for something to inspire me that didn't involve dribbling. As it turned out, my teenage years exactly paralleled the Beatles career. I was a direct hit for what was already being called Beatlemania.
At the end of the broadcast, Ed Sullivan thanked the New York City Police Department and the nation's newspapermen and photographers for being so darn kind I'd like to offer my heartfelt thanks to The Beatles who that night 40 years ago and many nights, days, weeks, months and years since gave us their best. Their best was very good indeed and I'm glad I got to be there.
Earl McElfresh operates the McElfresh Map Company in Olean.