Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: The Beatles’ Ed Sullivan Debut
by Stacy Conradt - February 9, 2010 - 6:06 PM

q10

As a big Beatles fan, I sure wish I was there 46 years ago when the Fab Four appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Since we haven’t quite worked out that whole time travel thing yet, I’ll have to content myself (and you!) with trivia.

SULLIVAN beatles1. Although appearing on Sullivan was a huge “We’ve finally made it” moment for most bands, the Beatles agreed to come on the show only if their travel expenses were covered. Ed and his producers said that was fine, but only if the Beatles would make multiple appearances.
2. In addition to travel expenses, the Beatles also received $10,000, which covered both the famous debut appearance and the other two “multiple appearances” Sullivan had requested in return for paying their airfare. Adjusting for inflation, that’s about a $70,000 paycheck.
3. It’s been reported that 73 million people turned on their television sets to check out these long-haired boys who had been causing a sensation overseas. If that’s true, that was 38% of the population of the United States at the time. Talk about a ratings bonanza!

4. Remember Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall? No? That’s OK. Neither do the majority of the 73 million people who watched that night. Brill & McCall were the unfortunate act who had to follow the earth-shattering, industry-changing Beatles performance. The married sketch comedy duo pretty much bombed – their audience was rather distracted – and they later said they thought it ruined their careers. Here’s an extra bit of unrelated trivia for you: Brill and McCall are the godparents of Melissa Gilbert.

lennon5. You’ve surely heard that old legend that the crime rate in the U.S. dropped dramatically during the Beatles’ appearance on the show. Apparently the whole nation was so transfixed by the lads from Liverpool that everyone preferred to tune in instead of running around committing felonies and such. It’s a nice story, but according to Snopes, it’s not true. The rumor started when a reporter from the Washington Post snarkily remarked that while the Beatles were on that evening, no hubcaps were stolen anywhere. It was meant to infer that the Beatles appealed to the type of degenerate who would do such a thing, but the meaning was twisted and reprinted by Newsweek. The Post ended up printing a tongue-in-cheek retraction on February 21, 1964:

“It is with heavy heart that I must inform Newsweek that this report is not true. Lawrence R. Fellenz of 307 E. Groveton St., Alexandria, had his car parked on church property during that hour – and all four of his hubcaps were stolen. The Washington Post regrets the error, and District Liner Fellenz regrets that somewhere in Alexandria there lives a hipster who is too poor to own a TV set.”

6. Wasn’t it nice that Elvis kicked off the Beatles’ American “debut” (see #5 for the explanation for the quotes) with a personal telegram? Just before John, Paul, George and Ringo took the stage, Ed Sullivan announced that he had received a “very nice” telegram from the King, wishing the Fab Four “tremendous success.” Notoriously known for being jealous of the Beatles, Elvis had actually done no such thing. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was responsible for the note, and only sent it because he thought it would make Elvis look good.

7. As our own David Israel pointed out in September, this was not really the Beatles’ American T.V. debut. They had appeared on NBC’s The Huntley Brinkley Report on November 18, 1963, in a whopping four-minute-long segment on the craze that was sweeping England.

8. Davy Jones was also on The Ed Sullivan Show that night, but not as part of the Monkees. Davy was performing with the cast of Broadway’s Oliver! Jones played the Artful Dodger (and ended up being nominated for a Tony for the role).

9. The Beatles had been gaining steam in the U.S. prior to the Sullivan show: the show was flooded with 50,000 ticket requests for the February 9 show – and it wasn’t because of the show’s other guest, Frank Gorshin (the Riddler from Batman the T.V. show). More than 49,000 people were disappointed because the studio only held 703 guests.

10. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the performance (and hearing the ear-splitting shrieks of a crowd packed full of teenage girls), you’re in for a treat:

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Comments (15)

  1. You reference #5 as the fact about the debut, but it’s #7.

    Also, the “Sorry girls, he’s married” was one of the first times John’s marriage to Cynthia was made public. Brian Epstein felt that the Beatles would be more popular if it wasn’t known by the ladies.

    I don’t think that stopped their popularity any.

    posted by Ethan on 2-9-2010 at 8:27 pm

  2. Yeah Yeah Yeah !!

    posted by Paul on 2-9-2010 at 8:30 pm

  3. Re: #7

    It wasn’t just Huntley-Brinkley who covered the Fab Four. CBS News had done a piece on the Liverpuddlians that was intended as a weekend feature but kept getting bumped. It finally ran at the end of a weekday broadcast.

    Walter Cronkite had barely signed off when the phone at his desk rang. It was Ed Sullivan.

    “Who are these bugs you were talking about?” Ed asked.

    “Bugs?” Cronkite wondered.

    “Those rock and rollers,” Sullivan responded.

    Uncle Walter gave Sullivan the details, Ed’s people contacted Brian Epstein and the rest is history (and a Mental Floss item).

    posted by Capital Cat on 2-9-2010 at 9:43 pm

  4. Actually, Sullivan happened to be at Heathrow when the Fabs were returning from a tour in Europe. He was intrigued by the size of the crowd and had thought it was someone from the royal family. Found out it was the Fabs and hounded Brian to get them on his show. They were determined tho, not to go to America until they were #1 on the charts because of all the past failed attempts by other British artists.

    posted by Paul on 2-9-2010 at 11:05 pm

  5. Thanks for posting the clip Stacy! I’d never seen it before, and you’re right, it was a treat.

    posted by Karen In Japan on 2-10-2010 at 12:00 am

  6. I was almost 4 when they were on in ’64. I watched it with my older brother and sister. So, I’ve grown up pretty much always knowing of the Beatles. To me they’ve always been the best band in history. They changed and grew so much, so fast, right before my adolescent eyes. And to see the difference between the innocent, yet knowing smiles of the lads, and the weary stressed out faces of the end of the band’s era are very telling. And until the day John Lennon was assasinated, I always held a dream of one day seeing them perform together again. Not neccessarily getting the band back together. Just one last great concert…

    posted by mrs.arno on 2-10-2010 at 8:13 am

  7. There was an off-chance that they could have performed together, but it was unplanned. Eric Clapton had a birthday party, and invited all the Fab 4. The only one who didn’t show was John, he didn’t get the invite. He was upset at missing it, cause he DID want to play with the guys again in an informal setting. What could have been…..

    posted by Ben on 2-10-2010 at 8:42 am

  8. Stacy, when you invent that time machine, can I come along with you to Feb. 9, 1964?

    Thanks for this Quick 10, I love the Beatles. And I’d forgotten about Davy Jones being on the same show. I remember him saying in some documentary about being in the same elevator as Ringo. Apparently, it was a hilarious interaction!

    posted by Tracie on 2-10-2010 at 9:15 am

  9. Thanks for the awesome post! I can’t wait to watch the clip on my phone at lunch – I’m sure it’s going to be wild:)

    posted by OkieMelissa on 2-10-2010 at 10:28 am

  10. The first Beatle song played in America was “From Me to You”. It was sung by Del Shannon – the Beatles had opened for him(!)on his UK tour. He liked the song, and, against their wishes, relaeased it over here and it was a fairly big hit for him. On Dec 31 63 Jack Paar featured a film of “The Boys” on his show. They sang “From Me to You” and I wondered why they were singing an old Del Shannon song. Then they sang “She Loves You” and their audience went wild. We kids liked it too and were glad that they agreed to appear on Ed Sulivan’s show.

    posted by oldguy45 on 2-10-2010 at 11:40 am

  11. I was 16 and already an avid Beatles fan based on a girlfriend’s mother bringing a record back from England in the fall of 1963. Of course, I was desperate to see the Sullivan show. My father despised the show, and he ruled the roost and dictated what was on TV each night. Imagine my surprise, when in a moment of indulgence, Dad turned on Ed Sullivan. I’m still not sure why he did it–curiosity? To this day, I remember the performance well.

    posted by Melissa on 2-10-2010 at 12:00 pm

  12. Ben – are you thinking about Eric Clapton’s wedding reception to Pattie Boyd in 1979? Paul, George and Ringo were involved at the jam session that went on, but John didn’t come. He was afraid of returning to England, even though the US had already granted him a green card.

    posted by Liz on 2-10-2010 at 12:20 pm

  13. This American Life has a great interview with Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall talking about that night. I think it is called My Big Break. It’s definitely worth listening to.

    posted by KEG on 2-10-2010 at 1:01 pm

  14. @KEG – I heard that story on This American Life on NPR and it was wonderful. The fact that they met the Beatles before the show and still didn’t have any idea who they were or what was coming is awful and awesome at the same time!

    posted by Cathy on 2-10-2010 at 3:33 pm

  15. I have a friend who attended the Sullivan show that night. he was four. He slept through it. I don’t think I can forgive him.

    How glorious to know that in these digital times we can retreat to the Beatles any time we want, thanks to YouTube.

    posted by feefifoto on 2-11-2010 at 6:06 pm

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