Archive for July 19th, 2009

      The Beatle walked out onto the set that was once the stage for the Ed Sullivan show last week,  45 years after it had all begun. Not the band — of course.  That had begun many years before that, in Liverpool where he and some mates had decided: Hey, Let’s Put on a Show! 
     Sir Paul McCarney had been 22 years old then and he thought He Knew it All.  He told David Letterman he felt so much older at 22 than he does now.  S o when the stage manager asked him that night in 1964 right before he was to go out and sing ’Yesterday,’ whether he was scared, he said ’No.” “You should be,” the stage manager told him. “There’s 73 million people watching.”  McCartney admitted to Letterman: “I was scared.”
        His  face is more lined now — a bit more careworn. He’s been through his share of tragedy and triumphs. He’s had a hit record or two. He’s now known as a Sir.  But underneath, the carefree kid with the killer smile and the Mod haircut is still there.
      That night in 1964 , on black and white televisions, all over the country, in Living Rooms and Dens, the people watched the Beatles on the Sunday night ritual known as The Ed Sullivan Show.  Fathers were incredulous.  Mothers smiled.  Girls screamed. The Dog Barked.
     The Mop Tops Had Come to Town.  And everything Changed.