It was 50 years ago today when The Beatles made their first appearance in the U.S. on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Fab Four went on to become one of the most iconic bands in music history. It was 1964 and not everyone was convinced that the British group would be a hit, but Bernie Ilson, author of Sundays with Sullivan: How the Ed Sullivan Show Brought Elvis, the Beatles, and Culture to America and one of the original publicists for The Ed Sullivan Show saw the potential, and as a result more than 73 million viewers tuned in.
"50 Years: The Beatles" will air on CBS at 6:30 P.M. EST tonight to honor the anniversary of the band's invasion in to American pop culture. Music Times discussed what it was like to see such an impact in the entertainment world with Ilson.
MT: When The Beatles were first booked on The Ed Sullivan, did you know it was going to be such a big deal?
BI: It was tremendous. It was the largest audience for an entertainment show ever. It was building for weeks. Ed Sullivan was always looking for new talent. Incidentally, he brought a tremendous amount of culture to television. The Beatles, in the entertainment area, were probably the biggest thing to happen on the show, along with Elvis, who was there in 1956. The way that came about was Ed Sullivan went to England and was in Heathrow airport, he and his wife made trips often to see talent around the world, and there were thousands of young women, waiting excitedly for The Beatles. They said that they were the hottest singing group in England and in Europe. So Sullivan, who had talent scouts everywhere, called Diane (an agent) in London and said, "Why haven't I heard about The Beatles?" She said, "You're not reading your mail or the telegrams. I've been trying to get your attention. There the hottest thing and have been for about year." He said, "Set me up with their manager." The same day he met with Brian Epstein and signed The Beatles to do the three appearances on the Sullivan show for $8500, which was the biggest bargain he ever got. Sullivan sent me a telegram saying, "Just signed The Beatles." I thought he spelled Beatles wrong because I had never heard of them.
MT: How did the hype build up for the show?
BI: The first big assignment I had for the show was The Beatles. So what I did immediately, I had great contacts with the disc jockeys of the day, so I called them and sent them the records and said, "You gotta play them. They've been sensations in Europe and there's no reason why they won't hit here." Some people jumped right on it and played The Beatles exclusively for a whole day or two. I also contacted magazines like Life, which was the magazine of the time. There were a few people interested, but not many. Then I got a real lucky break. The executive editor of Life magazine was riding in the car with his daughter and they were listening to the radio. They were driving in Westchester and the signal was going in and out and his daughter said, "Can you please pull over? The Beatles are on the radio." So he did and he said, "Who are The Beatles? I've never heard of them." She said, "They're so great. They're big stars in England and their records are starting to hit here." So he called his entertainment editor, Tommy Thompson, who I had been calling every day, and they sent reporters out to France. The Beatles were performing at the Olympic Theater in Paris. The next week there was a 5-page story with pictures and everything about The Beatles. And then all of these people I had been calling started calling me. My phone didn't stop ringing. By the time they came here, they came early in the week so they could do some interviews, I had set up the Plaza Hotel with a whole series of interviews. There were 20 or 30 newspapermen, and an hour later I brought in 20 or 30 radio people. It was a phenomenon. It just happens. By the time The Beatles were on the show, they had built up this interest, and that's why 73 million people tuned in.
MT: Do you feel like you had some responsibility for why The Beatles became so huge in the U.S.?
BI: Of course I did. Eventually it probably would have happened, but it wouldn't have happened at that time if Sullivan hadn't signed them for the show. I'll give you an example: Jack Paar had a popular nighttime show. He heard that Sullivan was going to have The Beatles on, so in January before the show, Jack Paar found some footage of The Beatles in Europe, and he put it on his show. So the first time The Beatles were on television was actually on Jack Parr. But he made fun of them. He said they were terrible. People don't remember that, but that actually happened. People didn't understand that the kids were so excited about it. Sullivan was the only variety show that had a complete dress rehearsal show. He felt that the audience of 750 people in the Ed Sullivan Theater would react the same way as people would at home. If the acts didn't go over with the audience in the afternoon, he would change it. Sullivan was very influential with what they call the British Invasion of pop music. He also brought over groups like The Rolling Stones and The Animals.
MT: What do you think is the biggest difference between how things were then in the music industry and how they are now?
BI: Well I'm still in the business. I don't have as many clients, I don't want as many clients, but I keep up with everything. Right now there are very interesting artists and some terrible people, with the hip-hop and so on. It amazes me that people are listening to it. I don't understand hip-hop. It's bad poetry to rhythm. It's not music.
MT: What specific memories do you have from when you met The Beatles?
BI: They were terrific guys. They were a group of youngsters who had a lot of success in England. They were dressed well, had long hair, and they understood how to handle their popularity. They were tremendously interested in what they were doing. They were the only group I know that came early in the morning and they wanted to hear their sound. So they sang and then came into the sound booth and listened to it and made some adjustments. They were interested in music. Very few other groups even cared about that. These people were very artistic, especially Lennon and McCartney.
Watch this clip of The Beatles playing "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on The Ed Sullivan Show.
