how old I am.

who looked like he couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about?

That was me, sitting in my parents' living room, somewhat appalled at all the repressed teenyboppers going into hysterics and dampening their panties over simply breathing the same oxygen.

I didn't get it, not until they stopped doing bubblegum music. Even then, I greatly preferred the stuff Lennon did once he was on his own.

That was me, sitting in my parents' family room, also wondering what all the fuss was about. In 1964 I was in high school and had become an insufferable classical music snob. I thought the girls who were swooning over the Beatles were silly (although secretly I thought George was pretty hot) and their music was - feh! - popular trash. But still, I had to watch the show because everybody was into the Beatles and I didn't want to emphasize my nerd status more than necessary.

and didn't actually mind not recognizing anyone between five and fifteen feet away from me (I had one nearsighted eye and one farsighted eye), but I was a classical/jazz/blues/opera snob, myself.

I watched mostly out of morbid curiosity. What little I could hear of the music (precious little) didn't impress me. It was as substantial and nourishing as cotton candy.

I think my parents were secretly relieved when I announced it had been a whole lotta nothin' and I'd be in my room, reading, until something better came on.

They were so popular & I wanted to like them, but the music just didn't appeal to me until much later when the White Album & Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band came out.

I was immediately smitten with the Rolling Stones, though.

earlier.

There is a saying that if you remember the 60's you weren't really there. Not true for me, I didn't get into drugs...just the music and protesting the war. And I've got the vinyl collection to prove it.

It was the best of times, the worst of times. The Beatles, Hitsville USA(Motown), Woodstock. Oh man, nothing like it... ever!
I'm 59 and I still listen to all of it.

I've got a lot of my music converted to my iTunes -- it took my husband all of one summer to do both mine & his.

I wouldn't touch marijuana until I got into my twenties. I was mainly into the clothes of that era.

I was so sheltered as a freshman in college. One day I was walking with friends on campus, wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt & jeans. A group of guys passed by & asked me if I had a "roach" on me & I was very hurt until my friends explained it to me.



I always loved Motown but the British Invasion years were the absolute best. Those were the days.

Hey -- welcome to DU, Carla!

helped my husband recover from illness and moved from Orange County,Ca to Washington State so when I was ready to jump back in, I started over in my post count. I had 4 years of posts! Oh well.

Back to the music. I would not trade what we had for what passes for music today. No way will they be playing it decades later, right?
I'm just glad a lot of groups continued to do concerts all these years so the younger generations can see the good stuff!

I used to get a kick watching everybody dig into the bowls of pills at parties. I was more than happy to keep the records playing. And my tip of the day. If you are doing something intricate, put Kashmir on repeat until the job is finished. Works for me!

Thanks again, pacalo. Love talking to you.

My sons have liked a lot of my music.

Kashmir works for me; I adore Led Zeppelin. Jimi Hendrix, too.

And welcome back to DU -- you're awesome!

and one of the farms as well as their store in town is called Purple Haze. Can't help but think of Jimi every time you see it.

You know, I wouldn't want to be younger and to have missed being there for all that great music. Album covers were fabulous. I remember sitting in a coffee shop with my friends and analyzing Abbey Road for hours. Did the license plate on the car mean something? Was the reverse play on 'I am The Walrus' code? Great fun.

It's great talking with you, pacalo!

and the World from YouTube.com? I would really appreciate it. Those poor Teenage Girls never had a chance..Lol!!

Great thread.

Sat there huddled close to the TV that rested on my desk next to where I did homework. It was a good position for watching from bed. I learned that I could adjust the brightness and the volume - turn the brightness and sound all the way down and then my mom wouldn't know I'd been watching TV instead of studying.

The lore about this included the story of how the water pressure across the country was affected because after the Beatles played, the show cut to a commercial break, and that's when everybody from coast-to-coast ran to the bathroom - and of course flushed at once!

Those were the days, my friend...

Thanks for posting this, Wilms!

and Revolver. Kind of right in the middle of their career.

Sgt. Pepper was way ahead of its time.

The remastered clip has one distinct advantage over the original: at least you can hear what they're playing over the screaming. In the original performance, you mostly couldn't.

what a thrill it was

...of me with my Junior High Beatles haircut. Whew!

my father hated the Beatles, but I loved 'em!

At all those stupid girls who screamed so much the music couldn't be heard.

I actually never really liked any early Beatles songs. They were too musically simplistic for my tastes.

..... the Beatles' frustration with the conditions of their live performances led them to abandon touring (unheard of at that time) and concentrate on using the studio to to things they would never be able to do live.

The result was they, along with Sir George Martin, changed the world's conception of what pop music could be and opened the doors for countless other artists and countless other musical avenues.

I mean come on Beatles 1964 Live on The Ed Sullivan Show. I take it you wouldn't have liked to have seen Pink Floyd in 1973 Darkside of The Moon Tour, 1975 WYWH which I saw, 1977 Animal's Tour which I also saw, or The Wall 1980 Tour I wished I wished I saw but I didn't.

Too many people, too much screaming.

I was given tickets to the Herman's Hermits concert in Tampa in 1969 - HATED the entire concert experience. The only other live performance I have ever been to was Gordon Lightfoot in Tallahassee in 1973. That was much more my style, but I just don't like crowds at all.

way back when. My date and I took his little brother with us. I can say I "saw" the Beatles, but I surely didn't "hear" them because of all the screaming in the building.

It took me years to appreciate rock music. What can I say - my early tastes in music were influenced by my sister the musical genius.

Despite the screamers, I had a BLAST! And the concert also featured Bobby Hebb, the Ronettes, and I forget who else. What a great night!

Of course, the ticket prices were pretty steep. A whole six bucks.

We flew across Lake Ontario in a Mohawk Airlines DC-3 and stayed in the YMCA. I spent $21 on three London Mod shirts in Toronto. My dad yelled at me for spending so much money on clothes. We kept yelling at the girls to shut up so we could hear the music, but of course it was like trying to hold back a tsunami.

Little did we know then how historic it would be, eh?

their teens and preteens watch the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. My mother let me watch it but she left the living room both times they were on.

Years later Joe Cocker became one of her favorite artists to appear on Ed Sullivan's show.


Tikki

my bro just gave me 4 back issues of Rolling Stone mag... all with Beatles on the cover.

I'm framing the covers and hanging as artwork.

This photo ran in newspapers nationwide then...

A lot of us here lived those times, but for others it must be pretty amazing to see the flashback showing Sir Paul way back when.

The Beatles, the Stones, the British Invasion are all an important part of our musical and cultural history.

Hell yeah, I'll kick it!

My dad owned a "Beer Bar" in Wisconsin (18 y/o drinking age, beer and pop only). At the time, 8 oz. tappers were $.05! I was 15 and absolutely obsessed with the Beatles. We put a 19" Black and White T.V. behind the bar, our usual set-up for the Packer games. By the time the Beatles came on you couldn't move in my dad's bar. We had to line up beer cases behind the bar for kids to sit on. IT WAS AWESOME. The same thing happened the next week!! I love them to this day, as a group and their later incarnations (LOVED the Traveling Wilburys and Wings).

Edited to add: Thank you for posting this!

I saw the original; I was about 7 years old. My parents were shocked by these long-hairs.

Looking at them now, in their suits, ties and neatly trimmed hair, they look downright tame compared to today's rock artists!

Ah those were the days.

the entire Beatles phenomena did....

forgot how amazing that band was..

I highly recommend 'The Concert For George.'
George Harrison was a wonderful person. Highly spiritual but he also invested in Monty Python. All his music is performed by other greats and it is truly a must-see video.

It's more than music; it reminds me how different this country was when the Beatles debuted on Ed Sullivan on Feb. 9, 1964. Only barely three months earlier, JFK had been assassinated. The Beatles came at the right time to lift the spirits of this country.

Thanks for the thread!

Our family bought the 45 rpm record of "I want to hold your hand" and I think it had "She loves you" on the other side....I don't quite remember the song on the other side. But b/c I was so young, and didn't know how to read yet, my dad drew a little picture of a hand on the "I want to hold your hand" side so I would know which was which.

Stupid little bit of kindness that I remember from my dad.

edit to add: Decca records I think it was....orange label, black writing.

That's a lovely story.

She loves you was the next record to make the chart ) I bought a few singles in 1964. I had heard of the Beatles in 1963 because I had a British penpal who raved about them - and didn't understand until the next year.

"Are you happy?"

excuse for kicking my Beatles post.

In my later years, I could finally afford a Hofner bass. I still didn't look like like Sir Paul playing it, though.

since I was a little young, but we probably watched it because it was a staple at our house. I do remember the Beatles cartoon that came out a year later. And we did get their first US-released 45rpm record, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on the A side, and "I Saw Her Standing There" on the B side, on the Capitol label, and I remember singing along and dancing to the B side almost exclusively:

"Well, my heart went BOOM
When I crossed that room
And I held her hand
In Hawaiiii-iiiii"

Yeah, I thought they were saying "Hawaii", instead of "mine"