The Beatles Last "Ed Sullivan Show" Appearance - August 14th 1965

What a shame that these lads didn't continue performing live...... Pretty cool introduction by Ed.

 

What happened to the sound here? Very weird stereo effects that used not to be there, it sounds like double tracked

 

Fake Stereo is what it is......

 

It's a pity they didn't tape it in LA in color- THAT would have been cool. Also, would have been nice if they'd done August 1964 and 1966.
The 6 songs here in August 1965 are the same they did on TV in Blackpool 1 August 1965, so if they'd done an Ed Sullivan in August 1964, it MAY have been the same set they did in July 1964 on TV from Blackpool:
1. A Hard Day's Night
2. Things We Said Today
3. You Can't Do That
4. If I Fell
5. Long Tall Sally.
Pity they didn't do an Ed Sullivan show on that summer tour. I realize the show was on summer hiatus, but that problem was circumvented in summer 1965 so could have been if they'd had the will to.

As for 1966- imagine them doing THIS set- IN COLOR-
1. Paperback Writer
2. Rain
3. Nowhere Man
4. We Can Work It Out
5. If I Needed Someone
6. Day Tripper

Nice, eh?

 

Yes, that would definitely have been very nice. I wonder if Ed Sullivan did try to get them on the show in mid-1964 or 1966, and if Brian Epstein declined (another possible new tidbit in Mark Lewisohn's new book?).

And maybe if they did a show for Ed in 1966, they would have REHEARSED (unlike most of the rest of the 1966 tour)!! Arnie

 

Thanks for this! The perfect complement to a good morning coffee!

 

Steady on, that ain't The Beatles way! Thinking about it, it might have been nice if they'd done Yellow Submarine with the studio musicians (Ray Block's?) providing the brass! In which case, why not do Got to Get You Into My Life?! Or Eleanor Rigby? Maybe I'm going too far.

 

Then they really would have been forced to rehearse! Good idea though in theory. Arnie

 

Would have been interesting indeed.

 

Ed showed the video for "Paperback Writer" in 1966, with a specially taped intro by the Fabs where Ringo explains that they wanted to come on the show but were very busy with "the washing and cleaning up".

 

The real pity is they didn't rehearse more. Its a pretty imprecise performance and a huge fall-off from what they were capable of 17 months earlier. Ed sure seems in a good mood. Must have had a blast or two before airtime.

 

Pretty sure they showed "Rain" too.

 

Yeah, I think that's true. Probably even on the same show.

 

charming, effen charming, que no?
When building my Beatles Shrine, I knew I had to get the Ed Sullivan era instruments represented.
Sure, I coulda chose any other era, but this is really how most of the USA first saw them, quite appropriate choice, historically...

 

If I had been 4 days earlier I could have sen the Beatles play Ed Sullivan live.
OK, my eyes couldn't have focused, but at least I could have heard it.

 

Classic performances... I'm Down and Act Naturally I like better than the studio versions.

 

I really didn't find that bad, save for John's voice, which is strained and hoarse.

 

Strange order of introduction of the Beatles

John Lennon
George Harrison
Paul McCartney
Ringo Starr

My first thought, will this be the order in which they die.......sorry to be morbid just was struck by the order of the introduction

 

Made my day.

 

I've always liked the extended introduction for Ticket To Ride (but they lose points for not repeating the bridge), and the reversed verses to start I'm Down.

 

Fantastic! Thanks!

 

Thanks. I am off work tomorrow and having a scotch. I really enjoyed that. I have the DVD of the Ed Sullivan performances, but I don't think I've watched it all. I'm 51 so I may have seen it live. Who knows?

Ed didn't really like the rockers, but he didn't give The Beatles short shrift in the video area (or his directorial team didn’t'). Lots of great camera angles and The Fabs always looked good on the shew. Lots of iconic stills from Ed's show as well.

 

Not sure why I havent seen this before. I found this really enjoyable and the funnest of all the Sullivan Beatles shows. Was it not on the complete Beatles Ed Sullivan performances ( or whatever it was called)?

As far as it being a tad sloppy performance wise, I cant imagine coming up with that many new songs in such a short period of time. Must have been like ok we have to slow down this creativity and actually learn these! A train going 300 miles an hour. Cant imagine that amount of material coming out of my brain. What a problem to have eh?

 

Not sure why either, but I got that same impression of "never seen before"! I was there in front of the tube when they first appeared on Ed Sullivan's, and the "shew" was a religion in the house... I remember also having watched the late period "videos", and even the Muppets doing "Come Together" in April '70!... Oddly, the memory I had of Paul McCartney doing "Yesterday" alone on this show was a close-up of him against a backdrop consisting of a couple of bobbies or Queen's guards or something... I had quite an imagination, so don't bet on this as a testimony... Especially now that I've sen this!

 

I always get a kick out of Paul directing John with his head during that extended intro. It fits right in with the stereotypes of the groups' interactions

I also think that may be the best ever video recoring of Paul and John sharing a mic - close up and very clear. You can actually see the expressions they exchange while singing. It reminds me of what John said about the intimacy the group shared - in his words p***ing and s***ing together for years. Singing like that at a mic they must have ended up wearing each other's spit and sweat