The BEATLES on The Ed Sullivan Show DVD underappreciated?

I recall reading an interview with George about how the president of Gretsch came to their hotel room and gave him one (I don't know which model). He found out later that after ESS, they sold thousands of Gretsches the week that followed. Geroge said if they were only smarter at the time, those guitar companies would have given them an endless supply of guitars.

 

I'd STILL like to have a Gretsch Country Gentleman Guitar like George's !

 

A 'wonderful thing from heaven'

Here's some of the reported impact of the Feb. 9, 1964 show...


From "The Music Trades," May 2004:
On "The Ed Sullivan Show," Paul McCartney had appeared with a Hofner bass, John Lennon sported a Rickenbacker, George Harrison had a Gretsch hollow-body; and Ringo was seated behind an oyster black pearl Ludwig kit. All four manufacturers subsequently experienced a huge and unexpected increase in demand after the show; however, Ludwig probably received the single greatest windfall. Overnight, the company's Chicago factory on Damon Avenue began running 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week in an effort to keep up with the flood of orders demand.
Ludwig liked to joke that Ed Sullivan was the "show that launched a thousand purchase orders." He later recalled that for three years after that fateful hour on prime time, the only days his factory shut down were Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.
The company's biggest problem was keeping up with the burgeoning demand. Expanding the Ludwig factory on Chicago's Damon Avenue required buying up adjacent property and placating residents who complained about the endless noise and truck traffic. To keep the peace and maintain the factory expansion, Bill Ludwig explained, "I had to visit all our neighbors up and down the block and invite them to factory tours, followed by `jollification' at Boris's bar afterwards. Over beers, we worked out compromises. I agreed to shut down certain machines after ten o'clock, like the stick lathes and the scarfing machines, and the neighborhood allowed us to expand."


William Ludwig Jr., president of the Ludwig drum company, as quoted in Andy Babiuk's "Beatles Gear," 2001:
"That was the first time I ever saw my name on TV. There I was, watching "The Ed Sullivan Show," and I see my name on the front of the drum head. Yeah! It was also the first time I had seen The Beatles, and the first time I was aware of Ringo using a Ludwig drum. Our company was besieged with calls the next day -- with people looking to order that Ludwig drum set.

"Well, we got after the suppliers and put on a second shift -- a night shift till 1 a.m. All day, every night, six days a week, including Saturday. We geared up to make 100 sets a day -- and we still had nine months' backlog (of orders). We had 85,000 on backorder. And they were all ordering it with the Ludwig logo on the front head ... It was amazing -- this wonderful thing from heaven that fell into our laps without trying. It'll never happen again."


Fred Gretsch, quoted in Andy Babiuk's "Beatles Gear," 2001:
"There's no question that George Harrison's use of the Gretsch Country Gentleman Tennesean affected sales. Everybody was aware of that ... The Country Gentleman became our number-one selling guitar. We had thousands of backorders. The demand far exceeded what we could supply."


John Hall, current president of Rickenbacker (an American guitar company), as quoted in Andy Babiuk's "Beatles Gear," 2001:
"We used to get all kinds of letters addressed, believe it or not, to 'Rickenbacker, Liverpool, England.' And they got to us! I still wonder who figured that out."

 

No question about that - thanks for all the work you put into that set Kevin

It's ridiculous that whenever the "Peace In The Valley" performance is shown, the preceding explanation that Elvis is dedicating the song to the the people of Hungary suffering greatly in as a result uprising that began in 1956.

I'd never understood why Elvis would sing "Peace In The Valley" on the show when it was his perfect opportunity to promote his latest hits. Now we have the full show we see yet another example of what a great man Elvis Prelsey was.

This "soundbite" presentation of historical moments that omit immensely significant detail reminds me of the way John F. Kennedy's famous "We choose the moon" speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962 is presented as if the audience is raptuously supporting the concept whereas, in fact, they have just been stirred into rapture by a quip about Rice University playing Texas University.

Linked below is the speech in full (pretty much) - listen to Part 1 from the 8.25 mark to see what I'm talking about.

There's another example in Part 2 if you listen from the 5.38 mark to see how Kennedy uses comedy to create the rousing response from the audience and yet it is usually left out when the soundbite is used giving a completely different spin on things.

JFK Rice University speech - Part 1

JFK Rice University speech - Part 2

Such is life.

[Forgive me for the geeky post - I've just watched the "Kennedy" mini series, listened to Oliver Stone's commentary track to the JFK Director's Cut and have the Vincent Bugliosi tome Reclaiming History: The Assassination Of President John. F Kennedy at my bedside while I await back surgery - and I'm on some pretty strong pain killers keeping me going......]

 

Not even a single nibble

 

+1

I've always admired that guitar, and even though I couldn't play it, I'd learn.

George's was destroyed in an accident around '65-'66 was it not?

 

I imagine the rehearsal that was/is circulating was the afternoon dress rehearsal for the second broadcast, staged in Miami. (I bought a tape of that rehearsal about 12 years ago, so it has been out there circulating.)

I think CBS taped a full dress rehearsal of that program so that in case the link to Miami went down mid-broadcast, they could just go to the tape. Fortunately, the rehearsal tape was archived along with the tape of the actual broadcast.

For some reason, the "Anthology" DVD makes use of the Miami rehearsal (rather than the Miami broadcast) footage... The two performances are very similar, but with Paul saying "good afternoon" to the audience during the rehearsal rather than the broadcast greeting of "good evening."

I don't think any rehearsal footage of the other Sullivan/Beatles shows has ever surfaced. About all we have to document those rehearsals are still photos.

Here are a few photos of an informal, camera-placement rehearsal for the initial, Feb. 9 show, with Neil standing in for George (who had a sore throat). Note the radically different stage background that was planned but then scrapped in favor of the "arrow design" used for the broadcast (seen in the color photo below). You'll also notice that Ringo's black Ludwig drum kit wasn't there for the rehearsal. A white kit was provided, rather than the black one Ringo had specified, and so they didn't bother to fit the kit with the custom "Beatles" drum head.

 

Here's a stupid question:

Neil in the photo is just "standing-in" for George.

He wasn't really singing and playing with the band, right?

 

That is correct. It wasn't really a performance rehearsal -- though the three Beatles that were there did run through a few numbers =- but rather a rehearsal for staging and camera-placement purposes.

 

I have that rehearsal on video tape also, and my memory says that you are correct that it's from Miami.

I haven't watched it for over twenty years, but my memory is that John has a wet pee stain on his suit pants "there" , unless it's the ACTUAL broadcast where this is visible.

Even at a dress rehearsal, as long as it was being taped you would think someone would have said .. ""Eer John, wait a minute..."

 

Should they have put the rehearsal on the Beatles/Sullivan DVD?

 

He had 2 of them, a earlier model with screw up mutes and a newer model with flip up mutes. The one with the screw up mutes was the one that was run over by a truck and destroyed when the strap that was holding it to the trunk of the car untied. Alf Bricknell makes a major note of it in his video. The second one George gave away (rumored) to the guitarist in Sounds Incorporated.

 

Wasn't one of Paul basses run over in a scene straight out of HDN?

 

I never heard that, but his original Hofner was stolen on the set of Let It Be.

 

And that my friend, is exhibit "A" if anyone wants to prove the case of how "seat of the pants" and no frills the Beatles tours actually were.

Let's strap George's guitar (and who knows what else) to the TRUNK OR THE TOP OF A CAR ! High tech protection and security !

Exhibit "B" would be the Washington concert where Ringo himself gets up and struggles to move his drum riser in the other direction because they are playing in the round.

You couldn't get a bar band drummer to do that for himself these days.

 

Exhibit C: Picking the setlist for your American Stadium tour backstage at Shea while sharing a joint.

 

I have the 4-CD Ed Sullivan set, and I was happy to get the Black & Gold colored box.

Seeing The Bealtes on Ed Sullivan was a momentus occasion back in 1964. I was 8 at the time, and if my parents had said that I could not watch the show, or something like that, I would have run away from home, to have watched it elsewhere.

But that said.... I cannot see watching the entire Ed Sullivan shows more than just once. I would instead prefer --just-- The Beatle portions of each show strung together. I can do withou the crazy adds, and other acts...
I appreciate advertising history.... but not so much when I'm desiring to watch The Beatles.

So, if they cam out with "The Complete Beatles from the Ed Sullivan Show" DVD.... I would buy that instead of the complete shows.

The Beatle DVD that I think is very meaningful, besides A Hard Day's Night, is the Beatles: The First U.S. Visit.

​

 

One of my favorites as well.

 

Sorry, for my edit.... I was trying to say I had the "2" CD Ed Sullivan set, which has the "4" performances.... but my "15 minutes" ran out !

 

The pee stain is on the actual broadcast, amazingly. It's visible during the first set, and was dried by the time they played a second time later in the show. Unbelievable!

 

Thanks for that . I'd never noticed it before and now I know I'll never be able to watch the show again without looking. It was bad enough being distracted by Paul's trousers which are enough to bring one out in a Rutle reference.... very, um, tight, nothing left to the imagination.

 

Supposedly Paul's first Hofner bass was stolen not on the set at Twickenham, but out of the storage closet at the Abbey Road studios. It is also believed that George's second Rickenbacker 360-12 which was also kept there was stolen at the same time. Sadly neither instrument has ever been recovered.

 

Thanks for providing the pee stain screen grab, I guess

I hope I haven't ruined everyones appreciation of this appearance by mentioning the stain, but it was impossible to miss.