Did Ed Sullivan make the Beatles in the US, or could they have made it without him?

I did not state anything. I only asked a question. You're opinion is as valid as anyone else's.

 

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" was already the number one single in the US; there were hysterical fans at the airport; and the fans in Sullivan's audience were already screaming before the boys sang a note. They'd already made it without him. Certainly the promotion didn't hurt, but they probably did Sullivan at least as much of a favor as he did for them. Yes, the Sullivan audience was a record-breaking 73 million - but if that broke records, that means Sullivan didn't usually have an audience that size. More people were tuning in to see the band - a decision that they had to have made before the show aired.

 

The 1964-65 season started in September 1964. The Beatles debuted on Sullivan's show more than half a year earlier.

 

my grandpa used to talk about red. he died 13 years ago at 99 years old.

 

73 million people all laying their eyes and ears in them all at one time is a huge deal. Again, it was much more than about the music at that moment.

 

There is?

 

pfft. the carter family did it 40 years earlier with 3 people.

 

speaking of the Beatles and Ed Sullivan I still have the included TV Guide that was in the Sunday paper from Feb 9th 1964 with the Beatles listed as guests on The ED Sullivan Show...I posted many years ago here on the forum... I would not know where to begin to look......

 

search function

 

....really? you're not joshing me now are you? ; )

 

The musical steamroller was inevitable, show or no show. What were they even competing against back then, Pat Boone, Ray Coniff and some Nashville based sit down guitar acts?
Amusing how once America became exposed to the British Invasion, their own biggest [bubblegum] pop band at the time, The Beach Boys, suddenly started to get serious in the studio Then of course you get an outright corny facsimile like The Monkees... lol

Two of America's finest acts around that time, Orbison and Dylan, had more traction in the UK early on didn't they? The Beatles had huge respect for both, rightfully so.

 

That, my friend, is a very cool thing to have.

 

Watch what you say about The Monkees there, fella!

 

yes it is! I wish I could locate it in the search but I have no idea where to begin...just a little blurb in the daily TV listings and a picture of Paul!

 

I think it was destiny that the Sullivan show had to happen.

 

Frank Gorshin was a guest on the Ed Sullivan show the same night The Beatkws first played on it.
Of course, this was before he became The Riddler.

 

…..and lest we forget a very young Davy Jones as part of the Oliver troupe.

 

...he blew my mind when I was a kid...great character actor indeed...

 

it was all destiny...and it never happened again.

 

Speaking as an American born in 1971 I doubt I would even know who the Beatles were if it wasn’t for Ed Sullivan.

 

Oh I think you would.

 

One ratings point represents 1% of those homes participating in the Nielsen ratings program; the rating is supposed to estimate the percentage of homes tuned in among the total households in the country that have a TV. The share is the percentage of Neilsen households who were watching TV at that time. The internet tells me that an estimated 51.6 million US households owned a TV in 1963-64, so around 23 million households tuned in for the Beatles' debut on Sullivan, an estimated 73 million viewers.

Anyway, you're right that the Sullivan audience nearly doubled when the Beatles came on the rilly big shoe; his average rating in 1962-63 was 25.2, or 12.6 million households, 39 million people, tuning in. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was already #1, "She Loves You" was in the Top 10, and "Please Please Me" was jumping up the charts, as well. The Sullivan show received 50,000 ticket requests for the Beatles debut; the week before, Ed himself asked if anyone could help him out by giving up an extra ticket. I'm sure that Sullivan helped sell even more records, Beatlemania probably intensified after everyone saw the lovable mop-tops on TV. But they didn't really need him or TV to break into the American market. They would've been toppermost of the poppermost for 1964, regardless.

 

Speaking of Sunday night tv, Brian was on "What's My Line" a few months after the conquering

 

I wonder if the Beatles thought Sullivan (the show) was corny, or, rubbish even. Also whose idea was it to have Sullivan (the host) introduce them at the Shea concert? Was that a thing back then, a special or honorary intro MC? It seemed weird to me.

 

Yes indeed. Ed had a really big shoe, but nobody polished it like The Beatles.