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Community Corner

50th Anniversary Beatles Tribute Fails to Capture the Magic

For anyone old enough to have seen the 'Ed Sullivan Show'  on Sunday, February 9, 1964, you'll recall it was one of the most important moments in American television history--the first live TV appearance of 'The Beatles' in the U.S.  Sadly, CBS's Salute to the Beatles gave today's audiences little insight into the historical or musical significance of the event.  I'm not sure if this is because the network execs thought most of today's audiences don't have the attention span or intellect to digest 90 minutes of history, or because they (the execs) don't have the attention span to produce a truly meaningful tribute to that event.  Anyway, with the exception of about 20 minutes, the program was tedious and pretentious.  The magic did occur of course when Paul and Ringo actually performed their own music--honestly, thoughtfully and with panache. Stevie Wonder and Annie Lennox added some memorable interpretations of Beatle repertoire, and it was interesting to hear from audience members and crew who were actually  there that night  in 1964.   There was, however, barely any mention of Ed Sullivan or what the 'Ed Sullivan Show' represented.  There were a lot of talented performers then --some as talented as The Beatles, who did not get their chance on the Ed Sullivan show.  As legendary as The Beatles are, their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show was bigger than The Beatles.  I had to cringe at the rendition of 'In My Life'  by Ed Sheeran--likewise the 'affected' performances of Alicia Keys on 'Let it Be' and Katy Perry on 'Yesterday'  (BTW, the pseudo-Geisha thing doesn't work).  It all sounded more like a Super Bowl half time show than a tribute to the music of The Beatles.  And the amazing guitar playing of Peter Frampton and Steve Lukather was eclipsed by the mediocrity of the "artists" they were accompanying.    This 'tribute' was a big disappointment, and the saddest part is the people who have no memory of what happened that night in 1964 won't even know the difference.

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