Coming into this class most of the clips I have seen in class I already have seen either watching them on YouTube or on a DVD being a fan of mostly Rock N Roll music. So I have had enjoyment in watching them again or even seeing the new clips of the groups that I love.
One of the two clips that stood out the most was the Beatles first visit and appearance on TV. That big reception for something that no one then has ever seen was huge and wild. Usually I would assume if you’ve already seen something before and you miss them and want to see them again that the reception would be big. I have seen other big receptions for another musical group I listen to, the Backstreet Boys, when they went around the world in a certain amount of time to perform for other countries and it was pretty close to this. It was nuts to see such a reception for them because no one can come close to the Beatles.
The Beatles first visit was one of the most important dates in history to so many people when it happened and for those who saw it will never forget. For me it means a lot to me because my parents raised me on the Beatles and were playing their music during the time my mother was expecting me as their first child.
The Beatles are one of my favorite musical groups of all time, so I have seen many clips of them before but this one is the most important since it was their first ever. It jump started their careers in America with this performance along with their Ed Sullivan Show performances. For me I have been spoiled because everything I grew up with on TV has been in color, so I feel kind of bad for people that had to watch many things in black and white who would have loved to see what the stage looked like in color. I did think it was kind of cheesy to have arrows pointing at them to make the point that they were here and just arrived, but usually Ed has very good sets for the musicians on his show. The Beatles are just something very important in my life and I couldn’t live without their music. One thing that will never leave my mind is the CGs on the screen telling who each Beatle was and that they said “Sorry Girls He’s Married” (over John).
It reminds me of another musical group I love where they said the same thing about two of their members ‘being married so sorry’ but hey the other members are single, ladies. The song selection was very important as well. The song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” is probably one the most iconic songs from the early work of the Beatles. It’s the simplest thing you can say to a girl that all you want to do is hold their hand that’s its so genius of them. The other songs were great also like “She Loves You”, “All My Loving”, and “Till There Was You”. I remember they played “Till There Was You” for the older crowd because it wasn’t an original Beatles song.
My favorite song they played “I Saw Her Standing There”, is one of my favorite Paul songs. In the end it was and will always be a memorable and unforgettable performance of a lifetime not just for me but for all the people who were in the audience or were at home watching it on their televisions with their families.
There is another important clip we saw in class and that I’ve seen many times before. It will go down as an important moment in television and Rock N Roll history. I have seen many clips of musicians on the Ed Sullivan show like the Beatles for example but this one will be in my memory not because the performance was epic, but because of the controversy that occurred. This was in color unlike the Beatles performance. One of my music heroes who did died too soon was supposed to take out words from his song, “Girl We couldn’t Get Much Higher” in the song “Light My Fire”. He had agreed earlier that he would take the words out, but knowing Jim Morrison who is always about himself and looking cool as you know decided not to do what he said he would do.
They started to play the song and because of time they couldn’t play the full song with all the electric organs solos, so I knew it was going to be a two or three minute performance of a song that I really liked because it’s a love song. When he started to say the words that he said he wasn’t supposed to say I knew something bad was going to happen from this performance between the Doors and Ed Sullivan. Really, I was kind of shocked the first time I saw it but then it dawned on me who Jim Morrison was. I don’t think anyone knew of the agreement when they were watching, so the response wasn’t as surprising you would think unless they heard about it before. It was a very good performance from the electric organ player, Ray Manzarek, who is one of the best ever and Jim has one of the greatest rock voices of all time. I usually feel chills when he sings because it’s so emotional and powerful.
One thing I learned in class was that for some of the performances of the Rolling Stones they had an audio delay or a lowering of the volume when Mick Jagger would sing a line from “Satisfaction” so why didn’t the show do it for the Doors performance just in case he wasn’t going to keep his word, which he didn’t? When they were done playing the song you could see Ed was furious and that he wasn’t going to be shaking their hands, which he didn’t. He told the Doors that “You guys will never play the Ed Sullivan Show again” and in response to that Jim Morrison said “Well, we just did the Ed Sullivan Show”, which is a great quote and a smart one. Because of this the Doors of course never performed on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The impression that it had on me was that Jim liked to do what he wanted and he didn’t care what the consequences were or the aftermath; which kind of played into his recklessness that took his life at a young age. I also remember it because it was a performance of a group I liked very much more than it just being controversial, even though that helps in remembering it and it’s another group my parents instilled in me like the Beatles.
This brings up the controversy of censoring things. In the past, things were much cleaner than it is currently in how things are shown on television, with more explicit things now are shown on television than the past. It first started with only showing Elvis from the waist up and Little Richard and onwards to watching and seeing the lines in “Satisfaction “not heard. This one of the most famous censorship problems in television and Rock n Roll History and it will always be remembered.
Both of these clips are important parts of television and Rock N Roll history but for different reasons. They were both on the same show for the performances but one was in color and the other was in black and white. One was controversial while the other was exciting and fun but they were both memorable and were two of the greatest musical acts of all time.