Beatles 50th anniversary show Ed Sullivan

[neil2726]

A bit like the Shads - the Beatles early stuff was the best!

[stephen]

Certainly agree with you on that point, Neil.

Just to recap somewhat...................
My main intention in this post was to state what a fantastic version of , "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" that Joe Walsh turned in and that I appreciated it more than the George Harrison/Eric Clapton original. It was at this point that I actually tuned in to the show and as has been (sadly) usual in recent years, Paul's performance was almost a parody of his Beatles days. As I said, personally and for that, please read PERSONALLY, I can hardly bear to look or listen to the guy these days. We are all entitled to like or dislike particular music/musicians including ex-Beatles and contrary to the belief of some, not appreciating the output & performances of Sir Paul, isn't heresy or subject to discriminatory punishment!

Also, I specifically said that I (personally!) liked John & George as people and made scant mention of their music/input to the Beatles catalogue/how they stacked up against Paul musically etc. I never bought into the 'Saint' John thing and although most of his post-Beatles stuff wasn't to my taste, I did admire him for trying new and not necessarily commercial or populist music. George was just off the wall in his non-musical pursuits! That he found being a hands-on gardener at Friar Park as absorbing as making music, was so like him. His son, who never knew George as anything other than a dad who spent all his time happily digging and planting trees & bushes, came home from school one day after being confronted by some school friends, and said, "Dad! Why didn't you ever tell me that you were a Beatle?" It's for things like that, I love George......................

Looking back to my youth in Liverpool, I was never really that keen on the Beatles music. I a lot of it just a bit too 'poppy' for me. In Liverpool, we were fortunate to have a few really good 'heavier' bands turning out R&B. The Big Three and The Undertakers were my favourites and choice for the lunchtime Cavern sessions.

Just as an afterthought, does anyone remember Freddie Starr (Freddie Starr & The Midnighters) before he became known just as a comic? There used to be a sort of big battle-of-the-bands held annually at Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Hall (if I remember correctly) and Freddie's group (wasn't 'bands' in those days) was the one to beat. Odd to think of him in that context now.

Stephen.

[JimN]

Just as an afterthought, does anyone remember Freddie Starr (Freddie Starr & The Midnighters) before he became known just as a comic? There used to be a sort of big battle-of-the-bands held annually at Liverpool Royal Philharmonic Hall (if I remember correctly) and Freddie's group (wasn't 'bands' in those days) was the one to beat. Odd to think of him in that context now.
Stephen.

Freddy Starr was always a bit out of the ordinary in Liverpool, even before the days of The Beatles and the Mersey Beat boom.

He was, for instance, one of the cast of the film "Violent Playground", set in Liverpool and made in 1958 - when John and Paul were still part of a skiffle group.

See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052367/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

But he was certainly part of the sixties scene in the city, as the lead singer of "Freddy Starr and the Midniters". I can - just - remember him appearing on Granada's "Scene At Six Thirty" with the group, miming to their debut single. But shortly thereafter, he seemed to disappear, surfacing only some years later (probably as late as the 1970s) with his chicken-in-the-basket cabaret club comedy act which set him on course for his mature career.

[dave robinson]

I saw Freddie Starr & The Midniters at Pete Sringfellow's Black Cat Club in 1963, great band but Freddie thought he was Billy Fury at that time.

[Billyboygretsch]

I think Goerges family looked extremely happy with Joe Walshe's performance. I think he is an outstanding musician and I bought the first James a Gang album. He seems to be able to adapt to so many styles and do them justice

[MikeAB]

Never could stand Lennon as a person, right from the beginning and certainly later on - would have been a great Beatles fan but for his presence. Still have a lot of their music of course (!) - plus 'Imagine' for which he should be almost forgiven everything. Can't stand his 'sainthood', 'cool' status - nothing like as talented as he thought he was and he wasn't as peaceful as he liked to pretend either.

[LANKY]

I saw Paul live three times in the 70s with Wings, including an early gig at a long-gone venue round the back of Old Trafford Cricket Ground - the venue is now a B&Q! That was an incredible experience. The 70s was the best time to see and hear Paul, simply because you could actually hear him!! There are a handful of his post-Beatles albums which are really fine pieces of work, especially Band on the run. My other favourites are Ram, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, Flowers in the dirt and Tug of war. All these have great melodies and superb performances. I also love his first classical work, the Liverpool Oratorio (I was at one of the first performances of this at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral). Paul was always going to get a hard time from critics who unfairly expected him to maintain the standard of the Beatles recordings. A major part of the Beatles' achievements was the genius of Sir George Martin, both in his productions and his musical contributions. Paul's own productions could never come up to that, even though Paul learned such a lot from him.

[Steve Parish]

I liked his rock n roll album from the nineties, Run Devil Run was it?

[abstamaria]

The significance here of that show 50 years ago is that it marked the departure of popular listeners from the Ventures and the Shadows. That included me at 14. Instrumental guitar bands became yesterday's music.

Andy

[GoldenStreet]

John by his own admission was lazy compared to Paul's 'workaholic' approach - hence 'Sgt Pepper', 'Magical Mystery Tour' & the ill fated 'Let it Be' projects, plus the Abbey Road side two collage....all mainly Paul's ideas or work with bits of Lennon added here and there...

Lennon's autobiographical song, Nowhere Man (one of my favourite Beatles tracks), is a self-confessional piece, a reflection of a man struggling to motivate himself and articulating his disillusionment with life in general at that time... but, at the same time, an expression of the need for optimism.

Bill