Beatles 50th Sullivan Anniversary Count Down…17 Days

The photo on the left was taken from the control room during the dress rehearsal for the February 9 live show. Most of the screaming girl footage was shot during this very long rehearsal and inserted via videotape into the live broadcast. Remember, The Beatles had already taped the February 23 show earlier this same day and all the audio settings had been worked out in the days first rehearsal (closed to the public) and worked well in the taping at 3, BUT…during the lunch break (3:30 -4:30) someone in maintenance wiped off the grease pencil marks on the audio board! The day’s second dress rehearsal lasted well over an hour as The Beatles asked for playbacks of the first session to compare the sound. Candy Cushing and others that were there have told me that there was quite a bit of back and forth with the band as they worked out the audio problems. Sullivan also did some back and forth with the audience during the long lulls and this is when the famous shot of him in a Beatle wig was taken.

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