February 8, 1964…The Beatles & Ed Sullivan Prepare To Make History
February 8, 1964…The Beatles & Ed Sullivan Prepare To Make History
On this date in 1964, The Beatles had their first rehearsal for “The Ed Sullivan Show” at CBS Studio 50 in New York. All prior highs in television ratings and record sales was about to explode.
Many still haven’t realized that The Beatles third appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on February, 23 1964 was taped the afternoon of their first live appearance on February 9th. This time table is a great help in understanding the sequence of events that began on this day in 1964.
Some may wonder how the Saturday rehearsal was possible since “The Jackie Gleason Show” was also done at Studio 50 on Saturdays, and the answer may surprise you. Beginning around 1961, Gleason began taping the show on Thursday nights, but it was live-to-tape with no edits, which kept the show looking as live as it had since it’s start in 1952. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
Above is one of the world’s most unique selfies…Sullivan Assistant Director John Moffit (without his glasses) at Ringo’s black oyster pearl Ludwig drums, just after the Saturday morning rehearsal. The next two photos are from the two Sunday rehearsals and the tall man with the glasses is Moffit and the shorter bald man is Director Tim Kiley.
Thanks danny did not know this..
I got to work with director Tim Kiley on a freelance gig at Astin-Zappia in LA around 1981, and when I heard his name I said, “hey! You directed the ED SULLIVAN SHOW with the Beatles!” And he laughed and rolled his eyes and said, “that seems to be all people ever want to talk about.” Terrific guy, very talented, did a ton of work over the years.
Ok in 64 ha ha
Yea yea yea
The second appearance was weird, in that hotel in Miami. And who controls the Gleason Variety Show tapes? You can’t find ANYTHING on YouTube after he moved over to CBS from Dumont.