It was 61 years ago today...

Watched that on a neighbor's TV (we had none), then in September of that year my dad took me to their show, in Baltimore, on my 12th birthday.  My first concert.  With many more since then.  But that band, just the one time.  

So, how many Ed Sullivan Show "really big hits" end up being "really big duds"?

Yes! Amarcord! I watched the mop tops on Ed Sullivan too. And the screaming girls were in full force too. 
Fast forward to now and there’s a bra and panties ad on the bottom on this page. 
Perfect. 
Then and now all in a swirl. 

When the Beatles first hit our shores, I was firmly into the Motown sound and did not like the Beatles while in high school, yeah, yeah, yeah. Then I went to college, Sgt. Pepper's came out, and Vietnam war was killing my friends while I played baseball on a sports scholarship. Oh, and I discovered weed.

That synergistic interaction was a reality check on how I perceived my world. Forgetabout the old conservative, racist, religious shackles of the mind numbing 1950ies. Instead of Motown (still great) it was the Beatles, Stones, Doors, Led Zepplin, The Band, Airplane, Santana et. al.  Music fueled my generation and as a result I got my "head screwed on correctly" and have had a "wonderful life". Oh Yeah!

Lest we forget that the arrival of the Beatles was exactly the cure needed for America's mass depression following JFK's assassination.

The Beatles let us be happy again.