Half a century ago...

Yes, I remember watching that Ed Sullivan Show, and even as a preteen I realized that the Beatles were a sensational musical group.

I've just finished watching the television special celebrating that event, which included performances by Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney, and it certainly brought back memories of the "Fab Four' and their great influence on Anglo-American culture.

Living through the sixties, that was quite an experience, and the Beatles were a significant part of it.

Beatles' music is something never to be forgotten, across the universe--whether your guitar is gently weeping, or you're getting back, or the sun is coming, or even if you're going out and getting her... --C.K.

I was another lucky one who got to see that first performance here in the states on the Ed SUllivan Show. I don't think my father was very impressed, but my sister and I were. I was just shy of being 11 then, and Abbey Road is still my favorite album of all time. When I was in high school, we had to write a 40 page term paper, our choice of topics as long at it was looosely termed "literature." I chose the Beatles as my topic and and recieved the highest grade in the class for what was really the first thing I had ever written. Now I wish I had made a second copy of that paper, because the teacher kept it and I never got to see it again.

As for last nights show, I didn't know it was on until it was almost over, but the last 45 minutes were great. Hoping it will be on "on Demand" so I can watch it again.

Advertisements at the end of the show indicated that it, presumably meaning a DVD of it, would be going on sale pretty much immediately, and of course someone will probably post a copy on YouTube at some point--I'd guess it will be going "on demand" as well.

I'd venture that if you saw the performances by Ringo and (Sir) Paul, you caught the best part of the special. For the most part, nobody does Beatles music like the Beatles themselves, or at least the remaining pair of them--some of the other artists' interpretations of Beatles songs were interesting, but I found a couple of them to be rather jarring.

Ringo leading the audience in singing "Yellow Submarine" was terrific, it was obvious how much he was enjoying himself... --C.K.