It was my very first television memory. All six of
us were gathered around our jumpy RCA victor black and white TV that Sunday
night 50 years ago. I was two months shy of turning six years old. My brother
Donnie was 15 and about to have his life changed by those four boys from
Liverpool. My parents were about to be horrified.
Ed Sullivan, looking an awful lot like Richard Nixon
with his five o’clock shadow, spun around and shouted, “The Beatles!!” I was
mesmerized by the spectacle of the thing. The volume and intensity of the
screaming girls was actually a little scary. I glanced at Donnie and Linda. They
were both nodding their heads in rhythm to the music. Paula’s expression was
wild eyed excitement, not unlike what one would expect on Christmas morning. Mom
and Dad stared at the screen as if they were watching someone killing a living
thing. They were both destined to hate their music, but what they really didn’t
like were their haircuts. Thanks to Ed Sullivan, a generation gap was introduced
into the Dunnevant home.
All of this comes to mind after watching the Grammy’s
salute to the Beatles special the other night. It was easily the best two hours
I’ve spent in front of my television in quite a while. The musicians selected
to perform their songs were all wonderful. Towards the end, Ringo performed a
three song set followed by Paul who absolutely nailed “Get Back,” I Saw Her
Standing there,” and “Birthday.” Here were two guys in their 70’s still having
fun playing rock & roll. It was a joyous night.
My wife often accuses me of being out of step with
contemporary music. She is correct. The music I most enjoy all seems to have
been originally recorded 30-50 years ago. “You have to keep up with the new acts
honey,” she says. “If you don’t, you’ll get old!” I must admit that I was
introduced to a few of them watching this show and was mightily impressed. But
when your first introduction to contemporary music was the Ed Sullivan show on
a February night 50 years ago, it’s a hard act to follow. Transformational
talent doesn’t come along every day, and when it does it has a tendency to ruin
you for whatever follows. There were thousands of classical musicians from 300
years ago who have completely vanished from history, so ordinary and
unremarkable were their works. We still celebrate the likes of Mozart,
Beethoven, and Bach because they were special, transcendent talents. Similarly,
the vast majority of current popular music will be a mist 300 years from now.
Not so the Beatles.
But my wife is right. Maroon 5, Imagine Dragons,
Dave Grohl, John Meyer, Keith Urban, John Legend and Alicia Keys were all
fantastic, immensely talented performers. I probably should tune in more often.
It’s bad enough that I am getting
old, it would be a crime if I start acting
old.
Just don’t ask me to give Hip Hop a listen….not
gonna happen.
