FIRST TIME HEARING The Beatles - Twist & Shout - Performed Live On The Ed Sullivan Show REACTION 

This was 58 years ago TODAY! Their first performance on American television (they did several songs.) 73.7 MILLION viewers (almost 65% of the population then) and is still the 2nd most-watched program of all time. I wish I was alive to see it!

John the singer was in his early 20s too. Now play Don’t Let Me Down from the 1969 rooftop concert and see their transformation from teen idols to cultural icons.

Cool observation about these old videos. My sister was six and I was five years old when Mom was yelling at us for sitting too close to the TV watching the Beatles for the first time. You can’t imagine how it felt watching them play. Geez, it makes me realize how old I am. The more you listen to how their music progressed through the next years, the more you’ll see that they were something special. They were more to music than just a rock band.

They get better and better as ya go through the album's their success will never be repeated again. A day in the life, Norwegian wood strawberry Fields, there's tons....

Our man is correct. Despite this being super early, and having a very traditional early Rock and Roll vibe to it, the TONE of those guitars is really something. That Beatles sound that you hear later in their careers, was already present in this.

Help..If I fell in love with you..Yesterday..Revolution..Strawberry Fields Forever..all great songs! Come together was awesome too..Love your reactions!

After this legendary performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, there wasn't a dry seat left in the House!😀

You’re learning history through music so that’s great! Girls used to pass out getting all worked up over watching the Beatles! Those fans were seriously invested, ha!

My Mama said I watched this when I was a year old. She said I stood an inch from the TV completely hypnotized. I got my first Beatles album when I was 3 from my beloved Grandma. I just know I've always loved them

This changed the world of popular music. Follow them through the years These initial performances on the Sullivan Show is the marker on the Timeline: Pre Beatles | After Beatles

TY so much for playing 'Twist & Shout.' I watched this Live on our b & w TV in our living room @ home on a Sunday night. My memories flooded back with tears in my eyes. Beatles Best Band ever 🫶

The Beatles video of "Come Together" is a must see, it's so trippy.

There was 73,000,000 viewers this night it changed the music landscape this was Feb and in April the Beatles had the top 5 hits on the charts at the same time and had 24 charted hits that year as well

They help create the early stages of Rock Music! They turn the pop and rocking roll scene up side down and nobody like them and never will be!! There the greatest of all time!!

Today February 9th is the 58th anniversary of them playing on the Ed Show. It was the 1st time America got to see the Beatles. I remember this night. Me and my brother watched it and were amazed. We grab old badminton rackets and imitated them. Please react to The Beatles Live on the rooftop playing Dont Let me down.

Nah.... THIS is what's crazy... That Ed Sullivan show you are watching is one of my earliest memories. I remember watching it live with my brothers and sisters in the family room. In Feb 1964 I was 5. What's crazy is me sharing that moment with you kids in 2022. That little girl with braces and glasses is someone's grandma. Cheers!

I remember the night we gathered around our set to see this episode of The Ed Sullivan Show - It was awesome!

You know, this was just a few months after Kennedy was assassinated. The Beatles did a lot to bring some happiness to America.

The crazy thing here is that when the Beatles played live they couldn’t even hear their own instruments because of all the screaming girls. So to perform live they had to completely rely on timing.

I had just turned 14 when the Beatles hit our shore! From that moment when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, we never relaxed...until they broke up & broke our hearts in 1970! They brought us thru our youth & into our adolescence & beyond. I was 20 when the breakup happened & it hit me hard. But, I was thankful bc they brought along so many other artists from England and it was astounding how our own musicians responded, including the veteran Beach Boys! It was an amazing time! I still remember how we'd wait for the next release of a single or an album! Their singles were never on an album! Every single seemed to have two "A" sides, every album not a bad song on them! It was strangely weird! That's why the Beatles will live on FOREVER!

My mom was a huge Paul McCartney fan and when The Ed Sullivan Show did two nights of the Beatles “welcome to America” my mom made sure we had our TV dinners and got to eat in the living room. 📺 I was 6 yrs old and never forgot that great memory. I lost my mom in 2018 to Alzheimer’s 🥺 💟

Watching the progression of this channel is hilarious- the first several videos the lady is totally into it, then at some point you get the impression she’s thinking “what? You want to pump out one of these damn videos a few times a week!! Oh man…c’mon!”

I believe at one point during their us tour they had the top 5 somgs in the chart ( at the same time) 40 million people watched them on one tv show ( ed Sullivan)

I was 1 of millions that saw this live on The Ed Sullivan Show. These guys took the U.S. without even trying. They were ready to make history.

In 1964, I was 13, not to many people had color TV and not all programs were shown in color. I remember so well when the Beatles came to the US their music was totally different than what we had been listening to. We went from Beach Music to the Beatles, then Rolling Stones and we were off and running with the British Invasion. Best time of my life!!!

They had color tv's in '64 but there were very limited programs that were broadcasted in color. Ed Sullivan show was something that you looked forward to every week!

My older 14 year old sister was The Beatles fan, our family, the whole country saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday, February 9, 1964. Playing in various configurations since 1958 in England and Germany, they were an experienced band when they appeared on the show. After that show, a lot of kids wanted to sing, play guitar or drums. Sidenote, commercial TV networks began primetime color broadcasts in 1965 (that why NBC uses the Peacock).

The Beatles have a very large playlist! Just pick most any song!

I think every teenage girl in America who had a tv was watching this! Color tvs came out in the 50’s but it wasn’t until the mid to late 60’s that most people could afford them. My father worked as a television repairman and was able to get a used one. Every year all of the neighborhood children would come to our house to watch the Wizard of Oz.

The way the smile slowly grows on her face...

You should check out when Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. Instead of a seven hundred screaming fans there was around 55,000.

I got to see the Beatle in 1965 ... My 1st concert. It was a crazy time.

They were a Phenomenon! No one comes even close to what they did. It’s almost unreal to be honest. Their legacy! They changed the World!

We had color TVs in 64....but most TV was Black and white until 66 or 67. I remember watching all the Beatles appearances on Ed Sullivan......it was a revolution'!!!!!

There was Probably things in colour back in 64 but it was expensive to use back then. The Beatles... from my home town, the drummer Ringo Starr is old house is 600 meters from my house now.

Definitely, back in those days bands sounded like their records..... amazing!!!😍😍

I have been a Beatles fan all my life, I do know in concert this the last song, because it took so much effort on his voice

Check out their two beautiful love songs. Great chorus to these two songs called "If I Fell( in love with you) and "Here, There." The Beatles were always great with singing different types of songs.

Great memory. I remember sitting cross legged in front of the black and white television in 1964 watching it. They did the studio record in one take because of the stress on John's voice.

You did great on this reaction. And you’re right it was black and white except for the people that have color TV in color TV was just coming out! Amazing experience I was there when was the kid. My mom was going nuts over this thing! She saw the bill noodles the Beatles! And fell in love with them. Same thing happened before with Elvis!

To answer your question there were color TVs available but they were expensive. The last 4 seasons of "The Adventures of Superman" (1953 - 1957) were filmed in color but only broadcast in B&W. Then in 1965 they were first broadcast in color. FYI: All of the Beatle appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show were in B&W.

It was on this date that they 1st appeared on ed sullivan. Ed sullivan show was big back then. You got to see groups live new comedians entertainers

I was 9 when I saw this on TV. There was color TV but hardly anyone had one. Even if they did most recordings and TV shows were filmed in black and white. There was only 3 major stations, ABC,CBS and NBC. You might be able to get PBS on UHF and I don't believe remote control had been invented yet. If do, no one I knew had it. You had to get up and change the channel knob on the TV. I was elated when we got an RCA big picture (19inch) color console TV in 1967 that my dad paid $600.00 for which was a lot of money! This was the early Beatles and this song was a cover which the early Beatles did several of. Up until the Beatles, most bands were reserved and fans that saw their shows were very reserved as well. When they appeared with their long hair, the boys insisted on letting their hair grow long and would get Beatles haircuts because that's what girls liked. Their sound was explosive for the times and the fans became less reserved. The Beatles completely changed music and culture worldwide. Check out their Shea Stadium concert from 1965. Over 50,000 fans, the most ever for a concert, and the music was piped in over the stadium speakers and yet the band couldn't even hear themselves over the screaming in the stands. From 1964 to 1970 The Beatles recorded over 230 songs 20 #1 hits, 35 top ten hits and consistently had songs in the top 100. They are the GOATS bar none. They have consistently been one of the best sellers every single year since their break up in 1970 including last year. Each member has also had many solo hit songs after the break up. "A Day In The Life" was a breakthrough song for the music industry with all of it's innovations. The Beatles also made movies like HELP, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT and MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR all named after their albums titles. They also may have made the first music videos and even had their own cartoon TV show. You might need to just play the studio audio only versions of their music to avoid copyright issues.

I watched live. I was 10 years old. It was on a Sunday night. The next day at school every guy had their hair like the Beatles. You cannot imagine the cultural impact they had. Nothing since has come close!

There were color TVs in 1964, but they were quite rare. On our street, the first color TV was bought around 1966. I remember going to see it. My parents bought our first color TV in 1969.

Color TV started to become commonplace a couple years later around 1966-1970. Most people were still new to having a television for more than a couple years in 1964.

Great observation as far as how long ago this was, and to be able to watch it on video is simply amazing. I guess you all feel the same as I do when I watch videos on RU-vid from the 1900's. It blows my mind when I watch them, and to think all the people in those 1900 video are dead...even the kids. Check them out and it is very interesting. But thanks for watching The Beatles. I could tell you were both enjoying the performance.

We had been hearing them on the radio for a couple weeks and couldn't wait to see them. My grandmother lived with us then and I recall I was outside when Ed Sullivan came on and she came to the door and shouted, "Them Beagles are coming on!" I didn't know anyone with a color TV until a few years later. One friend who was upper middle class had a color set and some of us would go to his house to watch Star Trek in color. Of course they'd had color movies since the 1930s but to see color on TV was amazing. They even sold colored screens you could put on the TV that were green at the bottom and shifted to blue at the top to give the illusion of color TV. But the Beatles were everywhere in 1964. Seems every other song on the radio was The Beatles. I've never experienced anything like it since. Their first film, A Hard Days Night, was in black and white but the second movie, Help, was in color. And then they came out with Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band in their colorful band uniforms. It was like they turned the world from black and white to color. Even the music seemed to change from black and white to color in the 1960s.

What's amazing is how _in tune_ they sang, and how their harmonies _blended._ Understand: Since around 5 years after this (say, Woodstock in 1969), live bands have had monitor speakers pointed at them, so they can hear themselves, and tune their vocals. (More recently that's changed to in-ear monitor headphones.) In '64, The Beatles were already an experienced road act; and knew how to sing in tune without _any_ monitoring aids. It helps that the volumes they played at were much lower in those days; but still, their performance abilities were off the hook.

Color TV was around in '64, but it cost over $400, which was a LOT of money in those days. Everywhere that The Beatles performed live was a madhouse of screaming teenage girls, sometimes they couldn't even hear their own music. But there was one song, that Paul McCartney sang solo on The Ed Sullivan Show which silenced the entire crow. That song was "Yesterday" give it a look and a listen.

This from the Brittanica Online: Although colour TV was introduced to consumers in 1954, less than 1 percent of homes had a colour set by the end of that year. Ten years later, in fact, nearly 98 percent of American homes still did not have one. It was not until 1964 that NBC was finally broadcasting over half its programs in colour; CBS reached that threshold the following year.

The smile on your face is heartwarming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was 8 when I watched that show. There were a few color TVs then, but most shows were still shot in black and white. Things started getting more colorized during the late '60s.

This was the very moment I fell in love with Beatles. I sat in the living room with my parents and that love affair has lasted till this day.

We had color TV's in 1964! My parents had a Curtis Mathes oval screen console! Watched the NBC Peacock on that screen on many occasions. I was 16 at the time! Then I listened to I am The Walrus in Nam, during th e Summer of Love, 67

I'm glad that you appreciate what great access you have to classic music! When I started driving literally the only access we had to music in the car was the radio. We were so excited when 8 track and then cassette tape came out! You guys are so lucky to have RU-vid!

The best group ever- thank you--MORE

I was only 4 when this was recorded but I was the youngest of my family and some of my siblings were teenagers so I was raised on this stuff. At that time, families only had one TV in the living room, and, yes, it was black and white. My family didn't get a color TV until 1976 when my Dad won a color set in a raffle. We still only had one set in the house though so age outranked youth so I only got to watch what I wanted when nobody else was watching TV. But we only had like 5 channels to watch anyway which is why us "boomers" have so much common history and know the same shows and the same music. It still binds us together to a certain extent. You can mention a certain episode of "Gilligan's Island" for example and we are all familiar with it.

I was six years old and it’s like yesterday. I’m smiling with you!

There were colour tv's in 1964, but they were incredibly expensive. I believe the Ed Sullivan Show went to colour broadcast the following season .

Hey guys! Great reaction. I check ya out most days. Funny how you were talking about getting to watch something like this from so long ago. Sunday night Feb. 9, 1964 I was 9. Sis was 7 and little bro was 4. Sis and I remember vividly watching The Ed Sullivan Show with mom and dad when The Beatles performed. It is impossible to fully comprehend the effect on American youth that night. Even having grown up in the '60s and '70s listening to every genre of music I could find, I still find it staggering the cultural wave they brought with them. Anyway, Thanks.

I was nine years old when they played The Ed Sullivan show then I remember watching it black and white TV that's all we had everybody had their own antennas and you had to go out and turn them to get them pointed in the right direction and then you can get a picture on your TV where I live we only had two stations and that was in the mountains of Southern Oregon

"I saw her standing there" " long tall sally" " hard days night" from the film " tomoorow never knows" " Helter Skelter" " Strawberry fields forever" " Because" and so much more

That was the very first time that people in North America had seen The Beatles live! There was nobody else like them! They changed the world and rock music would never be the same! They progressed so quickly and every other band just followed along. When you think of The Beatles and their place in creating what you know as rock music today you must realize that it was The Beatles way up on top and everyone else playing catch up. They led the way for all of the bands you listen to today. All the other bands waited for the next Beatles album so that they could follow along in that direction! Try In My Life by them written just a year after this appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to see the how they were leaps and bounds ahead of everybody else in their progression in song writing, lyrics, musicality and talent that just kept on growing and growing. They were and still are to this day the gold standard in the creation of this powerful music!

I saw the show where they did this song. This song is one of the best sounding tunes played live. I watched this performance live on TV.

i was seated 3 feet from the tv screen on feb 9, 1964 to watch america's introduction to the beatles. a REAL boy band that played their own instruments.

A day in the Life! Also, remember that most Beatles tracks were recorded on only 4 tracks in the beginning of their careers, later on 8 tracks.

Everyone that had a TV back then was watching....Parents hated it, but the Counterculture had started....Music, and Beatles when then washed up on the shores of the USA from London, my generation changed forever. Rolling Stones, Rock and Roll, was here....countercultural, Hippies....Now we still smoke our Cannabis, but it's for arthritis, and back pain, damn we had a good time... They look so young, yet I remember watching that night like yesterday. I had cool parents, grew up with All kinds of music....Thankful

The Beatles are always great to react to since they're so influential and had a tremendous impact on culture

Check out "I Want You, (She's So Heavy)" by the Beatles.

I was 11 at the time. Yes color TV was around, but there were not too many sets at the time and most of us still had black and white sets.

This is from the very end of the black and white TV era. First color movie was “Gone With The Wind” in 1939, I think, but TV was black and white until about 1965, then color came in one show at a time. By 1968 or so all new shows and most shows on TV were color except for re-runs. I was born in 1965 so we wanted to watch color, and our parents’ wanted to watch black & white.

58 years ago today February 9 1964 this video was made. At the time The Beatles were the biggest thing in all of snow business.

Your right -- being able to see all this stuff on RU-vid even for me is great !! When I was young, we had ABC, NBC and CBS, radio and in the beginning on AM radio not FM- that was it- period

My parents let me and my brothers stay up to watch the show. It was all anyone was talking about. They were great.

Ironically their signature song playing live in their early recording days was this, a cover.

Fun fact, contrary to what people think, those girls screaming, is what lead to loud amplifiers. The original push for volume was due to crowd noise. But then of course, it lead to discovering all the magical things that happen when you turn the right amp up full blast, which lead to everything great in the 60s and 70s music scenes.

I was 11 years old when this was aired on the Ed Sullivan Show.I was so excited to get to see the Beatles in a live performance.Prior to this,the only images we had of the group were stills in magazines or a quick glimpse in some news reel.All the girls were crazy for them and there was so much screaming during their performances I was surprised we could even here them.As you can tell John was almost yelling out the lyrics to be heard over the screaming.It was the beginning of a new era in Rock & Roll music for America."The British Invasion" as it was coined,was moving us away from Do Wop music and into more complicated rhythms and lyrics.The Beatles only toured for a few years and then started releasing studio album and movies.I think they may have only toured in the USA two times,but I might be wrong there.Though there was some color tv shows in the early 60s ,there were still a lot of black and white programs.My family didn't have a color tv until 1966.Those tvs had large tubes in them (like little like bulds)and you removed a burnt out tube yourself and took it to the store and bought replacements for them..even the big picture tube ,which also was the veiwing screen ,you could have changed out.

Mr Postman is a must by them it's a cover of The Marvelettes from Motown , and what a cover . They wrote 200 songs in 7 yrs plus what they wrote after split . Also do a reaction to A Brief History Of The Beatles , you'll love it

I was 13 in 1964 and so excited to see The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. My mom was ok with their songs and my dad not ok. But, he ended up liking them later with songs like In My Life and Elinor Rigby. Thanks dad for listening to the music.

You should really listen to 'A Day In The Life' by the Beatles

This song has been covered so many times!!! Parade scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off...lip synced perfect in high stereo.

Glad you appreciate the time machine nature of being able to watch the past.

the year i was born! April 17th the number one hit was by the Beatles " can't buy me love"

I was 4 years old too... Color TVs were pretty rare at that time and color tv shows were also rare when I was a kid. The Beatles were huge... no I MEAN HUGE.... They were only together for less than a decade and had 20 number one hits, the most of any artist...

They had color TVs in the late 50s on but few shows were broadcast in color. With the Beatles, they were so popular it made zero difference. Thanks for the great review!

I would recommend you these songs from these Beatles albums: 1963 Please Please me - Please, please me; Love me do; A taste of honey. 1963 With the Beatles - Roll over Beethoven; Money (That's what I want). 1964 A hard day's night - I should have known better; Things we said today. 1964 Beatles for sale - Baby's in black; Rock and Roll music; Eight days a week. 1965 Help! - You've got to hide your love away. 1965 Rubber Soul - Norwegian Wood; Nowhere man; Run for your life. 1966 Revolver - Eleanor Rigby; I'm only sleeping. 1967 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - With a little help from my friends; Lucy in the sky with diamonds; Fixing a hole; she's leaving home; Being for the benefit of Mr Kite; Lovely Rita; A day in the life. 1968 The Beatles White Album - Back in the USSR; Dear Prudence; Glass Onion; The continuing story of Bungalow Bill; Piggies; Rocky Raccoon; Julia; Mother nature's son; Sexy Sadie; Helter Skelter; Savoy Truffle. 1969 Yellow Submarine - All you need is love. 1969 Abbey Road - I want you (She's so heavy); You never give me your money; She came in through the bathroom window; Golden slumbers; carry that weight; The end (these last three songs have to be played together) 1970 Let it be - Two of us; Across the universe; I've got a feeling. Also: I am the walrus; Strawberry fields forever, which are in an album sold in the US under the name of Magical Mystery Tour.

In 1962 I heard a relation of my brother-in-law talk about this group that he had just seen in Hamburg ,Germany called `the Silver Beatles` ( he had been stationed there whilst in the RAF). " Watch out for them, they re going to be really big" . I`m ashamed to say that I scoffed ,saying whoever heard of a group with such a stupid name .He was right and I was totally wrong and admitted it when in1963 they started releasing their music and I was hooked !

The thing to be aware of is that when the Beatles came to prominence, they were moving in and out of a genre that far more than rock and roll as it was developing. They took it so far beyond those limits that it was a genre of its own. And because it was undefined, they were able to do such stunningly different styles and were accepted, because it was all theirs. And that let them lay down the foundations of multiple subgenres that inspired others who saw niches for themselves. A true phenomenon. The remarkable thing is that they continues to extend the limits to the end and in some cases individually far further.

Although invented in the early 50s, color TVs did not become affordable to the general public until the mid 60s. I remember watching Bonanza as the first program in color for me.

Consumer color TV was in development in 1964 but almost nobody would have had one. I was 7 years old when our family got its first color TV in 1968.

Color Televisions existed in the early 1960s but were very expensive. So not too many people owned them. Great cover of the Isley Brothers classic, they made it their own.

Yes, there was color TV, but it was somewhat new and rare. BTW - I was 8 years old at the time. As always, thanks for sharing. Steve

A lot of your subscribers actually remember watching this performance on TV.

I'm 68, so you're talking my music now! I saw this live when I was 10!

They did have color TV's in 1964, but most broadcasts were still in black and white.

Honestly bro…without a video showing the boy’s doing their shit…you are b class reaction!!!!!!!!!

Love that you both smiled at the aaahs

I was in the 4th grade when this happened. The reverberation at school the next day was palpable. It's all we could talk about...We drove the Nuns crazy...

"Yesterday" is an awesome song. I think you both would like it