My dad was a real ham and had the uncanny ability to take a timely news event, especially if it related to the popular culture or baseball, and bring it to life. My mom was often the unsuspecting Gracie Allen to his deadpan George Burns. Her sweet and unsuspecting manner as the unwitting accomplice only made the stories of Pete funnier with the patina of time.
Sir Paul McCartney’s receiving of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song brought on a recent wave of nostalgia. McCartney was awarded the prize and performed recently at the White House. The event was aired on PBS. Paul McCartney: In Performance at the White House. Did you see it? Paul McCartney played away on the guitar he used on the Ed Sullivan Show and other artists from country to rock and roll took to the makeshift stage to give their renditions of McCartney’s songs.
The picture was taken on February 15, 1964. I know the date of the photo because it was a week after The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show to the screaming tears of teenage girls and the utter amazement over what was happening to music by what are now referred to as “the greatest generation”. My family watched that Sunday, February 9, 1964 on our black and white Zenith television; the same television where we all sat in shock the previous November when John Kennedy was shot. I remember feeling as if the Beatles came over to jolt us out of our national grief.
Well, Daddy didn’t miss a beat.
We were at my great aunt’s house. This picture was taken in the dining room of her flat. I’m not sure why we were there and even more curious as to why my grandmother was with us. Yia Yia (not to be confused with Another One, whose house we were at) rarely went out in a car. We know now that she suffered from motion sickness. At the time, there were no over-the-counter drugs to relieve the symptoms that riding in a car brought on. I’ve often wondered in amazement how horrible that long ocean ride must have been for her. At any rate, Yia Yia is sitting on the left, looking none-too-pleased. She had a great sense of humor and would have been an accomplice in my dad’s attire that night, so, I can only think that the long car ride into the city must have had her feeling poorly.
You’ve figured out who the person in the center of the picture is, haven’t you?
Paul McCartney, of course!
The banjo was my mother’s, a toy from her childhood. She kept it in a drawer and would take it out to show us every so often. I was fascinated by it and the story behind it. Ma’s family was large and they were very poor. Each year, there would be one gift for the children to open. The one gift was for all of the children to share. Only one gift. Every year it was the same gift. The banjo. Each child took a turn playing it before going to bed on Christmas Eve. My grandfather would then spend time playing it himself, pushing the button up and down and making a tinny tune.
The picture and the toy banjo sit together on a shelf in our home now – side by side, in perfect harmony.
I think my dad must have been playing “She Loves You” the night of the picture. I know where he got the “guitar” for his gig. I’ve no idea where the mop of hair came from. Out of sight of the camera, we sat, with other relatives who were chatting away in Greek and laughing at their front row seats to The Ed Sullivan Show.
I keep thinking of the Beatles, the banjo, the picture and Paul – and the Gershwin’s, for whom the honor is dedicated. I keep thinking of my dad’s zest for life and the fun we used to have and the love our family shared and I keep thinking of the Gershwin song ”Someone to Watch Over Me”. That song, apart from Paul McCartney’s repertoire, keeps playing in my mind. I love the rendition of it from Mr. Holland’s Opus and thought you might as well.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcQc3IMQLwY
This is a repost from a few years ago that I decided to revive after reading on The Writer’s Almanac that it was on this date, February 9, 1964, that the Beetles first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. How well I remember that night, and my father’s own rendition a week later.
“On this day in 1964, the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, as teenage girls screamed hysterically in the audience and 73 million people watched from home — a record for American television at the time. Their appearance on the show is considered the beginning of the “British Invasion” of music in the United States. The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show the following two Sundays in a row, as well. On this first time, exactly 49 years ago today, they sang “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and finally “I Want to Hold Your Hand” — which had just hit No. 1 on the charts.” The Writer’s Almanac, February 9, 2013
Incredible, Penny. In 1964, I was right there in my living room watching The Beatles along with you.
I did watch the Paul McCartney at the White House program not too long ago. I found it on the PBS website. I then watched it again the next two nights. I thought it was fantastic. I could sing along with every song.
Thanks for the post, the memories, and the cute photo of your dad.
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Isn’t it amazing, thinking back on that time, knowing we were watching the same event?
Wasn’t it a wonderful program to watch? I should look it up as I wouldn’t mind watching Sir Paul again and listening to these songs again and again.
You are welcome, Belle. It was fun to share this anew.
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We’ve been having a lot of Beatles nostalgia programmes on British TV over the past few months, Penny, as we mark 50 years since their first record, first Number 1, etc, etc., so this post was very interesting. I was 16 and had just done my first set of school exams at the time, so this is a ral trip down memory lane for me. 🙂
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Gosh, Perpetua, it seems almost seems like yesterday when those four lads came over here. I remember walking “uptown” with a friend and stopping at the window of the local record shop. She pointed to a poster and said they were the Beatles and then had to explain them to me, which was a good thing for a few weeks later, there they were, on our television screens.
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My question is, did YOU scream over them in your living room? Not long married I don’t really remember if we watched this on our old hand me down TV or not…what fun your dad must have been!
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Ha ha, Joyce. No, I didn’t scream. I’m sure I would have been sent to bed! We all watched it, including my grandmother, who lived with us, and we had company over that night. My dad was fun and I’m lucky to have this picture.
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What wonderful memories. I first encountered The Beatles on a show called Sunday Night at the London Palladium. I would have been 10 or 11. They sang She Loves You and I fell hook line and sinker for John Lennon and his droll sense of humour. Even to this day I’m a sucker for a good sense of humour in a man.
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It is fun to remember those first encounters, isn’t it Cath? That sounds like a fun memory for sure. Did you think She Loves You was about you? I did about me, silly girl that I am. George Harrison was more my type with his dark, brooding looks. It seems that all my friends had a Beatle that they adored, but, I do agree that a good sense of humor is an attractive trait.
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The Beatles came to me as an adult, but I still love them. And, I LOVE the story of the banjo and the picture of your father. Do you carry on the Christmas Eve tradition in any way?
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They have spanned quite a few generations, Andra, and I’m glad the came to you, whenever it may have been. No, I really didn’t. The banjo is very old and I worried it would be destroyed. It sits on a bookshelf these days, right next to the picture of my dad. Nice memories.
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A lovely story Penny, about the banjo gift.
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Thank you, Juliet. Can you imagine getting it, every year?
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I love the memories, Penny, and it’s fun to think of how many of us shared that one Ed Sullivan moment! 🙂 Your dad did have such a good sense of humor and must have been a lot of fun when the family gathered together. What a touching story about the banjo. The instrument is a very important family heirloom, I’m sure. And it’s just now hitting me–49 years since that television appearance? Next year–50! Whoa!
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It is fun, isn’t it Debra? Here we all sit, each with our memories, all around a moment in time. Oh, he did have a good sense of humor and kept us entertained many, many times. The woman on the right had just immigrated to the United States, married a cousin, and didn’t speak a lick of English. I can’t imagine what she thought of all the commotion and silliness, and here we are, approaching 50 years from that television appearance. Yikes!
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Penny, what a wonderful post. And a wonderful banjo. Here, too, we look back at that time with incredible nostalgia. It is a bygone frame of mind as well as a bygone time.
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We loved that you sent these lads over here, Kate, and are still enchanted with Sir Paul. 50 years after their appearance in Great Britain, 49 years after the television show here, and the songs are still sung and remembered. Pretty big deal.
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This post brought back the memories of that Sunday night! I can see my dad in his “chair” and my mother on the sofa with me. I was so excited I thought they could hear my heart beating. I was afraid my dad would turn off the set but he didn’t. No one said a word at the end of the songs!!!
The picture of your dad is so funny and I know you treasure it along with the lovely banjo. It is such a lovely instrument but those memories are the very best of all.
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Wow! What a vivid memory you have of that night, Marilyn, right down to your dad in his “chair”. Our folks grew up in the big band era and I don’t think they knew quite what to make of the new music – well, except for my dad, who put on a wig and had fun. I’m so glad my father’s cousin had the idea to take a picture. It sits next to the banjo on a shelf, but, the memories will be in my heart no matter where they are.
I wonder if they will air this next year when we hit 50 years? If they do, we should all remember this “conversation”. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Sorry I am so late commenting. I remember when you posted this before. I love the picture and your Mom’s banjo that you have kept all of these years. I was one of those teenagers who watched the Ed Sullivan show that night. I never did understand the screaming and crying, but I did like the Beatles. I remember my parents watching with us. I’m sure that, as always, Mom was busy scurrying back and forth with bowls of popcorn and glasses of Kool-aide. I do remember Dad saying with a deadpan look on his face, “That was interesting, do you think they will ever amount to anything? We will see.”
I guess we saw.
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My dear friend, it is never too late to come to the Cutoff. I know what you mean about all that screaming and crying, but, I’m smiling at the picture you paint of watching the Ed Sullivan show and your Dad’s wry comment, followed by your own. Wit runs in your family!
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Dear Penny, what a wonderful memory to share with us–with your parents and your Yia-Yia and a song that I sing often as I drive around Independence. Along with the song, “Some Day He’ll Come Along.” Those two songs–both in, I think, minor keys seem to capture the longing we have within for Oneness. Peace to you. And please keep posting these memories you have of your youth. They are so touching.
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How beautifully you express this, Dee. Thank you. It is nice of you to say these memories are touching. I’ve a few more in my bag of words that I’m sure I will be sharing. Off we go, now, to sing our tunes.
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It is pretty amazing that your dad managed to get his hands on a Beatle hair cut a week after the invasion! What a great photo and wonderful memory. Is that your mother on the right side of the photo? From what I can see it looks like a lovely Greek woman!
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It was someone’s wig, though whose I no longer can remember. The woman on the right is not my mother. She is the wife of my father’s cousin and had recently immigrated to the United States as the bride of the cousin. In this picture, she was barely off the airplane, didn’t speak any English, and was living in my great aunt’s house (her mother-in-law). She was a very nice woman, though she never did learn English, though I suspect she understood more than she let on. My sister and I would try to talk to her in our limited Greek. As I look back, all three of us were usually laughing. It was her new husband, my father’s cousin, who took the picture.
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One thing I meant to mention. Imagine how a shared Christmas gift helped to form the personalities of your mother and her siblings? When we were little we probably didn’t share one Christmas gift, but we all had a family television we shared. Family members had to take turns, or sit together to watch the same shows. Today children rarely have to negotiate with their family members. Little is shared. Most families have more than one television, even more than one computer! You see children in coffee shops, each sitting with their own iPod. They can’t possibly be as good at compromising, negotiating and sharing as their grandparents were because they’re rarely in the position to need those skills!
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This is a very interesting observation, Janet, and one of the pitfalls of technology as we know it. You are so right. Compromising, negotiating, and sharing are skills most are not learning and we may see some frightening consequences because of it. Maybe we already are. You’ve given me much to ponder.
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