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The Beatles
On this day in 1964, The Beatles made their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, just days after their first.
The episode was broadcast from The Beatles’ hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, where the boys were currently relaxing, swimming, and sunbathing. They had spent the afternoon playing in front of a studio audience to warm up for their later appearance, which was broadcast by satellite.
Did you know? — On this day in 1964 The Beatles arrived in New York.
Photographer Mike Mitchell, then 18 years old, shot the Beatles performing their iconic first concert in the United States at the Washington Coliseum. The concert occured just two days after the band’s momentous performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, a debut which drew over 74 million television viewers.
Looking back, Mitchell recalls,
“to me, this concert was an opportunity to do portraits, and to get an up close look, to really see who these guys were! Many Americans emerging from the sleep-walking fifties saw the Beatles as very strange creatures indeed. Most of the establishment press treated them as mere novelty. My generation however felt an immediate connection with them and still do.”
(see more — Beatlemania Revisited)
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RIP “Soul Train” Creator Don Cornelius
“Cornelius created the R&B dance television program in 1971. It became a huge success all over the world, offering critical exposure to artists like James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson. Cornelius hosted the show until 1993; it aired until 2006.”
Watch Stevie Wonder perform on “Soul Train” here.
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Philip Glass
Today is the 75th birthday of Philip Glass, one of most influential contemporary classical composers today. Glass, while he does not define himself as a minimalist, is often considered one of the leading figures in minimalist music.
Says New York Times music critic Allan Kozin, “What Glass did was go back to the most basic tonality you could have — major keys, minor keys — and to take small segments of music and repeat them over and over, changing them slowly along the way in his early music. He called it ‘additive process.’”
Continue reading on NPR Music:
Philip Glass at 75: Listening With Heart, Not Intellect
Ira Glass Interviews His Cousin, Composer Philip Glass
Pink Floyd
On this day in 1968, Pink Floyd played a live show at Southampton University, their first performance without founding member Syd Barrett. Barrett left the band due to escalating drug abuse and mental health issues.
Pictured: Pink Floyd performing their famous Live at Pompeii show.
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