Ed Sullivan | idealisticrebel

Paul McCartney and George Harrison at Ed Sullivan

Paul McCartney and George Harrison on the Ed Sullivan

Fifty years ago, Rock and Roll was adding spark to family dinner tables. And there were four young musicians from England who landed on American soil. Nothing was the same again. The Beatles arrived and did the Ed Sullivan show. The television was fairly new and it was in black and white. Most of the teenagers in America were in front of the family tv. Parents were pretty freaked. Ed Sullivan announced “The Beatles” and they began to sing. It was wild. I was in love. My first celebrity crush. All of them were my fantasy. I have always loved them and have followed and enjoyed all the transitions in their lives.

At the Grammy Awards last Sunday, I watched Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr singing together again and my mind went back to the first time I saw them sing. It is strange to have followed them and loved their music for most of my life. It is also for us old hippies, a strange experience to have our rock idols look our age. Today, rock stars die of natural causes, though we remember the ones who died before their time. For me and many of my friends, many of whom are musicians, it feels strange to see them growing old like we are. Rock Stars were supposed to always be young. Of course, most of us have never completely grown up. It is truly a special thing to know that you have worked hard, loved hard, embraced life completely and yet we are still very young at heart. I have promised my grandchildren that I would not completely grow up. They like that because I play with them as often as possible. I teach them to be responsible and to study hard, but I also teach them to love life and all people. That we are all the same in our hearts and souls, lessons that the Beatles tried to teach us.