1/28/14
RECAP re
GRAMMY SALUTE
to BEATLES,
MONDAY
NIGHT,
January, 27, 2014!
I was there,& it was a great night, the day AFTER the grammys, at the "Grammy Salute to the Beatles, 50th anniversary of the Ed Sullivan show"(1964). It was taped to air on February 9, and I managed to get a free ticket. The event was held at the LA Convention center,next to Staples Ctr,in a large room with loose chairs facing the stage and a few jumbotron screens facing us, as well as a 2nd stage.
The BIG item, of course, were "The Beatles" themselves,or what's left of them, ie Ringo & Paul (that's Starr & McCartney for you young ones). And YES they played together, as well as solo, but not until the very end of the show,and prior to that there were numerous big name musicians on stage singing different Beatles songs. I had a seat near the front, and a few moments after I sat down,relatively new musician,Gary Clarke Jr., came in & sat in front of me,along with his female friend (or wife?) in a red dress & long dangling earrings. A cameraman repeatedly aimed the camera at Gary for extended periods of time. Later he played a song with Joe Walsh & Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters,former Nirvana,more below).
As the show was about to begin,in walked Paul & Ringo with their significant others (incl Paul's wife,Nancy Shevell)& sat with the audience in the middle,along with Yoko Ono (&son,Sean),among others (I also saw actors Tom Hanks & wife Rita Wilson, & Jeff Bridges. Later Bridges MC'd a spot as well,see below).
The 1st act on stage was Maroon 5,introduced by LL Cool J. I'm trying to remember what they played,maybe "Ticket 2 Ride"? Then "Nigel Spasm" came on & did a semi-humorous little talking bit...all the while between music sets they initially did a video-biography of each of the FAb Four & later played classic Beatles music videos, with lots of historic footage including,of course,the famous Ed Sullivan show itself,from February 9,1964, and some of the camermen et al who worked the historic show talking about the experience,as well as repeated shots of the young,mostly female, audience at the '64 show going crazy!
After Maroon 5,Keith Urban played "Don't Let Me Down",alongside John Mayer. Kate Beckinsale also MC'd a few times throughout the show, and at this point introduced fellow Brit, Ed Sheeran,who sang "In My Life".
Next there was a video-biography of McCartney and then John Legend along with Alicia Keys sang "Let it Be" ....by this time I've lost track of the specific chronology of the show, but I believe around this time Katy Perry sang a touching "Yesterday" with a lot of beautiful flowers on the screen behind her.Then the Eurythmics Annie Lennox (silver dress) & Dave Stewart did "Fool on the Hill" as a "one-night-only reunion" (they haven't played together since 2000).
Shortly thereafter,Brad Paisley along with Pharrell Williams sang "Here Comes the Sun" along with some Cirque du Soleil performers dangling from the ceiling. Being the Christian that I am,I always think of "Here Comes the Son" when I hear this song,and wonder if any of the Beatles had religious inclinations in that regard? Former Nirvana musician,Dave Grohl, now better known for Foo Fighters fame,did "Hey Bulldog" (ie "...You can talk to me...").
Grohl began with a brief monologue saying how important the Beatles were to his life ("...if it were not for the Beatles,I would not be a musician"), and they are also now his young daughter's "favorite band" (later they showed him with his daughter back in the audience & ringo did a shout-out to him as he began his set, saying "she's beautiful". By this time,Grohl's higher-energy rejuvenated the audience and the show thundered on.
Johnny Depp came on stage and with an strangely affected drawl introduced the next song,"Something", which included Grohl again (on drums) along with the great Joe Walsh,as well as Jeff Lynne, & a surprise appearance by the late George Harrison's son,Dhani, who played guitar! Walsh made a brief statement about the old days when people listened to records (which he esplained for "those under 30" were"frisbee-sized discs" called records that you could play both sides (of).) Then Gary Clarke Jr. along with Joe Walsh jammed out "When My Guitar Gently Weeps".
Not last nor least, Stevie Wonder dressed in red came on and played "We Can Work it Out" to a standing ovation. He actually did it twice,apparently not happy with the 1st attempt. It was the only re-take the entire evening & he got a standing ovation twice! During the entire night, the cameras kept showing shots of Paul,Ringo & Yoko Ono (with her big round,dark glasses) in the audience, as well as Tom Hanks & Jeff Bridges a,ong others.
I kept thinking Jeff Bridges was Keith Richards of the rolling stones..there seemed to be a resemblance, and until Bridges came on stage himself I was thinking maybe the Stones might do a tribute as well...they were part of the "British invasion" as well, yet are not considered to have had such a great influence on musical history as the Fab Four.By the way,Jeff Bridges mentioned meeting the Beatles as a child,when his dad,Lloyd,took them to a special gathering.
Finally,the "big surprise" that grammy executive,Ken Ehrlich, kept hinting about was almost here (Ehrlich also introduced the members of the "house band" which included Peter Frampton,surprisingly…he’s a worthy performer all by himself…very humble of him to also play with the so-called “house band”.)
Sean Penn appeared to say a few brief words (I always think of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" when I see him),and then Ringo,himself came on stage & started singing. He did three songs ,one or two on the drums,and including "Yellow Submarine" (apparently at the request of Grohl's daughter). Ringo at 73 seems very spry for his age,almost youthful.When they did audience shots, he was much more animated & lively,while Sir Paul,71, seemed more stoic,not smiling as often,perhaps just being reflective & thoughtful of the years gone by.
After a very long pause,seemed like 30 minutes or so,Paul came on solo & did several Beatles songs incl. Magical Mystery Tour,Sgt. Pepper, ...and at the point where "Billy Shields" (or "Shears" as some say) is mentioned,Ringo re-appeared, and finally they were on stage together, for a rare "Beatles reunion"(minus two). Apparently,they've played together a few times over the years, but not often.
Paul also said a few words here & there between songs,humbly saying he wasn't sure if it would be "seemly" to do a tribute to himself & the band, but somewhere along the way a "couple of Americans" educated him about how important the Ed Sullivan show was to the musical & cultural history of America, so he agreed, 'for America" (Ringo,on the other hand,less modestly,at one point shouted,jokingly I think "I'm the greatest"...with something else interjected that I couldn't hear.(Of course, who can forget the "more popular than Jesus" comment by John Lennon back in the day (1966) that caused such an uproar,but arguably needs a lot of commentary to thoroughly understand more contextually,rather than knee-jerk indignancy).
One time during the solo portion,Paul pointed out to Ringo in the audience & said something about "that boy".They didn't mention John or George until the very end,and only briefly. Nor did they mention Yoko Ono, but there were numerous shots of her dancing & singing along during the night,with son Sean less animated next to her. The night climaxed with ALL of us singing "Hey Jude" together, repeating the "Nah,nah,nah..." refrain several times,with Paul directing men-only & women-only,alternatively; and all the performers came up on stage as well.
At some point along the way, it finally really hit me that I was at last a participant of "Beatles history" . I wasn't born yet at the time of the Ed Sullivan show,but did grown up buying Beatles albums in the 70's, and remember where I was when John Lennon was killed, and was in attendance at Paul McCartney's hollywood star ceremony (he didn't sing), but now I finally felt as if I participated in something significant in Beatles history,feeling almost as if I was at the historic Ed Sullivan show with all the big screen montage they kept showing.
I actually got chills up my spine at one point during "hey Jude" with everybody singing. It was a GREAT night all-in-all, and would have paid for the experience,had I known it would move me in such a way,but all the better that it was free (thanks to a "friend").Its hard to imagine that one group could influence SO MANY generations! Albeit I noticed the younger lady next to me didn't seem to know the words to "Hey Jude" as we all sang along (I also remember singing it at Calvin music camp in the 70's. Even (some) Calvinists like the Beatles!).
Long live
Paul & Ringo!
Thanks
for the Memories !
search: ringo starr,paul
mccartney,ed sullivan show, grammy salute, beatles, 50th anniversary, los
angeles, convention center, gary clarke jr, yoko ono, tom hanks, jeff bridges,
ll cool j, nigel spasm, keith urban, kate beckinsale, ed sheeran, john legend, Alicia
keys, let it be, katy perry, eurythmics, annie lennox, dave stewart, brad
paisley, pharrell Williams, here comes the sun, cirque du soleil, dave grohl,
foo fighters, hey bulldog, johnny depp, jeff lynne, dhani Harrison, stevie
wonder, fab four, ken ehrlich, peter Frampton, sean penn, yellow submarine, sir
paul, magical mystery tour, billy shields, john lennon, George Harrison,
