Skip to content 
Hey there folks,
Welcome to the working week. We just now passed the anniversary of the Ed Sullivan Show debut on February 9 (aligning with the 1964 calendar on a Sunday). I am thinking that the tardy arrival of Beatles ’64 in November rather than the actual 60th anniversary months earlier may make the milestone seem a little tired by now, but on the other hand, I do feel like we are really lucky to have so many 1st-gen fans around whose lives were changed that night, utterly, that share their stories. We’ve had quite a few on the show, and most recently, again with 299. Speaking for my own generation (as well as that of my kids), we didn’t get a unifying and impactful event of our own (that I can think of), experienced by millions that likewise touched our lives for the better, so consider the importance of that day: they don’t come along every generation.
This week has milestones of its own to recognize. February 11 must rank as surely one of the most auspicious days in Beatles history, and I have often wondered whether they themselves were aware of it. (Doubtful!)
1963: The Please Please Me album sessions. (Which began that morning with “There’s A Place”
1964: The Washington DC concert (shared in newsletter #3.5)
1965: Ringo and Maureen were married (60 years if only…)
1966: The McCartney-penned “Woman” released by Peter and Gordon in the UK. (Beating John to the title by 14 years, Klaatu by 22.)
1968: Filming day for the “Lady Madonna” promo, capturing instead The Beatles tracking “Hey Bulldog.”
1970: The Plastic Ono Band taped appearances to promote “Instant Karma” on Top of the Pops. The entourage, besides John and Yoko, included Klaus, Alan White, Mal Evans, and journalist BP Fallon. The “crocheting” take aired the next day, followed a week later by the “cue card” one. (Apparently The Beatles spent 1967 and 1969 OTD slacking off.)
So let’s unpack this a bit. You cannot do better for completeness in curating all known footage together than the AdamBound channel on YouTube. Here’s his Bulldog compilation.
Ringomania continues this week unfettered. Son Zak must be sitting on an enormous pile of unseen photos; remember it was he who shared the first photo taken in 1979 at the Clapton-Boyd nuptials jam, showing himself onstage along with Uncle Paul and Jim Capaldi. (More recently, Pattie shared another, this one including her ex at around the same moment.) Anyway, in a now-deleted post on Instagram, Zak shared a fast-moving reel of never-before-seen pics, including Beatles and other well-known personas. He’s since deleted it, saying it was meant only for private sharing, but one day he will have a fabulous book to publish, should he so decide to. (Did anyone else think his mother was one of the best things never before seen in the Get Back film?)
There was a Record Store Day (April 12, 2025) announcement this past week: a Plastic Ono Band EP of newly-remixed performances from the 1972 One-To-One show. George will have one out too, and on the subject of vinyl, Paul recently announced the release of a 50th anniversary Venus and Mars 180-gram double issue.
If you want to say anything about SATB for the 300th show (next in line), this is the place to send it, and honestly, there’s been a bunch of submissions (thanks!) but this is last call – say by this weekend.
Finally, February 11 is the publication day of the book Jerry and I wrote. This was not contrived, it was just the way the calendar fell, so for those who believe in portents, I’ll take it. This was just launched into cyberspace.