The night of February 9th, 1964 changed the world for many of the 73
million viewers of the Ed Sullivan Show watching The Beatles’ first visit to
America. I was sitting in front of the family TV in pajamas, having begged
my parents to extend my bedtime. I was wide-eyed looking at this new
phenomenon, trying to grasp everything in warp speed. They performed
twice that evening and I was never the same!
This epic event was regarded as a watershed moment in pop culture that
launched Beatlemania, the global fanaticism that surrounded the English
band and inspired thousands of viewers to become musicians. I was one
of them. I started playing plastic toy guitars with rubber bands for strings
(now banned for child safety implications). Soon my interest escalated to
a “Kay” guitar and my first…