"The Night That Changed America" -- my review

79,000,000 watched the Beatles on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW fifty years ago. I’m sure CBS would be thrilled if 9,000,000 tuned in to last night’s 2 1/2 hour tribute, “The Night That Changed America.” It was up against stiff competition. “Holiday on Ice” on NBC and INSTANT MOM on Nick @ Nite. Fortunately, I DVR’d the Beatles special so was able to watch the 150 minute program in 90 minutes. 

Recorded a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles, various rock stars performed cover versions of Beatles classics for Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, both of whom were in attendance. The evening built to a rare reunion of Paul and Ringo that brought back memories of Super Bowl halftime shows.

Shoehorned in were clips from that historic ED SULLIVAN appearance along with very cool interviews with some of the production crew members who worked that show. One guy had to fill in for George Harrison during a rehearsal. There’s a great shot of Paul, John, Ringo, and this yutz on the familiar stage.

In taped segments, Paul and Ringo went back to the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, now the home of LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.  Letterman interviewed them about that night and could not be more disinterested if he were interviewing me.   He made it seem like he was sent to Detention. They should have gotten Jay Leno.  He was available. 

But most of the night was the glorious music. And endless crowd shots. All you saw were either the principles (and Yoko, who either aged well or always looked old), celebrities like Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and hot young women. Go to a real Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr concert. Everyone has grey hair or is bald. 14,000 aged hippies. Not one of them was in view at this concert. In its heyday, I don’t think the guard at the door of Studio 54 was as picky as whoever admitted this charmed crowd. It looked more like an open casting call for a CW show. If you were as old as one of the Beatles but weren’t one of the Beatles, good luck.

The presenters were a complete random group. LL Cool J. (who’s on a CBS show), Sean Penn and Johnny Depp (could they possibly have come off more pompous and self-absorbed?), Anna Kendrick and Kate Beckinsale, who both looked amazing (which is undoubtedly why they were chosen), and Eric Idle for much needed humor, even though it led to the one cringeworthy moment of the night. In his monologue at one point he said, “Oh, John is dead” and they cut to an audience shot of smiling people seemingly delighted with that statement. Now I can understand that “oops” moment if it was live, but this was taped. That reaction shot was intended.

Most of the performances were terrific The guitar playing, in particular, was thrilling all night. . Joe Walsh, Jeff Lynne and Dhani Harrison killed doing “Something.” Keith Urban and John Mayer rocked out on "Don't Let Me Down." And my favorite was David Grohl, Gary Clark Jr. and Joe Walsh doing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” When Peter Frampton is just a backup guitarist, you know you’re in rarified surroundings.

Brentwood High's own Adam Levine continues to prove he’s more than just a rock band front man and reality show mentor. He’s a terrific singer who really did justice to “Ticket to Ride.” I keep wanting to hate him because he’s so talented and good-looking, but I just love the guy. Best singer of the night was John Legend. His duet with Alicia Keyes on “Let It Be” was for me, the absolute highlights of the evening.

Stevie Wonder sang his funky rendition of “We Can Work It Out.” I always thought his version was better than the Beatles, and he sang it as well last night as he did 40 years ago.

Katy Perry is gorgeous to look at. The Imagine Dragons had lovely harmonies on “Revolution” but it was weird hearing it turned into a Four Freshman tune.

As Ed Sullivan himself would say, “And now, for you youngsters…” Cirque du Soleil was employed during “Here Comes the Sun” but you rarely saw them. They also did an encore at the end of the concert, but by then so many elements were being thrown in it looked like the Radio Shack Super Bowl ad.

Biggest disappointment for me was Annie Lennox. You may disagree, but I thought she massacred “Fool On The Hill.” There were some notes that made my teeth rattle.

At one point they showed Sean Lennon in the audience taking a photo of the stage on his iPhone. If I were in that crowd I’d be doing the same thing – although I’d have fifty shots of Victoria Secrets models and Paul's new wife.

Finally, it was time for the men of the hour. Ringo performed first. He always seems like comic relief. And you get the feeling he’s the only one in the room who doesn’t know that. Still, I love his goofy spirit and as long as he doesn’t sing “You’re 16, you’re beautiful, and you’re mine” I’m happy. I’ve seen him in concert with his All-Star band twice and he puts on a great show.

But he’s no Paul McCartney. Sir Paul followed with three numbers and even though I was worried he’d have a hernia every time he really wailed, he sounded great and there’s something very comforting about knowing an original Beatle can still bring it fifty years later.

The night concluded with the mini-reunion. Paul sang “Sgt. Pepper” and Ringo followed with “A Little Help From My Friends.” They concluded with “Hey Jude” and as they scanned the beautiful people of this hand-picked audience I wondered how many of these girls were hearing these songs for the very first time.

Depending on how you look at it, by cramming the show with contemporary artists, celebrities, and an audience that looked like a USC 10 year reunion, CBS was either trying to introduce this brilliant music to younger generations, or it was doing everything it could to program to a young demographic, and the people old enough to remember and really appreciate the Beatles were no longer a priority… except when they aired the Flomax spots. I hope it was the former.

I know a lot of young people don’t love the Beatles, and I get that. We can say they changed America, we can point to the innovative music they created and how they influenced everything culturally in the ‘60s. But to some extent, you had to be there. Or read my book about growing up in the ‘60s – available on Amazon now. (Was that subtle enough?)