Despite the noticeable lack of little green creatures in holographic silver space suits, E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt said watching this pivotal moment in rock music history was like watching “a flying saucer land in High Park.” Van Zandt was one of millions of young Americans affected by this memorable milestone.
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After all, as Van Zandt himself put it, the world had irrevocably changed that fateful night of February 9, 1964.
Steven Van Zandt Said This Band Were Alien Life Forms On TV
E Street Band guitarist and mandolinist Steven Van Zandt grew up watching the Ed Sullivan Show in his Watertown, Massachusetts, family home. He, along with millions of other Americans, would tune in to watch performers like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and Peggy Lee sing their hit songs to the live studio audience. But according to Van Zandt, the world changed forever the night of February 9, 1964. This, of course, was the date of the Beatles’ American TV debut.
The Beatles arrived at the Ed Sullivan Show in their classic early Beatles get-up: sharp black suits, black leather boots, and signature mop-tops. They performed “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” They were a distinct, four-part unit. Every member of the band was on full display. The guitarists harmonized with one another as their instruments volleyed rhythm and melody parts. It was a far cry from the solo performers popular at the time. And for Van Zandt and countless others, it changed everything.
“It was the equivalent, literally, of a flying saucer landing in Hyde Park,” Van Zandt said in an interview for Without the Beatles. You know, imagine the effect that would have, well, this was a bigger effect than that. Literally, the world changed that day. There were no bands February 8th. Everyone had a band February 10th. Most of them didn’t get out of the garage. Everybody’s hair suddenly looked very short. Everybody’s clothes looked very boring. Suddenly, every single accordion player in America, and there were quite a few, became keyboard players.”
How The Fab Four Informed His Future In The E Street Band
When Steven Van Zandt first saw the Beatles performing live on the Ed Sullivan Show, he was already playing musical instruments thanks to his Italian grandfather, who taught him how to play Calabrian folk songs on the mandolin. After watching the Fab Four, Van Zandt knew he was ready to venture away from the world of traditional folk music and into rock ‘n’ roll. Knowing that his grandfather likely wouldn’t be teaching him George Harrison’s solo to “Roll Over, Beethoven” any time soon, Van Zandt started taking lessons. He hasn’t stopped playing music since.
But it wasn’t just the band’s instrumental proficiency that inspired Van Zandt. In his interview for Without the Beatles, he explained how much it meant to watch the interactions between the band members as third-generation rock ‘n’ rollers. “The Beatles were second-generation,” he explained. “We were able to accept [rock ‘n’ roll] as a lifestyle. It wasn’t a show business thing, really, for us. It was just life. The movie Help was sort of how we looked at it.”
“You come off stage, and all the four guys went into their apartment doors. It was all the same room. You live together. You played this wonderful music. But you did it together, you know, as a group.” And indeed, this same ethos would later translate to Van Zandt’s E Street Band, the legendary backing band for Bruce Springsteen that has been playing music together as a team since the early 1970s.
Photo by Glynnis Jones/Shutterstock
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