Napoleon Ballroom, Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, FL
Morning camera rehearsal, CBS' The Ed Sullivan Show, Sunday, February 16, 1964
Left to right: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ed Sullivan
Sullivan: "And what kind of guitar strings are you using on the new Rickenbacker?"
Lennon: "Shiny ones."
McCartney: "They are!"
*Prints of this image are currently available in three sizes on matte Hahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm Deckle Edge paper.
The Story
Preparations continue on the morning of The Beatles' second live Ed Sullivan Show appearance as the group gathers for a camera rehearsal in the Deauville Hotel's Napoleon Ballroom. Within hours, The Beatles return for a 2 pm dress rehearsal before a live, packed ballroom. As Beatlemania overruns Miami Beach, demand is such that many hotel guests will be turned away from the 2600-seat ballroom, despite holding complimentary tickets issued by the Deauville. The dress rehearsal is recorded but never broadcast. It does not see an official release until 2010 as part of a DVD set, The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles.
This camera rehearsal marks the first appearance of John Lennon's iconic 1964 Rickenbacker 325. Rickenbacker express-shipped the guitar on February 13, directly from its Santa Ana, CA factory to Lennon at the Deauville just in time for this evening's historic broadcast.
Despite attracting over 73 million viewers to last week's Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles do not headline tonight's show — that honor goes to actress/singer/dancer Mitzi Gaynor. The Beatles perform six songs: 'She Loves You,' 'This Boy,' 'All My Loving,' 'I Saw Her Standing There,' 'From Me To You,' and 'I Want To Hold Your Hand.'
Other acts on tonight's show include: comedians Marty Allen & Steve Rossi, comedian Myron Cohen, sway pole acrobats, The Nerveless Nocks, boxers Joe Lewis and Sonny Liston, and comedic unicycle balancing act, The Volantes.
Photo by Eve Bowen
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