What was the First Beatles Song You Heard? When & Where were you?

[raysachs]

It was probably that famous first Ed Sullivan appearance, so I guess I Wanna Hold Your Hand. I was still 4 years old, probably sitting in my family's den in Baltimore. My brother and sister were 12 and 13 years older than me (still are actually) and so then there was Beatles playing around our house non-stop.

I was sort of a fan as a little kid, but i a real background sort of way. By the time I was old enough to start really getting into music on my own, the Beatles were doing less poppy and more interesting stuff and I sort of liked them. But I was always into harder edged stuff and the Beatles were never at the top of my list. To this day, I LOVE the Stones, who were never gonna be content to just hold your hand! I was into Clapton and Hendrix way before I was old enough to have any idea of why...

-Ray

[Herb Hunter]

I began hearing two or three Beatle songs almost at the same time in 1963 so I can’t be certain which was the very first but I think it was, I Saw Her Standing There which I first heard either at the Albrook Air Force Base in the Panama Canal Zone when it was still a U.S. Territory or in the town of Balboa founded by the U.S. in the Canal Zone.

[flaggerphil]

Probably "She Loves You" in New Orleans in 1963. I was 12. Two years later I got my first guitar.

[Pura Vida]

Born in 1971, so a post-breakup fan.

The first two songs I remember were "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever," which were featured in the same episode (Season 3, Episode 34) of the Beatles cartoon, which I would watch on reruns at my grandparents' house in the mid-1970s.

Songs are muted, due to copyright:

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Yes, I remember it well. October 1962 - The Friday "social club" at my secondary school. A large hall with music consisting of 45 rpm singles played on a school issue gramophone.

I was already a band member, playing Shadows, Ventures type material byut increasingly interested in R&B.
I heard the harmonica on Love Me Do and thought they were an interesting new R&B band (sorry - group).

I thought "they should do well!"

Spot on, Andy.

I can still recall the almost visceral excitement I felt the first time I heard "Love Me Do" on Radio Luxembourg, and I went around telling my school friends that this was definitely going to be the next Number 1 in the "Hit Parade" as it was quaintly called back then.

My judgment was a tad premature, sadly, as it only made number 17 in the UK, but I felt vindicated when it made Number 1 in the States a couple of years later.

Was that really 55 years ago ... how time flies ...

[tinnitus]

It was whatever they played on that first Ed Sullivan appearance. Like many here agree, that moment changed EVERYTHING about music.

Anyone else listen to audiobooks? Retired and working on projects around the house, I keep books going in my earbuds several hours a day. Broad variety of interests, but quite often books about now-famous musicians of the Beatles era and since, most covering some/all of the journey from childhood to fame - and beyond.

I'm currently engrossed in TUNE IN, The Beatles - All These Years Vol. 1 by Mark Lewisohn. Interesting family history before they were even born, growing up in rough Liverpool, parents/friends/enemies, fights, girls, stealing, drugs, covers/originals, instrumentation, Stu Sutcliffe, Pete Best, Germany, Brian Epstein, George Martin, rejection and acceptance.

I played guitar in various cover bands since the early 70s (largely because of the Beatles) and never had any pretense of it going beyond that - and it didn't. Fascinating to get the detailed scoop on how it all came together for these really scruffy lads who changed musical and cultural history.

[CoffeeFan]

For me it was either Michelle or Norwegian Wood, at my Uncle Vinny's chalet in Vermont...

[sayheyjeff]

Not sure,of the 1st time or song but most likely on the radio at the swimming pool at our garden apt complex in '63. I was almost 12. 'Worked' there washing tiles, checking chlorine levels, and cleaning out the ash trays. Best early memory of the Beatles was seeing them at D.C. Stadium in '66. My uncle took the 3 oldest cousins.

Jeff

[Bikewer]

I was in the army, in Germany, from ‘64-‘67. I remember the Armed Forces Network (who tried to play everything...) playing Stones and Animals and Beatles tunes.... But for the life of me I couldn’t tell you which of the early Beatles tunes was getting airplay.
That’s because I was completely uninterested in pop music at the time. I was a stone classical-music geek!
I recall that there was a German band that the EM club hired that did a dead-on cover of the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”...

I don’t think I paid any attention to the Lads until I got back home and more mainstream pop artists had started covering Lennon and McCartney. Folks like Andy Williams, who had a fairly big hit with “Imagine”.

[Caddy]

For me that would be 'From Me To You'. That would have been in 1963 (I believe). I first heard it on Chicago's WLS AM radio while driving around in my two-tone baby blue and white 1956 Ford (of course with only an AM radio). Back then all cars came with only AM radios and a single dashboard mounted speaker. If you were really lucky you would have a rear shelf mounted rear speaker.

At that time all rock & roll stations were on AM radio, all that was on FM radio was classical music, some jazz and talk shows. There was nothing we wanted to listen to on FM. All our records were mono and played on small mono portable record players.

Of course all the early Beatles recordings were done in mono and when the record company later wanted to remix them in stereo The Beatles fought against it, saying that they had been recorded to sound good in mono and didn't like the sound of the stereo mixes and said besides that no one listened to their music in stereo. Which was true at the time.

[Bluside]

"I want to hold your hand." was the first one that I heard.

I remember watching them on the Ed Sullivan show.

[Charmed Life Picks]

This one was a fun one. Hope it's okay if I bump it up. I can't get enough of the Beatles.

sm

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I turned 9 in '64. I know I recognized some of the songs but Ed Sullivan on Feb. 9 was the big bang. All My Loving started the night.

[tbeltrans]

For me, it was 1963 on the radio and the tune was "She Loves You" (yeah, yeah, yeah). Ed Sullivan didn't happen until about a year later.

Tony

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

I turned 9 in '64. I know I recognized some of the songs but Ed Sullivan on Feb. 9 was the big bang. All My Loving started the night.

Did they do "Love Me Do" that first show as well? For some reason, I thought they opened with it, but I'm sure you're correct about "All My Loving." It's actually more uptempo and a better opener.

Thanks!
Scott