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| picture from jacobsmedia.com I claim Fair Use Doctrine I do not monetize. |
The assassination of John F Kennedy had thrust the adult population in
America into an emotional preoccupation with fear, loss, grief. It was all over
the news, whether radio, print, or television for months.
America had to become
accustomed to a new President, who resembled the older generation rather than
the younger generation as had Kennedy.
America had to calculate anew
the place it held in the world relative to the Soviet Union.
And we, the kids and teenagers,
were witness to this cultural depression.
Many of us kids felt
emotionally abandoned by adults, even at school, who were busy trying to figure
out their new worldview and how they fit within it.
Cartoons didn’t make up for
our loss.
When we heard the buzz about this fresh talent from England, we decided to watch the Ed Sullivan show on that musically tectonic night in American history.
February 9, 1964.
There we were, a huge
population of young people watching the same television channel, reclining on
couches, propping our heads up with the palms of our hands, tapping our feet to
the beat of Ringo’s drums, following the fresh, excited vocals of Paul and
John, and tingling with that glistening sound of George’s electric guitar!
We felt emotionally unleashed!
After months of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings (a magnificent and
beautiful piece, though fixated in the depth of despair), we now had our own
sound which provided us dispensation from grief and opportunity for celebration.
And we celebrated!
The very next day at school all the talk was the Beatles. Throughout
that first week kids brought to school the 45RPM “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
Within a month some kids had metal lunch boxes bearing the likeness of
the Beatles.
By the end of the week, I had a ring from a “dime toy dispenser” at
Woodson’s Grocery store in Lafollette Tennessee. This ring flashed the likeness
of each of the Beatles as I moved it in the light.
I often wonder if that shot had missed John F Kennedy and landed harmlessly
in the street or grass, had we kids and teens then not been subjected to a lengthy
abdication of adult attention, perhaps the Beatles would have been on their way
back to Liverpool, a mere ephemeral novelty from which we moved on to Rick
Nelson.
