Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Perform Beatles Songs At Tribute
On Feb. 9, CBS will air 'The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles' to commemorate -- to the hour -- the 50th anniversary of their debut appearance on the 'Ed Sullivan Show.' Last night (Jan. 27), the program was taped in Los Angeles, with the two surviving members of the group playing together to mark the occasion.
Billboard reports that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed 'With a Little Help from My Friends' and 'Hey Jude,' the latter of which featured all the musicians on the bill. Before that, Starr sang 'Matchbox,' 'Boys' and 'Yellow Submarine' backed by a band that included Steve Lukather of Toto, Peter Frampton and Kenny Aronoff.
McCartney and his band played five songs, 'Magical Mystery Tour,' 'Birthday,' 'Get Back,' 'I Saw Her Standing There' and 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' During his set, he admitted that 50 years ago, he had to ask some Americans if going on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' was a good move. “They said you don't understand the importance of the 'Ed Sullivan Show' on America," he said. "And I didn't understand until then.”
But before McCartney and Starr took the stage, a wide variety of stars did their own interpretations of Beatles classics. Joe Walsh and Jeff Lynne performed 'Something,' a reunited Eurythmics sang 'The Fool on the Hill' and Stevie Wonder sang 'We Can Work It Out,' which he took to No. 13 in 1971.