Saturday Morning Beatles (1965)

The Beatles, as we were first introduced

When the Beatles first played the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 I wasn't even two years old, so of course I was to young to remember that first appearance, although my Mom says that I was in the room watching with her.

The Beatles

I'm 48 and for the people right about my age, our first major introduction to the Beatles was probably, the 1965 animated series starring the "Fab 4" with voices provided by veteran voice actor Paul Frees and Lance Percival.

The show lasted for three seasons with all of the episodes following the format of the boys getting into some kind of zany Marx Brothers like situation, get chased around a little and then sing one of their songs with everyone living happily ever after.

One of my favorite episodes is Paperback Writer, where the boys are hired to each write a piece on how they met the others.

In turn Ringo remembers being a huge star approached by three starving would be musicians who owe all their success to him.

Then we get Paul's version where he was a scientist using the other three as fodder for medical experimentation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Throw in George Harrison, Secret Agent and John Lennon as a World War I flying ace, and you've got the origin of the Beatles like you've never seen it before.