Jan 15, ’67: Rolling Stones Spend ‘Time’ on Ed Sullivan
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Ed Sullivan conferring with Mick Jagger
It might be hard for younger generations today raised on cable and satellite TV as well as streaming to understand the power and importance of The Ed Sullivan Show.
Broadcast on CBS – the largest of the only three TV networks – on Sunday nights from 1948 to 1971, and hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan, it was the premier showcase for new entertainers.
For many American families it became a Sunday evening tradition to gather around the TV console and watch the Sullivan show from 8-9 p.m. Eastern every week.
For rock music acts a Sullivan appearance could provide an immediate route to stardom. When Elvis Presley debuted in October 1956, the show was viewed by a record 60 million, which at the time was 82.6 percent of the television audience and the largest single audience in television history. Similarly, when The Beatles first appeared in February 1964 it was a milestone moment in American pop culture and the beginning of Beatlemania and the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a new record for U.S. television viewership.
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The classic rock song in question on January 15, 1967 was “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” which they were asked to clean up to say “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.” After all, CBS did have censors, and in those times the actual sex act was not something mentioned in polite company, much less before a mainstream, prime-time TV audience.
The Stones relented and performed the song as requested. In the video clip below, you can see Mick Jagger roll his eyes as he delivers the altered line.
Vince Calandra was the 23-year-old “cue card guy” who had to deliver the news to the Stones that the CBS censors required the group to change the lyric. “Mick wasn’t too thrilled,” he told Best Classic Bands.
Some fans were disappointed that the oft-rebellious band gave in. Later in the year, The Doors appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and were asked to substitute the word “better” for “higher” in “Light My Fire,” said they would, then sang the actual lyric on the broadcast, incurring Sullivan’s ire and being banned from the show.
Related: 10 rocking Ed Sullivan Show performances
The Rolling Stones made six appearances in all on the Sullivan show in the 1960s, performing a total of 17 songs.
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5 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationThe bad boys, “DOORS”… tsk, tsk. Wink.
Well, we HAVE lost precious innocence since the censurship times of the 1960’s. Lamenting.
It IS ok for children to have two parents, be loved and protected, not have to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders- they will be adults most of their lives…. nothing wrong with protecting the children a few more years.
I recall actresses sitting next to Johnny Carson mentioning their “nude wedge” added to their gowns- better than a “costume malfunction” (like our young teenage child witnessed one Super Bowl).
Also, the loss of a program like Ed Sullivan to showcase new talent. We DO have AGT and The Voice…. different, quite different.
Aren’t you aware that there are late night shows every night that host music acts almost every night, SNL etc.
Hear the songs Link WRAY and the Wraymen
Bob Dylan wollte in der Ed Sullivan Show “John Birch Society Blues” was ihm nicht gestattet wurde, deswegen trat er in dieser Show niemals auf.
Maybe the Doors figured that they were only around for today while Mick figured he’d be around FOREVER! Haha.