‘You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself’ – The Rolling Stones Make Their ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ Debut 50 Years Ago
by Dave Lifton October 25, 2014 4:30 PM






It might not be considered to be as much of a cultural touchstone as the Beatles‘ debut appearance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’ but that doesn’t mean it was any less historic. On Oct. 25, 1964, the Rolling Stones performed on the popular CBS variety show for the first time.

This was the Stones’ second time in America. A few months earlier, their first U.S. tour, which began before they had a proper hit in the country, was met largely with indifference, including being booed offstage in San Antonio. An ill-advised shot on Dean Martin’s ‘Hollywood Palace,’ which found the host taking potshots at his guests, didn’t help much, either.

By the fall, however, ‘Tell Me’ and ‘It’s All Over Now’ had gotten into the U.S. Top 40, and ‘Time Is on My Side’ was making its way up the Billboard Hot 100, where it would peak in November at No. 6. Now, they felt, was right opportunity to re-introduce the band in America, in the same spot where their friends had made such a powerful showing.

But, as you can see in the video above, they didn’t open with their budding hit, but with their cover of Chuck Berry‘s ‘Around and Around,’ which they recorded at the legendary Chess Studio in Chicago. They saved ‘Time Is on My Side’ for their second spot that night.

As with the Beatles in February (and Elvis Presley eight years before, for that matter), the girls in the audience were practically uncontrollable. Sullivan can barely get through the introductions for all the screaming and at times seems to almost lose his patience. “You promised, my little chickadees,’ he said, echoing screen legend W.C. Fields.

However, not everybody was as thrilled with England’s newest hitmakers as the teenagers in attendance. Sullivan’s website features a scan of a telegram from a man named Claude Lopez, who wrote, “Should be ashamed of yourself putting on such trash as The Rolling Stones. A Disappointed Viewer.”


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