<P> Sullivan praised Elvis at the end of the show, saying "This is a real decent, fine boy . We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you...You're thoroughly all right"--a remark that could either be interpreted as a "ringing endorsement" that "legitimized the singer with an adult audience" or as "a somewhat hypocritical statement considering what the CBS censors had just done to his performance on that show ." Eyewitness Jerry Schilling writes, "The way Elvis looked out at us at that moment, I thought I could see a mix of hurt over the attacks he'd been subjected to in the press, and a deep pride in who he was and what he was doing ." (According to historian Tim Parrish, Presley's manager, Colonel Parker, "had threatened to remove Elvis from the show if Sullivan did not apologize for telling the press that Elvis's' gyrations' were immoral .") Reflecting on the event in 1969, Presley claimed that Sullivan had expressed a very different opinion off - camera: "So they arranged to put me on television . At that particular time there was a lot of controversy--you didn't see people moving--out in public . They were gettin' it on in the back rooms, but you didn't see it out in public too much . So there was a lot of controversy...and I went to the Ed Sullivan Show . They photographed me from the waist up . And Sullivan's standing over there saying,' Sumbitch .' I said,' Thank you, Ed, thank you .' I didn't know what he was calling me, at the time ." </P> <P> Years later, Sullivan "tried to sign the singer up again...He phoned Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, and asked about a price . Parker came up with a list of instructions and conditions and after hearing the demands Sullivan said,' Give Elvis my best--and my sympathy,' and he hung up ." The singer never again appeared in Sullivan's show, although in February 1964 at the start of the first of three broadcasts featuring the Beatles (see below), Sullivan announced that a telegram had been received from Presley and Parker wishing the British group luck . </P> <P> In late 1963, Sullivan and his entourage happened also to be passing through Heathrow and witnessed how The Beatles' fans greeted the group on their return from Stockholm, where they had performed a television show as warmup band to local stars Suzie and Lill Babs . Sullivan was intrigued, telling his entourage it was the same thing as Elvis all over again . He initially offered Beatles manager Brian Epstein top dollar for a single show but the Beatles manager had a better idea--he wanted exposure for his clients: the Beatles would instead appear three times on the show, at bottom dollar, but receive top billing and two spots (opening and closing) on each show . </P> <P> The Beatles appeared on three consecutive Sundays in February 1964 to great anticipation and fanfare as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had swiftly risen to No. 1 in the charts . Their first appearance on February 9 is considered also along with the appearance of Elvis Presley a few years earlier on that show a milestone in American pop culture and furthermore the beginning of the British Invasion in music . The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, at the time a record for US television which would be broken three years later by the series finale of The Fugitive . The Beatles followed Ed's show opening intro, performing "All My Loving"; "Till There Was You", which featured the names of the group members superimposed on closeup shots, including the famous "SORRY GIRLS, HE'S MARRIED" caption on John Lennon; and "She Loves You". The act that followed Beatles in the broadcast, magician Fred Kaps, was pre-recorded in order to allow time for an elaborate set change . The group returned later in the program to perform "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". </P>

How did american tv host ed sullivan first learn about the beatles