<P> Since acquiring the rights to The Ed Sullivan Show library, SOFA Entertainment has catalogued, organized and cleared performance rights for the original shows . Starting in 1991, SOFA Entertainment has re-introduced The Ed Sullivan Show to the American public by producing numerous network specials, half - hour series (airing on TV Land, PBS, VH1 and Decades), and home video compilations . Some of these compilations include The 4 Complete Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Beatles, All 6 Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Rolling Stones, Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows, Motown Gold from the Ed Sullivan Show, Ed Sullivan's Rock' n Roll Classics, and 115 half - hour The Best of The Ed Sullivan Show specials, among others . The legendary performances of this show are also available as video and audio downloads and an app on iTunes ." </P> <P> In the early years of television, both CBS and NBC networks had their own symphony orchestras . NBC's was conducted by Arturo Toscanini and CBS's by Alfredo Antonini . The Ed Sullivan Show was basically a musical variety show, and thus members of the CBS orchestra were folded into the Ed Sullivan Show Orchestra, conducted by Ray Bloch . During the early days of television, the demands on studio musicians were many - tiered . They needed to be proficient in all genres of music, from classical, to jazz and to rock and roll . The Ed Sullivan Show would regularly feature singers from the Metropolitan Opera and the staff orchestra would accompany divas such as Eileen Farrell, Maria Callas or Joan Sutherland . The musicians needed to be prepared to switch gears for Ella Fitzgerald, Diahann Carroll or Sammy Davis, Jr. and then onto The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder or Tom Jones or Itzhak Perlman . They also needed to perform with some of the greatest dancers and ballerinas of the time, from Gregory Hines, Juliet Prowse or Margo Fonteyn to the Peter Genarro dancers . Few musicians are capable of crossing over from one genre to another . However, each member of the Ed Sullivan Show Orchestra was a specialist and more than capable of covering the complete spectrum of music . Music Hall Of Fame inductee Gordon Chris Griffin (formerly with the trumpet section of Harry James, Ziggy Elman and Chris Griffin of The Benny Goodman Band) was Ray Bloch's lead trumpet player for the many radio and television shows that he conducted including the Ed Sullivan Show . "Chris" remained the lead trumpet player with The Ed Sullivan show from the first show in 1948 to the last show in 1971 . During the 1950s CBS' own orchestral accordionist John Serry Sr. often joined the Ed Sullivan Orchestra to add an "international" or "continental flavor" to a performance . Unlike "The Tonight Show" of NBC, which celebrated the notoriety of their musicians in Skitch Henderson's or Doc Severinsen's Band, the CBS producers of The Ed Sullivan show decided to hide their famed musicians behind a curtain . Occasionally, CBS would broadcast "Specials" and they would call upon the orchestra to perform . When Robert Kennedy was assassinated, music was hastily composed for the orchestra in a special tribute that also featured Bill Evans, who had recently composed an Elegy To His Father . In 1971, The Ed Sullivan Show came to an abrupt end . The CBS board of directors chose this occasion to terminate any and all contracts with their musicians as they were unceremoniously shown the door . </P> <P> The Ed Sullivan Show is especially known to the World War II and baby boomer generations for introducing acts and airing breakthrough performances by popular 1950s and 1960s musicians such as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Supremes, The Dave Clark Five, The Animals, The Beach Boys, The Jackson 5, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, The Mamas & the Papas, The Lovin' Spoonful, Herman's Hermits, The Doors, and The Band . The Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster appeared on the program 67 times, a record for any performer . </P> <P> The American public's first exposure to Itzhak Perlman was on the show in 1958, when he was just 13 . This performance was a breakthrough not only for classical music, but also for Perlman, who rode the waves of admiration that came with performing on the show to new heights of fame and has remained one of the most famous violinists for decades . </P>

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