By Alex Soloducha

Local musicians reflect on The Beatles’ impact 50 years after TV debut

Feb 9, 2014 | 11:09 AM

This Sunday marks 50 years since The Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and people still can’t get enough.

At this year’s Grammys the two remaining members of The Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, were awarded 2014’s Recording Academy lifetime achievement award. They performed Queenie Eye for the audience in their first live performance in over three years.

CBS decided to recognize their momentous milestone further with “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles,” which was taped the night after the Grammys and will run Sunday at 8 p.m., exactly 50 years after the first time the hosted The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The first thing Donny Parenteau, a singer and songwriter from Prince Albert, remembers about The Beatles is their melodies, hearing their songs on the radio as a young kid.

According to him, it was later on that he truly became a fan of the way they wrote songs and began to gain a true appreciation for their melodies. He mentioned The White Album, referring to their song Yesterday as a “timeless, timeless song”.

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Parenteau acknowledges that The Beatles had a big influence on his music.

“And to be able to write good songs like that, not just that one, there was like thousands of songs that they had written. So yeah, [they were] definitely a big influence,” said Parenteau.

Along with his music, Parenteau said The Beatles also impacted his career and his outlook as a public figure.

“As an artist, to go out and stand for something, to try to make the world a better place; that’s the biggest influence The Beatles had on me because that’s what I stand for today. If I can get out there and kind of do the same thing and help, of course not on the same impact that The Beatles had… but as an artist, to go out there and stand for what you believe in, that’s what I find with John Lennon and I think Paul McCartney’s the same way,” said Parenteau.

When asked what made The Beatles so special, he replied “[they were] very unique, in a time when I think the world needed something. There was a change happening and they impacted the music so, so powerful and I don’t think they realized what they had,” he said, “It was a change, and it was a change for the good.”

Musician Heidi Munro said that her parents were big fans of The Beatles and she grew up around their music. She remembers it fondly and said through their family’s struggles, they found their music very uplifting. This highly influenced her, even later on. “My parents just lived and died by rock and roll music. That music was pretty much what I cut my teeth on,” said Munro. 

“Our house was filled with it all the time and I know that their music has definitely impacted how I interpret what I sing, my versatility, how I perform and my freedom vocally,” said Munro.

She decribes The Beatles’ music as timeless, “It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 88, the chances of you knowing those songs are pretty good.”

In her opinion, The Beatles represent true musicians, and often now, songs are much more processed.

“It’s an art form that’s sadly so lost.”

She said her parents often told her about The Ed Sullivan Show, and she herself still distinctly remembers the day John Lennon died.

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On Twitter @alex_soloducha