In 1964, when my mom was 16, she went to see The Beach Boys and ended up hanging out with them. And while hanging out with The Beach Boys was probably pretty cool, she was more excited that The Animals were making their American television debut that night. They all ended up watching the performance together.
This photo was taken before "British Invasion" was even a term. "Meet the Beatles" came out the same year this photo was taken. A lot of teens in the U.S. were probably still listening to Elvis and Roy Orbison. Crazy to be able to see a photo of what Mike Love's face looked like as he watched one of the more important bands to come from England's R&B scene, perform live on American television for the first time.
I'm pretty sure this is what they were watching:
The next month the Beach Boys made their first appearance on British television:
I put together a Beach Boys mix (with a focus on post-1964 sounds) to go along with this post, but due to technical difficulties, and second thoughts about whether or not it was okay to post a mix of songs solely by one artist... I decided against it. But if you want it, I'll figure out how to send it to you. Just let me know.
