The Beatles 1964 Mastro Jr Guitar

After their February 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles were superstars and it didn't take long at all for companies to start capitalizing on their success.  In fact, that same year, stores were already selling Beatles guitars including The Beatles Jr Guitar by Mastro which was basically just a toy (pictured below).  It measured only about 15" in length and had just four strings, so it was definitely made with kids in mind.  However, it was an officially licensed product featuring the image and signature of John, Paul, George and Ringo right on the front and their faces again on the head stock.  The Beatles name also appears on the guitar in two different places.

A similar looking, 30" guitar called the Beatle-ist was also released the same year by Mastro.  The Beatle-ist was still a toy, but closer to a real guitar because it was closer to full size and included the correct six strings rather than the four strings on the Jr.  The Beatle-ist also included an instruction book.  Although I'm not sure of the retail price of The Beatles Mastro Jr Guitar, I have seen advertisements for the Beatle-ist priced at $6.66!

Products like these generated a lot of money because fans in the 1960s just couldn't get enough of The Fab Four!

(The Beatles Mastro Jr Guitar)

On this day in Beatles History...October 7, 1964

52 years ago today, The Beatles appeared on the television show Shindig!  They opened the show that night with "Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey" before six other acts performed.  The Beatles came on again at the end of the show to close the program with the songs "I'm a Loser" and "Boys."

The Beatles Hohner Harmonica

Much of The Beatles merchandise didn't make a whole lot of sense, but one item that DID make sense was The Beatles Hohner Harmonica released in 1964.  The harmonica itself was just a standard, German-made Hohner, so there wasn't technically a Beatles harmonica available for sale.  However, the package for this piece is wonderful with a great picture of the Fab 4 on the front and instructions to teach you how to play it on the back along with a picture of John wailing away on his Honer harmonica.  The backing cardboard even opens up and tells you how to play The Beatles songs Little Child and Please, Please Me.  It also came with a box to store your harmonica complete with pictures of The Beatles.  Unfortunately, by the time The Beatles became popular in the USA, they weren't really playing harmonica much anymore.  Still, for just $2.98, you can't go wrong...especially since a Beatles harmonica that's still sealed in the original package sells for around $500 these days!

On this day in Beatles History...February 9, 1964

On February 9, 1964, The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and Beatlemania went into full swing in the USA.  Legend has it that Mr. Sullivan had originally offered The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein a very substantial amount of money for a Beatles appearance on his show, but Epstein knew what an opportunity this was and countered with an offer to have The Beatles appear three times at a lower price if they could both open and close each show.  This would give the boys much more exposure.  The plan certainly worked.  Allegedly, their February 9th appearance drew a record breaking 73 million viewers!

On this day in Beatles History...December 19, 1964

It was 51 years ago today on December 19, 1964 that Beatles For Sale reached #1 on the UK charts.  What album did they knock out of the top position?  Their own album A Hard Day's Night!  The band had been working harder than ever in 1964 and Beatlemania was in full swing.  In fact, the recording sessions for Beatles For Sale began in August of 1964 only about a month after A Hard Day's Night was released.  However, most of the recording was done in September.  The record company wanted to release a new record in time for Christmas, so the band was in a rush to write and record this album.  The previous album, A Hard Day's Night, featured all original music, but with pressure to complete the album quickly, the band went back to recording cover songs for Beatles For Sale.  Although there were 6 cover songs on the album along with the 8 songs written by the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team, the album was considered by many to be a turning point for the band in terms of songwriting.  More serious themes were creeping into the lyrics with songs like No Reply, I'm A Loser and Baby's In Black.  Even the wonderful cover photo presents a more serious look at the band.  Photographer Robert Freeman took the picture during a photo shoot in Hyde Park.  This is one of my favorite album covers of all time.  Beatles For Sale remained in the charts for 46 weeks in 1964 and 1965.  Then it returned to the charts for another 2 weeks over 2 decades later when it was released on CD in 1987.