John Lennon 70th Birthday Today

A sure sign that I myself am aging is that today would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. Has it been that long ago....must be. As a young teenager I as did millions of Americans watch the Beatles on the old Ed Sullivan Show. A couple of years ago I attended a taping of the Late Show with Letterman. It is done at the Ed Sullivan theater. I was mildly surprised to see that the theater was as small as it was. Seemed huge that night. The Beatles overall impact back then was huge. I once attempted to try and explain to my daughters musician boyfriend just how big an impact that week was. To music , culture , art , fashion , etc. The world seemed to change within a few short weeks. The change was most intense in the urban areas of course but even in small town Castleton NY where I grew up. You could sense things were not the same. We became a little more British or we thought we did. Our hair , clothes music tastes were moving in an exciting new direction , even if some were reluctant to go. My generation had discovered a different world beyond our borders. Overall we liked it. So among my Kyle Eastwood jazz cd's and Bach there remains my Beatles as my favorite R&R that I still pull out and enjoy well after 45 yrs. If there was a cultural DNA , Lennon would have his genetic template in their somewhere. Subtle but present , a wave still effected us to the present day. RIP , especially the peace part.