Did you know?
There’s a popular theory known as “Six Degrees of Separation,” that’s rooted in scientific study, and has been the basis for a number of entertainment vehicles. (The 1993 movie by that name, which starred Will Smith, Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing, is just one of a half dozen movies and TV shows – as well as a play – based on the theory)
Simply put, it’s been theorized that even in a population the size of the United States, we are all connected to somebody who knows somebody, who knows somebody – who knows you – or something like that.
For instance, I don’t know half of the people I’ve “friended” on Facebook. But all of those people know people I know.
Social networking seems to support the Six Degrees of Separation” theory.
Here’s an easier example of that. A few years ago, my wife and I visited Boston for a week.
I told my wife that before we returned to Pennsylvania, we’d run into somebody from Uniontown.
The very next morning, when I walked into the hotel lobby, while I was wearing a Uniontown Red Raiders T-shirt, I spotted a man who was pointing at my chest.
It seems, he’d graduated from South Union High School, the same year (1966) that I graduated from Uniontown High.
It only took about a minute of conversation, before I discovered we had, perhaps, only two degrees of separation.
We both knew some of the same people back in Uniontown.
This is a mighty long build-up to the point I’ll now make.
After 50 years, I’ve finally found a connection (though somewhat tortured) between the Beatles and Uniontown.
So what if it’s even more degrees of separation than just six. I’ve still found it.
I watched part of the Grammy Awards show on Jan. 26th. (That’s all my patience would allow me to watch)
During the show, the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Awards were announced.
Among those honored were onetime Rhodes Scholar; U.S. Army Captain; actor and singer/songwriter – Kris Kristofferson; legendary R&B group the Isley Brothers; the Beatles, and the renowned violinist Maud Powell.
Here’s comes the Beatles/Uniontown connection.
The Beatles shared their lifetime achievement honor on the same night as another recipient, Maud Powell, who died in Uniontown on Jan. 8, 1920.
Powell had gained international notoriety for her musical talents.
The Peru, Illinois native had played with some of the greatest conductors of her time – John Philip Sousa, Gustav Mahler and Jean Sibelius among them.
In November of 1919, while performing in St. Louis, she collapsed on stage.
On January 8th, 1920, the Uniontown Morning Herald’s front page carried the following headline: “Madam Powell ill; concert cancelled.”
“Stricken suddenly in her rooms at the Titlow Hotel at 6:30 o’clock last evening while playing a number on the program for her concert at the Penn theater an hour or so later, Madam Powell suffered a nervous collapse and it was necessary for the University Club to cancel the evening’s entertainment,” said the lead paragraph.
While there was still hope that day that Maud Powell would recover, and still perform, the front page of the Morning Herald the following day confirmed the worst: “Madam Powell passes away at hotel here,” read the headline.
“Madam Powell’s sudden death comes as a severe shock to music lovers the world over,” the story read.
And, once again, it was confirmed that she had collapsed while playing her beloved violin.
As for the Beatles, their Lifetime Achievement Award was given in conjunction to the 50 year anniversary of their first appearance on American television.
In fact, this Sunday, there will be a two hour celebration to coincide with the date and time of the Beatles’ groundbreaking appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964 – titled “The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles.”
“Beatles in New York, To Shrieking Welcome,” read the headline on the front page of the Uniontown Evening Standard the day before their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Their music had continually topped America’s music charts for months before the rock ‘n rollers with their “haystack hairdos” arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York.
The Tuesday following their American TV debut, the reviews were in. “Varied Reactions Seen To Beatles’ Invasion,” read the headline to a story about them in the Evening Standard.
Evangelist Billy Graham hadn’t been impressed. “I’m afraid I’m on a different wave length,” he told reporters.
While, John Pritchard, a conductor for the London Philharmonic, who was in Pittsburgh at the time of the “Beatles invasion,” gave them his thumbs up.
“Really, despite their fantastic ballyhoo, I find them good entertainers. Their numbers are extremely good, absolutely technically alright, both harmonically and rhythmically,” he said. The rest, as they say, is history.