May 1963: Bob Dylan was all set to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show to promote his second album.
He had rehearsed a tune - Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues - and got approval from Sullivan to play it on the show.
A network executive said the song was too political and asked him to play something else.
Dylan refused and walked away before airtime.
As a result, Dylan got even more publicity than he might’ve received by appearing on the show.
The Ed Sullivan Show’s producer made a similar request with the Doors.
He asked that the words in Light My Fire be changed from “Girl we couldn’t get much higher” to “Girl we couldn’t get much better.”
The Doors refused but didn’t cancel their appearance.
Morrison sang the original lyrics on television, and the Doors were banished from the Ed Sullivan Show.
By contrast, The Rolling Stones appeared on Sullivan’s highly influential Sunday night program six times.
For their fifth appearance in 1967, the band was asked to change their provocative lyrics.
The bad boys of rock and roll reluctantly agreed.
Instead of “let’s spend the night together,” Jagger sang “let’s spend some time together.”
The Stones made only one more Sullivan appearance after that in 1969.
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