Sunday, February 9, 1964. At CBS television's Studio 50 at 53rd and Broadway in New York City, The Ed Sullivan Show is the scene of the U.S. television debut of a young British band known as The Beatles. The studio could hold an audience of 700. The requests for tickets numbered 50,000. Those who didn't get seats, and 73-million others, watched the Sullivan show on TV that night.

One of those four mop-topped phenoms, Paul McCartney is returning to what is now known as the Ed Sullivan Theater, to the same stage from which The Beatles stamped themselves indelibly on American culture. McCartney's visit (Wednesday, July 15) to the current occupant of that stage, Late Show With David Letterman, may not play to a studio audience full of screaming teenaged girls this time, but is nonetheless likely to be, as Sullivan often promised, a "really big show" for both Letterman and McCartney.

This will be Macca's first time on Letterman's show, where his appearance will consist of the usual interview and performance. Nobody is saying what he'll perform, so we'll be in suspense over whether it'll be a nostalgic bit of Lennon-McCartney material, or something more eclectic from his latest album as The Fireman, Electric Arguments. Or maybe something in between, from the Wings catalog, perhaps. Your guess is as good as mine.

The Letterman gig comes two days before the start of McCartney's month-long mini-tour of nine shows in six U.S. cities.

^{Photo by Dave Hogan / Getty Images}

Classic Rock Almanac - July 10

• 1964 - The Beatles make a triumphant return to their hometown, Liverpool, greeted by 200,000 fans
• 1968 - Prog rockers The Nice are banned from London's Royal Albert Hall after burning an American flag on stage during a performance as an antiwar protest
• 1975 - Ten days after their wedding, Cher files for divorce from Gregg Allman (Allman Brothers Band)
• 1978 - Bill Wyman is out cold after falling off the stage during a Rolling Stones concert

Birthday Watch, July 10:
Ronnie James Dio - Black Sabbath, Rainbow - 1942
Jerry Miller - Moby Grape - 1943
Arlo Guthrie - 1947

Paul McCartney keeps insisting that he isn't on tour, but he keeps adding gigs to his schedule. What's up with that? Maybe it's just semantics. "Tour" suggests something long planned, heavily promoted, booked in advance. In Macca's world, he's just doing a bunch of one-off performances. Whatever you call it, two more have just been added: August 18 in Tulsa, and the next day at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Here's the schedule for the McCartney tour that he isn't on.

Aerosmith Tour Derailed ... Again
A leg injury here, a head injury there, and pretty soon your summer concert tour is toast. Aerosmith have now postponed five dates on their tour with ZZ Top, as front man Steven Tyler has reportedly pulled a leg muscle. On the bright side, guitarist Brad Whitford, who missed the first half of the tour because of a head injury, says he's ready to get back to work whenever Tyler is. The tour is scheduled to run through September 16, not counting any makeup dates that may be added for the canceled shows.

Rock On The Road: Recession-Free Zone
Apparently when economic times are tough, we still don't forget to boogie. Figures for the first half of 2009 show that the concert business is booming, nationally and internationally. Oh, and on both charts, note that classic rockers (Fleetwood Mac, Elton John/Billy Joel, Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Dead) occupy five of the top ten spots.

^{Steven Tyler photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images}

Classic Rock Almanac - July 9

• 1969 - "Give Peace A Chance" marks John Lennon's solo debut on the U.K. charts
• 1977 - Elvis Costello quits his job at cosmetics factory to pursue a music career
• 1995 - Grateful Dead's last concert with Jerry Garcia, at Soldier Field in Chicago

July 9 Birthdays:
Bon Scott - AC/DC - 1946
Mitch Mitchell - Jimi Hendrix Experience - 1947
Jim Kerr - Simple Minds - 1959