Paul closed the Saturday Night Live celebrations

After having performed three ninety minute surprise concerts at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City last week, Paul McCartney and his band finished the week by being the closing act in the SNL50 celebrations.

It was the 50th anniversary of the American television program “Saturday Night Live” in New York this weekend, and Paul and the band closed the anniversary performance yesterday with the medley Golden Slumbers-Carry That Weight-The End.

The ex-beatles all had history with the show. Both Paul, George and Ringo have participated in this TV-show over the years. An often-told story is that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were sitting at John’s house in the Dakota building watching the program when producer Lorne Michaels came on the screen with an offer to the Beatles: If they would come and appear in the show, they would get 3,000 dollars. This was in the wake of the Beatles having been offered piles of money for a reunion concert. The two friends discussed taking a taxi to the television studio to demand the money, but in the end they couldn’t be bothered.

Later, when George Harrison was on the show, he demanded the $3,000 in a skit, but Michaels said the offer was for the entire group, so Harrison could only get his share, $750. However, Michaels added, whoever introduces the show gets a $250 bonus, whereupon George turned to the camera and said, “Live from New York – it’s Saturday Night!”