Hey Jude

That summer I carried my transistor radio wherever I went. It was late August 1968 and the world had been getting ready for a new Beatles single that was being heavily promoted but nobody had heard yet.

I was walking down to Logan Park from my house a couple of blocks away. The radio DJ announced that they were about to play the new Beatles song titled Hey Jude. Get ready. I was and I hurried down the street to the park to meet friends at the top of the hill and I knew I would be the only one with a radio. The song began to play just as I entered the park and I was a little disappointed that the song would be over by the time I got to my friends. 

I walked across the lower fields, up the hill we would sled down in the winter, past the trees at the top that we used to climb as kids and over to the benches near the old mansion from 1801. I was amazed that the song was still playing and my friends got to hear it although at that point they were listening to the four minute "Na-na-na na" refrain and they probably were not very impressed. Then the DJ played the song again. 

I had no idea it would go on for a little over 7 minutes and would also be the longest charting single on the radio at the time. It was the first single on the new Apple label and would also be a massive hit. I saw the promotional video on the Smothers Brothers TV show in October. It was a big deal. Must see TV at the time. Wow, 50 years ago.