Friday, Feb. 9 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, which remains one of the highest-rated programs of all time in American television history and helped give rise to the phenomenon called “Beatlemania.”

That night, the Beatles performed five songs, including four of their biggest hits, which were almost drowned out by screaming teenage girls in the live audience.

The other song that night, though, is remembered by only the most devout Beatles fans, and has a Macoupin County connection.

Meredith Willson, who spent summers with a grandmother...