Sunday, August 4, 2013

"From Us To You" for the first time.

As a bit of a Christmas present to the Beatles (as well as the fans), the BBC had decided to give the Fabs a showcase on the radio. Their own show was entitled "From Us To You" whereby there would be music, some chat and special guests.
On this first edition of the show, The Beatles record at BBC Paris Studio in London on December 18 1963 (the day after a Saturday Club performance) with the host being Rolf Harris for this special occasion.
The show starts with the theme song especially for the program entitled -naturally - "From Us to You" (a play on words originally from the single "From Me To You" in case you missed it). After the theme song is performed, "She Loves You" (The Beatles' original fourth number one single) is played with lead vocals shared between John and Paul. The New LP (at the time) is promoted with the next couple of tunes; "All My Loving" is played with Paul being the main vocal for this original number. The next song is a cover of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" sung by George. Paul croons the "Music Man" cover "Till There Was You" which is the acoustic number on the new (for the time) LP. It's back to the first LP and a cover of the song "Boys" featuring Ringo on vocals. They then rock it up a notch with the last song on the second LP, a cover of  Barret Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" with main vocal by John.
The Beatles resort back to the song "I Saw Her Standing There" with the main vocal by Paul and is on the first LP. After this, The Beatles join the host Rolf Harris for an interesting cover of Mr. Harris's popular number "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" with Rolf Harris on wobble board, Paul on bass and George on guitar. The lyrics are changed in order to feature references to the Beatles themselves. Interesting but very corny at the same time.
The Beatles "wrap it up" with a performance of the latest single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" which is an original with vocals shared between John and Paul. The Beatles end the show with a reprise of the theme song "From Us To You".
The entire Beatles portion of this show can be found on the bootleg LP "The Beatles At The Beeb, Volume Eight" as well as on CD in the form of the box set: "The Complete BBC Sessions".

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