Saturday, January 25, 2014

The Beatles Live in Blokker

On June 06 1964, The Beatles performed at an auction house in the town of Blokker near Amsterdam. the location is the Veilghal Op Hoop Van Zegen. There were two shows, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. The afternoon show exists on bootleg and the following songs were performed by the band:
The music contains "I Saw Her Standing There" (from the first LP), "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "All My Loving" (from the second LP), "She Loves You", "Twist And Shout" and ending with "Long Tall Sally".
These tunes can be heard on the LP "De Bietels Tussen De Bollen" as well as the CDR "Vinyl To the Core" as well as the CD "Jimmy Nicol and The Beatles".
I've also included a Youtube video of one song shown in this Dutch newsreel from the evening show: "I Saw Her Standing There" which is interesting watching Jimmy Nicol fill in for Ringo on drums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p032arXM7wU

Sunday, January 19, 2014

The Beatles Live in Hillegom (Amsterdam)

On June 05 1964, The Beatles appeared at the Cafe-Restaurant Treslong in Hillegom near Amsterdam continuing their European promotional tour. The drummer is this case was still Jimmy Nicol as Ringo Starr was back in London resting in hospital.
The television appearance for VARA-TV was called "The Beatles In Nederland" (very original) and included an interview as well as a semi-live performance on a stage surrounded by bleachers. I say semi-live because the instrumental/vocal tracks were from the recordings and The Beatles simply mimed their instruments but since the vocal mikes were left on in order to hear the introductions, this created a sort of artificial double vocal tracking for the show.
The interview itself is about 12 minutes long and appears on the Dutch fan club LP "De Bietels Tussen De Bollen" as well as a bootleg CD entitled "Telecasts Three". Snippets of the interview can also be seen commercially on the Apple DVD/VHS set "Anthology".
The performance is also about 12 minutes long and The Beatles mimed to "She Loves You" followed by "All My Loving". Next up is the Isley Brothers' cover of "Twist and Shout" followed by the Chuck Berry cover of "Roll Over Beethoven". The last two songs of the set are "Long Tall Sally" and the latest single "Can't Buy Me Love". During "Long Tall Sally" various members of the audience decide to get on camera and start to dance near John as the cameramen try to focus on the Beatles' images. During the last song, all turns to mayhem as the crowd empties from the bleachers and start dancing and just screwing around surrounding the Beatles (John, Paul and George) until they are whisked off the stage before the song is over! It's quite funny to watch and I've included a clip below. The first clip is the final two songs, the second clip is earlier.
The performance can be found on the vinyl bootleg LP "John, Paul, George and Jimmy" and on the CD "The Beatles and Jimmy Nicol". Parts of "Long Tall Tally" can also be seen commercially on the Apple DVD/VHS documentary "Anthology".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz-mq4aDiXo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p95-lNqYogA

Saturday, January 11, 2014

The Beatles Live In Copenhagen

The Beatles left London and proceeded on tour for the European Continent as well as New Zealand and Australia without Ringo (who was in hospital at the time and had his tonsils removed). Jimmy Nicol provided the drums for some dates including this one.
The date was June 04 1964 when the band played a couple of concerts at DB Hallen
in Copenhagen as John, Paul, George and Jimmy. The songs were bootlegged but I have don't think I've heard this yet.
The songs included the opening "I Saw Her Standing There" followed by "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "All My Loving". Next up are the songs "She Loves You" followed by "Till There Was You". George is on vocals for "Roll Over Beethoven" and then the latest single "Can't Buy Me Love" is performed. Finally, the tape continues with "This Boy" and ends with "Twist And Shout".
This show can be heard on the vinyl bootleg "John, Paul, George and Jimmy" and on bootleg CD in the form of "Denmark & Nederland June 1964".

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Three Demos

On June 03 1964, The Beatles (minus Ringo) entered Studio number two at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London. This was to complete the upcoming third LP and the soundtrack to the first film. The session was supposed to consist of vocal and various instrumental overdubs for two of the last songs - mainly "Any Time At All" and "Things We Said Today".
Ringo did not make the session as he was very ill and stayed behind. Therefore, it was an opportunity for the remaining Beatles to record some demos for upcoming ideas and/or songs that were eventually given away to other artists. Three demos were recorded, two were eventually release commercially.
The first demo was by George Harrison who recorded his follow up to "Don't Bother Me" and entitled "You Know What To do". The instrumental line up consists of George on guitar and vocals, Paul on bass and John on tambourine. The song never ended up on any Beatles' LP in any commercial capacity, but was eventually released on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 1" set.
The second demo was by Paul McCartney who recorded a version of "It's For You" - basically a song that was eventually given to Cilla Black to record. There has been no release of this demo that I have heard.
The third and final demo was by John Lennon who recorded a version of "No Reply" that was initially meant to be given to singer Tommy Quickly although in the end The Beatles recorded this song for the fourth LP later in the year. The demo consists of John doing vocals and guitar, George on bass and Paul on drums. This demo was also commercially released on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 1" set. Both demos from this session are mono.