Saturday, February 23, 2013

"Twist And Shout" early Television footage

On August 14 1963, The Beatles arrived at Studio Four, Granada TV Center in Manchester England in order to tape a performance of "Twist And Shout" being lip-synced. The video of the performance is quite nice.
It's in black and white and all of the Beatles are wearing black polo neck shirts/sweaters. The film starts with a shot of John's Rickenbacker guitar (the music starts before he actually starts strumming..hee hee). Then the camera pans showing John's face as he starts to sing. Paul and George are shown doing the back up vocals and Ringo is behind them both.
Most of this video can be seen on the DVD "All You Need Is Love"; the television special by Tony Palmer - the episode entitled "Mighty Good" at the start of the DVD when the credits roll. Some of the footage has been spliced in and out of the "Anthology" DVD series by Apple.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Pop Go The Beatles - episode 12

On August 01 1963, The Beatles recorded a second show for the BBC radio folks from the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester (see previous posting for the first one).
Once again, the producer for this particular episode was Ian Grant and the host for this one is Rodney Burke. No changes from the previous episode taped earlier in the day.
Of course, the songs are different and there they are: The first two songs are original compositions featured on previous 45 singles in the UK. Of course, "From Me To You" is sung by John and Paul and was a number one previous. The second original is "I'll Get You" which is also sung by John and Paul and featured on the "then" current single. A cover version of "Money (That's What I Want)" sung by John is next and this would be featured on the upcoming LP to be released later that year. The next song broadcast is the original composition by John entitled "There's A Place". This tune is from the first LP although the version heard here is from an earlier episode of "Pop Go The Beatles" (episode five) and was originally recorded the previous month (July 05). The next song performed is a cover version of the Carl Perkin's classic "Honey Don't" sung by John on this early version. The song would eventually be recorded for EMI on the Beatles fourth LP released almost a year and a half later in late 1964 and would be sung by Ringo. Finally, the last song for this recording is the Chuck Berry version of "Roll Over Beethoven" sung by George and this tune would also be featured on the upcoming second LP to be released later in the year.
The bootleg LP "The Beatles at the Beeb, Volume Five" includes "There's A Place", "Honey Don't" and "Roll Over Beethoven" from this performance. The box set by Great Dane "The Complete BBC Sessions" includes most of the performance with the exception of "I'll Get You". Also noted is that fact that "Honey Don't" from this episode is now available commercially on the 2-LP/2-CD Apple "Live At the BBC" release.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Pop Go The Beatles - episode 11

On August 01 1963, The Beatles recorded two radio show both for the BBC. Both shows are for their own titled "Pop Go The Beatles" episodes 11 and 12. This entry will concentrate on the music for episode 11.
The show was recorded in Manchester at the Playhouse Theater.  The producer for the show is Ian Grant and the host of the show is Rodney Burke (master of corny jokes).
But what is really important is the music performed during this episode. The show opens with the cover tune "Ooh! My Soul" originally performed by Little Richard and this cover is sung by Paul with amazing drumming from Ringo. It should definitely had been put on an official EMI LP but there ya go. The second song performed on this episode is the cover "Don't Ever Change" originally written by Goffin/King. "Don't Ever Change" features George and Paul on vocals.
The next two songs are featured on the Beatles' first LP and are both covers sung by John. "Twist and Shout" is performed following by the Arthur Alexander tune "Anna (Go To Him)". The last song performed for this episode is "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues".
The first two songs and the last song can be found commercially on the "Live At The BBC" 2-LP/2-CD set from Apple. The others are available on vinyl "The Beatles At The Beeb, Volume Five" as well as on the Great Dane Box set in CD form.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

All My Loving - Alternate Intro

During the summer and fall of 1963, The Beatles were working on the follow up to their first LP. The second LP was coming along fine. On July 30 1963, The Beatles entered EMI Studio 2 to continue the fine work. They finished four songs on that day, two of them being overdubs from earlier takes: "Till There Was You" and "It Won't Be Long". The other two songs were started and completed from scratch "Roll Over Beethoven" and "All My Loving".
The alternate introduction to "All My Loving" is created via five high-hat hits and an intake of air from Paul McCartney. The introduction heard on most official recordings have this introduction edited out so that the song begins with vocals. The alternate introduction is still not heard often and was originally sent to the West Germany affiliate of EMI and used on the German "Odeon" LP pressings. I checked my white/gold label version (Odeon 0-83-568) and it has the high hat version in stereo. The German version is also available on the pirate/bootleg LP "Collector's Item" (both versions SPRO-9462 and SPRO-9463).

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Saturday Club (Fifth Appearance)

In the late afternoon of July 30, 1963 The Beatles taped an appearance for BBC radio at the Playhouse Theatre in London, England for later transmission. The show was eventually broadcast on August 24 1963 at ten in the morning.
The show opens with a blistering version of Little Richard cover "Long Tall Sally" screamed by Paul. Next up, we hear the latest hit single from the band; the original composition "She Loves You" sung by John ,Paul and George (mainly John). Following this song is another cover by Carl Perkins "Glad All Over" sung by George Harrison.
The show continues with two more covers; first up is a cover of the Isley Brothers tune "Twist And Shout" sung by John and backing by Paul and George. This is the tune that also completes the first LP being the last song on side two. The second cover is a cover version of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got A Hold On Me" which would be featured on the upcoming second LP. The last song of the show is the B-side of the latest single (maybe this show was basically promoting the latest single with covers thrown in); the original composition "I'll Get You".
The songs from this particular show can be found on various vinyl and CD bootlegs. Note that the version of "You Really Got A Hold On Me" is now available commercially on the 2-LP/2-CD "Live At the BBC" from Apple.
The others have been found on such titles as : "Directly from Santa Claus"(LP). "I'll Get You" and "Glad All Over" have been broadcast on BBC radio specials. My copy of the CD box set "The complete BBC Sessions" isn't so complete after all. It has all the tunes with the exception of "Twist and Shout" and "You Really Got A Hold On Me". The CD set "Mythology Vol. 1" has "Twist and Shout" with the original intro.