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Post by TRK on Dec 2, 2009 8:17:27 GMT -5
The Fabs recorded a smoking five-song set live in front of a small audience in Sweden in late 1963 for radio broadcast, a couple of months before they made their US debut. A tape recently surfaced, and it's a very high quality recording. No screaming girls drowning out everything during the playing; you can actually hear the individual instruments and great musicianship. The tape is in the public domain, and you can hear a podcast of it here: straighttalk.podomatic.com/entry/2008-07-27T19_48_20-07_00
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Dec 2, 2009 11:23:21 GMT -5
I'll have to check it out when I get home (dang work computer doesn't have speakers).
Most Americans forget that by time the Beatles arrived in the U.S. in February 1964, the band had already been playing and touring and posting #1 hits in Britain and Europe for a year or so. It seems impossible that even the Beatles would be unknown and off the radar, in this day and age of instant messaging, WEB sites, MySpace and so on. Wouldn't happen today, I guess.
What I'm saying is that the whole screaming girl/Beatlemania thing was waning somewhat there -- not entirely, but the Beatles weren't so "new" in Europe by '64. Different story here, of course, where no one really knew much about the band.
Paul
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Post by Allen Wiener on Dec 4, 2009 10:36:36 GMT -5
This is nothing new; it was out on bootleg at least 20 years ago (and several bootlegs at that). It's listed somewhere in my Beatles book, if you can find a copy anywhere ("The Beatles: The Ultimate Recording Guide").
Allen
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Dec 4, 2009 17:16:02 GMT -5
Here's a link to an energetic performance clip of the Beatles tearing it up in 1964. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN6eLSLgQQQWhat's amazing about the old "live" clips and recordings is that back at this time they did not have monitor speakers (or "foldback" speakers, as they're sometimes called). How they could hit the harmonies or even hear themselves sing above the roar of the screaming girls (think "Shea Stadium" concert) is beyond me. I've sung in front of a louyd band without monitors and all you can do is try and hit the notes by the "feel", but you can't hear a thing above the roar. Anyway, enjoy ...
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Post by Allen Wiener on Dec 4, 2009 23:02:07 GMT -5
They always said that they could NOT hear each other or themselves in those primative large concerts. The Beatles may have (among other things) invented the modern, outdoor, stadium concert, but they never got to enjoy them. They hated the touring and were thrilled when it ended. They were still doing songs from much earlier in their career at those concerts even as late as 1966, while recording totally different music in the studio. The Beatles' real innovation and achievement was on record, not in concert. I think those primitive early clips from TV and radio are far more enjoyable and entertaining than the later, screaming concerts. Several are preserved from the "Ready, Steady, Go!" TV series, a UK version of shows like "American Bandstand." I always enjoyed their BBC radio performances and collected many bootlegs of that before they finally released thier own CD collection of those tracks.
Allen
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Post by Jim Boylston on Dec 5, 2009 9:31:06 GMT -5
Though the studio stuff eclipsed their live shows in terms of innovation, the Beatles were always a hot, intuitive, live band. The only time "Let it Be" comes alive is during the rooftop concert sequence, where you see that, even with years off the live circuit, the band still bristles with energy.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Dec 5, 2009 10:55:05 GMT -5
I always liked the rooftop session at the end of "Let It Be," but that wasn't like their early shows with the stadium crowds, primitive sound systems, etc. I agree - they were a great band live and that's what originally put them over in places like Hamburg. It's too bad they never had a chance to show that ability in their peak years. They did have a real energy and each of them fed off of each other; it comes through in that little clip from NME Poll Winners concert. I haven't seen the early Sullivan shows in years, but I think they seemed almost subdued on that by comparison.
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Dec 5, 2009 12:03:52 GMT -5
They really were more ... packaged ... on the Sullivani Show, I think. Much of that probably had to do with Brian Epstein who took the raw, rough-edge band he saw in the Cavern, and attempted to clean them up. They really got their act together in Hamburg, where they played these massive six- or eight-hour gigs to an admittedly tough audience. The game there was "macht shau", and so they did exactly that on all those old rockers. It worked well back in Liverpool, as well, which was another gritty and tough, working class, port city. Still, I loved the NMW clip because it showed the boys doing what they probably did in Hamburg and Liverpool just a year or so earlier -- raw, pure, rock 'n' roll energy. Paul's vocal and the band's performance on "Long Tall sally" has been a favorite track for me since I first bought and played "The Beatles' Second Album" (which was the American LP it was on). But you know, there's something I always loved about the VeeJay LP "Introducing the Beatles", where most of those tracks were covers, and sounded like they were garage recordings, all done in one all-or-nothing take. Not a lot of EQ and mixing, I think, but it's that unpolished rawness that appeals to me. Pure and honest rock 'n' roll.
Paul
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Post by Allen Wiener on Dec 5, 2009 12:17:41 GMT -5
I've met many a Beatles fan who swears by their earliest stuff and who find their later studio stuff less endearing. It's hard to believe that they had such a hard time getting a deal with a U.S. label even pretty late in the game. They had 5 records in the top 10 at one point and each of them was on a different label (Swan, MGM, VeeJay; can't recall the others right now; need to look in my own book!).
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Dec 5, 2009 12:56:42 GMT -5
I have a 45 rpm copy of "She Loves You" on the Swan label!
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Post by Allen Wiener on Dec 5, 2009 14:11:57 GMT -5
Well, hang onto that! And, of course, your original "butcher cover" copy of the "Yesterday and Today" LP (IF you are lucky enough to have one!).
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Post by TRK on Dec 5, 2009 16:12:12 GMT -5
I used to have--and may still--a Swan "She Loves You." Also had one of the Beatles 45s VeeJay released in the US before Capital signed them: "From Me To You/Thank You Girl". I have a stack of Beatles original singles and EPs, most with picture jackets; haven't looked thru them in a long time to see what's still there.
The gas station/convenience store down the street from me in 1964 used to get boxes full of closeout record singles, and I found the Swan single in one of those, probably for a dime. And, back when recorded music still was something special and magical, it was a big deal to go down to the local record store every few days and see who could be first go get the latest Beatles (or Dylan, or Stones, or...) single.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Dec 5, 2009 17:21:33 GMT -5
Ah, I recall the days! I wonder what those discs are going for on eBay these days.
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Post by marklemon on Dec 5, 2009 22:53:33 GMT -5
This is great stuff.....thanks for posting, Tom. I'll admit that, as I was inundated with Beatles for most of my young life, it's hard to listen to them with anything approaching "fresh ears." But the early stuff is more raw and unpolished, and gives us a different insight into their awesome talent.
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Dec 5, 2009 23:25:25 GMT -5
Ah, I recall the days! I wonder what those discs are going for on eBay these days. Last time I looked, a couple years ago, they weren't fetching much -- even the Swan singles. Guess that's why I still have them (lol). Paul
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