1960, July (circa)

By May 1960, the band was known as The Silver Beetles, and comprised John, Paul, George, Stu, and Tommy Moore on drums. After backing Johnny Gentle on tour, and enduring abuse from John, not to mention a nasty van accident during the tour, Moore left the group in early June. His absence led to a spell without a drummer, including much of July 1960. The drummer-less rehearsals resumed, the borrowed Grundig again capturing history. Dating this recording as July 1960 is generally Winn's assertion (since Sulpy makes no distinction between this and April's reel), but it certainly fits with other accounts.

A copy of this reel was given to Hans-Walther "Icke" Braun in the spring of 1961. Braun played a portion of "I'll Follow the Sun" from this reel on a German TV program, The Beatles Damals in Hamburg (note that Sulpy dates the program to 1966, Winn to January 1967). Braun later contributed his reel to the compilation reel made in the 1970's (see 1960, April).

(ref: Winn, Way Beyond Compare; Sulpy, Complete Beatles Audio Guide, 2006 ed.; Lewisohn, The Beatles Live!)

_______________________________________________________________________

AUDIO: Madman's boot release Wildcat has long since been surpassed. Purple Chick's Strong Before Our Birth not only presents complete, "speed-corrected" and "unlooped" versions of the tracks, but also some "previously unbootlegged fragments." Detailed information on this boot: here. Sulpy recommends Home Tapes One. Detailed information on this boot: here.

Tracks as follows (times given are from Strong Before Our Birth and Home Tapes One, where necessary and respectively):

"HALLELUJAH, I LOVE HER SO"
"ONE AFTER 909 (take 1)"
"MOOVIN' & GROOVIN'/RAMROD"
"INSTRUMENTAL #1" - 7:06 (called "Instrumental #3") & 6:42
"YOU'LL BE MINE"
"(unknown)/MATCHBOX"
"I WILL ALWAYS BE IN LOVE WITH YOU"
"THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE"
"THAT'S WHEN YOUR HEARTACHES BEGIN"
"INSTRUMENTAL #2" (aka "That's the End") - 9:08 & 9:22
"WILDCAT (take 1)"
"ONE AFTER 909 (take 2)"
"SOME DAYS"
"YOU MUST WRITE EVERY DAY"
"I'LL FOLLOW THE SUN"
"HELLO LITTLE GIRL"
"WILDCAT (take 2)"

Note that Anthology 1's "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and "You'll Be Mine" are incomplete and/or compressed.

More detailed analysis on speed-correction and looping for several tracks can be found: here. At this site, each of the instrumentals in question receives its own page, while "General Notes" and "Specs at a Glance" provide further overview for the technically-minded.

You can hear the "instrumentals" in their "proper form" - here.

VIDEO: The Beatles Damals in Hamburg is known to exist.

_______________________________________________________________________

REVIEW: Read Alan W. Pollack's musicology article on the reel: here.

TOURISM: Visit Paul's home at 20 Forthlin Road. Some information in relation to this tape: here.

_______________________________________________________________________

Tom Wise
gengar843@msn.com

Although I use quotes from sources, or cited fact, much of the material on this and other pages of my blog is original, from my own pen. This is not cut-and-paste, it is a work of art. Copyright © 2010 Tom Wise.

1960, April (circa)

(above) "Meet the Beatals" by S. Sutcliffe

Stuart Sutcliffe joined the band in January 1960. Without a drummer, and now called The Beatals, the four-piece band rehearsed often at Paul's home at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. On the Anthology 1 CD, Paul told Mark Lewisohn that he recalled borrowing a Grundig recorder with "a little green eye" on which they would go around the house and "record little things." According to Paul (via Gottfridsson), this collection of "home demos" was "probably" taped in the bathroom during Easter vacation 1960, and this is now accepted (Sulpy gives good reasoning in his book). Not everyone has agreed with this date or location, as (for example) Belmo and Berkenstadt stating in 1995 that these songs were from autumn of 1960 in Germany. Furthermore, these are often called "The Quarrymen Tapes" when in fact The Quarrymen was by April already a disused name.

Stu is said to have later given a copy of this particular reel to his fiancee, Astrid Kirchherr. That reel was compiled with another (1960, July) onto a third reel, and stereo simulation was effected. This third reel was possibly created in the 1970's, although the other reel (1960, July) was known to exist as early as 1966. This third reel first appeared in bootleg form beginning in 1987 with the vinyl Liverpool May 1960, the bootleggers buying the reel at auction from an "anonymous European collector." Kirchherr returned her reel to George in 1994.

Also in 1994, Charles Hodgson, brother of Reginald, who lent the Grundig to Paul, found that recorder and a reel of tape in their Liverpool home. This reel is known as the "Hodgson Tape" and was a compilation created in 1960 by Paul as a gesture of thanks to Hodgson. It included three songs from the Kirchherr reel, eleven from the second reel (1960, July), and three songs not found elsewhere ("When I'm Sixty-Four," "Winston's Walk," and an early version of "Ask Me Why"). Reginald's son, Peter, handed this tape over to Paul on March 27, 1995.

(ref: Winn, Way Beyond Compare; Sulpy, Complete Beatles Audio Guide, 2006 ed.; Berkenstadt & Belmo, Black Market Beatles).

_______________________________________________________________________

AUDIO: The previous best source for this (Kirchherr) reel was Madman's bootleg release, Wildcat. This has been overridden since discovered that extensive "looping" was used to artificially extend several of the performances. Too, the track "Well, Darling" was found in more complete version on the 2002 bootleg The Braun-Kirchherr Tapes. Winn recommends Purple Chick's Strong Before Our Birth, as complete, "speed-corrected" and "unlooped." Detailed information on this boot: here. Sulpy goes with Home Tapes One: 1958-62 for the same reasons. Detailed information on this boot: here.

Tracks as follows (times given are Strong Before Our Birth and Home Tapes One, where necessary and respectively):

"INSTRUMENTAL #1" - 5:18 & 5:10
"INSTRUMENTAL #2" - 6:15 & 6:07
"INSTRUMENTAL #3" - 2:50 (called "Turn the Mixers Off") & 2:55 (called "Turn the Bitches Off")
"CAYENNE"
"COME ON, PEOPLE" (aka "That's an Important Number")
"I DON'T NEED NO CIGARETTE, BOY"
"WELL, DARLING"
"I DON'T KNOW"

Note that Anthology 1's "Cayenne" (a song incorrectly known as "Thinking of Linking" on various bootlegs) is a poor choice for that track since it is compressed and edited there.

More detailed analysis on speed-correction and looping for the various tracks can be found: here. At this site, each of the instrumentals in question receives its own page, while "General Notes" and "Specs at a Glance" provide further overview for the technically-minded.

You can hear the "instrumentals" in their "proper form," and the complete version of "Well, Darling" - here.

VIDEO: None.

_______________________________________________________________________

REVIEW: Read Alan W. Pollack's musicology article on the reel: here.

STUART: About March 1960, Stu, as part-time band manager, sent a letter to a prospective venue, first using the name "Quarrymen" but then crossing it out for their newly-found moniker "Beatals" (a name that he suggested in the first place). Pauline Sutcliffe, executor for Stu's estate, recently combined this letter with a Stu Sutcliffe watercolor, and offered it under the title "Meet the Beatals." See that: here (and image used above).

A detailed evolution of the band's name, including Stu's involvement and inclusion through the years, is: here. Note comments concerning April 1960.

TOURISM: Visit Paul's home at 20 Forthlin Road. Some information in relation to this tape: here.

_______________________________________________________________________

Tom Wise
gengar843@msn.com

Although I use quotes from sources, or cited fact, much of the material on this and other pages of my blog is original, from my own pen. This is not cut-and-paste, it is a work of art. Copyright © 2010 Tom Wise.

1958, July 14

Paul joined The Quarrymen, and introduced his friend, George Harrison, into the band. These three, with Colin Hanton and John "Duff" Lowe made their way to the Liverpool home of Percy Phillips, who recorded the lads onto a 78 rpm record for the exorbitant fee of seventeen shillings and sixpence. For this first outing, they chose Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day" and Paul's original composition "In Spite of All the Danger." The disc was passed from band member to band member for their pleasure, until it ended up with Lowe. In 1981, Lowe was stopped from selling the disc at auction by a Paul McCartney injunction, and Paul later paid Lowe a handsome sum for the keepsake.

In 1985, Paul played parts of "That'll Be the Day" on the BBC documentary The Buddy Holly Story; this was bootlegged onto the LP That'll Be the Day: The Music That Inspired the Beatles.

In 1995, portions of both sides of the shellac disc were played for the Anthology documentary. Subsequently, both songs were collected onto the CD Anthology 1. "That'll Be the Day" is complete on the CD, but "In Spite of All the Danger" is about 42 seconds shorter (2:43) than the 78 rpm (3:25), omitting a repeated verse and chorus.

(ref: Winn, Way Beyond Compare).

_______________________________________________________________________

AUDIO: It has been noted that these tracks on Anthology 1 suffer from heavy noise reduction. Therefore, suggestion is made to procure the Silent Sea bootleg The Beatles Complete, July 6, 1957 to April-May 1960, which provides a composite of sources that minimizes noise reduction in the presentations. Detailed information on this boot: here. Sulpy, for the same reasons, suggests the Silent Sea boot Home Tapes One: 1958-62, Disc One (a.k.a. The Beatles - Complete Home Recordings 1958-1962, Disc One). Detailed information on this boot: here.

Purple Chick's bootleg Strong Before Our Birth, Disc One claims for both tracks the same specific mixture (Anthology DVD+Anthology 1). Detailed information on this boot: here.

Some bootlegs and YouTube videos claim to have the complete version of "In Spite of All the Danger." Until proven otherwise, these are fabricated by various persons for their own amusement. You can hear one fabricated edit: here, and it's also on Strong Before Our Birth.

THE ACETATE: Photos and information: here.

VIDEO: None.

DRAMATIZATION: The 2009 film Nowhere Boy contains a scene involving the recording of "In Spite of All the Danger" at the Phillips studio.

_______________________________________________________________________

REVIEW: Read Alan W. Pollack's musicology article on the disc: here.

TOURISM: Visit the site of the Phillips Sound Recording Services, 38 Kensington, Liverpool. Read about the day The Blue Plaque was affixed to 38 Kensington: here.

RELATIVES: Information on Percy Phillips: here, and here (Wiki).

_______________________________________________________________________

Tom Wise
gengar843@msn.com

Although I use quotes from sources, or cited fact, much of the material on this and other pages of my blog is original, from my own pen. This is not cut-and-paste, it is a work of art. Copyright © 2010 Tom Wise.

1957, July 6

John's band, The Quarrymen (Eric Griffiths, Pete Shotton, Colin Hanton, Rod Davis, Len Garry), played the church fete at St. Peter's Church Hall, Woolton, Liverpool. Bob Molyneux, a local amateur recording enthusiast, preserved portions of the show with his Grundig TK8 reel-to-reel machine. Afterwards, he copied portions onto a 3-inch reel, then erased the original tape.

Discovered after decades of storage, EMI acquired the tape and original Grundig recorder at a 1994 auction, for £78,500. At first, only a 27-second excerpt of the song "Puttin' on the Style" (composed by Norman Cazden, made famous by Lonnie Donegan) was permitted to be heard, on a sample tape given to the media, which found its way onto the bootleg CD Puttin' on the Style. In 2007, a further 29 seconds of this song were broadcast on the BBC documentary The Day John Met Paul, while another 44 seconds mysteriously appeared online. A short clip (28 seconds) of "Baby Let's Play House" (composed by Arthur Gunter, made famous by Elvis Presley) also played on The Day John Met Paul.

(ref: Winn, Way Beyond Compare; website beatlesong.info).

_______________________________________________________________________

AUDIO: The best quality available for "Baby, Let's Play House," and a composite of all three snips of "Puttin' on the Style," are on Purple Chick's bootleg, Strong Before Our Birth, Disc One. Detailed information on the boot: here.

VIDEO: A nice fan video of the "Puttin' on the Style" composite is on YouTube: here.

MORE AUDIO: You can listen to the BBC documentary, The Day John Met Paul: here.

DRAMATIZATION: The 2009 film Nowhere Boy is essential viewing.

_______________________________________________________________________

PHOTOS & INFORMATION: An excellent display: here, and its companion page: here.

BOOKS: You need to read Jim O'Donnell's The Day John Met Paul: An Hour-by-Hour Account of How the Beatles Began. Order: here.

FANBOY: View a painting of the historic moment that Paul was introduced to John: here.

TOURISM: Visit St. Peter's Church, Woolton: here. Read their Beatles page: here.

RELATIVES: Keep up with The Quarrymen, still going strong: here.

_______________________________________________________________________

Tom Wise
gengar843@msn.com

Although I use quotes from sources, or cited fact, much of the material on this and other pages of my blog is original, from my own pen. This is not cut-and-paste, it is a work of art. Copyright © 2010 Tom Wise.