The Beatles (partially found Cavern Club performance recordings of British rock band; early 1960s)

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The beatles at the Cavern.jpg

The band performing with original drummer Pete Best.

Status: Partially Found

The Beatles were a British rock group that formed in Liverpool, England, active from their formation in 1960 to their breakup in 1970.[1] The band's lineup went through several changes before the classic lineup of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr was established. They've received widespread acclaim and sold over 1 billion records worldwide by 2014, more than any other artist.[2] Rolling Stone ranked them #1 on their list of "100 Greatest Artists" and placed their 1967 concept album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band as the greatest album of all time.[3][4] Richie Unterberger of AllMusic claimed The Beatles "introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century."[5] Prior to their international success, the band was mostly known locally for their performances at The Cavern Club from 1961 to 1963.

The Cavern Club

The outside of The Cavern

The Cavern Club was originally opened by Alan Sytner on January 16th, 1957, as a jazz club.[6] Wider genres were later allowed and the club became more rock-centered in the mid-1960s[7] Many other famous bands performed at the club, such as Queen, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, and The Kinks.[8]

The original club was demolished in 1974 for the construction of a railway ventilation duct, though the area became a parking lot instead. The club was reconstructed near the original location in 1984 using bricks from the original site and the original blueprints.[9]

The Beatles

The Beatles first performed at The Cavern on February 9th, 1961.[10] They played a minimum of 155 lunchtime shows and 125 evening shows (the exact number is unknown).[11] Local music store owner Brian Epstein visited The Cavern after reading about them in Mersey Beat magazine, and he soon become their manager.[12] Brian later fired Pete Best and was replaced by Ringo Starr, who was previously the drummer of Rory and The Hurricanes (a competing band).[13]

They gave their final performance on August 4th, 1963.[11] During their time performing at The Cavern, several recordings are known to have been made.

Known Recordings

Brian Epstein Recording (Lost)[14]

Brian Epstein

In 1961 Epstein gave Tony Barrow (then a columnist) an acetate of the band performing—which he claimed would be part of an upcoming TV documentary about The Cavern Club—hoping he would write about the group.

In Apple to the Core, Barrow recalled that it was a recording of poor quality, plagued by background noise. Barrow agreed with Epstein that he'd attempt to secure an audition with Decca using "the strength of the recording."

Barrow later said that "It was impossible to distinguish any music or the vocalist."

Audience Member Recording (Lost)

On August 29, 1985, an 18-track audience recording of a performance from Mid-1962 was put up for auction at Sotheby's.[15] The auction was won by Paul McCartney with a bid of ₤2,310. Mark Lewisohn stated in the special edition of Tune In: The Beatles: All These Years: Volume 1 that he heard the tapes prior to the sale and the quality "was so atrocious it was hard to make out which songs were being played.”[14]

The setlist of the tape was as follows:

  • Words of Love
  • What's Your Name
  • Roll Over Beethoven
  • Ask Me Why
  • The Hippy Hippy Shake
  • Til There Was You
  • Hey! Baby
  • If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody
  • Please Mister Postman
  • Sharing You
  • Your Feet's Too Big
  • Dizzy Miss Lizzy
  • I Forgot to Remember to Forget
  • Matchbox
  • I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
  • Memphis, Tennessee
  • Young Blood
  • Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)

Granada TV Recordings (Partially Found)

On August 22nd, 1962, after receiving many letters about the group, Granada TV recorded the band performing 2 takes of Leiber and Stoller's "Some Other Guy" and 4 minutes of B-roll footage.[14] Only one microphone was used to record the whole band.[16]

Compilation of aforementioned material

2 weeks after the shoot, sound technician Gordon Barrow was sent to the club to record higher quality audio to sync to the footage. Gordon recorded an hour's worth of audio during his visit.[17][16] This recording was later destroyed.[14]. Due to legal issues with other artists, the footage wasn't broadcast until after the band found national success.[18]

Gordon made 5 acetates of the group's performances of "Some Other Guy" and "Kansas City" at the request of Epstein.[16] Gordon auctioned one of the copies at Christie's in 1993 for £16,000 to Apple Corps, the label founded by the band.[17] The original source recording for Gordon's acetates was found in a desk in 2015.[16]

The recovered audio from Gordon's recording.

Rehearsal Recordings (Partially Found)

A rehearsal was recorded on January 22nd, 1962, no other details are known.[14]

A rehearsal recorded sometime between October and December 1962 has circulated on bootlegs. The circulating audio features one take of "I Saw Her Standing There," two takes of "One After 909," and two takes of "Catswalk."[14][19]


Compilation of the known audio from this rehearsal.

The January 1963 photo

Mike McCartney, Brother of Paul McCartney, stated in his autobiography The Macs: Mike McCartney's Family Album that he recorded the band rehearsing several times and still had one of these recordings. This might be the source of the aforementioned bootlegs, however.[14]

A photograph taken during a rehearsal in January 1963 shows a portable tape recorder at the bottom, suggesting further recordings.

See Also

References

  1. Biography page of Paul McCartney. 30 Nov '18
  2. Guinness World Records page on records held by the band. Retrieved 25 Mar '18
  3. Rolling Stone list of the greatest artists. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  4. Rolling Stone article listing the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Retrieved 10 Jan '20
  5. AllMusic artist biography on The Beatles. 27 Mar '18
  6. BBC article on The Cavern's 50th anniversary. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  7. BBC article on The Cavern. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  8. Cavern Club website page mentioning musicians who have played at the club in the past. Retrieved 26 Mar '18
  9. Daily Mail article on The Cavern going up for sale. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  10. Telegraph article on the group's first appearance. Retrieved 25 Mar '18
  11. 11.0 11.1 Beatles Bible page on the group's final performance at the club. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  12. Beatles Bible page on Brian's first meeting with the group. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  13. UltimateClassicRock page on Pete's dismissal. Retrieved 26 Mar '18
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 Unterberger, Richie (2014). The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film [Revised & Expanded Ebook Edition].
  15. The Daily Beatle post on unreleased material. Retrieved 22 Mar '18
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Cavern Club website page on the discovery of the tape. Retrieved 24 Mar '18
  17. 17.0 17.1 Beatles Bible page on the date. Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  18. Beatles Bible page on The song Retrieved 27 Mar '18
  19. Everett, Walter (2001). The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul. pp. 129