The Beatles with Joe Brown and The Undertakers

On Friday July 27, 1962, The Beatles appeared again at the prestigious Tower Ballroom in New Brighton. It was a Bob Wooler Show (of course!) and The Joe Brown Show with his "Bruvvers" were the headline.

Also starring with The Beatles were The Statesmen, The Undertakers, Steve Day and the Drifers, and The Four Jays

The Beatles at Cambridge Hall, Southport

On 26 July 1962 The Beatles performed at Cambridge hall, Lord Street, Southport (North of Liverpool). They appeared together with Joe Brown & The Bruwers, The Dakotas with Peter Maclaine, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy Kramer with the Coasters and The Four Jays.

Copyright notice: the poster (as published on fincharie.com) is presented here under the fair use copyright law

1. It's a low resolution copy of an advertising poster.
2. It doesn't limit the copyright owner's rights to sell the poster in any way.
3. Because of the low resolution, copies could not be used to make illegal copies of the poster.
4. The image is itself a subject of discussion in the article.
5. The image is significant because it was used to promote a performance that has not been well documented.

Tomorrow Never Knows - New Beatles Album

Today, Tuesday 24 July 2012 sees the release of a new Beatles record, exclusively on the Apple iTunes Store. This compilation record attempts to bring together some of The Beatles' most influential rock songs.

The question is of course who will buy this "record", since it will not be released in any physical form. Real Beatle fans have of course these songs already in their posession, and non-Beatle fans will have to be convinced that these songs really represent what the Beatles are.

The choice of songs are sometimes very peculiar. Some were already releases on the "Rock 'n' Music" compilation from 1976, and others were not really "rock" but more "psychedelic". If the idea was to show how influential the Beatles were, then surely songs like "Savoy Truffle" or even "Paperback Writer" could easily have been replaced by "Taxman", "Rain" or "She's a Woman".


All songs written by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.

 1."Revolution" – 3:25
 2."Paperback Writer" – 2:19
 3."And Your Bird Can Sing" – 1:59
 4."Helter Skelter" – 4:31
 5."Savoy Truffle" (George Harrison) – 2:54
 6."I'm Down" – 2:32
 7."I've Got a Feeling" (Let It Be... Naked version) – 3:38
 8."Back in the U.S.S.R." – 2:44
 9."You Can't Do That" – 2:35
 10."It's All Too Much" (Harrison) – 6:26
 11."She Said She Said" – 2:36
 12."Hey Bulldog" – 3:11
 13."Tomorrow Never Knows" – 2:59
 14."The End" (Anthology 3 version) – 2:52



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• solely to illustrate the audio recording in question,

is acceptable as "fair use". The picture is presented in a low resolution and altered so that it can not be used as a a copy of the real image. People wishing to buy this record should visit the Apple iTunes Store.

Tomorrow Never Knows released on iTunes

Tomorrow Never Knows is a compilation album by The Beatles that was released on 24 July 2014.

It tries to group some songs that are considered "groundbreaking" or "original".

Tracklist "Revolution" – 3:25 "Paperback Writer" – 2:19 "And Your Bird Can Sing" – 1:59 "Helter Skelter" – 4:31 "Savoy Truffle" (George Harrison) – 2:54 "I'm Down" – 2:32 "I've Got a Feeling" (Let It Be... Naked version) – 3:38 "Back in the U.S.S.R." – 2:44 "You Can't Do That" – 2:35 "It's All Too Much" (Harrison) – 6:26 "She Said She Said" – 2:36 "Hey Bulldog" – 3:11 "Tomorrow Never Knows" – 2:59 "The End" (Anthology 3 version) – 2:52

Beatles Musical to hit LA and Broadway

2013 will be a big year for The Beatles Musical 'Backbeat'. It will first make a last stop in LA at the Ahmanson Theater, before moving on to Broadway.

The musical is set in 1960 and focuses on Stu Sutcliff (bassplayer of the Beatles and often referred to as "the Fifth Beatle") and his relationship with the Hamburg artist Astrik Kirchherr.

The musical has so far toured the world:
- Glasgow (Citizen's Theater - 2010)
- London West End (2011)
- Toronto (Royal Alexandra Theatre - 2012)

No cast has yet been announced for the LA shows, but bookings can be made. The Shows are scheduled from January 16 till February 24 2013

Jon Lord dies aged 71

Jonathan Douglas Lord, beter known as Jon Lord was an English musician who founded Deep Purple in 1970. He is also the keyboard player on Deep Purple's most famous song "Child in Time".

Deep Purple's first LP "Shades of Deep Purple" contains a Lennon/McCartney track "Help". The re-issue on CD contains an alternate version of "Help"

Beatles perform a fourth time in St Helens

On Monday 16 July 1962 The Beatles went for the last of their 4-gig commitments at the Plaza Ballroom in St. Helens. They received £25 for this gig. A year later, they would receive £100 for their April 10, 1963 concert.

At lunchtime they also played a set at the Cavern in Mathew Street

The Beatles in the Nation's Favourite Singles List

On Monday July 16 2012 The Official Charts Company published the top 10 of their search for "The Nation's Favourite Number 1 Single.

2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the Official UK Charts. 60 years ago the first "tops" and "flops" were recorded.
ITV set out to conduct a nation-wide poll to find out which Number Ones were the favourites among the British public. And the results are to say...quite peculiar... to say the least. A top ten of 60 years that contains Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston and Britney Spears???
Luckily there is also The Beatles and John Lennon.


1    Queen     Bohemian Rhapsody
2    Michael Jackson     Billie Jean
3    Adele     Someone Like You
4    Oasis     Don’t Look Back In Anger
5    The Beatles     Hey Jude
6    John Lennon     Imagine
7    Britney Spears     …Baby One More Time
8    Abba     Dancing Queen
9    Whitney Houston     I Will Always Love You
10    Kylie Minogue     Can’t Get You Out Of My Head

Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen rock London

On Saturday 14 July 2012, Bruce Springsteen performed with the E-Street Band in Hyde Park, London. After 3 hours of non-stop performing, he had a giant treat in store for the 65,000 people in the public: he realized a dream he had had for "50 years" and call one Sir Paul McCartney to the stage.

Together they played "I Saw her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout", but unfortunately the London City Council decided that the concert curfew (which goes in at 10:15 pm on a Saturday) was breached and they cut off the sound system.

Great work, London! I hope you don't cut off the lights in the Olympic Stadium next month during the final of the high jump :)

The Beatles at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton

On Friday 13 July 1962 The Beatles played at the Tower Ballroom in New Brighton, located to the North of Liverpool. No reports have come in about this gig being unlucky :)

The history of the Ballroom is very interesting.

The Tower got its name form a huge iron tower that stood just outside and that was patterned on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It took them 4 years to build it (from 1896 till 1900). At that time it was the highest structure in Britain (567ft). From the top you could see as far as the Isle of Man, parts of the Lake District and the Welsh hills.

After the war it was dismantled in 1919.

The Tower building itself was one of the biggest ballrooms in the North of England and about 5,000 people could get in!

It's also worth noting that at a certain moment George Harrison's grandfather was a commissionaire at the ballroom.

Cavern and Birkenhead

Thursday July 12 1962 saw the Beatles drive between Liverpool (a lunchtime engagement at the Cavern) and Birkenhead (an evening session at the Majestic Ballroom).

The Beatles appear at the Cavern

Wednesday 11 July 1962: The Beatles on stage at the Cavern for an evening session

Noontime at the Cavern

Tuesday July 10 1962 saw the Beatles perform yet another lunchtime concert at the Cavern. In total they played an amazing 292 concerts in The Cavern!

Short Timeline of the Beatles in Hamburg

The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best) regularly performed in Hamburg, Germany, from August 1960 until December 1962.

1st trip: 17 August 1960 - 9 December 1960

- 17 August 1960: Their first German concert at the Indra Club (Grosse Freiheit 64)
- 3 October 1960: Their last gig at the Indra
- 4 October 1960: The Beatles appear at the Kaiserkeller (Grosse Freiheit 36)
- October 1960: They meet Ringo Starr who is drumming for Rory Storme and the Hurricanes at the Kaiserkeller
- 15 October 1960: Ringo Starr plays on a recording with The Beatles (minus Pete Best) when they back Lou 'Wally' Walters at the Akustic Studios in Hamburg
- 30 November 1960: The last gig at the Kaiserkeller
- 8 December 1960: George Harrison is deported for working underaged at a nightclub
- 9 December 1960: Paul McCartney and Pete Best are arrested for arsony
- They probably played about 100 performances

2nd trip: 28 March 1961 - 1 July 1961

- 27 March 1961: The Beatles arrive in Hamburg for their second season. Top Ten Club & Star Club
- 28 March 1961: Their first gig at the Top Ten Club (Reeperbahn 136)
- 1 April 1961 sees the start of a Residency at the Top Ten Club
- 22 June: The first of several recording sessions with Tony Sheridan at the Frederich-Eberts-Halle
- Approximately 85 performances


3rd trip: 13 April - 31 May 1962

- 13 April 1962: The Beatles appear at the Star Club
- About 45/50 performances

4th trip: 30 October - 15 November 1962

- 1 November 1962: Start of their 4th Hamburg Season, again at the Star Club
- 15 November 1962: they return by plane to England

5th trip: 17 December - 31 December 1962

- 18 December 1962: Start of the 5th (and last) season at the Star Club
- The Beatles play 14 times in the Star-Club
- 31 December 1962: Final show at the Star Club, recorded by Ted 'Kingsize' Taylor 

The Beatles Timeline

So much has been written about the Beatles that it seems almost pointless to publish on this blog. And yet, every time we research a new little bit of information, it turns out it leads to a mass of data that can be found on records, personal accounts, interviews, books, magazines, hearsay and much much more.

So to make the division in "periods" more easy, we have decided to use a 4-part Period Analysis

1. The Early Years: this runs from the prehistory (birth of Pete Best's mother for example) all the way up to the dismissal of Pete Best on August 17, 1962. This includes growing up in Liverpool, going to Hamburg, recording with Tony Sheridan, getting famous in Northern Engeland and touring extensively with

2. Beatlemania: this runs from the day Ringo Starr joined the Beatles (August 18, 1962) till the day the Beatles stopped touring (29 August 1966). In this period the Beatles released several albums, toured the world, received an MBE for their services to the world and met Elvis, Bob Dylan and started nibbling from the illegal fruits. They also made movies.

3. The Studio Years: this runs from September 1966 till the official breakup of the Beatles (April 10th, 1970). A very creative process without touring, and they released their most ambitious albums (Revolver, Sgt.Peppers) and songs (A Day in the Life, Strawberry Fields Forever)

4. The Solo Years: from April 1970 till present day. Ringo, Paul, John & George making classic albums. The deaths of John and George, and the refound energy of Ringo and Paul.

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Beatles Back at the Plaza Ballroom

50 years ago on Monday 9 July 1962, The Beatles returned to the Plaza Ballroom for their third consecutive Monday (out of a total of 4)

Evening Session in the Cavern

On Sunday 8 July 1962 The Beatles performed one of their many evening sessions at the Cavern Club

Paul McCartney is writing music for a video game

Guess what? Paul McCartney is exploring yet another area to show the world just how brilliant he is. We had already known that he was interested in working for the video game industry, but now part of the mystery is revealed.

Apparently, Sir Paul is writing music for Bungie, the video game developer who is best known for the HALO-franchise. We are not yet sure what game Paul is working on, but changes are it is DESTINY, a game being developed for Activision.

We are looking forward to seeing this game, possibly in early 2013

Happy Birthday Ringo!

72 years ago on 7 July 1940, Richard Starkey was born in Madryn Street, The Dingle, Liverpool.

Ringo Starr first met The Beatles (John, Paul, George, Stu and Pete) in Hamburg when he was drumming for Rory Storme and his Hurricanes.

When Pete Best was replaced, Ringo took his place to become one of the most important and famous drummers.

After the break-up of the Beatles, Ringo published a lot of records, played in movies and travelled around the world with his Ringo & his All Starr Band

Discography

• Sentimental Journey (1970)
• Beaucoups of Blues (1970)
• Ringo (1973)
• Goodnight Vienna (1974)
• Ringo's Rotogravure (1976)
• Ringo the 4th (1977)
• Bad Boy (1978)
• Stop and Smell the Roses (1981)
• Old Wave (1983)
• Time Takes Time (1992)
• Vertical Man (1998)
• I Wanna Be Santa Claus (1999)
• Ringo Rama (2003)
• Choose Love (2005)
• Liverpool 8 (2008)
• Y Not (2010)
• Ringo 2012

the Beatles at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight

In 1962 The Beatles performed at least 4 times at Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight (Birkenhead):

- 7th July, 
- 18th August, 
- 6th October 
- 27th October

For many people Hulme Hall is the place of the Birth of the Beatles, because on August 18 1962 this was the location where Ringo played his first "official" Beatles set (he had of course already played with them before in Hamburg and in Liverpool as a temporary replacement for Ringo.

It was 55 Years ago Today: Paul meets John

55 years ago on this very day (6 July 1957) was probably one of the most important ones in the history of the Beatles: it was the weekend of the St. Stephen's Parish Fête in Woolton, Liverpool.

John Lennon and his Quarry Men played that day and Ivan Vaughan introduced Paul McCartney.
Amazingly, a recording of that day exists, made according to many sources by Bob Molyneux. Molyneux discovered the reel-to-reel tape (made on a Grundig) in 1994 and put it up for auction at Sotheby's. It fetched £78,500 and will probably never be released due to the apparently very bad quality (even after remastering)

On the set list were:
- Baby, Let's Play House
- Putting on the Style
- Come and Go with Me
- Cumberland Gap
- Railroad Bill
- Maggie Mae

Paul McCartney impressed John Lennon with his versions of "Twenty Flight Rock" and "Be-Bop-A-Lula"


The Quarry Men line up was: Eric Griffiths, Colin Hanton, Rod Davis, John Lennon, Pete Shotton & Len Garry

The Beatles on the River Boat Iris

The Beatles have appeared 4 times on the Royal Iris River Boat for concerts. Some were called "A Riverboat Shuffle", others just "A Grand River Cruise"

They appeared on the following dates:

- 25 August 1961
- 6 July 1962
- 10 August 1962
- 28 September 1962

Some sources also talk of a fifth performance on 24 August 1962, and (fake?) tickets exist with a wrong day (Saturday instead of Friday).

On July 6th 1962 The Beatles shared the bill with Acker Bilk's Jazz Band. Acker Bilk is sometimes called the "Great Master of the clarinet".

The Beatles again at the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead

The Beatles performed a total of 17 appearances at the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead. Birkenhead is situated close to Liverpool on the other side of the Mersey and it was an ideal location for the Beatles to spread their fame west (to Wales)

Another Evening Session with The Beatles

On Wednesday 4 July 1962 The Beatles performed at the Cavern Club (nighttime session)

Paul McCartney will sing Hey Jude at the Olympics

Beatle fans from around the world should definitely tune in to the coverage of the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics on July 27 2012.

Paul McCartney will close the ceremony with a rendition of that old-time favourite Beatles song "Hey Jude", supported by 60,000 spectators.

Around 1,000,000,000 (yes, that's one billion) viewers are expected to tune in to Danny Boyle's £27,000,000 extravaganza.

Real fans had already known that Hey Jude would be played, since Sir Paul refused to play the song at Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee party.

But Paul McCartney will not be the only Beatle-related topic at the ceremony, because Danny Boyle plans to recreate the history of Britain, which will include performers dressed in Sgt.Pepper's uniforms.

The Beatles in the Squido.com Top 100

Squidoo.com made a list of the 100 Greatest songs of all times. In their disclaimer they quite rightly say that it is virtually impossible to make such a list, as it depends on too many parameters: personal taste, memorability, greatness and much much more.

Here are the "Beatles" in his top 100:

1.   Imagine - John Lennon
6.   Let It Be - The Beatles
10. Hey Jude - The Beatles
14. Yesterday - The Beatles
28. In My Life - The Beatles
42. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
57. A Day in the Life - The Beatles
75. Norwegian Wood - The Beatles


The complete list can be found on Squidoo

Ferry Cross the Mersey

When Gerry Marsden wrote "Ferry Cross the Mersey" for his group Gerry and the Pacemakers, he was embodying the feeling that all Mersey Beat rock groups had: proud to be Liverpudlian and always eager to leave shore.

The Beatles themselves played "on the Mersey" on a number of occassions, playing at a Riverboat Shuffle concert aboard the M.V. Royal Iris.

You can't do that anymore, but you can still take a Mersey Ferry from Birkenhead and Seacombe on the Wirral. Not on the Royal Iris, unfortunately, but on its sister ship The Royal Daffodil.

In 1957 The Cavern Club started a tradition that would last 40 years: "The Riverboat Shuffles". In fact, it was a 4-hour dance cruise with Fish & Chips and music from local groups such as The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Four J's, The Zodiacs, Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band and Freddy Starr

Copyright info for the poster from maximumrnb

1. It's a low resolution copy of an advertising poster.
2. It doesn't limit the copyright owner's rights to sell the poster in any way.
3. Because of the low resolution, copies could not be used to make illegal copies of the poster.
4. The image is itself a subject of discussion in the article or used in the infobox.
5. The image is significant because it was used to promote a performance that has not been well documented.
6. There is a link to the owner's website where the poster can be bought: www.maximumrnb.com

The Beatles at the Cavern - noontime

It was 50 years ago today (July 3 1962) that the Beatles had a noontime concert at the Cavern in Mathew Street.

At the top of the charts in England were:

1.Picture of You, Joe Brown (Piccadilly)2.I Can’t Stop Loving You, Ray Charles (HMV)3.Come Outside, Mike Sarne (Parlophone)4.Good Luck Charm, Elvis Presley (RCA)5.Ginny Come Lately, Brian Hyland


At the top of the charts in USA were:


1.The Stripper, David Rose
2.Roses Are Red, Bobby Vinton
3.I Can’t Stop Loving You, Ray Charles
4.Palisades Park, Freddy Cannon
5.It Keeps Right on a-Hurtin, Johnny Tillotson

Love by The Beatles: a review

I recently bought "Love", the 2006 compilation album that George and Giles Martin made for the Cirque de Soleil show "Love". The album consists of over 130 songs, outtakes and alternative versions by The Beatles, mixed up as a so-called "mashup".

Although I was very sceptical when I first heard about the concept, I am amazed at how well the remixes worked. It is a giant puzzle, and although it sounds really good even for people who don't know The Beatles, it is awesome for the real fan.

I have a nice bootleg collection with outtakes from the Abbey Road sessions and it is great to hear some of those tracks being used to recreate a totally different experience.

My favourite track is "Get Back", where the intro of "A Hard Day's Night" and the drum solo of "The End" is combined with the percussion of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the orchestra ouverture of "A Day in the Life". And I can tell you: it rocks!

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license: Author := Brocken Inaglory

Happy Birthday Sir Peter Blake

A star-studded group of rock musicians turned up to celebrate Sir Peter Blake's 80th birthday. Blake is an English pop artist who is best know to Beatle fans as the designer of the famous cover sleeve of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

He also designed (in a similar style) the Greatest Hits album of Oasis (Stop the Clocks)

At the birthday party he was joined by Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood and Roger Daltrey

To mark Peter Blake's 80th birthday, an exhibition will be held at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester celebrating the artist's long associations with music called "Peter Blake and Pop Music" (23 June to 7 October 2012)

Unreleased recording of The Beatles at the Cavern

In July 1962 The Beatles performed approximately 17 times in the Cavern.

On one of those nights, a fan taped a complete concert on a home recorder. Here is the list of the set The Beatles played that night:

- Hey! Baby
- If You Got to Make a Fool of Somebody
- The Hippy Hippy Shake
- Please Mr. Postman
- Roll over Beethoven (sung by John, not George)
- Ask Me Why
- Sharing You
- Your Feet's Too Big
- Words of Love
- Till There Was You
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy
- I Forgot to Rembember to Forget You
- Matchbox
- Shimmy Shake (?) or maybe Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
- Memphis, Tennesee
- Young Blood
- Dream Baby

The Beatles at Plaza Ballroom at St. Helens

On Monday 2 July 1962, The Beatles performed (again) at the Plaza Ballroom at St. Helens. They had already had a succesful concert on June 25th 1962, and they appeared for 4 consecutive Mondays.

The people responsible for booking the Beatles were The Whetstone Enterainment Company. They would be so impressed with The Beatles that they would go on to book them for 4 Thursday night sessions at the Riverpark Ballroom in Chester. The first concert was on 16 August 1962

List of songs The Beatles played in July 1962

When talking to Beatle Fans who attended Beatles' concerts in July 1962, we get a good idea of their repertoire:

List of songs that The Beatles played during their concerts in July 1962

- Words of Love
- What's Your Name
- Roll over Beethoven
- Ask Me Why
- Hippy Hippy Shake
- Till There was You
- Hey! Baby
- If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody
- Please Mr. Postman
- Sharing You
- Your Feet's Too Big
- Dizzy Miss Lizzie
- I Forgot to Remember to Forget
- Matchbox
- Sister Kate a.k.a. Shimmy Like Kate
- Memphis
- Young Blood
- Dream Baby

The Beatles with Gene Vincent at the Cavern

It was 50 years ago on this day (1 July 1962) that The Beatles performed together with Gene Vincent in the Cavern in Liverpool.

A famous picture was taken at that concert of John and Paul looking backwards with Gene Vincent. The picture was taken by Mike McCartney.

The Beatles had met Gene Vincent before during their 1961 tour of Hamburg, and they were thrilled to meet up with him again.

There exists a tape of Gene Vincent playing "What I'd Say" together with The Beatles at the Cavern on July 1st 1962. The song apparently has some wicked guitar playing and Pete Best on tom-toms.