Welcome to Rock and Roll Flashback! I'm Bill Price, and in this edition of Rock and Roll Flashback, I will focus the early history of one of the most influential bands of the 1960's. After performing and developing their unique sound in Hamburg, Germany, the Beatles returned to Liverpool, England in December 1962 after 12 performances at the Star Club in Hamburg. Even though they had built up a following in Hamburg and Liverpool, they were still an unknown band elsewhere in England. However, there were several hurdles to overcome before the music phenomenon that came to be known as Beatlemania hurdled the Beatles onto worldwide fame. In this edition of The Early Beatles, I will focus on the period from 1961 to 1963, which was of great importance
in the band’s history.
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In this edition of Rock and Roll Flashback, I will focus the early history of one of the
most influential bands of the 1960's. After performing and developing their unique sound in Hamburg, Germany, the Beatles returned to Liverpool, England in December 1962 after 12 performances at the Star Club in Hamburg. Even though they had built up a following in Hamburg and Liverpool, they were still an unknown band elsewhere in England. However, there were several hurdles to overcome before the music phenomenon that came to be known as Beatlemania hurdled the Beatles onto worldwide fame. In this edition of The Early Beatles, I will focus on the period from 1961 to 1963, which was of great importanced in the band’s history.
The Cavern Club in Liverpool was to play an important role in the Beatle’s rise to fame.
In January 1960, the Cavern Club hosted Liverpool’s first jazz festival. Jazz performances continued up until mid 1963, when a new music style, which was referred to as beat music was becoming popular in Liverpool. In May 1960, the Cavern Club’s first beat night session featured Rory Storm and the Hurricanes with a drummer who went by the name of Ringo Starr. Perhaps you may have heard of him.
As the popularity of the Cavern increased, this prompted Bob Wooler to visit the club in
October 1960. When he was asked to make an improvised announcement he remarked,
“Remember all you cave-dwellers the Cavern is the best of cellars”. As a result of the
remark, the club’s owner offered him the opportunity of introducing the performers for the lunchtime beat sessions. Bob then became the Cavern Club DJ during the 1960s and was instrumental in the development of Liverpool’s beat scene.
The new music was greatly influenced by the US. Since Liverpool was a seaport, sailors
who worked on the Canard passenger ships, who were referred to as Canard Yanks, would bring back 45 rpm records from the US that local bands would listen to, learn and perform the songs in local venues. However the bands added a distinctive style that came to be referred to as the Merseybeat sound, named after the Mersey River in Liverpool. As beat music gained popularity, several bands were formed. Some went on to achieve successful careers while others faded into obscurity. One such band called The Beatles would go on to worldwide acclaim. For further background on the Beatles’ history, check out two of The Early Beatles episodes: The Road to Hamburg and: The Hamburg Years.
During the Hamburg years, the Beatles alternated between appearances in Liverpool and Hamburg. After the Beatles appearance in Hamburg, Germany in November 1960, they returned to Liverpool. Their first performance at the Litherland Town Hall in December marked a turning point for the Beatles. As a result of that first exciting appearance, there would be 36 additional performances from January to March 1961 at Litherland. In the audience at the January 5th performance was Ringo Starr from Rory Storm and the Huricanes, who had also just returned from performing in Hamburg.
On February 9th 1961 the band performed at the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time. The band’s lineup consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best. As a result of their lunchtime performances, they soon became the Cavern’s premiere band. The Beatles became quite popular in Liverpool, but elsewhere in England they were unknown. On March 15 the Beatles bass player, Stuart Sutcliffe left the band and returned to Hamburg, and became engaged to his girl friend Astrid Kirchherr. Paul then took over on bass.
In August 1961, Polydor Records released the single “My Bonnie”, which had been
recorded in Hamburg and reached number five on the local German charts. The song was later released in the UK, on January 5th, 1962. A few copies were also issued under the US Decca Records label. On November 9th 1961 Liverpool businessman Brian Epstein, whose family owned the record store NEMS, visited the Cavern Club for a lunchtime session and saw a performance by the Beatles. Had it not been for requests for the German recording of “My Bonnie” at his record store, Brian probably would not have gone to the Cavern Club. After seeing the Beatles’ performance, Brian offered to become the band’s manager.
By the end of 1961, the Beatles had performed for 184 times in an around Liverpool, building a following that only continued increase their fan base. As the manager, Brian then proceeded to polish their appearance. Up until November, the Beatles had performed wearing blue jeans and leather jackets. Brian transformed their
image by having them wear suits and improved the band’s on stage presentation.
The next step was securing a recording contract. Epstein made frequent trips to London to meet with record companies with the intent of securing a record contract. However he was met with rejection from Columbia, Pye, Philips and Oriole.
On December 13 1961, Epstein invited Mike Smith of Decca records to Liverpool to watch the Beatles at the Cavern Club. Smith was impressed by the Beatles, which led to an audition in London at Decca's recording studios on January 1st 1962. At the time, the standard procedure for auditions was to record at least two songs, but usually not more than five. However, the Beatles ended up recording fifteen songs, which included:
"Like Dreamers Do", "Money “, "Till There Was You”,"The Sheik of Araby", "To Know Her Is to Love Her" which was a cover of The Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him Is to Love Him” with a title and lyric change from him to her, "Take Good Care of My Baby, "Memphis”, "Sure to Fall”, “Hello Little Girl", "Three Cool Cats”, "Crying, Waiting, Hoping", "Love of the Loved", "September in the Rain”, "Bésame Mucho" and "Searchin'".
In February 1962, the executives at Decca rejected the Beatles, proclaiming that "Guitar groups are on the way out" and "The Beatles have no future in show business”.
Having been rejected by virtually all the major record labels, Brian allowed himself a final attempt to secure a contract. Later that month, Epstein visited the HMV store, which was owned by EMI, to have the Decca tape transferred to 78 rpm acetates. Jim Foy who was a HMV disc-cutter liked the recordings, and after hearing of Brian’s frustration with the record companies, suggested that Epstein should contact Sid Colman, the head of EMI's record publishing division. Colman heard and liked the Beatles' recording of "Like Dreamers Do" and proposed that Lennon–McCartney songs be recorded at EMI. However, Brian was interested in a recording contract not a publishing deal. As a result, a meeting was arranged for Epstein to meet with George Martin, the A&R manager of EMI's Parlophone label. At the meeting Brian played the acetates of the Decca audition for Martin. After the meeting Epstein felt optimistic, but Martin was not exactly overwhelmed. However he sensed the band’s potential and offered a standard EMI recording contract on May 9th, for the Beatles to record three two-sided singles in their first year.
On June 6th 1962 the Beatles arrived at the EMI Studios located on Abbey Road in the St. Johns Wood section of London for their first recording session. Four songs were recorded which included “Besame Mucho”, “Love me Do”, “P.S. I Love You” and “Ask Me Why”. After the recording session, George Martin felt that using an experienced studio session drummer rather than Pete Best would improve the recordings. In early 1962, Ringo Starr would fill in when Pete Best was ill. Ringo was no stranger to the Beatles since he had performed at a recording session with the band in Hamburg. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison had also decided that Pete needed to be replaced, so they had Brian dismiss Pete on August 16th. Ringo who had been playing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes left Rory to join the Beatles.
On September 4th, The Beatles returned to EMI studios for the second recording session with Ringo as the new drummer. Two songs were recorded, a Lennon McCartney composition "Love Me Do" and a demo of "How Do You Do It?” The Beatles were not exactly thrilled at having to record a song written by some one else. "How Do You Do It?” was never released as a Beatles single, however it became a hit for another Liverpool band, Gerry and the Pacemakers.
On September 11, not wanting to take a chance on a new Beatles drummer, producer
George Martin booked session drummer Andy White for the third EMI recording session. Ringo was relegated to playing maracas and tambourine. Making it the only time in which a session drummer was used on a Beatles recording. Two recordings of "Love Me Do" took place, one with Andy and one with Ringo on drums. The first release of "Love Me Do" was with Andy and a subsequent release featured Ringo. Additional songs recorded included “P.S. I Love You” and “Please Please Me”.
The single "Love Me Do" with “P.S. I Love You” on the B-side was released on October
5th and rose to number 15. On November 11th “Please Please Me” was re-recorded because Martin was not satisfied with the version from the September recording session. At the end of 1962, the Beatles’ popularity continued to expand, resulting in 243 live performances, 59 more than the previous year and now included various appearances in London.
1963 would prove to be the year that set the stage for the onset of Beatlemania in the UK, offering a preview of what was to follow. The Beatles first five scheduled performances on January second, got off to a bad start due to weather conditions in Scotland, causing the first show’s cancellation. The following day, the performances resumed at various venues. After the Scotland appearances, the Beatles returned to Liverpool and performed at the Cavern Club.
On January 11th, “Please Please Me” was released in the UK rising to the top in popularity. On February 11th, 1963, the Beatles entered the EMI studios at number three Abbey Road, to record their first album, which was scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM. Through out the day, they had been busy recording several songs, which included “”There’s A Place”, “A Taste of Honey”, “Do You Want To Know A Secret”, “Misery”, “Hold Me Tight”, “Anna”, “Boys”, “Baby It’s You”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “P.S. I Love You”. However, by 10:00 PM, 12 hours later, their throats were tired and sore. So the Beatles and the recording staff convened in the EMI canteen for coffee and biscuits, to discuss which song they would record last. Although no one remembers who suggested “Twist And Shout”, it was decided that it should be the final song. John had been suffering from a bad cold, and managed to make it though the day by drinking milk, tea, and taking “Smooth and Comforting” Zubes throat lozenges. Near the end of the session Lennon’s voice was nearly gone. However, John grudgingly agreed to sing “Twist and Shout”. Everyone knew they had at least one chance to get it right on the first take. And at approximately 10:15 pm, the historic recording took place. Producer George Martin had intended to record a second take. After the first take, the second take was attempted, but by then John’s voice was in shreds. So the first take became the now legendary cover version of “Twist and Shout”.
The most famous live version of "Twist And Shout" was at the Royal Command
Performance on November 4th. 1963, held at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. The Beatles played before an audience including the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon. It was at this performance just before the final song, that John Lennon uttered the famous comment, “People in the cheaper seats clap you hands, and the rest just rattle your jewelry”. With that they launched into “Twist and Shout”. According to one account, John made good on a dare from Paul to make the comment.
On March 5th The Beatles recorded “From Me To You”. The single with the B side “Thank You Girl”, was released on April 11th. In June VJ Records in the US, released a 45-rpm record with “From Me To You” on one side and “Please Please Me” on the other side. This record was my introduction to the Beatles in mid 1963. Interestingly in addition to VJ Records, other US labels also released some of the early Beatles singles due to Capitol Records’ reluctance to release any Beatles recordings.
In September, George Harrison traveled to Benton, Illinois to visit his older sister Louise, making him the first Beatle to set foot in the US. George and Louise provided a copy of “She Loves You” to radio station WFRX located in West Frankfort, Illinois. George also performed with a local group called The Four Vets, at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Eldorado, Illinois. Some of the songs performed included ”Rollover Beethoven”, “Johnny B Goode”, “Matchbox”, and “Your Cheatin’ Heart”.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” was recorded on October 17, and released in the UK by the
end of November. The single sold one million copies just on advanced orders alone.
More importantly the single’s success was instrumental in finally convincing Capitol
Records to begin releasing Beatles recordings in the US. And as the saying goes the rest is Rock history.
By the end of 1963 the Beatles had another 238 live appearances. Some of the noteworthy performances include:
On August 3rd The Beatles made their last appearance at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. On September 15th they appeared along with The Rolling Stones at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The Beatles first official foreign appearance took place in Sweden on October 23rd.
By early 1964 Beatlemania was in full swing. The appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in
February was only the beginning. During their seven year career, they would release twenty two singles plus thirteen albums one of which was a double album, and revolutionized the way music was created and recorded.
This has been a look back at The Early Beatles… The Road to Beatlemania.
Be sure to check out the other Early Beatles episodes.. The Road to Hamburg and The
Hamburg Years.