 Before they were the Beatles, before the Ed Sullivan Show, before America and before the fame, the Beatles were a struggling band that had several personnel changes. Most of the time they played with no drummer. In the early years there was Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Duff Lowe, and Colin Hanton. At the time they were known as the Quarrymen they perform their second gig at the Caver Club,the first with Paul McCartney. Alot of songs that were played by the Beatles in the early years, whether on film or record have been lost throughout the years. In a chance of a lifetime the Beatles got a chance to record with another musician who gave them the chance to make some records, he was suppose to be the British version of Elvis Presley, his name Tony Sheridan.
The Beatles recorded “My Bonnie”, Ain’t She sweet”and other songs. Most early recordings did not appear until the Anthology 1, 2, and3 lp’s were released,later we would end up with other lp’s like the Beatles live at the BBC and live at the BBC live on air. To come across any Beatles music from this time period, these rarities are almost impossible to find,but they do exist. The amounts of money that some of these recordings are worth are just totally ridiculous,but that’s another story. August 6, 1960 looking for a drummer for a series of dates in Hamburg Germany, the Beatles invite Pete Best to be their drummer, Pete being moody and usually absent a lot, the band turns to seek another drummer. By October 15, 1960 the Beatles play with the drummer of another group”Rory Storm and the Hurricanes” that drummer would be Ringo Star. This is the first known recording of the group together, though the master tape has been lost to history. And talk about practice makes perfect,one night around Christmas time the Beatles were recorded on stage, performing upwards of 30 songs,fascinating that only two song were originals. You can find these albums on the cheap Pickwick label as well as on the Phoenix record label. Other lp’s of interest is the 1962 Audition Tapes from Breakaway records. In 1962 Capitol Records,the sister company of EMI records,were offered the opportunity to release the first Beatles records in the U.S.A.,but because British acts typically had little success in the American market,they were turned down. It was until two small companies Vee-Jay and Swan records who saw potential in the Beatles that their records were released. In early Autumn Brian Epstein the Beatles manager,asked Lennon and McCartney to write a song aimed at the American market. The song they came up with was “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, still at this point no US record company had the right to release it. Although American audiences saw reports of Beatle Madness in the U.K. still they had not heard their records. Although a radio station in Washington was not the first to play a Beatles record, this song would capture the U.S. audience for the fist time. And then of course you know the rest is history. Tune in to KWMC’s 1490 AM all classic hits station as we feature The Beatles early years on the “Little Red Rooster Show”.All information and known facts are by Wendy Johnson and the show is produced by Javier Martinez. |
KWMC
|
RSS Feed
