Early On 1957-1962

The Beatles
 
Early On 1957-1962 (4xCD) - Front cover Early On 1957-1962 (4xCD) - Rear Cover
Early On 1957-1962 (4xCD) - Front Cover Early On 1957-1962 (4xCD) - Rear Cover

Label Graphophone
Catalogue No.   GR-5762
Release date September 2018
Total time C.D. 1 - 70 minutes 9 seconds
C.D. 2 - 61 minutes 51 seconds
C.D. 3 - 50 minutes 16 seconds
C.D. 4 - 41 minutes 8 seconds
Comments :                            A 4 C.D. Deluxe Edition - Remastered by John Baron Reith

This is a collection of The Beatles early recordings ranging from 1957 up to 1962.
The 1960 Quarrymen material has been speed corrected using a prominent 50hz mains hum present on the recording.
This has always been there, ever since Hans Walther Braun showed the tape and played it on German TV in 1965 and thus makes a reliable speed reference.
Listeners will notice differences from other versions.
The clarity is also better, being more open and airy.

Only the most musical tracks are included on disc 1 - the remainder (mostly rambling instrumentals) are on disc 2.

The Tony Sheridan material material has been remixed. The reverb is reduced, the vocals placed centre with backing vocals etc at the sides.
The material on discs 3 & 4 is also familiar and presented here from the best possible sources.

Also included are the first two BBC broadcasts and the first EMI session, so as to have all of the Pete Best era recordings in one place.

There is an 8 page card booklet with a few old pictures, the tracklist and a more detailed write-up,
including the following explanation of the Quarrymen rehearsal tape and it's changed recording place.

Quarrymen Rehearsal Tapes
Tradition has it that the 1960 recordings were made at Paul's house in Forthlin Road, but the room acoustic is way too big to have been in an ordinary house and you could barely swing a cat in the McCartney's front parlour.
Another guess is that the basement of the Jac is a possibility, but the most likely venue seems to be the Liverpool Art College which was an ideal meeting point for John, Paul and Stuart given that the institute adjoined it.
Since there are several accounts of them practising there this would make sense.
For what it's worth, Astrid (who owns one of the tapes) says that the recording were made at the Art College,
although Hans says they were made at Stuart's flat. We'll never know for sure.
But the shambolic performances, which included the skeletons of several future Beatles tunes, were preserved on reel-to-reel and The Beatles took copies of these tapes to Hamburg with them later in the year, and gave them away freely to friends.
Researchers have highlighted the existence of three different source tapes for these recordings - one of them owned by
Astrid Kirchner, Hamburg girlfriend of Stuart Sutcliffe. Another was given by Paul to his Liverpool friend, Charles Hodgson,
who had loaned them the Grundig recorder on which these tapes were made.
The Quarrymen line-up heard on these tapes was John, Paul, George and Stuart; at this point, the group still did not have a permanent drummer.
They are believed to be the only surviving recordings which feature Stuart Sutcliffe's very rudimentary bass guitar playing.

The Cavern Rehearsal Recordings
The Cavern rehearsal is also mysterious. Lewisohn says in "Tune In" that it was made in December as a demo for Dick James.
But this strains credulity as nobody in their right mind would consider submitting such a ramshackle recording to a music publisher.
As for the date, December does seem too late given how drastically different I Saw Her Standing There is compared to the Star Club recording of it.
John sounds like he's just getting to grips with the harmonica, there's no signature bass, and George seems all at sea.
For these reasons it is presumed here that this is a simple rehearsal recording from Autumn '62.

Some Other Guy
Take 1 of Some Other Guy has been seen if not heard several times over the years:
In "Man Of The Decade" where unfortuantely John talks over it.
In a U.S. TV show, on French TV - where it used the audio from Take 2.
And in Anthology where it features the original audio for a few seconds and then switches to Take 2.
If you listen very closely under John's talking you can hear George make a mistake in the solo where it goes to A major, thus explaining why another take was needed.
Take 2 is usually heard in apalling quality with all the bass filtered out, but here it's been brought into passable shape with a
retrieval of some of the bass - listen to Paul go mad during the change to A major in the solo.

A Taste Of Honey is often credited as being from Here We Go, but is actually from People And Places - Here We Go always had an audience.
This extract is actually a sampler from when the owner was shopping around the tape. Unfortunately Apple bought it, so we're unlikely to ever hear the whole thing.

p.s. All credit to Lord Reith for putting it all together.


C.D. 1

No. Title Time
St. Peter's Parish Hall, Woolton, Liverpool - 6th July 1957
1 Putting On The Style (Partial) 0:51
2 Baby Let's Play House (Partial) 0:19
Percy Phillips Studio, Kensington, Liverpool - Mid-1958
3 That'll Be The Day 2:08
4 In Spite Of All The Danger 2:45
Quarrymen Rehearsals
Location Unknown - Possibly Liverpool Art College - Spring 1960
5 Hallelujah I Love Her So 2:19
6 One After 909 2:24
7 You'll Be Mine 1:42
8 Matchbox 0:58
9 I Will Always Be In Love With You 2:20
10 The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise 2:37
11 That's When Your Heartache Begins 1:14
12 Wildcat 2:28
13 One After 909 1:28
14 Some Days 1:36
15 You Must Write Every Day 2:31
16 I'll Follow The Sun 1:46
17 Hello Little Girl 1:52
18 Cayenne (Partial) 2:26
19 Well Darling (Partial) 3:20
Polydor Recording Session
Friedrich Ebert Halle, Hamburg, 22nd/23rd June 1961
20 My Bonnie 2:40
21 Mein Bonnie 2:40
22 Why ? (Can't You Love Me Again) 2:58
23 Cry For A Shadow 2:22
24 When The Saints 3:18
25 Ain't She Sweet 2:10
26 Nobody's Child 3:53
27 If You Love Me Baby 2:53
28 My Bonnie (Dual Intro) 3:17
29 My Bonnie (Backing Vocals & Handclaps) 3:17
30 Why (Backing Vocals & Handclaps) 2:58


C.D. 2

No. Title Time
Quarrymen Rehearsals
Location Unknown - Possibly Liverpool Art College - Spring 1960
1 Fragment 0:16
2 Movin' And Groovin' 1:43
3 Ramrod 2:05
4 Electric Jam 6:56
5 Jam 1 9:41
6 Wildcat 1:22
7 Jam 2 5:30
8 Jam 3 6:33
9 Jam 4 3:01
10 Jam 5 7:48
11 Jam 6 5:52
12 Well Darling 5:02
13 Jam 7 5:51


C.D. 3

No. Title Time
Artist Test Decca Studios, London - 1st January 1962
1 Money (That's What I Want) 2:23
2 The Sheik Of Araby 1:43
3 Memphis, Tennessee 2:19
4 Three Cool Cats 2:22
5 Sure To Fall 2:01
6 September In The Rain 1:48
7 Take Good Care Of My Baby 2:26
8 Till There Was You 2:57
9 Crying, Waiting, Hoping 2:02
10 To Know Her Is To Love Her 2:34
11 Besame Mucho 2:39
12 Searchin' 3:03
13 Like Dreamers Do 2:33
14 Hello Little Girl 1:38
15 Love Of The Loved 1:50
"Teenagers Turn - Here We Go"
Playhouse Theatre, Manchester - 7th March 1962
16 Dream Baby 1:55
17 Memphis Tennessee 2:20
18 Please Mr. Postman 2:15
Polydor Recording Session - April 1962
19 Sweet Georgia Brown 2:03
20 Sweet Georgia Brown (Stereo Backing Vocals)
Featuring Tony Sheridan
2:03
21 Money (Unedited - Intro cut) 2:22
22 September In The Rain (Unedited) 1:54


C.D. 4

No. Title Time
Commercial Test EMI Studios, Abbey Road - 6th June 1962
1 Love Me Do 2:30
2 Besame Mucho 2:34
"Here We Go"
Playhouse Theatre, Manchester - 11th June 1962
3 Ask Me Why 2:21
4 Besame Mucho 2:34
5 A Picture Of You 2:30
Cavern Club - 22nd August 1962
6 Some Other Guy (Take 1) 0:38
7 Some Other Guy (Take 2) 2:03
Cavern Club - 5th September 1962
8 Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey (5th September 1962) 2:43
9 Some Other Guy (5th September 1962) 2:14
Various - 1962
10 I Saw Her Standing There (Late 1962) 3:12
11 One After 909 (Take 1) - Late 1962 3:14
12 One After 909 (Take 2) - Late 1962 3:18
13 Catswalk (Take 1) - Late 1962 1:24
14 Catswalk (Take 2) - Late 1962 1:24
"People And Places"
Granada TV Studios, Manchester - 29th October 1962
15 A Taste Of Honey (Partial) 0:48
Bonus
16 First Radio Interview - 27th October 1962
Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight, Birkenhead.
Before playing a gig here the group recorded an interview with a boys' club to be broadcast to
the patients of Cleaver and Clatterbridge Hospitals, Wirral, on the hospital radio show, Sunday Spin.
7:18


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