·"1962 Live at the Star Club in Hamburg - Part 1" - The Beatles

Live! At the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962! was a double album featuring live performances by The Beatles, recorded in late December 1962 at the Star-Club during their final Hamburg residency. The album was released in 1977 in two different versions, comprising a total of 30 songs by The Beatles. Assessments of the album often weigh the poor sound quality against the historic importance and insight provided into The Beatles' early stage act. Rolling Stone reviewer John Swenson called the album "poorly recorded but fascinating" and commented that it showed The Beatles as "raw but extremely powerful." Q Magazine described the recordings as having "certain historical interest" and remarked: "The show seems like a riot but the sound itself is terrible – like one hell of a great party going on next door." George Harrison gave the assessment: "The Star-Club recording was the crummiest recording ever made in our name!" The recording equipment and method resulted in the tapes being unmistakably low fidelity. These performances were recorded on a home tape machine using a single microphone placed over the stage. The vocals, even in the best cases, sound "somewhat muffled and distant", and on a few songs are so indistinct that labeling and liner notes on early releases gave incorrect information about who was singing and the exact song being performed. Much of The Beatles' dialogue between songs is audible, which includes addressing the audience in both English and German, as well as repartee among themselves. The banter is irreverent and coarse at times, an aspect of their stage act that would soon cease under the influence of manager Brian Epstein and playing in theatres instead of night-clubs. Ted "Kingsize" Taylor, the owner of the tapes, began to investigate possible marketing of the tapes in 1973. The tapes were eventually bought by Paul Murphy and subjected to extensive audio processing to improve the sound, leading to the 1977 album. Although the poor sound quality limited its commercial appeal, the album provided historic insight into the group's club act in the period just after Ringo Starr joined but before the emergence of Beatlemania. The Beatles were unsuccessful in legally blocking the initial release of the album; the recordings were reissued in many forms until 1998, when The Beatles were awarded full rights to the performances. The tapes were originally described as having been recorded in May 1962, but that was only an attempt to pre-date The Beatles' June 1962 contract signing with Parlophone. However, song arrangements and dialogue from the tapes pointed to late December 1962, and a recording date of 31 December 1962 (the group's last day in Hamburg) was commonly cited. Later researchers have proposed that the tapes are from multiple days during the last week of December, which is consistent with original Beatles manager Allan Williams' description that a total of about three hours was recorded over three or four sessions between Christmas and New Year's Day. The tapes captured The Beatles performing at least 33 different titles, plus some repeated songs. Of the 30 songs that were commercially released from the tapes, only two were Lennon/McCartney compositions. The others were an assortment of cover versions, seventeen of which would be re-made by The Beatles and appear on their various studio albums or later on Live at the BBC. The arrangements played at the Star-Club are similar to the versions recorded later, albeit less refined, although there are a few cases with distinct differences. Here you have those recordings and also featured as found on the original tapes.






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Sets 1 & 2 - Recorded December 25th 1962:

01- Be-Bop-A-Lula
02- I Saw Her Standing There
03- Hallelujah I Love Her So
04- Red Hot (incomplete)
05- Sheila
06- Kansas City / Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
07- I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
08- Reminiscing
09- Red Sails in the Sunset
10- Sweet Little Sixteen
11- Roll Over Beethoven
12- A Taste of Honey (incomplete)
13- Ask Me Why
14- Long Tall Sally
15- Bésame Mucho
16- I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry Over You
17- Twist and Shout
18- Mr. Moonlight
19- Falling In Love Again [Can’t Help It]
20- I’m Talkin’ Bout You
21- I Remember You