Around the Beatles • Wednesday, May 6, 1964

About

From Wikipedia:

Around the Beatles was a 1964 television special featuring the Beatles, produced by Jack Good for ITV/Rediffusion London. It was taped in IBC Studios in London on 19 April 1964, and broadcast internationally, with its initial airing on 6 May 1964, and in the US on the ABC network on 15 November. The show featured other performers as well, with the Beatles providing backing vocals for some of them.

Performances

The show opens on an image of the Globe Theatre, with Ringo Starr unfurling a flag with the legend “Around the Beatles“. The studio setting is arranged as a theatre in the round, (hence the show’s name) echoing the seating arrangement of the Globe. The opening act is a humorous rendition of the “play within a play“, Pyramus and Thisbe (Act V, Scene I) from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Paul McCartney as Pyramus, John Lennon as his lover Thisbe, George Harrison as Moonshine, and Starr as Lion, and also features Trevor Peacock in the role of Quince.

The Beatles

• “Twist and Shout”
• “Roll Over Beethoven”
• “I Wanna Be Your Man”
• “Long Tall Sally”
• “Love Me Do/Please Please Me/From Me to You/She Loves You/I Want to Hold Your Hand” (Medley)
• “Can’t Buy Me Love”
• “Shout”

Other acts

• Long John Baldry: “Got My Mojo Working” (with the Beatles as backup singers offstage in the audience balcony)
• P.J. Proby with the Vernons Girls: “Walking the Dog”, “Cumberland Gap”, “I Believe”
• The Vernons Girls featuring Jean Owen, “Only You Can Do It”
• Baldry and Vernons Girls, Medley: “Night Train/Lover Please/I’m Movin’ On/Forty Days/Money (That’s What I Want)/Hit the Road Jack”
• Cilla Black: “Saved”, “You’re My World”, “Heat Wave”
• Sounds Incorporated
• Millie: “My Boy Lollipop”, “Tom Hark”

Production

• Harry Robinson – Musical Associate
• Brian Epstein – Production Associate
• Roy Stannard – Designer
• Rita Gillespie – Director
• Jack Good – Producer

Legacy

The special was released as a bootleg video by Media Home Entertainment. A video segment from the special appears in the The Beatles Anthology documentary film. Songs from the special appear on the Anthology 1 compilation. The Beatles’ musical set features the only recorded performance of “Shout” by the group. The footage of them singing “Can’t Buy Me Love” is now included on the video disk of the 2015 reissue of the compilation 1.

 

From [NEW] The Beatles on “Around the Beatles” (TV Special, April 27/28 1964) [8mm Film] – YouTube:

Here is more of the footage shared by Getty yesterday. This captures both dress rehearsal footage prior to the taping, as well as clips shot during the actual main television special (which is what we have today). I have dubbed in sound from the pre-recorded tracks made for the Around the Beatles TV Special throughout, although in the introduction I used a little bit of Murray the K’s tape made throughout the rehearsal sessions to add to the ambience! I have this titled as April 27th/28th as the dress rehearsal took place on the 27th, while the show was taped on the 28th – and this film has both! Also, there is one clip showing the very ending of Shout – sadly I was not able to add audio onto this as every version we have fades out prior to this. Nonetheless, I have been able to add accurate sound to the rest. Enjoy! 🙂 Track Listing: 1. Intro / Setup 0:00 2. Dress Rehearsal – Beatles A-Side Medley: 0:19 – Love Me Do 0:19 – Please Please Me 0:27 – From Me To You 0:35 – She Loves You 0:41 – I Want To Hold Your Hand 0:56 3. Broadcast – Beatles A-Side Medley: 1:01 – She Loves You 1:01 – I Want To Hold Your Hand 1:19 4. Can’t Buy Me Love 1:30 5. Shout 1:57 6. Outro 2:13

Last updated on April 27, 2024