"Around The Beatles" TV Special's music recording

About

From the Anthology 1 liner notes:

Working to a schedule that would faze most other, and seems even by their own standards to be extreme, the Beatles recorded a TV special in April 1964, while they were still completing A Hard Day’s Night. So called because it presented the group “in the round”, in the manner of early Shakespearean productions, Around The Beatles was made and networked in Britain by the London ITV company Rediffusion. Allowed the opportunity to nominate a producer of their choice, the Beatles opted for Jack Good, the man behind the pioneering British TV pop series Six-Five Special and Oh Boy!

The music recording session for Around The Beatles took place on Sunday 19 April 1964 at an independent studio, IBC, situated just along the road from the BBC’s Broadcasting House headquarters on Portland Place. Presented in stereo for the first time, and from the original three-track tapes, are four songs from that session, beginning with I Wanna Be Your Man. Featuring Ringo’s lead vocal, the EMI version of this had been recorded by the Beatles on 11 September 1963 – a day after John and Paul had also offered the song to the Rolling Stones. The Stones issued it as their second single (and the first major hit) at the same time as Ringo’s version appeared on With The Beatles.

Long Tall Sally, originally recorded by Little Richard in 1956, was one of the songs, comparatively few in number, which made their way from the Beatles’ pre-fame stage act into the group’s recorded canon. There is one key difference – the absence of piano – between this IBC recording and the EMI version, captured in a single astounding take on 1 March 1964.

Boys, first issued in 1960 by the Shirelles, was not included in the print of the TV special Around The Beatles so this IBC recording is being heard here for the first time. Ringo takes the lead vocal, as he did on the EMI version.

Unlike Long Tall Sally and Boys, Shout never made it from the Beatles’ early stage repertoire on to their discs, which makes this Around The Beatles recording especially rare. The Isley Brothers’ 1959 original was so long that it had to be split over two sides of a 45, called Shout – Part I and Shout – Part II. This Beatles recording is essentially Part II, with Paul, John, George and Ringo swapping the lead vocal role while raising and lowering the volume in keeping with the lyric.

Last updated on March 13, 2016

Songs recorded