May

May 21st – On This Day In Beatles History

by  •  • 0 Comments

1960 – The Silver Beetles, on a tour of Scotland backing singer Johnny Gentle, perform at the Northern Meeting Ballroom, Inverness, Inverness-shire. They have to play in an upstairs ballroom while the older folks stay downstairs listening to the music of traditional bandleader Lindsay Ross & his Famous Broadcasting Band. The Silver Beetles had also been booked to headline in their first advertised professional engagement this night at Lathom Hall, Seaforth, Liverpool, for promoter Brian Kelly. When the Silver Beetles left on their disappointing tour, they neglected to tell Kelly of their change in plans, and Kelly was left with a hall full of patrons but not his advertised attraction. It later will take a lot of persuasion on the part of Bob Wooler to get Kelly to agree to let the group perform at Litherland Town Hall Ballroom on December 27 (as The Beatles, their name having been changed for the last time in mid-August 1960), and Kelly probably only agreed as a favor to Wooler. The December 27 performance will prove to be a significant one for The Beatles.

1961 – The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 – The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1963 – The Beatles, at the Playhouse Theatre in London, record two BBC radio programs for later broadcast. First they tape an appearance for the program “Saturday Club,” their first appearance on that important show as top of the bill. They perform “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” “Boys,” “Long Tall Sally,” “From Me to You,” and “Money.” The show is broadcast on May 25, and the last three songs are included in the portion of the program that is broadcast overseas. The Beatles are also interviewed, and they show themselves to be personable and witty. The second radio program that they record this day is for the show “Steppin’ Out,” which is taped before a wildly enthusiastic audience. The Beatles perform six songs, “Please Please Me,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Twist and Shout,” “Thank You Girl,” and “From Me to You.” “Twist and Shout” was edited out of the final program tape. This show is broadcast on June 3.

1964 – The Beatles’ single “Sie Liebt Dich/I’ll Get You” (Swan 4182) is released in the U.S. The German-language version of “She Loves You.” 1 week on Billboard chart; highest chart position: No.97.

1980 – Paul McCartney’s album “McCartney II” (Columbia FC-36511) is released in the U.S. Tracks: “Coming Up,” “Temporary Secretary,” “On the Way,” “Waterfalls,” “Nobody Knows,” “Front Parlour,” “Summer’s Day Song,” “Frozen Jap,” “Bogey Music,” “Darkroom,” and “One of These Days.”

May

May 20th – On This Day In Beatles History

by  •  • 0 Comments

1960 – The Silver Beetles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Tommy Moore) perform during the first night of their short tour of Scotland backing singer Johnny Gentle, at Town Hall, Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Gentle and the Silver Beetles rehearse together for the first time just 30 minutes prior to going on stage. For this tour, three of the Silver Beetles adopt stage names: Paul McCartney is “Paul Ramon,” George Harrison is “Carl Harrison,” and Stuart Sutcliffe becomes “Stuart de Stael.

1961 – The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 – The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1963 – The Beatles, on tour with Roy Orbison, perform at the Gaumont Cinema in Southampton, Hampshire.

1966 – The Beatles are on location filming two color promo films for “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” Filming is done in the gardens of Chiswick House, Chiswick, London, which started the previous day. The director is Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

1967 – John, Paul and Ringo record interviews with Kenny Everett for same-day broadcast on the BBC radio program “Where It’s At.” The Beatles’ about-to-be-released album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is played on the program, every track except “A Day in the Life,” which has been banned by the BBC for encouraging a permissive attitude towards drug use.

1969 – The Beatles’ newly-hired manager, Allen Klein, moves into Apple’s offices, throwing out executives, hangers-on, and hustlers. Apple stops losing money and Klein works on maximizing record royalties for The Beatles.

1991 – Paul McCartney’s album “Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)” (Parlophone CDPCSD-117) is released in the U.K. Tracks: “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” “I Lost My Little Girl,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “We Can Work It Out,” “San Francisco Bay Blues,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Every Night,” “She’s a Woman,” “Hi-Heel Sneakers,” “And I Love Her,” “That Would be Something,” “Blackbird,” “Ain’t No Sunshine” (vocal: Hamish Stuart), “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Singing the Blues,” and “Junk.

May

May 19th – On This Day In Beatles History

by  •  • 0 Comments

1960 – The Silver Beetles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe, and Tommy Moore) perform during the first night of their short tour of Scotland backing singer Johnny Gentle, at Town Hall, Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Gentle and the Silver Beetles rehearse together for the first time just 30 minutes prior to going on stage. For this tour, three of the Silver Beetles adopt stage names: Paul McCartney is “Paul Ramon,” George Harrison is “Carl Harrison,” and Stuart Sutcliffe becomes “Stuart de Stael.

1961 – The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 – The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1963 – The Beatles, on tour with Roy Orbison, perform at the Gaumont Cinema in Southampton, Hampshire.

1966 – The Beatles are on location filming two color promo films for “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” Filming is done in the gardens of Chiswick House, Chiswick, London, which started the previous day. The director is Michael Lindsay-Hogg.

1967 – John, Paul and Ringo record interviews with Kenny Everett for same-day broadcast on the BBC radio program “Where It’s At.” The Beatles’ about-to-be-released album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is played on the program, every track except “A Day in the Life,” which has been banned by the BBC for encouraging a permissive attitude towards drug use.

1969 – The Beatles’ newly-hired manager, Allen Klein, moves into Apple’s offices, throwing out executives, hangers-on, and hustlers. Apple stops losing money and Klein works on maximizing record royalties for The Beatles.

1991 – Paul McCartney’s album “Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)” (Parlophone CDPCSD-117) is released in the U.K. Tracks: “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” “I Lost My Little Girl,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “We Can Work It Out,” “San Francisco Bay Blues,” “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Every Night,” “She’s a Woman,” “Hi-Heel Sneakers,” “And I Love Her,” “That Would be Something,” “Blackbird,” “Ain’t No Sunshine” (vocal: Hamish Stuart), “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Singing the Blues,” and “Junk.

May

May 18th – On This Day In Beatles History

by  •  • 0 Comments

1961 – The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 – The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1963 – The Beatles, on tour with Roy Orbison, perform at the Gaumont Cinema in Hanley.

1966 – The Beatles film four promo films for “Paperback Writer” and three promo films for “Rain,” this day in Studio One at Abbey Road, the next day at Chiswick House, Chiswick, London. The director is Michael Lindsay-Hogg. Two of the “Paperback Writer” promos are in color, the other two in black and white. Two “Rain” promos are in color and one in black and white. The color promos are for broadcast in the U.S and the black and white films are for broadcast in the U.K. Later that day, Paul (the others may or may not have attended) oversees the recording of the French horn solo for Paul’s song “For No One” (played by Alan Civil), in Studio Three at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, London.

1968 – John invites Yoko to his home in Surrey while his wife, Cynthia, is away on vacation. Although the exact date is not known, this night is suggested as the probable date for the taping of experimental tracks that would be issued as John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s album “Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins.” As such, it marks one of the most important nights of John Lennon’s life, for this was the night that John and Yoko became a couple. The recording of their sound-collage experiments was followed by their making love.

1969 – The Beatles receive the Ivor Novello award for Britain’s top-selling single of 1968, “Hey Jude.

1979 – George, Paul, and Ringo, at a party celebrating Eric Clapton’s marriage to George’s ex-wife Pattie, stage an impromptu concert. They play a number of old rock-and-roll hits and Beatles tunes. Other musicians joining in are Mick Jagger, Denny Laine, Eric Clapton, Lonnie Donegan, and Ginger Baker. Beatles reunion rumors flare up around the world in response.

May

May 17th – On This Day In Beatles History

by  •  • 0 Comments

1961 – The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962 – The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1963 – The Beatles perform for two “houses” at the Adelphi Cinema, Slough, Buckinghamshire. This is the first night of The Beatles’ third tour of the year. The top billing for the tour initially went to Roy Orbison, whom The Beatles greatly admired. But audience demand quickly thrust The Beatles into the position of tour headliners. Their song list for this tour is “Some Other Guy,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” “Love Me Do,” “From Me to You,” “Please Please Me,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “Twist and Shout.” The tour includes, in addition to The Beatles and Roy Orbison, the artists Gerry & the Pacemakers, Tony Marsh, the Terry Young Six, Erkey Grant, Ian Crawford, David Macbeth, and Louise Cordet. Before the show, Gerry Marsden of the Pacemakers presents The Beatles with their second silver disc, for “From Me to You.

1965 – The Beatles overdub speaking parts for the movie “Help!

1966 – The Beatles in the recording studio, Studio Two, EMI’s Abbey Road Studios, London. The Beatles spend 12 hours working on “Got to Get You Into My Life,” overdubbing of the brass section, new vocals, and guitars.

1967 – The Beatles, it is announced, have been selected to represent the United Kingdom for the first-ever global-wide satellite broadcast. The Beatles have reportedly agreed to be shown in the studio recording a song written especially for the occasion. The broadcast is scheduled for June 25. John and Paul will each write a song for the broadcast, John composing “All You Need is Love” and Paul’s song thought to have been either “Your Mother Should Know” or “Hello Goodbye. John Lennon and Paul McCartney record backing vocals on the Rolling Stones song “We Love You.

1970 – The Beatles’ album “Let It Be” (Apple AR-34001) is released in the U.S. Tracks: “Two of Us,” “I Dig a Pony,” “Across the Universe,” “I Me Mine,” “Dig It,” “Let It Be,” “Maggie Mae,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “One After 909,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “For You Blue,” and “Get Back.” 55 weeks on Billboard chart; highest chart position: No.1.

1992 – Ringo Starr’s single “Weight of the World/After All These Years” (Private Music 115-392) is released in the U.K. Also released as a CD single with an extra track, “Don’t Be Cruel.