First published November 1984.

Recordings of The Beatles during 1963 are by now fairly familiar, for example The Beatles radio performances for the BBC recently featured on Radio 1’s “The Beatles At The Beeb” are by now in most peoples memories. These reviews are only of ‘live” performances i.e. in front of a paying audience, and are as yet unavailable in a commercial form.

Swedish Drop-In Show: October 30th

The Beatles are featured on this Swedish TV show at the completion of their short five date tour of Sweden. The boys sing four songs and the recording of the subsequent show is really excellent. After taping the show the group fly back directly to England, where thousands of fans greet them at the airport.

Track Listing:

1. She Loves You
2. Twist And Shout
3. I Saw Her Standing There
4. Long Tall Sally

The Beatles appearance at the end of the Swedish Drop-In show totals approximately 20 minutes. Quality is among the best of the available TV shows.

The short Swedish tour marked their first “foreign” tour as celebrities and the first date of the tour was at the Karlaplan Theatre, Stockholm.

Karlaplan, Stockholm: October 24th

An excellent recording exists of this show, as it was taped for subsequent broadcast on Swedish radio. The tracks were recorded in perfect stereo.

Track Listing:

1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. From Me To You
3. Money
4. Roll Over Beethoven
5. You Really Got A Hold On Me
6. She Loves You
7. Twist And Shout

Four days after their return from Sweden The Beatles embarked on an autumn tour of Britain, beginning on November 1st at Cheltenham and ending on December 13th at the Southampton Gaunt, after taking in 33 different towns and cities. The following reviews are all drawn from that particular tour, beginning with November 4th in London.

Royal Variety Performance: November 4th

This show marks the beginning of, as the media put it “BEATLEMANIA”. The group is recorded playing four songs at the Prince of Wales Theatre in front of the Royal Family who were in the audience. The quality is fairly poor throughout but it is sufficient enough to pick up John’s immortal quote “during the next number, would those of you in the cheap seats clap your hands. The rest of you if you would just rattle your jewellery”

Track Listing:

1. From Me To You
2. She Loves You
3. Till There Was You
4. Twist And Shout

Ardwick Apollo, Manchester: November 20th

This is a short eight minute documentary about The Beatles, recorded by a camera crew from Pathe British News at the groups performance at the Ardwick Apollo Theatre in Manchester on 20th November 1963.

Track Listing:

1. She Loves You
2. Twist And Shout
3. From Me To You

Unfortunately the quality leaves a lot to be desired, but it is interesting enough as a period piece showing us how it really was folks!!

Liverpool Empire: December 7th

This show was given for the northern area fan club at the Empire in Liverpool. They perform 12 songs and part of the show was recorded by the BBC and was later used for a programme called “It’s The Beatles”. An hour after the show the boys tape an appearance oof BBC TV’s “Jukebox Jury” and later the same evening the group gives two performances at the Odeon Cinemas in Liverpool, what an hectic schedule!!

Later in the month, the 22nd, The Beatles again play at the Empire to preview their forthcoming Christmas Shows at the Finsbury Park Astoria. Tracks recorded at the first Empire show include:

Track Listing:

1. From Me To You
2. I Saw Her Standing There
3. All My Loving
4. Roll Over Beethoven
5. Boys
6. Till There Was You
7. She Loves You
8. This Boy
9. I Want To Hold Your Hand
10. Money
11. Twist And Shout

The show lasts approximately 40 minutes and the sound quality of this particular performance is very good to excellent.

Next time the live performances of 1964 are reviewed, see you then …

By Craig Smith