In keeping with my last post on a rare unreleased Beatles concert, today I’m featuring not one but five complete and unreleased Beatles concerts (well, unreleased in their unaltered forms).
Today celebrates the 57th anniversary of The Beatles last paid public performance which took place at San Francisco’s famed Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. Since I was a mere seven months old my memories of that time are obviously a bit fuzzy.
So in celebration of this momentous event I thought I’d share a couple of underground CD sets that capture The Beatles in concert with the best live shows (in the U.S.) from their Beatlemania touring years of 1964-1966.
I have two superb sets by the His Masters Choice label that perfectly capture the frantic sounds of Beatlemania and the raw power and energy of The Beatles in concert as they took over the music world.
The first set features the three Beatles shows at the Hollywood Bowl (complete and unedited) from 1964 and 1965 which is probably the best recorded Beatles concert of the groups touring era. As an added bonus the famed Candlestick Park 1966 show is included as well and in the best possible sound quality.
(Note: the 1966 Candlestick concert was recorded on a cassette recorder in front of the stage by The Beatles press officer Tony Barrow at the suggestion of Paul McCartney. There is no multi-track quality recording. Even so the show is low-fi it’s certainly very listenable as the mic captured the concert at close range)
The other set is also a must hear as it features the true sound of The Beatles live at Shea Stadium in 1965 (this is the first time the unaltered live show has ever been issued) along with all the opening acts from the show as well. As an added bonus it also features the touched up re-recording of the Shea Stadium show that was featured on the 1967 TV special that was broadcast on television.
Many of you out there may say wait a minute, unreleased? Didn’t The Beatles Hollywood Bowl shows come out on CD a few years ago sounding really fantastic?
Well, yes they did but the “Live at the Hollywood Bowl” CD that came out in 2016 in lovely remixed sound courtesy of Giles Martin and Sam Okell featured only a selection of cuts from the three Hollywood Bowl concerts that were recorded and had the sound heavily worked on to make it sound more listenable.
The stupendous 2 CD set “Live at the Hollywood Bowl” features all three concerts in full with warts and all sound (there are a few songs on one of the 1965 shows that don’t feature vocals) and every stinking note as it happened.
That of course includes the din of over 18,000 screaming young fans which nearly drowns out The Beatles at times.
For historians these unaltered sets are a treat to hear as the complete shows, warts and all, are great to hear as it is a true document of the times and the full impact of The Beatles on a generation is evident and these shows really bring you front and center on what it was like to sit at a Beatles performance and experience it in the eye of the storm so to speak.
Plus the Candlestick Park show tucked on the end of this set is also a real treat as it documents the end of The Beatles live career and is the best example of how they sounded on the 1966 tour. The Beatles are putting in more of a performance at this show as compared to others on the tour as they know this may be the last time that they would play live in this Beatlemania type environment.
I’m fascinated by this show and despite it’s less than stellar sound it’s still a very enjoyable show and the best document of this last 1966 tour and fun to hear songs like “Day Tripper” and “Nowhere Man” played with real gusto as opposed to the much better recorded shows in Japan from earlier in 1966.
I must say though that the creme de la creme of these five shows is the actual audio from The Beatles most celebrated concert live at Shea Stadium in 1965.
I can see why the group felt the need to touch the sound up as the concert was not only recorded but it was filmed as well for a TV special and these early days of recording live shows could not have anticipated the chaos that over 55,000 Beatlemanics would have on the primitive recording equipment that captured this show.
When the show was broadcast in 1967 I’m sure the group preferred the much cleaner live presentation on display in front of millions but I have to say that I prefer the rawer sound of the real tapes as it’s just as exciting a show with the real sound and maybe even more fun to watch.
The slightly ragged sound of the real Shea audio fits the overwhelming feeling of chaos generated by the audience who are obviously taken by the whole spectacle of a Beatles show. And actually the sound of the show in this CD is really good and despite some flaws would make a great CD!
Complete contents of the two sets:
Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Disc 1: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – August 23rd, 1964:
Intro., Twist And Shout, You Can’t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Things We Said Today, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, If I Fell, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Boys, A Hard Day’s Night, Long Tall Sally.
Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – August 30th, 1965:
Intro., Twist & Shout, She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down
Disc 2: Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA – August 29th, 1965:
Intro., Twist & Shout, She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down.
Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA – August 29th, 1966:
Rock And Roll Music, She’s A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby’s In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer, Long Tall Sally
The Beatles And The Great Concert At Shea
Disc 1, line recording:
Introduction, Twist And Shout, She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, Act Naturally, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down.
Plus: King Curtis: National Anthem, Intermezzo, Discotheque Dancers: medley. King Curtis: What I’d Say, The Branch, Soul Twist, Intermezzo. Cannibal & The Headhunters: Out Of Sight, Nau Ninny Nau, The Way You Do The Things You Do, Land Of 1000 Dances. Brenda Holloway: Shake/Satisfaction, I Can’t Help Myself, You Can Cry On My Shoulder, When I’m Gone
Disc 2:
Sounds Incorporated: Intermezzo, America, William Tell Overture, instrumental, In The Hall Of The Mountain Kings.
Original 1966 BBC soundtrack:
Introduction, Twist And Shout, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket To Ride, Act Naturally, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, I’m Down.
The Beatles Live At Shea described by erupting fans, part 1 and part 2
Anyway, just a quick glimpse of some superb documents of five Beatles live shows as they sounded at the time. These shows are a fun time capsule to the pop/rock world of The Beatles as the group’s story and performances grow ever more intriguing as the years go by.
Also, each of these two sets are comprised of groovy small hardbound books with lots of cool photos and liner notes as well as two discs each. Really each set is the final word on the Hollywood Bowl and Shea Stadium concerts with the added bonus of the Candlestick show to round things out making these two sets the perfect way to experience Beatlemania in all its glory.
As usual there are pictures above and below of these fantastic two sets.
Enjoy the Candlestick show if you find these discs or you find it online. It’s a gem of a show and well worth hearing The Beatles final bow as one of the most beloved and enduring acts of the 1960s. Fifty seven years is a long ago but even that amount of time has not diminished The Beatles contribution to pop culture.
Until next time be well and safe and see you soon!
Records, CDs and Music: 