Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962

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Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962
Live album by The Beatles
Cover

Publication
(s)

  • 0April 8, 1977 ( D ) ,
  • May 25, 1977 ( UK) ,
  • June 13, 1977 ( US )

Photo taken in December 1962

Label (s)
  • Lingasong ( UK) ,
  • Lingasong / Atlantic ( US )

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC

Genre (s)

Merseybeat , rock 'n' roll , rock , pop

Title (number)

26th

running time

German / British version: 57 min 54 s

occupation

Guest singer:

  • Fred Fascher

production

  • Adrian Barber (Star Club, 1962)
  • Larry Grossberg (post-production, 1977)

Studio (s)

Star Club , Hamburg

chronology
The Beatles' Decca Audition
(Recorded 1962) 		Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 Please Please Me
(1963)
Great freedom, 1968

Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 is a live album by the British group The Beatles . It was recorded in December 1962 in the Hamburg Star Club , Große Freiheit 39, in the St. Pauli district . It was first released on April 8, 1977 in Germany by Bellaphon Records . In 1998, a UK court banned further publications.

Emergence

From December 18 to December 31, 1962, the Beatles made a guest appearance in Hamburg for the fifth and last time and performed there for 13 nights in the Star Club. On December 24, 1962, they had a break from gigs. Each of the Beatles received a fee of 750 marks per week  . In contrast to the previous four engagements in Hamburg, Pete Best no longer played drums for the Beatles, but Ringo Starr , so the line-up was as follows:

Entrance to the Star Club in Große Freiheit, Hamburg, around 1968
The Star Club memorial stone in the backyard on the Große Freiheit
The more famous music groups that performed in the star club
Billboard for the Star Club

Adrian Barber, the stage manager of the Star Club, probably recorded several performances by music groups in the Star with a portable Philips tape recorder (other sources mention a Grundig tape recorder) positioned on a table in front of the stage to which a microphone was connected. Club to check, among other things, the sound system it has installed. The client was Ted Taylor , who appeared with his group "Kingsize" Taylor & the Dominoes in the Star Club and was also recorded in December 1962. Ted Taylor got permission to record from John Lennon after serving several rounds of beer to the Beatles. There is no definite reliable information about how many performances of the Beatles were recorded by Adrian Barber, nor when or how many songs. The research that has been conducted shows that three to four performances (probably on December 21, 25, 28 and 30, 1962) of the Beatles were recorded, with between 40 and 44 songs being recorded. The exact order of the songs played also remains speculative. So far, the following 38 songs have been published in different sound quality, five of which are alternative versions, the total length is around 103 minutes including announcements and dialogues:

  1. Introduction / I Saw Her Standing There (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  2. Roll Over Beethoven ( Chuck Berry ) - vocals: George Harrison
  3. Hippy Hippy Shake (Chan Romero) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  4. Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry) - vocals: John Lennon
  5. Lend Me Your Comb (Kay Twomey, Fred Wise, Ben Weisman ) - vocals: George Harrison
  6. Your Feet's Too Big (Ada Benson, Fred Fisher ) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  7. Twist and Shout (Phil Medley, Bert Russell ) - vocals: John Lennon
  8. Mr. Moonlight (Roy Lee Johnson) - vocals: John Lennon
  9. A Taste of Honey (Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  10. Bésame Mucho ( Consuelo Velázquez , Sunny Skylar ) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  11. Reminiscing ( King Curtis ) - vocals: George Harrison
  12. Kansas City ( Leiber / Stoller ) / Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey ( Richard Penniman ) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  13. Nothin 'Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees) (Eddie Fontaine, Cirino Colacrai, Diane Lampert , John Gluck) - vocals: George Harrison
  14. To Know Her Is to Love Her ( Phil Spector ) - vocals: John Lennon
  15. Little Queenie (Chuck Berry) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  16. Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It) ( Frederick Hollander , Sammy Lerner) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  17. Ask Me Why (Lennon, McCartney) - vocals: John Lennon
  18. Be-Bop-A-Lula ( Gene Vincent , Bill Davis) - vocals: Fred Fascher
  19. Hallelujah I Love Her So ( Ray Charles ) - vocals: Horst Fascher
  20. Red Sails in the Sunset (Jimmy Kennedy, Wilhelm Grosz i. E. Hugh Williams) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  21. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby ( Carl Perkins ) - vocals: George Harrison
  22. Matchbox (Carl Perkins) - vocals: John Lennon
  23. I'm Talking About You (Chuck Berry) - Vocals: John Lennon
  24. Shimmy Like Kate ( Armand J. Piron , Fred Smith, Cliff Goldsmith) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  25. Long Tall Sally ( Enotris Johnson , Robert Blackwell , Richard Penniman) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  26. I Remember You ( Johnny Mercer , Victor Schertzinger ) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  27. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) (Joe Thomas, Howard Biggs) - vocals: John Lennon
  28. Where Have You Been All My Life? ( Barry Mann , Cynthia Weil ) - vocals: John Lennon
  29. Till There Was You ( Meredith Willson ) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  30. Sheila ( Tommy Roe ) - vocals: George Harrison

Live recordings published only on bootlegs :

  2. Road Runner ( Bo Diddley ) - vocals: John Lennon
  3. Money (That's What I Want) - with Tony Sheridan - ( Berry Gordy , Janie Bradford) - vocals: Tony Sheridan
  4. Red Hot (Billy Lee Riley) - vocals: John Lennon and George Harrison

Alternative versions:

  2. Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) - vocals: George Harrison
  3. I'm Talking About You (Chuck Berry) - Vocals: John Lennon
  4. I Saw Her Standing There (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - vocals: Paul McCartney
  5. / 38. A Taste of Honey (Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow) (two other versions) - vocals: Paul McCartney

The tapes were given to Ted Taylor by Adrian Barber, who offered them to the Beatles' manager at the time, Brian Epstein . Epstein was only willing to pay £ 20  as he saw no commercial value in the recordings. Ted Taylor gave the tapes to engineer John Seddon in the hope that they would be prepared for release. This did not happen, instead the tape recordings were left behind and forgotten in the basement of the house where Seddon had his office in Hackins Hey ( Liverpool ). In 1972 the Beatles' first manager Allan Williams and Ted Taylor met on a Mersey Beat Revival show and talked about the Star Club recordings. Williams and Taylor drove with John Seddon to his old office building to look for the tapes and actually found them there in the basement. Due to the improper storage, these were partially damaged during playback, so that they had to be professionally transferred to new tapes.

Williams said he contacted George Harrison and Ringo Starr and offered them the recordings for £ 5,000. Both refused. Allan Williams then sold the tape recordings to Paul Murphy, the boss of BUK Records , who in turn sold the rights to Double H Licensing Corp. sold in New York .

On August 4, 1973, a full-page article by Mike Evans appeared in the British Melody Maker , which described individual songs in detail and described the sound quality of the recordings as remarkably good. As a result, the existence of the recordings was known to a wider audience.

Double H Licensing Corp. invested 100,000  US dollars to clean the tapes using the technical means available at the time and to transfer them to a 16-track tape recorder. The producer Larry Grossberg edited the songs or put two different versions together and added or shortened the announcements or dialogues for other songs. The sound was changed in such a way that one wanted to create an artificial space and stereo effects .

The first release of 26 songs from the Star Club recordings took place in Germany in April 1977 by Bellaphon Records . A text was printed on the record sleeve stating that the recordings had been made in April 1962 and that Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr for one appearance. The background to this incorrect statement was that the Beatles had had a record deal with Parlophone since June 4, 1962 , and that Bellaphon Records wanted to avoid legal disputes. Nevertheless, the Beatles tried to prevent the publication in Great Britain in court because they feared “irreparable commercial and creative damage” through the distribution of the recordings. John Lennon also recognized the wrong dating and wrote to the court: “The sleeve note, apart from being inaccurate, seems to have been written with a court case in mind […] This is a fucking fake!” (German: "The accompanying text is more than wrong, it seems as if it was written with an upcoming court case in mind [...] It is a damn fraud!") The court ruled on April 1, 1977 that the publication was legal because the recordings would be of historical value and it is stated on the record sleeve that the recordings are old. In the United States, a double album with four other songs was released in June 1977, bringing the total number of legally published songs to 30. But since John Lennon mentions "Christmas" during the recording and since the Beatles played four songs that did not make it into the British charts until after May 1962 ( Sheila by Tommy Roe , Twist and Shout by the Isley Brothers , Reminiscing by Buddy Holly and I Remember You by Frank Ifield ) it was obvious that the recordings could not have been from April 1962. Two of the songs Be-Bop-A-Lula (vocals: Fred Fascher, folder in the Star Club) and Hallelujah I Love Her So (vocals: Horst Fascher , manager of the Star Club) were not sung by one of the Beatles.

The sound quality of the recordings, however, was not, as mentioned in the Melody Maker article, “remarkably good”, but rather unsatisfactory for a broader group of potential buyers despite the technical revision, and therefore only suitable for Beatles fans. The sound of the LP still sounded like an audience recording that was available on bootlegs . The sound quality of the songs among each other was also fluctuating and not at the same level.

In the following years, the Star Club recordings were marketed worldwide by various recording companies. In 1998 the three Beatles who were still alive tried again in a lawsuit to generally prevent further re-releases of the Star Club recordings. On May 6, 1998, George Harrison went as a witness to the High Court of Justice in London , stating that John Lennon was selling the recordings to Ted Taylor for a few drinks, adding, “One drunken person recording another bunch of drunks does not constitute business deals. " (German: "If a drunk person takes in a bunch of other drunks, this does not establish any business contracts.") He also stated that Ted Taylor had not acquired the right to publish these recordings. The court followed his explanations and prohibited further publications.

Publications

German / British version

On April 8, 1977, a double album entitled The Beatles Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, published in 1962 with 26 songs. The publication in Great Britain followed on May 25, 1977. In September 1981 Audiofidelity Enterprises Ltd (catalog number: AFELD 1018) released a double album with 30 songs in Great Britain.

Track list

page 1

No. song author Lead vocals length
01 Introduction / I Saw Her Standing There Lennon / McCartney Paul McCartney 0:34 / 2:22
02 Roll over Beethoven Chuck Berry George Harrison 2:15
03 Hippy Hippy Shake Chan Romero Paul McCartney 1:42
04th Sweet Little Sixteen Chuck Berry John Lennon 2:45
05 Lend Me Your Comb Kay Twomey, Fred Wise, Ben Weisman George Harrison 1:44
06th Your Feet's Too Big Ada Benson, Fred Fisher Paul McCartney 3:14

Page 2

No. song author Lead vocals length
07th Twist and Shout Phil Medley, Bert Russell John Lennon 2:03
08th Mr. Moonlight Roy Lee Johnson John Lennon 2:06
09 A taste of honey Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow Paul McCartney 1:45
10 Bésame mucho Consuelo Velázquez, Sunny Skylar Paul McCartney 2:36
11 Reminiscing King Curtis George Harrison 1:41
12 Kansas City / Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Little Richard Paul McCartney 2:09

Page 3

No. song author Lead vocals length
13 Nothin 'Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees) Eddie Fontaine, Cirino Colacrai,

Diane Lampert, John Gluck

George Harrison 1:15
14th To Know Her Is to Love Her Phil Spector John Lennon 3:02
15th Little Queenie Chuck Berry Paul McCartney 3:51
16 Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It) Frederick Hollander, Sammy Lerner Paul McCartney 1:57
17th Ask me why John Lennon / Paul McCartney John Lennon 2:26
18th Be-Bop-A-Lula Gene Vincent , Bill Davis Fred Fascher 2:29
19th Hallelujah I Love Her So Ray Charles Horst Fascher 2:10

page 4

No. song author Lead vocals length
20th Red Sails in the Sunset Jimmy Kennedy, Hugh Williams Paul McCartney 2:00
21st Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby Carl Perkins George Harrison 2:25
22nd Matchbox Carl Perkins John Lennon 2:35
23 I'm talking about you Chuck Berry John Lennon 1:48
24 Shimmy Like Kate Armand Piron, Fred Smith, Cliff Goldsmith Paul McCartney 2:17
25th Long Tall Sally Enotris Johnson, Robert Blackwell, Little Richard Paul McCartney 1:45
26th I remember you Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger Paul McCartney 1:54

US version

The album was released in the US on June 13, 1977. The US version did not include the songs I Saw Her Standing There , Twist and Shout , Reminiscing , and Ask Me Why , and replaced them with the following four songs:

  1. Introduction / I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) (Joe Thomas, Howard Biggs) - 3:04
  3. Where Have You Been (All My Life) (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) - 1:55
  5. Till There Was You (Meredith Willson) - 1:59
  7. Sheila (Tommy Roe) - 1:56

Bootlegs

  • In 1985 the bootleg The Beatles vs. the Third Reich , which included the Star Club recordings unedited for the first time.
  • In 2008 a double CD was released containing 38 songs, making it the most extensive publication. According to the self-description, the recordings come from a primary recording tape and have not yet been edited or edited. Furthermore, it is stated that 2/3 of the order of the songs is known and so were pressed onto the CDs.
  • In 2014, 34 Star Club recordings were released with audibly improved sound quality, and for the first time the double CD contains a complete version of Red Hot .
  • In the following year, 2015, all known versions of the recordings of the Beatles as well as the other recorded artists Kingsize Taylor and the Dominos , The Rebel Rousers and Tony Sheridan were released on five CDs .

Further information

Eleven songs from the Star Club recordings were recorded in the studio by the Beatles and published on the following three albums and an EP by 1964:

Chart positions of the album

album Release Date Best placement in the charts Label catalog no.
Type title GB United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany GB United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany GB United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany
Live album Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 May 23, 1977 Apr 20, 1977 June 13, 1977 no placement 111 21st Lingasong LNL1 Lingasong / Atlantic LS-2-7001 Bellaphon BLS5560

Outcouplings

Singles

single Release Date Best placement in the charts Label catalog no.
A side / B side GB United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany GB United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany GB United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany
Twist and Shout / Falling in Love Again June 24, 1977 - - - nv nv Lingasong NB1 - -

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philipps tape recorder
  2. Jump up ↑ Ted Taylor's Star Club Tape Recorder and Memoirs.
  3. ↑ Star Club Bootleg 1
  4. ↑ Star Club Bootleg 2 ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thebeatlesrarity.com
  5. ↑ Star Club Bootleg 3