I was scratching my head, a little dumbfounded as I pored over my list of underground recordings. While I've had two people refer to it as a "library" due to its size and variety, I had found a glaring hole in the collection. I sat and wondered how I had managed to amass a collection of almost 1500 entries without a single Beatles bootleg. I set out to rectify that oversight immediately.
And rectify I did.
I find it mildly surprising that stealth recordings exist for a lot of their shows, since the shows themselves were so long ago. It's likely that these recordings were made with reel-to-reel decks, and one has to admire the guy who can sneak one of those into a venue. I'm amazed that boots from the Cavern Club days even exist, but they do.
Now, this stuff sounds like you'd expect it to sound, perhaps even better. It IS listenable, after all, and may be very interesting. The examples of live Beatles were very poorly seeded, however, so I gave all but the Cavern Club tapes a pass for now. They'll be back.
Much better sounding and far better seeded were the studio gems that I found.
Now, there are a lot of things Beatle that I can't get, because so much has been released. Just about every possible bootleg has missing parts because of official release, even if it's just a 10 second sniglet in the Anthology video. Frustrating that is, but what is still out there is very interesting. The first part I'll share is called the Esher Tapes. This was the best seeded boot I found - the torrent has been active for two years already and still had over 50 seeds. This is popular music.
And rectify I did.
I find it mildly surprising that stealth recordings exist for a lot of their shows, since the shows themselves were so long ago. It's likely that these recordings were made with reel-to-reel decks, and one has to admire the guy who can sneak one of those into a venue. I'm amazed that boots from the Cavern Club days even exist, but they do.
Now, this stuff sounds like you'd expect it to sound, perhaps even better. It IS listenable, after all, and may be very interesting. The examples of live Beatles were very poorly seeded, however, so I gave all but the Cavern Club tapes a pass for now. They'll be back.
Much better sounding and far better seeded were the studio gems that I found.
Now, there are a lot of things Beatle that I can't get, because so much has been released. Just about every possible bootleg has missing parts because of official release, even if it's just a 10 second sniglet in the Anthology video. Frustrating that is, but what is still out there is very interesting. The first part I'll share is called the Esher Tapes. This was the best seeded boot I found - the torrent has been active for two years already and still had over 50 seeds. This is popular music.
The tapes were recorded after the Beatles famous trip to India, where they went to explore Transcendental Meditation and probably score some hash. The main three writers of the band had been busy in India writing new tunes. When they returned, they all got together at George's house in Esher to lay down the demos. There seems to be a lot of conjecture about why George's house was chosen, since they usually worked on their music at John or Paul's. There are theories regarding John and the boys being unwelcome at John's since Cythia had just caught him with Yoko, theories involving Paul's recent meeting with Linda, and theories about George having the best equipment.
Why does anyone care why? They went to George's. He had a four-track.
The three of them then spent a week or so seperately recording the tracks that they had written in India. They were able to overdub themselves, so each demo has background vocals and accompaniment, as rough as it may be. While several of these songs were unused, the lion's share of them ended up on the White Album. These recordings are the first ever made of these songs. They were made not only for EMI, but also for the other members of the band to hear. Thus, the first time any Beatle heard a song that another Beatle wrote for the White Album, it was via these very recordings.
This song, called Child of Nature, is one that didn't make the cut, possibly because of a thematic similarity with Paul's Mother Nature's Son. Lennon sure must have liked it, though, because there was a fuller version done during the Let It Be sessions (oh, yeah, I downloaded what's left of that, too). It didn't make the cut then, either. John must have had an earworm for it, though, because it did get used, eventually, with completely different lyrics and a different title. A Beatle or Lennon fan should recognize the melody - do you? If so, you may be surprised at how long that melody had been around.
Why does anyone care why? They went to George's. He had a four-track.
The three of them then spent a week or so seperately recording the tracks that they had written in India. They were able to overdub themselves, so each demo has background vocals and accompaniment, as rough as it may be. While several of these songs were unused, the lion's share of them ended up on the White Album. These recordings are the first ever made of these songs. They were made not only for EMI, but also for the other members of the band to hear. Thus, the first time any Beatle heard a song that another Beatle wrote for the White Album, it was via these very recordings.
Of the original 30 tracks, 20 are still available in the underground. Most of those that didn't make it to the White Album popped up somewhere else later, though in several cases you can see why they didn't make the cut. Many of the ones that did make it were very similar to the finished arrangements, especially Paul's. It still sounds cool to have an acoustic version, though, especially knowing that this is the song's very first realization.
Going through it, I selected three songs that stand out - one for each Beatle that was recording in this home session. I'll start with John.
Going through it, I selected three songs that stand out - one for each Beatle that was recording in this home session. I'll start with John.
As I mentioned, the Paul songs were basically all mapped out from the get-go. Adding the other members and tweaking a lyric or two is all they got. This cut, however, is a lot of fun to listen to, because it was obviously a lot of fun to make. Of course, I always got the impression that the Beatles had a great time doing Obla-di, Obli-da. With the pressures that the band was under at the time, this stands out as a sign that they were able to get away from the things that were bothering them (most notably Cynthia Lennon and Paul's soon-to-be-replaced fiance) and get down to the music.
This track is also fun to listen to because it's so fucked up. Paul completely botched the mixing of his two tracks, and the synch is quite entertaining to listen to. He still gets the song across, though, and obviously has a lot of fun doing it, and that fun is readily contagious.
This track is also fun to listen to because it's so fucked up. Paul completely botched the mixing of his two tracks, and the synch is quite entertaining to listen to. He still gets the song across, though, and obviously has a lot of fun doing it, and that fun is readily contagious.
I saved the best one for last.
The true gem in this musical jewelry box has to be George's While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It is a beautiful, soft, but truly haunting rendition, very folksy and thoughtful where the finished version is heavy and woeful. The lyrics are different. This version is considerably shorter as well, mostly because they didn't have Eric Clapton on hand to do that blistering, wailing guitar solo quite yet. This is the one cut that I had to listen to again as soon as it was finished. I'd like to know what you think of it.
It just goes to show - in a library, there's always just a little more shelf room.
The true gem in this musical jewelry box has to be George's While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It is a beautiful, soft, but truly haunting rendition, very folksy and thoughtful where the finished version is heavy and woeful. The lyrics are different. This version is considerably shorter as well, mostly because they didn't have Eric Clapton on hand to do that blistering, wailing guitar solo quite yet. This is the one cut that I had to listen to again as soon as it was finished. I'd like to know what you think of it.
It just goes to show - in a library, there's always just a little more shelf room.
