Today was an especially busy day. Ringo was filming at the yacht basin and in front of the Post Office on Bay Street, George and Ringo at the kapok tree-house in the gardens of the Royal Victoria Hotel, and John running out of the public library shouting "Ringo!" (Non-Beatles action also took place this day at the swampland at Lake Cunningham, where the prison-camp sequences were filmed).
The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn (Source)
Today the four filmed again (Help!) on Interfield Road, Ringo and John were filmed at the nearby stadium of the Bahamas Softball Association, and Paul only was filmed at some lime quarry caves.
The Beatles had their first full day of shooting (Help!), adhering to an 8:30 am to 5:30 pm schedule which, approximately, was maintained each day. They were filmed for the first of several occasions cycling around on Interfield Road, near the airport.
Although today was intended as a rest day following their trip from London to New Providence Island in the Bahamas, The Beatles began filming their second feature film on this day.
Filming began in the afternoon. Firstly, in an unused scene Ringo Starr listened to conch shells in the docks near Mackey Street, before all four Beatles were filmed swimming fully-clothed in the pool at the Nassau Beach Hotel in the island's West Bay region.
The Beatles worked without a day off over the next 14 days in the Bahamas.
The Beatles flew into the Bahamas to shoot their next film, Help! A Hard Day's Night had been shot in black and white, under dull skies and in drab London-area locations like Gatwick, Notting Hill Gate, Hammersmith and West Ealing. Help! (though it didn't have this title yet) was filmed in color on bright Bahamian beaches, glittering Austrian mountains and, even in the London area, at more affluent locations such as Asprey's and the beautiful country house at Cliveden.
There was another reason why Help! was part-filmed in the Bahamas, however. The Beatles' financial advisor, Dr. Walter Strach, had recently established there a tax shelter for the group. This obliged him to live on the island for a year and let to the suggestion that, to show goodwill, the Beatles should film in this British crown colony. So the Beatles set up residence in a house at the luxurious Balmoral Club, near Cable Beach. All of the shooting took place on the 21 mile long island of New Providence, amid great numbers of sightseers.
The Beatles get ready to shoot their 2nd film, Help!
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
There being so few Beatles/EMI recordings remaining unreleased, it's somewhat bizarre that inside three days the group should tape two songs destined for such a fate, for with "If You've Got Trouble" scarcely yet a painful memory, another Lennon-McCartney song begun this day, "That Means A Lot", suffered the same ending. Written for the new film, the Beatles made two separate attempts at recording it - in two takes between 12:00 noon and 5:15 pm this day, and again on March 30th, before giving up and, instead, donating it to PJ Proby for his exclusive use. (Proby recorded his version at EMI on April 7, 1965, produced by Ron Richards).
Five more mono mixes were done on this day too - of "If You've Got Trouble", Tell Me What You See" and "You're Going To Lose That Girl" between 11:00 am and 12:00 noon, and of "That Means A Lot" and "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" between 5:15 and 6:00 pm, thereby completing a full mixed set of all 11 songs recorded by the Beatles during the week of February 15-20. Stereo mixes of all 11 new songs were made in studio one at EMI between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm on Tuesday, February 23rd, under the supervision of balance engineer Norman Smith.
The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
John's "You're Going To Lose That Girl" was recorded from start to finish in a single afternoon session, 3:30-6:20 pm, with two basic takes and overdubs. A later attempt to improve the song was abandoned and never used, and the Help! soundtrack album featured the February 19th recording.
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
This full day's work at Abbey Road began quietly with a 10:00am - 1:00 pm mono mix session for "Ticket To Ride", "Another Girl", "I Need You", and "Yes It Is". Between 3:30 and 5:15 pm, the Beatles began and completed, in nine all-acoustic takes, John's Bob Dylan-influenced ballad "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". From a recording point of view, this song is especially note-worthy in that it marked the first time the Beatles called in a session musician to augment their line-up. (Andy White, who drummed on "Love Me Do" and "PS, I Love You", was called in to replace Ringo for those early recordings, not complement his contribution.) The musician was musical arranger and flautist Johnnie Scott, and in return for his £6 session fee (but no sleeve credit) he contributed tenor flute and alto flute parts.
Ringo had secured a lead vocal on all Beatles albums to date excepting "A Hard Day's Night". But since he had yet to provide a self-composition for his outings a suitable "vehicle" was always provided. For Please Please Me it was the Shirelles' song "Boys". For With The Beatles John and Paul gave him "I Wanna Be Your Man'. On Beatles For Sale he had sung Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't, and he had sung another Perkins song, "Matchbox", on the EP Long Tall Sally. But what would be his contribution to this new LP? Written especially for the occasion by John and Paul, the answer was a rocker entitled "If You've Got Trouble". To this day, the song remains unreleased, locked in the EMI vault - and it's not difficult to see why. It wasn't one of the better Lennon-McCartney numbers by any stretch of the imagination, nor was it brilliantly performed in the one and only take (with overdubs) recorded in the early part of a 6:30-10:30 session this evening.
In the latter part of the same session, Paul's Tell Me What You See" was started and completed in four takes. As with George's "You Like Me Too Much", this was submitted, but not selected, for the new film, so it ended up on the non-soundtrack side of the associated album.
The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
The recording of two more songs for the film soundtrack, Paul's "The Night Before" and George's "You Like Me Too Much", although the latter was later relegated to the non-soundtrack side of the HELP! album. "The Night Before" was taped and completed in two takes from 2:00 until 7:00 pm. "You Like Me Too Much" was done to a finish in eight takes from 7:00 until 11:00pm.
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
This second of six consecutive days of EMI began with a 2:30-5:00 pm session that saw "I Need You" and then "Another Girl" completed wit the overdubbing of George's vocal, cowbell and tone-pedal guitar onto "I Need You" and guitar onto "Another Girl".
The Beatles spent the remainder of the session, from 5:00 until 10:00 pm, recording and perfecting in 14 takes "Yes Is Is", and exquisite three-part harmony ballad written by John and sung by John, Paul, and George in a style reminiscent of "This Boy". "Yes It Is" was not selected for the film soundtrack, nor was it included on the non-soundtrack side of what was to become the Help! album, Instead, it appeared merely as the B-side of the Beatles' next single, such as their songwriting wealth.
The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
Another year, another film, another set of recording sessions, and yet more furious industry. Work this day began at 2:30 pm with the recording of two takes of John's "Ticket To Ride", and the song was completed and ready for mixing by 5:45. Released as the A-side of the Beatles' next single on Friday, April 9th, as well as on the soundtrack album for the yet to be started film. "Ticket To Ride" was the result of much more work than the two-take figure would suggest, with - from this year - overdubs onto the multi-track tape not being given separate numbers as before. Here, the Beatles twice taped a rhythm track (the first was a false-start, the second was 'best') and then recorded any amount of overdubs - numbers were never specified on recording documents - onto vacant tracks of the tape, perfecting vocals and anything else that they felt needed more attention.
Between 7:00 and 10:30 pm the Beatles recorded Paul's "Another Girl" (one take, plus ten edit pieces) and George's "I Need You" (five takes), both of which were completed with overdubs the next day.
Source: The Complete Beatles Chronicle - Mark Lewisohn
Valentine's Day, but no Beatle's performances.
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Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox were married on February 11th 1965. News of their quiet honeymoon in Sussex somehow leaked to the press, and the newlywed couple awoke the next morning to reporters, film crews, and flashbulbs. Ringo was disappointed at the sudden lack of privacy but still granted brief interviews, while getting in a few light-hearted jibes at the press. Here is what was said.
Q:"Congratulations."
RINGO: "Thanks alot. (comically) If I may shake your hand as you congratulate me."
Q: "Congratulations too, Mrs. Starkey."
RINGO: (look of amazement) "Ha. I'm still not used to that yet, you know."
Q: "Are you really going to get a honeymoon?"
RINGO: "No, I don't think so. Not with the likes of you chaps around." (laughs)
Q: "No. Are you thinking of a honeymoon?"
RINGO: "Well, this was supposed to be it, but it didn't work."
Q: "Well, for how long was it supposed to be?"
RINGO: "Well, I have to start work on Monday-- so I was going back Sunday or Monday, you know."
Q: "What do the other Beatles think of your marriage?"
RINGO: "John and George were at the wedding, and they were made up, you know. They're happy. But we don't know about Paul yet, 'cuz he's away on holiday."
Q: "He hasn't been in contact? Did he know you were getting married?
RINGO: "No. No."
Q: "Where is he?"
RINGO: "He's away."
Q: "Do you know where?"
RINGO: "Umm, yes. But I'm not telling you. (laughs) Well, he might as well have a bit of peace, I'm not getting it!"
(laughter)
Q: "Maureen, you presumably met Ringo before the group were very successful. Did you?"
MAUREEN: "Yes, yes."
Q: "Did you expect he was going to become a public monument like this?"
MAUREEN: "Well, in Liverpool I did. I didn't think sort of, more or less all over the world, you know."
Q: "Does that worry you-- the fact that you can't go anywhere with him?"
MAUREEN: "Umm, no not really. I just sort of enjoy myself."
Q: "Do you intend to keep out of the limelight like Mrs. Lennon for example, John Lennon's wife?"
MAUREEN: "Well, I don't like reporters and things."
RINGO: (jokingly) "She's on OUR side!" (laughs)
(Questions from a different reporter)
Q: "How long have you known each other?"
RINGO: "About two and a half years now."
Q: "So this means, Maureen, that you knew Ringo before he was right at the top of the tree."
MAUREEN: "Yes."
Q: "How does it feel to be married to a very famous man?"
MAUREEN: "Very nice."
Q: "Well, I'm sure you wanted a rather different honeymoon from this. What do you think about all this?"
RINGO: "Well, you know-- We took a chance. We tried to keep it quiet and we tried to arrive here quiet, but we must've been spotted and that's the end of it, you know. So from now on, it's not really a honeymoon, it's just-- we're just stayin' here."
Q: "How do you think the other Beatles reacted?"
RINGO: "Well, John and George were great, you know. They were happy and congratulated us and everything. And they, in fact, went to the wedding."
Q: "When are the rest of you going to get married?"
RINGO: "When are the rest of them? I don't know. I've no idea. As I said before, I don't think 'cuz I'm married, next week they'll all pop up and say, 'We're gettin' married 'cuz Ringo is,' you know."
Q: "What sort of an effect, really, do you think the marriage is going to have on the Beatles' future?"
RINGO: "On the Beatles as a whole, I don't think any great effect-- as much as that everyone will sort of say, 'Well, we can't sorta like them anymore 'cuz Ringo's married,' you know. I don't think I've got that image. I don't think it'll bother them too much. It may help, in fact, you know. We don't know yet. It's too early to say."
Q: "Have you decided where you're going to live?"
RINGO: "Only in the flat I've already got in London, up to now. Then we have to move and get a house or something, but it'll be a while yet."
Q: "Maureen, what do you think of the flat and the furnishings? Are there any changes you'd like to make?"
MAUREEN: "No, it's great."
RINGO: (jokingly) "It's a big flat, you know!" (laughs)
Q: "Ringo, where did you propose?"
RINGO: "In a club."
Q: "Can you tell me which club?"
RINGO: "Yes, if you don't mind a plug. The Ad Lib club."
Q: "You mean, you made it up as you went along?"
RINGO: "Oh, ho!! Bad joke!! No, you know-- I was sort of thinking about it, and I just sorta said, 'Will you marry me?' and she said, 'Yes... Have another drink!' (laughs) And we did, and that was it."
Q: "Congratulations. Thank you both very much."
RINGO: "Thank you. Alright? Goodbye! ...hope not to see you out my window again!"
(laughter)
Ringo Starr, 24, marries his hometown girlfriend Maureen Cox, 18. They were married in a civil ceremony at London's Caxton Register Hall under their legal names, Richard Starkey and Mary Guy. They slipped away in a limousine for a four day honeymoon in the South Coast resort town of Hove. Ringo and The Beatles begin work on their second film, Monday. John Lennon showed up in his Rolls Royce and George Harrison came to the wedding on a bicycle. Paul McCartney was out of the country on vacation. Ringo had gone steady with the hairdresser since she was 15.
Ringo Starr, on the eve of his honeymoon. Twenty-two days after he proposed to her in the Ad Lib Club, London, Ringo Starr is about to be married to Maureen Cox.
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Home From St. Moritz
February 8, 1965 - John and Cynthia Lennon, followed by George Martin and his fiancee Judy Lockhart-Smith, at Heathrow Airport arriving home from their ski holiday in St. Moritz. Brian Epstein was there to meet them and commented: “John’s skiing went very well. He was a beginner two weeks ago, but before he left he had graduated to the intermediate slopes.”
Beatles taking a day off
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The Beatles' records in Japan were released on the Odeon label, owned by Toshiba. The LPs, singles and EPs were initially released on both red and black vinyl, with the red variants reportedly offering particularly good sound quality. They are particularly sought-after by audiophiles, and are considerably rarer than the black vinyl versions - red vinyl signifies first pressings of a release.
Interestingly, The Beatles' first two UK albums, Please Please Me and With The Beatles, weren't issued until the group toured in Japan in 1966, although songs from each were released there from 1964 onwards.
The Japanese LPs also came with a thin obi strip wrapped around the cover, which were often discarded by teenagers keen to hear the music as soon as possible. As such, the rarity offers collectors a challenge, as does the variety of different obi strips for individual pressings of each release.
Furthermore, the early 1960s Japanese LPs were adorned with half-obi strips. These, like the full ones which replaced them in the mid-1960s, are often faked by unscrupulous record sellers.
The LPs also came with a lyric sheet in both English and Japanese. The singles, meanwhile, were issued in picture sleeves. EP covers came with either liner notes in Japanese, or photographs of the group, and always came with a lyric sheet.
Odeon were slow to catch onto the Beatles phenomenon. However, they made up for lost time by issuing a total of nine singles within the first week of May 1964. A further six singles were released on the same day on 5 February 1965. Otherwise, it's worth noting a tendency to issue records on the 5th, 10th or 15th of the month.
Source: Beatles Bible
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No performances today
Another day of rest for "The Beatles"
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The single "If I Fell/Tell Me Why" was released in Europe as Parlophone DP 562 (a few hundred copies were accidentally released in the UK today - 50 years ago.
St. Moritz Ski Holiday
January 28, 1965 - John and Cynthia Lennon outside the Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland where they were enjoying a winter ski holiday with George Martin and Judy Lockhart-Smith.
