Fab Four Blog

ABC Cinema, Plymouth

The Beatles' second and final visit to Plymouth was the 16th date of their 1964 British tour. They had previously performed at the same venue, the ABC Cinema, on 13 November 1963.

The Beatles performed two concerts each night on the tour, for which they were paid £850. Their set contained 10 songs: Twist And Shout, Money (That's What I Want), Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, I'm Happy Just To Dance With You, I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day's Night and Long Tall Sally.

The support acts on the tour were The Rustiks, Sounds Incorporated, Michael Haslam, The Remo Four, Tommy Quickly and Mary Wells, and the compère was Bob Bain. On this evening the two shows began at 6.15pm and 8.30pm.

ABC Cinema, Exeter

On 28 October 1964, following two performance at the ABC Cinema, Exeter, The Beatles spoke to Playboy journalist Jean Shepherd.

The interview took place in a Torquay hotel room, and was first published in the February 1965 edition of Playboy. It begins with an introduction by Shepherd, after which comes the interview itself. Particularly revealing are The Beatles' comments on race, religion, politics and sex. Very little is said about music.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Mono mixing and editing where appropriate, of "What You're Doing", "Honey Don't", "Mr. Moonlight", "Every Little Thing" and "Eight Days A Week", completed between 10:00 am and 12:30 pm, and stereo mixing/editing of "Eight Days A Week", "Every Little Thing", "What You're Doing" and "Honey Don't" done from 12:30-1:00 pm. (Observing that these four stereo masters for Beatles For Sale were made in a mere 30 minutes, it is obvious that mono was considered the important medium in 1964.)

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Another 'rest day' from the tour in which the Beatles did anything but rest. Between 10:00 am and 12:45 pm they attended a mono mix session for "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party", "Rock And Roll Music", "Words Of Love", "Baby's In Black", "I'm A Loser" and "Kansas City"/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!".

Then, from 12:45 to 1:05 pm, a mere 20 minutes, they watched George Martin and his team mix "Kansas City"/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" into stereo.

After a long break, they began recording more material for Beatles For Sale, taping five takes of "Honey Don't" between 4:30 and 6:30 pm (the lead vocal role now handed to Ringo) and seven takes (numbered 13-19) of a re-make of "What You're Doing" between 7:30 and 10:00 pm.

This final period of the day also saw the group record all of the material for "Another Beatles Christmas Record", edited together at the end of the evening from five takes, including one solely of marching feet, and compiled into the finished production to be mailed out in December as a flexi-disc to members of the Official Fan Club.

Hippodrome Theatre, Brighton

After this date the tour resumed on the 28th.

Setlist

1. Twist and Shout
   (The Top Notes cover)
2. Money (That's What I Want)
   (Barrett Strong cover)
3. Can't Buy Me Love
4. Things We Said Today
5. I'm Happy Just to Dance With You
6. I Should Have Known Better
7. If I Fell
8. I Wanna Be Your Man
9. A Hard Day's Night
10. Long Tall Sally

Gaumont State Cinema, Kilburn, London

This date, the 12th of The Beatles' 1964 British tour, was the second time they performed at the Gaumont State Cinema in London's Kilburn district. They had previously performed there on 9 April 1964.

On this day The Beatles performed two concerts, for which they were paid £850. Their set throughout the 1964 tour contained 10 songs: Twist And Shout, Money (That's What I Want), Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, I'm Happy Just To Dance With You, I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day's Night and Long Tall Sally.

The support acts on the tour were The Rustiks, Sounds Incorporated, Michael Haslam, The Remo Four, Tommy Quickly and Mary Wells, and the compère was Bob Bain. The evening's two shows began at 6.40pm and 9pm.

Odeon Cinema, Leeds

For George Martin, another mono mix of "I Feel Fine", made between 11:00 am and 12:00 noon in studio one at EMI. For the Beatles, two more performances in Leeds.

Odeon Cinema, Glasgow

While the Beatles were in Scotland, George Martin and team worked this day from 2:30 to 5:45 pm at Abbey Road producing mono masters of "I Feel Fine", "I'll Follow The Sun", "She's A Woman" and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby", with tapes of "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman" being cut out and dispatched to Capitol Records in Hollywood the next day.

Caird Hall, Dundee

A camera crew from Grampian Television - ITV franchise for north-east Scotland - visited the Beatles in their Caird hall dressing-room before the first of this evening's two "houses", filming an interview they gave to June Shields. The crew also shot some more general footage concerning the concert, including some Beatles stage action. The resulting package, running a little over five minutes, was inserted into Grampian Week, introduced by Shields and transmitted on Friday, October 23rd - 6:10-6:45 pm.

THE COMPLETE BEATLES CHRONICLE - Mark Lewisohn

ABC Cinema, Edinburgh

The first of three consecutive nights in Scotland.

The seventh date of The Beatles' 1964 British tour took place at the ABC Cinema in Edinburgh. It was the first of three consecutive nights in Scotland.

The Beatles performed two concerts, for which they were paid £850. Their set throughout the tour contained 10 songs: Twist And Shout, Money (That's What I Want), Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, I'm Happy Just To Dance With You, I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day's Night and Long Tall Sally.

The support acts on the tour were The Rustiks, Sounds Incorporated, Michael Haslam, The Remo Four, Tommy Quickly and Mary Wells, and the compère was Bob Bain. The evening's two shows began at 6.30pm and 8.50pm.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Scarcely baulking at the idea of having to record during this break from their concert tour, and a Sunday at that, the Beatles put in a solid nine hours' work at Abbey Road, starting and completing the recording of six new album tracks and the A-side of their next single.

Working from 2:30 to 11:30 pm - a late finish by any standard, even more so considering they had to give two performances in Edinburgh the next evening - the Beatles first completed the October 6th recording of "Eight Days A Week" with two edit pieces, one for the intro (not used) and the other for outro (used), and then set about the new material.

Only two of the six new recordings were Lennon-McCartney songs, and one of these was already several years old. For the others, the Beatles dived into their memories and returned with four songs from their pre-fame stage act. First to be taped (in just two takes but the first was 'best') was Little Richard's medley of "Kansas City"/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!, next was a re-make of Dr. Feelgood and the Interns' Mr. Moonlight", improving upon the August 14th recording with four more takes, next was the new single, John's "I Feel Fine" (nine takes); Paul's late-1950's composition "I'll Follow The Sun" (eight), Carl Perkins' "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" (just one take), Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" (just one take) and Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" (three takes).

"I Feel Fine", released as the Beatles next single on Friday, November 27th (backed with "She's A Woman") gave public warning that recording studio experimentation was afoot, its distinctive opening sound being deliberately-administered amplifier feedback.

THE COMPLETE BEATLES CHRONICLE - MARK LEWISOHN

The Beatles took a rest today.

ABC Cinema, Hull

While George Martin was busy in Studio One at Abbey Road, 2:30 to 5:30 pm, producing two mono mixes of "No Reply", the Beatles were about to arrive in Hull for their night's work at the ABC. After this date the tour resumed on the 19th.

Globe Cinema, Stockton-on-Tees

The Beatles' first visit to Stockton-on-Tee had occurred on the same day (November 22, 1963) that President Kennedy was assasinated. This second and last visit to the north-east town coincided with a General Election in the United Kingdom, which returned the Labour Party, headed by Harold Wilson, to government after 13 years of Conservative rule. In their Stockton hotel room, the Beatles were visited by an interviewer and camera crew from local ITV station Tyne Tees and asked, among discussion about other subjects, about their voting intentions. The item was held over for a day and then transmitted in the news-magazine programme North-East Newsview on October 16 (6;35-7:00 pm).

Studio Four, Granada TV Centre, Manchester and ABC Cinema, Ardwick, Manchester

During the afternoon the Beatles made a rare return visit to the Granada TV Centre in Manchester, taping a mimed performance of "I Should Have Known Better". It was slotted into Scene At 6:30 on Friday, October 16 (6:30-7:00 pm), the eve of the second anniversary of their TV debut, on Granada's People And Places.

Backstage at the ABC the Beatles gave an interview to Manchester-based TV reporter David Tindall, broadcast in this evening's edition of the BBC1 local news-magazine programme Look North (6:35-7:00 pm). In sound only, the interview was repeated by the BBC North Home Service radio programme "The Week In The North" on Saturday, October 17th (9:30-10:00 am.)

ABC Cinema, Station Rd. Wigan, Lancashire

This was The Beatles' only visit to Wigan, a town in the north of England. It was the fourth date of their 1964 British tour.

The group performed two concerts on this evening, for which they were paid £850. Their set contained 10 songs: Twist And Shout, Money (That's What I Want), Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today, I'm Happy Just To Dance With You, I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day's Night and Long Tall Sally.

The support acts on the tour were The Rustiks, Sounds Incorporated, Michael Haslam, The Remo Four, Tommy Quickly and Mary Wells, and the compère was Bob Bain. The evening's two shows began at 6.20pm and 8.35pm.

The Odeon had opened in March 1938 as the Ritz, but was renamed in 1963. It closed in April 1997 and was demolished in 2002.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Enjoying a day off from the tour, the Beatles may have attended this mix session at Abbey Road, George Martin and Norman Smith preparing mono and stereo mixes of "She's A Woman" between 10:00 and 10:30 am and then, in a 2:30 to 3:00 pm session, producing a mono mix of "Eight Days A Week". (At this point, "Eight Days A Week" was being considered as the A-side of the group's next single.)

Odeon Cinema, New St. Birmingham, Warwickshire

17.00 and 19.45. Concerts

A Hard Day's Night' LP number 1, 12th week (UK Record Retailer chart).

18.15 and 20.45. Concerts at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester.

Brian gets the British representation of the American group New Christy Minstrels, and plans to take them to the UK for one week of radio and television promotion in January.

Gaumont Cinema, Bradford

This eagerly awaited British tour, the Beatles' only one in 1964, got underway in Bradford, as had the Helen Shapiro tour in February 1963 and that year's "Christmas Show".

On this tour, earning £850 for two "houses" per date, the Beatles' repertoire comprised "Twist And Shout", "Money (That's What I Want)", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Things We Said Today", "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", "I Should Have Known Better", "If I Fell", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "A Hard Day's Night" and "Long Tall Sally".

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Intended not for the in-the-works LP but for a simultaneous single release, the Beatles recorded Paul's bluesy "She's A Woman" this day, beginning and completing it in just two sessions, 3:30-5:30 pm for the seven-take basic track and 7:00-10:00 pm for overdubs. The song was indicative of Paul's fast growing awareness of other forms of music, and the ease with which he could slip into those styles.

Meeting of the Beatles, Brian and Walter Shenson to discuss plans for the next film.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Recording at Abbey Road from 3:00 to 6:45 and 7:00 to 10:00 pm, taping 13 takes of "Eight Days A Week" and experimenting all the while with various ways of opening and closing this new song - a novel fade-up at the start and fade-down at the end was decided upon, effected at later mix stages. The recording was completed on this day except for some edit pieces done on Sunday, October 18th.

The session tapes reveal that another new song, "I Feel Fine", was being worked out at this time, John strumming its distinctive guitar riff between takes of "Eight Days A Week".

The Beatles not really doing anything today.

The Beatles had a day of rest today

The Granville Studio, London

Afternoon recording for Shindig - a live performance, not mimed, at the Granville Studio, before a specially-invited audience of London-area Beatles Fan Club members. The group sang three songs, "Kansas City"/"Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey" (which was shown at the beginning of the programme), "I'm A Loser" and "Boys" (which came later), and they joined in the finale which was led by the Karl Denver Trio.

The show was networked on US televsion by ABC on Wednesday, October 7, 1964 (8:30-0:00 pm, EST). It wasn't screened in Britain.

The Granville Studio, Fulham Broadway, London

TV rehearsals in London was an English producer but for an American show, the ABC network's Shindig, one of the primetime pop series on US TV in the mid-60's. The producer of Shindig was Jack Good, the englishman who had relocated in Hollywood, while the executive producer was Leon Mirell who would link again with The Beatles in August 1965 filming, "The 5th National Jazz and Blues Festival" for their Subafilms company.

Having just returned from an exhausting North American Tour, there was no way that the Beatles would consent to a return for the purposes of shooting their Shindig appearance, Jack Good came back to his homeland to make a special All-British edition of his series, with the Beatles topping a bill ahead of Sandie Shaw, P J Proby, The Karl Denver Trio, Tommy Quickly, Sounds Incorporated and Lyn Cornell. Since this was a US TV production, and BBC and ITV studios were off limits, an independent London venue was utilized, the Granville Studio, based in the west London premises of the Granville Theatre, formerly a Victorian music hall. This day was set aside for rehearsals - actual taping took place the next day.

The Beatles did nothing 50 years ago today that was in the news.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Working between 2:30 and 5:30 pm, the Beatles completed the recording of "Every Little Thing", taping five more takes to take it through to nine in all. Then, resuming at 6:30, they continued with "What You're Doing", recording takes 8 to 11. (Although the 11th takes was marked "best" this was only temporary for the Beatles recorded a re-make on October 26th.)

Before the 10:30 end of session, the ever-productive group also set about, and completed, the recording of "No Reply", done in a swift eight takes, returning to the song John had first aired in the studio in demo form on June 3rd.

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Chronicle