Fab Four Blog

The Beatles still filming in the West Country

Various locations today through March 6th - London to the West Country

Today, the Beatles became film actors for the first time, hurriedly joining the closed-shop actor's union Equity only minutes beforehand, on the platform at Paddington Station. They were proposed and seconded by Wilfrid Brambell and Norman Rossington, the two main support players in the group's debut feature film, which, for the moment was untitled. They were all gathered at Paddington for a purpose, of course, the first six day's shooting - Monday to Friday of this first week was to take place on a train. Hire of the train and the track facilities set back Proscenium Films, producer Walter Shenson's company, making the film for United Artists at a tidy sum of £600 per day, but the results were certainly worthwhile. At 8:30 this first day, amid scenes of Beatlemania at Paddinton Station, the train pulled out from Platform Five and headed for the West Country.

No actual shooting was done at Paddinton, however, the film's opening sequence, shot at a London station, was done instead at Marylebone. The Beatles decided after this first day that they could board the train more discreetly elsewhere, so for the remaining five days of shooting they embarked at Acton Main Line, in west London. Similarly, they never returned to Paddington in the evenings, jumping out at interim suburban stations like Acton Main Line, West Ealing, Westbourne Park and Hayes & Harlington, where they would be met by their chauffeur-driven car.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The Beatles' first Sunday session for EMI, recording three songs in three hours, 7:00-10:00 pm. The first was "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You", written by John for George to sing, and recorded in four takes. They then taped two songs which would end up not as part of "A Hard Day's Night", but on an EP: "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name". (Surviving paperwork suggests that the latter, if not both, were intended for the film soundtrack at this early stage).

"Long Tall Sally" was a stupendous recording: Just as John had once captured "Twist And Shout" to perfection in a single take, so Paul, performing his greatest ever Little Richard impersonaton, put his all into "Long Tall Sally" - and, again, one take was all that was required. The Beatles backing - including George Martin on piano - was perfect too, so they didn't even bother with a second take.

"I Call Your Name" was also a recording of merit, the Beatles lending a ska beat to the middle-eight section of this Lennon composition. The song had been released before, by Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas as the B-side of their August 1963 number one "Bad To Me" (also written by John). The Beatles' recording was completed in seven takes, the "best" being take seven but the finest ska solo coming in take five, so this was edited into take seven at mising stages.

Studio One, BBC Piccadilly Studios, London

Following the success of their initial "bank holiday" special - From Us To You, broadcst on December 26, 1963, the BBC booked the group to headline a second such program, taped this day and transmitted in the Light Programme under the same title between 10:00 am and 12:00 noon on Easter Monday, March 30th. Recording took place between 6:30 and 9:00 pm (inclusive of rehearsal time) at the Corporation's studios at 201 Piccadilly, central London. (Other guests in the show, booked by the BBC but supposedly at the invitiation of the Beatles, included Acker Bilk, the Swinging Blues Jeans and Vince Hill. They were all taped at a different session).

The Beatle's contribution was the usual mixture of music and with, the latter surfacing in the form of light-hearted interviews with the program's host Alan Freeman. Recordings made especially for the show were "You Can't Do THat", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Till There Was You", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Please Mister Postman", "All My Loving", "This Boy" and "Can't Buy Me Love". Additionally, the show opened and closed with an a 55-second recording, "From Us To You" - however, this was not the version recorded on December 18, 1963 for the first such "bank holiday" special, but a new rendition taped at this February 28th session. (The two subsequent From Us To You shows - taped on May 1 and July 17, 1964 - repeated this new version).

Reaction to the program was mixed. A BBC audience research report noted, among others, two widely different opinions from members of the public. A security guard considered the Beatles "vastly over-rated; their performance was decidedly amateur, and their entertainment value nil", while a solicitor, self-described as being "over-20", stated "How can anyone fail to like them? Their music is so gay and uninhibited, and they themselves are full of joie de vivre."

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Two sessions at Abbey Road, 10:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:30-7:15 pm. In two takes of the second re-make, "And I Love Her" was finally recorded to everyone's satisfaction, and then two more film songs were started and finished, both composed mostly by John: "Tell Me Why", done in eight takes, and his stunning ballad "If I Fell", finished in 15.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

This long day at Abbey Road began with a three hour mono-mixing session, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, preparing British and US masters of the single "Can't Buy Me Love"/"You Can't Do That". Issued at home on Friday, March 20th and in America the previous Monday, the 16th, its seized upon what was now global Beatlemania and sold in immense quantities, topping the charts everywhere. In the USA, Capitol shifted more than two million copies within a week, the single earning a gold disc on it's day of issue, an unprecedented achievement. In Britain, advance orders alone passed the million mark.

From 2:30 to 5:30 and 7:00 to 10:15 pm, the Beatles turned their attention to re-makes of "I Should Have Known Better" and "And I Love Her", although they ended up leaving this latter title for yet another time and a second to re-make.

Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

The Beatles' first feature film, to begin shooting the following Monday, necessitated the writing and recording of a crop of new Lennon-McCartney songs. Some were required before the film went into production, others were to be recorded after the film was completed. So, this day saw the first in a new series of EMI sessions. It was also George's 21st birthday.

But the most pressing duty of the day was to finish off, with vocal and guitar overdubs, what would be their next single, "Can't Buy Me Love", and then tape it's B-Side, John's "You Can't Do That", a nine-take recorded completed in one session, 10:00 am to 1:30 pm.

Between 2:30 and 5:30 pm two film songs were recorded, although both would be re-made this same week: Paul's "And I Love Her", (two takes) and John's "I Should Have Known Better" (three).

The Beatles had a day off.

Studio One, Teddington Studio Centre, Teddington

The Beatles hardly had time to overcome the jet-lag before they were thrust back into homeland activities again. This morning they travelled to the Teddington Studio Centre of ABC Television to tape their 2nd appearance on the variety show Big Night Out. Following rehearsals, the program was shot in front of an audience during the evening - and it wasn't until 10:30 pm that the Beatles were able to leave the premises. The program was transmitted by most of the ITV network the following Saturday, February 29th, although in the London area it was screened the following Tuesday, March 3rd. Other guests on the show were Billy Dainty, Jackie Trent and Lionel Blair.

Viewers saw the Beatles participate in three comedy skits with show hosts Mike and Bernie Winters. One of these took advantage of the group's famous return from the USA, with them filmed sailing in a boat down the adjacent River Thames, alighting at the studio, driving in an open-top car around the studio lot and entering through a door marked "Customs", with the Winters' dressed as customs officers. Naturally, they opted to search the group's luggage, finding each suitcase stuffed with cash.

The Beatles also mimed a music set, playing "All My Loving", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Till There Was You", "Please Mister Postman", "Money (That's What I Want)" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

Note: News cameras from ITN filmed the Beatle's River Thames jaunt for it's early eveing bulletin (6:05-6:15pm) and George volunteered to provide the commentary, parodying the annual Oxford Vs Cambridge boat race broadcasts by John Snagge.

Kingsford-Smith Suite, London Airport, Heathrow, Middlesex

The return of the Beatles to England after such an eventful first trip tot he USA was deemed a matter of such national importance tha BBC footage of their touchdown at London Airport, and an accompanying interview, was slotted into the Saturday afternoon TV sports program, Grandstand, broadcast between 1:00 and 5:15 pm. Correspondingly, the interview was conducted by David Coleman, the BBC's premier sports commentator.

The item - not a brief filler but of 13 mins, 12 seconds duration - was shown along with horse-racing. Eddie Waring was commentating on live rugby league from Hunslet, amateur boxing from Cardiff and the classified football results.

The return was covered by most film and TV organizations. Pathe News turned its footage into a special Beatles Welcome Home report for cinema distribution, narrator Bob Danvers-Walker piling on the puns in best Pathe style, "Never mind crush-barriers, the Beatles fans would smash the sound-barrier!". And it was covered by radio, too, the Beatles crowded around a telephone at London Airport shortly after landing and were interviewed by Brian Matthew, 4 mins, 20 seconds of which went into the last 20 minutes of this morning's edition of Saturday Club, broadcast, as usual, by the Light Programme from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon. (The interview was followed, incidentally, by a dedication for George's imminent 21st birthday - "Shop Around" by the Miracles was requested and played - sent in by George's mother).

The return was also covered by radio news and a brief extract from one such interview, Neville Barker Talking to George Harrison, was repeated in The Public Ear on Sunday, March 8th (3:00-4:00 pm) as part of a feature titled, "Beatlemania".

To return to England from America, The Beatles flew first from Miami to New York, where they boarded an airplane to take them to London. They arrived back the following day.

The Beatles enjoyed this week of relaxing a bit, before returning to England.

`Please Please Me' LP, 48th week in the Top 10 (UK New Musical Express chart). `With The Beatles' number 1, 13th week (UK New Musical Express chart).

On this day The Beatles were taken to the training camp of boxer Cassius Clay - later known as Muhammad Ali - who was preparing for his 25 February fight against heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.

The day after their second Ed Sullivan Show appearance, The Beatles enjoyed a well-earned day off in Miami, in which they tried water-skiing.

Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, USA

The Beatle's second live appearance on The Ed Sulllivan Show took place during this evening (8:00-9:00 pm, EST) before a 3,500 audience at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. Surprisingly, the Beatles did not top the bill on this occasion, that honour going to Mitzi Gaynor. Nonetheless, an estimated 70 million people viewed, in 22,445,000 homes - and it certainly wasn't because of Gaynormania. Another guest on the show was Myra Cohen.

A full dress-rehearsal beginning at 2:00 pm (also taped, but not broadcast) preceded the live TV transmission; in both this and the broadcast the Beatles performed "She Loves You", "This Boy", "All My Loving", "I Saw Her Standing There", "From Me To You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". This edition of The Ed Sullivan Show was repeated on Sunday, September 20, 1964 (8:00-9:00 pm, EST).

Following several more days of "rest", the Beatles flew home to England from Miami, via a short stopover in New York, arriving at London Airport at 8:10 am (half an hour later than scheduled) on Saturday, February 22nd.

Deauville Hotel, Miami Beach, USA

A full afternoon rehearsal for The Ed Sullivan Show.

A telephone interview with the Beatles was broadcast this day on Dick Clark's long-running, influential ABC-TV series, American Bandstand (12:30-1:00 pm EST). The Beatles never got to appear in person on this show although another phone interview was broacast two months later on Saturday, April 18th, (also 12:30-1:00 pm, EST), and they filmed an interview for screening on New American Bandstand on Saturday, October 10th, 1964 (1:30-2:30 pm, EST), in what was billed as an "all-Beatle program". Recording dates/locations for these cannont be researched.

Deaville Hotel, Collins Ave. Miami Beach, FL USA

Sunday's second live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was set to be broadcast direct from the Deauville hotel in Miami Beach, so the Beatles flew from New York to the Florida city on Thursday, February 13th, in the hope of catching a few day's rest in between the (surprisingly numerous) TV rehearsals. The first of these took place this day, in the hotel. As for the much-needed rest, Beatlemania ensured that this was not possible.

The Beatles travelled to Miami from New York on this day, leaving on National Airlines Flight 11 at 1.30pm and arriving at 4pm.

Their arrival was watched by 7,000 fans, which had been alerted to The Beatles' presence by local radio stations WFUN and WQAM.

After disembarking from the aeroplane The Beatles were taken in a three-limousine convoy to the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach. Motorcycle outriders led and trailed the convoy for the eight-mile journey, as fans lined the streets to watch.

Paul McCartney - Anthology

Miami was like paradise. We had never been anywhere where there were palm trees. We were real tourists; we had our Pentax cameras and took a lot of pictures. I've still got a lot of photos of motorcycle cops with their guns. We'd never seem a policeman with a gun, and those Miami cops did look pretty groovy. We had a great time there.

Carnegie Hall, 7th Ave and West 57th St, New York City, New York, USA

The Beatles returned this day to New York, again traveling by train, and gave two 34 minutes shows at the famed Carnegie Hall, at 7:45 and 11:15 pm, with a capacity audience of 2900 at each. Tickets went on sale at the theatre's box-office on January 27th and were sold by the next day. Such was the demand that seating was allocated on stage with the Beatles, on their left and right flanks and behind them. A plan by Capitol Records to record these two shows was thwarted by the American Federation of Musicians. With greater time to solve the union problems, however, Capitol succeeded in gaining AFM permission to tape the Hollywood Bowl shows on August 23rd, 1964 and August 29-30, 1965.

Washington Coliseum, Third and M St. North East, Washington DC, USA

Early on this day the Beatles travelled by train from New York to Washington DC, and at 8:31 stepped on stage at the 8092 seat Coliseum to give their first concert in North America. For the next half hour, a manic audience was treated to "Roll Over Beethoven", "From Me To You", "I Saw Her Standing There", "This Boy", "All My Loving", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Please Please Me", "Till There Was You", "She Loves You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Twist And Shout", and "Long Tall Sally".

With Brian Epstein's consent, the performance was shot by CBS and shown by National General Corporation, together with unrelated footage of the Beach Boys and Lesley Gore - in cinemas across the USA as a closed-circuit telecast on Saturday and Sunday, March 14th and 15th, two matinee screenings each day.

The film starts with the Beatles having made their entrance but Ringo attempting to re-position his drum kit. George switched his microphone at the end of the first verse of the opening number because it wasn't working, only to find a faulty replacement. After the third song, all the Beatles turned 180 degress, Mal Evans revolving Ringo's kit - in order to face the audience which had been behind them; this exercise was repeated at the end of the sixth number while, at the end of the ninth, they all turned again, 45 degrees this time, to face the side audience.

On February 10th 1964, after breaking American television ratings records with their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show the night before, the Beatles again met with the American press.

In the following interviews, part of a day-long press conference consisting of one-on-one meetings with the press, both CBS News and the Associated Press asked the Beatles about a negative review of their Sullivan performance by a professional music critic. Once again, the Beatles showed they could charm not only the American public, but also the American press with their humor. These brief interviews were filmed by CBS-TV and the Associated Press in the Terrace Room of the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

As a bit of historical trivia, the Beatles are asked in passing about their opinions of the Keeler/Profumo affair. This was a recent sex scandal, involving a British model and a British government minister, which would disgrace the then-current conservative government in Britain.

Studio 50, New York City, USA

In the morning there was another Studio 50 rehearsal for The Ed Sullivan Show. George was unwell and did not participate, in his stead, the cameras rehearsed their positioning with a stand-in, the Beatle's assistant Neil Aspinall.

During the afternoon, before their celebrated live Sullivan debut that evening, the Beatles - with George - taped the appearance, ostensibly their third, that would be screened after their departure from America, on Sunday, February 23rd (8:00-9:00 pm EST). For this, before a different audience from that which would attend the evening performance, they played three numbers: first "Twist And Shout" and "Please Please Me" and then, in a different setting for inclusion later in the program, "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Before any of this happened, though, Sullivan claimed the spotlight and delivered one of his haughty pronouncements that summed up a US reaction to this first Beatle visit: "All of us on the show are so darned sorry, and sincerely sorry, that this is the third and thus our last current show with the Beatles, because these youngsters from Liverpool, England, and their conduct over here, not only as fine professional singers but as a group of fine youngsters, will leave an imprint of everyone over here who's met them".....

Along with the Beatles, this edition featured Cab Calloway and Gordon and Sheila MacRae, and the program was repeated on Sunday, August 23, 1964.

The first and most famous of the Beatle's two live Sullivan transmissions was performed in front of a Studio 50 audience of 728, and an estimated 73 million people in 23,240,000 homes across the United States, tuning in from 8:00 to 9:00 pm, EST. It was easily the highest US TV audience figure amassed to that time.

The Beatles performed five songs, three at the beginning of the show, "All My Loving", "Till There Was You" and "She Loves You", and two in the second half in a different setting. "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". It was a daunting yet remarkably confident performance, marred only slightly by an awkward sound balance. During "Till There Was You", each of the Beatles came in for individual camera attention, at which point his christian name appeared on screen. When it came to John, an additional caption read, "Sorry Girls, He's Married".

As it transpired, this edition of the "Ed Sullivan Show" had a pronounced British slant, for apart from the Beatles it also featured singer/banjoist Tessie O'Shea and the New York cast of Lionel Bart's London musical, Oliver, starring Georgia Brown and -as the artful Dodger - Davy Jones, the future member of the Monkees. (Another guest act was the American impressionist Frank Gorshin, later to appear as The Riddler in the Batman TV Series.)

This celebrated edition of The Ed Sullivan Show was repeated on Sunday, July 12, 1964 (8:00 to 9:00 pm, EST) while highlights from the Beatles' sequences went into The Ed Sullivan Show: The Swinging Soulful Sixties, a retrospective of musical moments from Sullivan's shows throughout the decade, broadcast by CBS on Sunday, December 21, 1969.

Studio 50, Broadway and West 53rd St. New York City, New York, USA

The first of what would be several studio rehearsals by the Beatles for The Ed Sullivan Show, and another opportunity for the hordes of US radio and press reporters to gain access to the group. This one began at 1:30 pm. These rehearsals, plus the two next-day actual performances, took place inside CBS Television's Studio 50 in midtown Manhattan.

Right from the moment that their Pan Am flight touched down at John F Kennedy International Airport, the Beatles were subjected to every form of media exposure known to 1964: journalists, photographers, radio stations and TV news crews covered their every single move, many with live reports. Hundreds of people were clamouring, constantly, for their attention if only for a few seconds, in person, by phone, by any means imaginable.

In addition to all this, and with the express permission of Brian Epstein and the Beatles, film cameras were documenting the group's first US visit from an exclusive vantage point, inside their entourage. This was a complicated production, with Granada Television, the north of England ITV franchise - chipping in financially, Epstein's NEMS company retaining some form of editiorial control and Albert and David Maysles producing the documentary for their own company "Maysles Films". The Maysles took their camera everywhere that the Beatles went during these remarkable two weeks in America. Not only Kennedy Airport, but inside the group's Plaza suite, inside their limousine, at a photo shoot in Central Park, at New York rehearsals for The Ed Sullivan Show, at the Peppermint Lounge night club, on the train down to Washington DC and in Miami Beach. The Maysles also filmed Brian Epstein conducting business, Beatles-mad radio disc-jockey Murray The K broadcasting on New York station 1010 WINS, and a New York family watching the Beatle's debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Pathe Marconi Studio's, Rue de Sevres,

Boulogne-sur-Seine, Paris, France

A marathon concert season at the Olympia - 18 days of two, sometimes three shows each, on a nine-act bill. At no time was it made clear who was headlining: the Beatles, French chanteuse Slvie Vartan, or Trini Lopez, the US singer famous for "If I Had A Hammer", although it was the Beatles who closed each performance, with a repertoire comprising "From Me To You", "Roll Over Beethoven", "She Loves You", "This Boy", "Boys", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Twist And Shout", and "Long Tall Sally". There were only two days of rest in the three-week season, the first two Tuesdays, the 21st and 29th - and on the second of these John and George flew back to London for a few hours.

The Beatles went to a Paris studio and recorded a radio interview for AFN (the American Forces Network), broadcast the next day, on a programme entitled Weekend World - to US tropps stationed in West Germany. (AFN broadcasts could also be received in Britain on 344m, but only from 6:00 pm. This was transmitted earlier int the day.

From 10:00 to 10:45 back at Abbey Road in London, balance engineer Norman Smith made a tape-to-tape copy of the "I Want To Hold Your Hand" rhythm track, take 17 from October 17, 1963.

The Beatles nearly made an appearance on the French television programme Age Tendre et Tete de Bois, broadcast from 8:30 to 9:15 pm. At this time there was only one TV channel in France. The national listings journal Telerama described their booking for this show as provisional, subject to confirmation. In fact, they never appeared.

A short interview with the Beatles was broadcast by Europe I probably in Robert Marcy's programme (12:00 noon-12:30 pm) Further details have proven impossible to reasearch.

A marathon concert season at the Olympia - 18 days of two, sometimes three shows each, on a nine-act bill. At no time was it clear who was headlining...The Beatles, French chanteuse Sylvie Vartan, or Trini Lopez, the US singer famous for "If I Had A Hammer", although it was the Beatles who closed each performance. A part of today's matinee was broadcast live by the French radio station Europe I in its programme Musicorama, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm. Listeners heard Trini Lopez, Sylvie Vartan and then five songs by the Beatles.