The Beatles at the Star Club

I had some other stuff I was going to post, but when I found this record, I thought I'd bump it to the front of the line. I'm not even sure how I acquired this disk, but I'm glad I found it again, because it is very cool and captures the roots of a legendary band.

The double album "Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany," captures the Beatles on New Year's Eve, 1962. The line up features all four Beatles - Ringo apparently sitting in for Pete Best when these recordings were made. None of the 26 songs on the album were written by Lennon/McCartney; instead they covered what was standard for bands of that time: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, and songs by other popular artists.

These quality of these recordings is pretty rough in places, but there is no denying the absolute rawness and pure unvarnished rock and roll energy.

To set the scene, I'll quote from Bob Spitz's "The Beatles:" "The Star Club was on the site of an old cinema, 'an immense, cavernous rock 'n roll cathedral,' decked out in plush carpeting, an expanse of dark, polished wood, and, around the perimeter, a grouping of taupe-colored upholstered settees where people lounged between numbers, sipping from stubby bottles of local beer and plying the aggressive local pickup scene."

Roll Over Beethoven.mp3

Sweet Little Sixteen.mp3

Little Queenie.mp3

A Taste of Honey.mp3

Be-bop-a-lula.mp3

Long Tall Sally.mp3

The JPGR (John, Paul, George, Ringo) site has some specifics, as well as
track listings for the album.
There is also specific information here about each track on the album. As a note, on the song "Be-bop-a-lula," Horst Fascher does the lead vocal. Fascher met the Beatles first when working as a waiter/bouncer at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg, then later, as security chief at the Star Club.

posted by aikin @ 10:52 PM