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Here's an update on that recently discovered tape of The Beatles in concert, their earliest known full live recording.
Captured at the Stowe boarding school in Buckinghamshire, England on April 4th, 1963, journalist Samira Ahmed says, "Talks are under way to get it cleaned up and [given] a permanent home in a national cultural institution..."
The concert was recorded by then 15-year old student John Bloomfield, who still had the tape, which includes full length songs and spoken word segments from the band to the audience.
Among the songs performed were those off their debut album, Please Please Me, which had been released two weeks earlier -- March 22nd, 1963.
Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn says, “The opportunity that this tape presents, which is completely out of the blue, is fantastic because we hear them just on the cusp of the breakthrough into complete world fame. And at that point, all audience recordings become blanketed in screams.
“So here is an opportunity to hear them in the UK, in an environment where they could be heard and where the tape actually does capture them properly, at a time when they can have banter with the audience as well.”
While not broadcast quality, there is a lot that can be done with today's technology, which was the case in 1995 when The Beatles were able to resurrect a 1977 demo cassette recording John Lennon made of "Free As a Bird."
Source: The Guardian and Premiere
Photo: Getty Images