Harry And His Box Set (V1, 2, 7, 10, 12, 15, 14 update.)

[Lord Reith]

"Also I believe the good Purple Chick has upgraded his Buddy Holly set over at guitars101"

What is the date on the Buddy Holly update LR? The most recent one that I can find there is Jul 23, 2022.
BTW, another hearty thanks for all that you do here.

Isn't there one from just recently? Maybe I've got my wires crossed.

[old flat top]

Thank you so much, Lord Reith, for this! I'm still making my way through it. The extra bits of chat, along with the other groups, really present these performances in a much clearer context. Now we know why Lee Peters was talking about horses, etc. And the upgraded sound! Wowee.

I do have one question regarding some Top Gear chat - Disc 14 Track 37 ("Do you ever get tired of being Beatles...") has a strange edit at about 1:07 where John's first "we go to certain ones" is missing. (The same bit of chat is about 4 seconds longer on the previous 2021 upgrade.)

I can't figure out where this edit came from. It's not the "Live at the BBC" edit (which has its own unique set of edits), and both "we go to certain ones" are in the TOTP episode on Disc 25 Track 26 (which also has its own unique set of edits!) Is this another unique edit that was on the original Top Gear broadcast?

Thanks again for all you do.

[Lord Reith]

Thank you so much, Lord Reith, for this! I'm still making my way through it. The extra bits of chat, along with the other groups, really present these performances in a much clearer context. Now we know why Lee Peters was talking about horses, etc. And the upgraded sound! Wowee.

I do have one question regarding some Top Gear chat - Disc 14 Track 37 ("Do you ever get tired of being Beatles...") has a strange edit at about 1:07 where John's first "we go to certain ones" is missing. (The same bit of chat is about 4 seconds longer on the previous 2021 upgrade.)

I can't figure out where this edit came from. It's not the "Live at the BBC" edit (which has its own unique set of edits), and both "we go to certain ones" are in the TOTP episode on Disc 25 Track 26 (which also has its own unique set of edits!) Is this another unique edit that was on the original Top Gear broadcast?

Thanks again for all you do.

The tape I used is straight off the original transmission so that is the way it was heard and the way I wanted to present it. I think previously I inserted upgraded pieces of chat where possible but decided upon reflection this was distracting, and I probably just stuck in the extra line by mistake or for the sake of it.

Glad you are enjoying it. Their radio series is great, it never ever made sense before without the guests but now it just works. Henebery knew what he was doing, it is very entertaining. I think George was very unjust in slagging off Henebery because I now know that he worked very hard on it. A different producer might not have gotten anything as good out of them.

[Spaniard in da Works]

Glad you are enjoying it. Their radio series is great, it never ever made sense before without the guests but now it just works.

Yup... when in previous versions Peters or Burke said "and now back to the Beatles" I used to assume they were coming from a commercial break or something, until I remembered that this is public radio and the only announcements would be for other BBC programs and certainly not in the middle of a show,

[Spaniard in da Works]

Also, I've come to the belief that the PGTB shows, now that they're preserved, should be seen as albums in their own right. If they had been recorded in, say, the 90s, you just know they would have been released as CD sets and considered part of the discography.

[Lord Reith]

Also, I've come to the belief that the PGTB shows, now that they're preserved, should be seen as albums in their own right. If they had been recorded in, say, the 90s, you just know they would have been released as CD sets and considered part of the discography.

Yes they are a unique relic not only just of The Beatles in 1963 at their live peak but also a relic of how they stood among their peers. I mean, there's some good music by the guest acts but it is apples and oranges when compared to The Beatles. It is so obvious to anyone listening that they are just in another league altogether. It had never occurred to me in my whoile life until Mark Lewisohn pointed it out in Evolver '62 that they were almost certainly THE most experienced live band in the world at that time. The old stories about how much they performed are familiar to us all but it is in these shows that you hear the results of all that experience. They just went into a converted theatre for two hours and recorded brilliant tracks, week after week. How can anyone be that good? The only way they could stand up to so much exposure and scrutiny was because they were utterly brilliant. If the BBC had just played records, we'd never have known just how good they were.

[old flat top]

The tape I used is straight off the original transmission so that is the way it was heard and the way I wanted to present it. I think previously I inserted upgraded pieces of chat where possible but decided upon reflection this was distracting, and I probably just stuck in the extra line by mistake or for the sake of it.

Thank you for clarifying. So now it appears there are at least 3 different edits of that chat: (TG, TOTP, and Live at the BBC) none of them complete on their own. Very interesting.

[Spaniard in da Works]

The old stories about how much they performed are familiar to us all but it is in these shows that you hear the results of all that experience. They just went into a converted theatre for two hours and recorded brilliant tracks, week after week. How can anyone be that good? The only way they could stand up to so much exposure and scrutiny was because they were utterly brilliant. If the BBC had just played records, we'd never have known just how good they were.

Unfortunately, what people are really familiar with is John and George's gripes about the last Beatles tours, and that has lead to the "common knowledge" that the Beatles were a lousy live band. But it's not really fair to compare Budokan with the Who's Live at Leeds. That's why things like the Stowe School tape are really important.

[Lord Reith]

Thank you for clarifying. So now it appears there are at least 3 different edits of that chat: (TG, TOTP, and Live at the BBC) none of them complete on their own. Very interesting.

Top Of the Pops was made by the BBC Transcription Service. They would study the forthcoming domestic programme schedules and pick programmes they thought overseas listeners would be interested in. Sometime sthey would record them as they went to air and then edit them to suit their purposes, or sometimes they would eavesdrop on an actual recording session via a Post Office landline. So there would be two different copies of a session, one made by the BBC at the studio where it took place and one made by TS remotely. TS would naturally tend to edit their copy differently which explains why some bits are left in or out on either domestic or overseas versions. There are two TS Beatles eavesdrop tapes still in existence, one where The Beatles are trying to record I Feel Fine and She's A Woman and the eavesdrop tape also catches the discussion between the control room crew and The Beatles. The other one is the session for the Christmas 65 Saturday Club where the eavesdrop tape captures an argument about whether they're going to rehearse or not, and some impersonations of Cavern fans.

[Lord Reith]

Unfortunately, what people are really familiar with is John and George's gripes about the last Beatles tours, and that has lead to the "common knowledge" that the Beatles were a lousy live band. But it's not really fair to compare Budokan with the Who's Live at Leeds. That's why things like the Stowe School tape are really important.

Yes it's only in recent years that The Beatles have begun to get the credit they are due for being a brilliant live band between 62-64. Certainly in the 80s they had a reputation for being rotten live, based on a few baseball stadium boots where they stank because they couldn't hear anything, the Budokan and Munich concerts because they'd stopped caring, and the lack of any live material from 1963. But even in 65 they could still deliver the goods when they thought people were actually listening, as the Paris concert shows. And the complete Washington video is enough to prove to anyone that they were fantastic live. That one in particular is Exibit 1.