The Beatles - Unlicensed The Beatles Live (1993) Bootleg

(U.K 1962 - 1970)
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From their earliest bootlegs in the late 1960s, the Beatles have been one of the most bootlegged rock artists.
Beatles bootleg recordings have arisen from a multitude of sources, including broadcast performances, recordings of live shows, test discs, privately distributed copies of demos, and covertly copied studio session tapes. The largest single source of Beatles bootleg material is the set of Nagra audio tapes from the 1969 filming of the Get Back / Let It Be rehearsal and recording sessions. Performances for the BBC, stage and concert recordings, and studio outtakes have also been extensive sources for Beatles bootlegs.
This Mainline Music bootleg release contains no less than 7 different sources of recordings and covers a time span starting in 1963 up until 1968.  The following are brief accounts for each of these recording sessions, sourced from a variety of websites and Rolling Stones Magazine. Tracks included on this bootleg are listed in bold.

Radio Broadcast, BBC Paris Studio, Regent Street, London, UK - 4th April 1963

Having taped sessions for two programs in the Light Program radio series, "Side by Side" only the previous Monday, the Beatles returned to the BBC on Thursday, 4th April, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm to record a third. (An option for a fourth appearance in the series, to have been taped between 2:00 and 6:00 pm this day, was not taken up, however). 

The Beatles - 1963, April 4, 12 Regent St. Photo by Kevin Naill

The Beatles and the Karl Denver Trio did not bother to re-record their duet of "Side by Side", the BBC using the April 1st tape for this transmission, which took place between 5:00 and 5:29 pm on Monday, June 24th. (It was unusual for the Corporation to keep recordings so long before broadcast, and this was certainly the longest any Beatles tape remained "in the can"). Listeners to the show heard the group perform "Too Much Monkey Business", Love Me Do", "Boys", "I'll Be On My Way" and "From Me To You". [extract from beatlesradio.com]

The recording of  "I'll Be On My Way" is the only one by The Beatles known to exist. It was written by Lennon-McCartney for Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, another act managed by Brian Epstein. The group recorded it at Abbey Road on 14 March as the b-side to their cover of The Beatles' Do You Want To Know A Secret. Due to its rarity, I have included it on this bootleg as a Bonus Track.
After the BBC session, the Beatles attended photographic sessions with Dezo Hoffmann at mens-wear store Cecil Gee, London, and outside the BBC Paris Studio.

The Beatles - 1963, April 4, Photo session in Dezo Hoffman's studio

This episode of Side By Side was broadcast from 5pm on Monday 24 June 1963 on the BBC Light Programme. I'll Be On My Way, meanwhile, was released in 1994 on the Live At The BBC collection. [extract from beatlesbible.com]

Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden - 24th Oct 1963

Start of Sweden Tour. Concert at the Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm. Recorded for Swedish radio and for Swedish TV, through the programme `Drop In'. Beatles performance of She Loves You, Twist And Shout, Long Tall Sally and I Saw Her Standing There aired on Stockholm TV Show "Drop In" and recorded, later to be illegally included on Bootleg records like 'Sweden 1963', 'Stockholm 1964' and this boot 'Unlicensed'

The Beatles - 1963, October 23, London airport, on the way to Stockholm, Sweden

Although their short tour of Sweden didn't start until the following day, The Beatles recorded a radio appearance for producer Klas Burling's Sveriges Radio (Swedish National Radio) show Pop '63. In the morning they had attempted to do some sightseeing in Stockholm. Beatlemania had already broken out in Sweden, and they were soon swamped by hundreds of fans. They also held a press conference which was barely more orderly.

The recording took place at the Karlaplansstudion, later the Maximteatern - in Stockholm, in front of a studio audience of teenage girls. A hundred tickets were given away, but more than twice as many people turned up in the hope of seeing the performance. The Beatles played a spirited set of seven songs: I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, Money (That's What I Want), Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got A Hold On Me, She Loves You and Twist And Shout.  Between Money and Roll Over Beethoven the group took a short break, and local band Hasse Rosén and the Northmen performed three songs.
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This edition of the radio show was subtitled 'Popgrupp från Liverpool på besök i Stockholm', which translates as 'Pop group from Liverpool visiting Stockholm'. It was recorded from 5pm and broadcast on Monday 11 November 1963 from 10.05-10.30pm. Studio engineer Hans Westman had trouble attempting to limit the distortion on The Beatles' recordings, a problem caused by the lack of a rehearsal and sound check. There were also problems converting the group's UK cables to Swedish electrical outlets.

Westman used six RCA and Velocity microphones to record The Beatles: two for vocals, one for the drums, a fourth by Paul McCartney's bass amplifier, and two more for John Lennon and George Harrison's guitar amps. Four more were used to pick up ambient noise including sounds from the audience. Although he later described it as "the worst recording I've ever made", The Beatles later expressed delight at the results.

Han's Westman comments.....I wasn't satisfied with the recording and I apologised The Beatles for the high distortion. But they seemed very delighted. I lost control over the height of the sound. The amplifiers couldn't make it when The Beatles started to play. It was the highest recording level I had seen and certainly the worst distortion I ever had heard.  Now, when I've seen the result, I can understand why The Beatles was so delighted. They had, already way back in 1963, started to use the distortion to create a very special sound.

Afterwards, The Beatles left the studio through the front doors, as there was no stage exit. They boarded a blue Fiat 1500 parked outside the studio, and were promptly besieged by fans. [extract from beatlesbible.com]

Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for 'The Beatles Sing For Shell' June 15th 1964

The Beatles played two shows a night for three nights in Melbourne in June, 1964, and the sixth and last show was videotaped by Australia's Channel 9 for use in the hour-long special  "The Beatles Sing For Shell", first broadcast on July 1st and named after the oil company which sponsored the broadcast.

They played: I Saw Her Standing There, You Can`t Do That, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can`t Buy Me Love, Twist And Shout, This Boy and Long Tall Sally

This was The Beatles' last of three consecutive nights of shows in the city's Festival Hall, Each night they gave two concerts, which were enjoyed by a total of 45,000 people. After the night's shows, The Beatles attended a private party held in the city's affluent suburb Toorak.

The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein had initially agreed to allow Channel 9 to show just 12 minutes of the performance. However, after watching the recording an hour after the show he had a change of heart and increased the limit to 20 minutes. In the end 22 minutes of The Beatles were included, the rest of the hour being footage of Australian and international performers. The only song from the set not broadcast was This Boy. Full bootleg recordings exist of both concerts from this day. [extract from beatlesbible.com]

Radio (Top Gear) 14 July 1964

The Beatles made an appearance on the first edition of the BBC radio show Top Gear, a weekly late-night pop music programme, on this day.  Top Gear was produced by Bernie Andrews, who had worked on the Saturday Club radio show, and was presented by Brian Matthew. This first episode was broadcast two days after the recording, on the BBC Light Programme service, from 10pm on 16 July 1964.

Beatles with Brian Matthew

The Beatles recorded six songs between 7 and 11pm at London's Broadcasting House. They performed Long Tall Sally, Things We Said Today, A Hard Day's Night, And I Love Her, If I Fell and You Can't Do That.

This was the only occasion in which The Beatles performed "And I Love Her" outside EMI Studios. The song never made it into their stage repertoire, despite its popularity, and the group never performed it during their other numerous television and radio appearances.

Note:  BootlegZone indicate that the tracks I Feel Fine and I'm A Loser also came from the Top Gear Radio sessions but does not match the track listing provided by beatlesbible.com and beatles-discography.com  - so the jury is out on this one. 
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Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France 20 Jun 1965

The Beatles opened their short European tour at the Palais Des Sports in the Place de la Porte de Versailles on Sunday 20 June 1965. They appeared on two shows at the arena, the first at 3.00pm and the second at 9.00pm. The second show was broadcast by both French Television and radio and the two houses were full to the 6,000 capacity – something which hadn’t happened for several years.

The songs performed: Twist and Shout, She’s A Woman, I’m A Loser, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Rock And Roll Music, I Feel Fine, Ticket To Ride and Long Tall Sally.

The group received a tremendous reception after their final number, "Long Tall Sally". Ringo had a solo spot with ""I Wanna Be Your Man and George had sung lead on "Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby". There was enthusiastic applause for Paul when he tried to introduce several songs in French.
After the show French chanteuse Francoise Hardy visited the group at the George V Hotel and later they visited Castell’s nightclub. [extract from wogew.blogspot.com.au]

  
Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan. 30 June 1966

The Beatles' long journey to Tokyo ended with their arrival at Haneda Airport at 3.40am on this morning. In the evening they played the first of five concerts at the Nippon Budokan Hall. The group and their entourage stayed at the Tokyo Hilton, where they occupied the Presidential Suite. Security at the hotel was so tight that they were unable to make unscheduled excursions around the city. They did, however, give a press conference from the hotel.

'Images Of A Woman' by the Beatles

Over the three nights they spent at the Tokyo Hilton, The Beatles collaborated on a painting which became known as 'Images Of A Woman' (see left). All four members of the group painted parts of the 30"x40" paper, working by the light of a lamp in the centre. When the painting was complete the lamp was removed, and The Beatles signed the empty space next to their contributions.
The paper and paints were provided by the Japanese promoter, Tats Nagashima, who suggested that the completed painting be auctioned for charity. It was bought by a cinema manager and local fan club president Tetsusaburo Shimoyama. In September 2012, it was put up for sale again through Philip Weiss Auctions and sold for $155,250 including the buyer's premium.

The evening's concert had support from Yuya Uchida and Isao Bitoh. The Beatles performed before 10,000 fans, with a set containing 11 songs: Rock And Roll Music, She's A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby's In Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and I'm Down.

The concert, and their first on the following day, was video taped by Nippon Television. The two shows were edited together and broadcast during The Beatles Recital, From Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, which was screened on NTV Channel 4 on 1 July from 9pm.

The Rolling Stones 'Rock And Roll Circus'  11th December 1968

On 11th Dec 1968, John Lennon and Yoko Ono were among guests performing on The Rolling Stones' television spectacular, 'Rock And Roll Circus'. The event was filmed on this day at InterTel, an independent video facility at Stonebridge House in Wembley, London. The footage was captured on video and film, with sound recorded by Glyn Johns and Jimmy Miller on Olympic's mobile studio.

The Stones enlisted a range of guests for the show, including Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Marianne Faithfull, The Who, drummer Mitch Mitchell, pianist Julius Katchen and blues singer Taj Mahal. The groups Traffic and Cream had also both been invited to perform, but had split up just before filming began. Lennon was part of a temporary supergroup known as The Dirty Mac, which also featured Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell. The group played a version of Yer Blues from the White Album.

It was followed by a piece known variously as Whole Lotta Yoko or Yer Blues. Yoko Ono emerged from a black bag on the stage, and she and violinist Ivry Gitlis performed an improvised 12-bar blues with the Dirty Mac.

Dirty Mac R-L (Clapton, Lennon, Mitchell, Richards)

A simple stage is set up for the Supergroup. John is wearing his Levi outfit, and Mitch Mitchell looks almost unrecognizable with his straight blond hair. Keith plays a simple bass line, and Eric performs with masterful imperturbability. John looks a little apprehensive, but once they start playing he relaxes, turns his back to the camera occasionally in the classic jamming position. Yoko gets up on the stage, climbs into her black bag, and during the breaks, holds John's hand. Even while you are watching, it is hard to believe all this is actually happening.

Mitch's drumming is a little brisker and he is more in control of the cymbals, but this is not a jam session, in fact, Yer Blues is almost identical to the album track. Why is Eric following the record so closely? It is a strange paradox, but simply the presence of all these magicians together is completely overwhelming. What more can you say?

Brian Jones, Yoko Ono with Julian, John Lennon

But the effect of Yer Blues live is very different to hearing it on the record. To begin with it is obvious that John means every word of this song. He has used the form because the blues is the ultimate expression of a down trip. "Even hate my rock and roll" screams at you like a nightmare. The day before at the rehearsal, John, Mick and Eric played Peggy Sue together and John did a wry version of Elvis' great hit, It's Now Or Never. After Yer Blues, Yoko gets in front of the microphone and wails, while virtuoso violinist Ivry Gitlis saws away like a country fiddler, and the Supergroup is playing behind them. The audience is totally awestruck; they do not move or talk. It was breathtaking. [extract from David Dalton, Rolling Stone, 19th  March 1970]
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This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from my Australian 'Unlicensed' Bootleg and includes the signature 'red' artwork. I have also chosen to include as a bonus, the ultra-rare "I'll Be On My Way" track recorded at the BBC Paris Studios in Regent Street, London from 1963. Although the selection of tracks on this bootleg come from numerous recording sessions and time periods, they somehow compliment one another making it an enjoyable listen.
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Track Listing
01 - Too Much Monkey Business
     (Radio Broadcast, BBC Paris Studio, Regent Street, London, UK)
02 - I Saw Her Standing There
     (Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden)
03 - You Really Got A Hold On Me
     (Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden)
04 - This Boy
     (Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for "The Beatles Sing For Shell")
05 - Twist And Shout
     (Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for "The Beatles Sing For Shell")
06 - Money (That's What I Want)
     (Radio Broadcast, Karlaplansstudion, Karlaplan, Stockholm, Sweden)
07 - Till There Was You
     (Festival Hall, Melbourne and filmed by Channel 9 TV for "The Beatles Sing For Shell")
08 - And I Love Her
     (Radio Top Gear)
09 - A Hard Day's Night     (Radio Top Gear)
10 - I Feel Fine
     (Radio Top Gear?)
11 - I'm A Loser
     (Radio Top Gear?)
12 - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
     (Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France)
13 - Baby's In Black
     (Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France)
14 - Can't Buy Me Love
     (Palais des Sports, Place de la Porte de Versailles, Paris, France)
15 - If I Needed Someone
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
16 - Nowhere Man
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
17 - Yesterday
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
18 - Paperback Writer
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
19 - She's A Woman
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
20 - Day Tripper
     (Nippon Budokan Hall, Daikan-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan)
21 - Yer Blues
     (The Rolling Stones "Rock And Roll Circus")
22 - Dirty Mac Jam
     (The Rolling Stones "Rock And Roll Circus")
23 - I'll Be On My Way (Bonus Track)
     (Radio Broadcast, BBC Paris Studio, Regent Street, London, UK) 
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The Beatles Unlicensed Link (142Mb)  New Link 08/07/2019
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