Category: Beatles

On Monday, March 25, 1963, in Liverpool, with no expectation that they would ever be the stars of a huge hit movie, and with the filming of “A Hard Day’s Night” a year away, the Beatles made some silent home movies, using photographer Dezo Hoffman’s 8mm camera. In April, back in London, at Westminster Cameras, they watched the movie reels, and Dezo took this picture of the event.

The room lights are on, and the projector bulb is off, so obviously this is a posed photo, but the boys looked very pleased. It’s one of the rare times John is seen wearing his Buddy Holly glasses. Because Lennon was so nearsighted, I assume that much of Beatlemania was literally a blur for him.

In late July, at a hotel in Somerset and a beach near a place called Brean Down, the Beatles made more home movies with Dezo. The custom YouTube player has the movies, with some studio outtakes for a soundtrack.

The first background song is “Bad to Me,” a hit for Billy J. Kramer. To my surprise it’s a John song, and not one of Paul’s. A very nice cover of “Bad to Me” is another great new track by Lia Pamina with Robbie Leff. Here’s Lia!

John Lennon, March 5, 1963 © Dezo Hoffman (Dezo later incorrectly listed these photos Feb 11.)

How about one more post about the legendary marathon recording session that produced the first Beatles LP? What I was hoping to hear in the newly remastered CD of “Please Please Me” is the excitement of that day, as heard in this stunning outtake of “I Saw Her Standing There.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/ISawHerStandingThere.mp3]

To my ears, the dynamics and ambiance of this vibrant recording, as engineered by Norman Smith, are lacking in the new CD. I wish it had the immediacy of these outtakes, which is a feeling that is intact on the Capitol CD, despite the use of second-generation tapes.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/TheresAPlace.mp3]

EMI Studios entrance, March 5, 1963 © Dezo Hoffman

George Martin with The Beatles, 5 March 1963 © Dezo Hoffman

Let’s do another brief audio comparison between the Capitol CD of “The Early Beatles” from a few years ago, and the newly remastered British version of “Please Please Me.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/12ATasteofHoney.mp3]
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/10ATasteofHoney.mp3]

Here’s a photo familiar to Beatles fans. Recording engineer Norman “Hurricane” Smith is at the controls. Judy Lockhart-Smith, later the second Mrs. George Martin, is in the background.

© Dezo Hoffman

The Beatles, March 5, 1963 © Dezo Hoffman

For my birthday, Denro gave me the remastered stereo CD of “Please Please Me,” the first Beatles UK album. It was recorded by Norman Smith, with an assist by Richard Langham, in a single session on February 11, 1963. A quick skip-through listen on my best gear told me a lot about the decisions that were made by the remastering engineers.

One of these 80-second audio excerpts is from the new CD, the other is not. The MP3 bit rate is kicked all the way up to 320 Kbps. The player makes it easy to click back-and-forth between them. You should use a decent pair of headphones for your comparison. Which do you prefer?

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/09BabyIt’sYou.mp3]
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/SEP/10BabyIt’sYou.mp3]