Customer Reviews

1962 Live at the Star Club in Hamburg

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Since they surfaced in the '70's, these live performances have surfaced every few years, with so-so sound and liner notes. The good news is that "1962 Live at Star Club in Hamburg" is the best packaging of these amazing performances to date. The sound is still very rough, but its significantly better than previous releases. The marginal sound quality is the only thing that keeps this CD from earning a fifth star. The booklet is excellent, with extensive liner notes and rarely seen photos, and those responsible have clearly gone to great lengths to put this package together.

In any case, there is no denying that even at this early stage the Beatles were a great, great live act. The chance to hear the Beatles playing a club date is a rare and special treat. The songs are a mix of rock & roll, r & b, rockabilly and pop standards, with only a couple of originals. Still, any fan of the Beatles, or rock history in general, will want to hear these recordings. The band was less than a year away from becoming stars in England, and one can clearly perceive that talent and originality that would make them an international sensation by early 1964.

There has been some question with past releases of this material as to whether the record companies involved have a legal right to issue it. With this nice little package, the question may come up yet again. So, if you are a die-hard Beatles fan, you will certainly want this very special artifact, but you may want to buy it as soon as you see it, before it disppears again from the market.

I bought "The Beatles Live! at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962" as a double vinyl album back in the late 1970s. It was on some label called Lingasong. Back then, I didn't even know that any such recordings existed, so I was thrilled. I absolutely loved it (raw, relaxed & loose, with the Beatles sounding more than a little looped, goofing and interacting with the crowd), though I later heard a lot of criticism about the sound quality. True, the recordings weren't professionally made---so what? That's all there is. Later on I discovered that "I Saw Her Standing There", "Ask Me Why", and "Twist And Shout" were also recorded at that time, when I found (and purchased) yet another vinyl packaging of the recordings. Looks like the only thing I'm missing so far is "Hully Gully", unless somebody's sitting on some more recordings somewhere out there in Pepperland.

My problem with the above collection is that it is missing 7 songs from the 1962 live performance(s): "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You", "Where Have You Been All My Life", "Besame Mucho", "'Till There Was You", "Little Queenie", "Be-Bop-A-Lula", and "Hallelujah I Love Her So", which are on that first double vinyl I bought. I would definitely miss them.

Yes, I know some of those missing are on another CD, but rather than trying to chase down stray songs hither and thither with a butterfly net in one hand and money in the other, I think I'll just transfer my vinyls to CD. Seems a lot less trouble.

I wish somebody would just get off the pot and release the whole dang performance and be done with it. I mean, IT'S BEEN 44 YEARS. They were a social phenomenon, a revolution in pop music; this is History.

Make it a box set, with Astrid's photos of them performing. Yeah, right. I am so sure...

I have another novel idea: They could even sequence the songs in the order in which they were played, instead of chopping them out and reassembling them like Frankenstein's monster. Leave more of the crowd sounds in, too. I wouldn't mind.

© 2006 RAPWreckerds

First thing first, I have to admit that I am COMPLETELY obsessed with the Beatles' Star Club recording (as well as the Decca Sessions and the Tony Sheridan sessions)....the circumstances behind the recording, the sound quality, the endless repackagings in the eighties and beyond, the fact that the tape exists which is of incredible historical value. I first heard part of the recording on a tape I used to own called THE BEATLES EARLY YEARS (Volume 1) from Phoenix Records. It is amazing that someone prior to Beatlemania had the foresight to record a complete set featuring lots of cover tunes which never made their way onto an EMI Parlophone release. But only ONE recording from the Hamburg era exists. I wish I could go back in time with a state-of-the-art recorder and record every show they played there every night. I wish I was alive in 1962 and living in Hamburg just for the sole purpose to see the Beatles in action and set up recording equipment in front of them every time they played. Oh it's just a dream, can't do anything about it now!!!!!!

Consequently I have purchased quite a few versions of the Star Club tapes on both vinyl and CD. Unfortunately the various record companies (unknown labels such as Lingasong and Audiofidelity) have failed to produce the ultimate complete album of the show with all the songs and no cuts, splices or edits. Every version I have comes up short. When I came across this release entitled BYE BYE STAR CLUB 1962 LIVE AT THE STAR CLUB, I knew from looking at the back sleeve that this was far from complete....only 22 tracks whereas the complete tape apparently contains about 35 (by the way the intro and HULLY GULLY do not count as tracks). I handed over my blood money to the clerk at J&R Music in New York City anyway because I had to buy it anyway since it seemed to be an elaborate package complete with liner notes and photos.

The sound quality is about the same as all the other releases. There are definite limits to improving the sound because the original tape was naturally tough on the ears. This makes me wonder why Adrian Barber, the original recorder did not get his microphones closer to the stage. Luckily to my ears the sound is not really that bad, and sometimes the guitars or the vocals sound pretty good (A TASTE OF HONEY sounds the best!!!). Therefore the fault of this release is, once again, the failure of the record company to release the complete show without edits and cuts. John and Paul's intro to I SAW HER STANDING THERE ("She was just seventeen...you know what I mean") once again has been removed. In addition, it's about time that HULLY GULLY was eliminated forever. It's way obvious that the track is NOT the Beatles. I do like the track and it has a wailing saxophone, but, it ain't the Beatles.

By the way, the liner notes are pitful!! Can you believe they invented a fake person called "George McIndoe" (John Doe???) and dubbed him the recorder of the tape? Any Beatles scholar knows that Adrian Barber, a soundman at the club recorded the show and gave it to Ted Taylor. There is a fake interview and lots of perjurious material that can anger any Beatles fan. They go as far as suggesting that this was the first release of this recording, which is patently untrue as it was first released in 1977.

This is not the definitive Beatles Live at the Star Club release and we must go on waiting until those tiny semi-legal record companies get their act together and put out the entire recording without the cuts and edits.

While The Beatles performance at The Star Club is CERTAINLY a must listen for die-hard fans, avoid this release. The sound quality is actually NOT a distinct improvement over previous releases, songs are cut up (in the middle, in one case)and, as mentioned by a previous reviewer, some songs are left out completely. Most offensive of all are the liner notes, which are complete fiction - the history of these tapes is well documented and available on almost any of the numerous bootleg and legitimate releases. I'm not quite sure why the elaborate intent to deceive the record buying public, but the "exciting story" given on this release is an out and out lie. Nonetheless, if you did buy this, then seek out a solid release of all the songs. Some of the performances captured by fellow performer Ted "King Size" Taylor are truly remarkable (despite what George Harrison has to say). Even some of the hammier tunes, like "Besame Mucho" are put over so well, you find yourself forgiving them for covering it! Unfortunately, I do not believe there has been any attempt to address the sound of these tapes w/modern technology. The masters used on this CD were cut back in '79, with the best available technology then. I think modern, digital sound enhancement could really pull out some hidden gems in here.

For any real die-hard fans, the Beatles' performance at The Star Club in december 2002 is a must-have. No doubts about it.
But I have a few CD releases of the show and I have some problems with THIS particular release.

1) it contains just 23 songs, but CD-releases which contain 28-30 songs are available (it seems the group performed 34 songs); moreover it contains 'Hully Gully' which is not performed by them (see Allen Wiener's book "The Beatles Ultimate Recording Guide")
2) versions of some songs are not complete
3) sound quality is definitely worse than in other CD-releases I have; I even managed to make a better version with a simple sound equalization (using Cool Edit software), so I expect that a MUCH better version could be made by digital sound enhancement
4) although I don't mind so much, sleeve notes are absolutely fictional: you can find the REAL history of Kingsize Taylor's tape reels anywhere in the web.

Apart from that, some songs of Star Club concert(s) are really well performed and in my opinion the overall performance is much better than in Hollywood Bowl concerts from a technical point of view.
So if you have problems in finding other releases you can start here (as I suppose this release is more easily available). However I suggest you trying to find a more complete and better sounding CD.

Please do not be misled by previous reviews. These recordings were made in December, 1962. Pete Best was let go in August, 1962, and Stuart Sutcliffe died in April of '62. The Beatles at these recordings were John, Paul, George and Ringo. If anyone wants to hear Pete's drumming, I suggest the Decca Sessions, which are now widely available.

Over the years I have bought a few Star Club LP's and CD's. I was disappointed a number of songs were not included on this release such as "Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry Over You". This new issue only has 24 tracks compared to 32 on some others.

Since they surfaced in the '70's, these live performances have surfaced every few years, with so-so sound and liner notes. The good news is that this is the best packaging of these amazing performances to date. The sound is still very rough, but its better than previous releases. The sound quality is the only thing that keeps this CD from earning a fifth star.

In any case, there is no denying that even at this early stage the Beatles were a great, great live act. The chance to hear the Beatles playing a club date is a rare and special treat. The songs are a mix of rock & roll, r & b, rockabilly and pop standards, with only a couple of originals. Still, any fan of the Beatles, or rock history in general, will want to hear these recordings.

The booklet is excellent, and those responsible have clearly gone to great lengths to put this package together. If you are interested in this, you may want to get this as soon as you see it. There has been some question with past releases of this material as to whether the record companies have a right to issue it. With this nice little package, the question may come up yet again.

The Star Club performance has bounced around in some form since the 1970s, initially as a double-album import on the Lingasong Records label. The sound quality was very rough, but the liner notes and photographs were outstanding and the gig featured the lineup with Ringo on drums.

The historical significance was immense and I believe it still remains the earliest released live recording of the Fab Four. If I recall, The Beatles were unaware that the gig was being recorded and plans to release the performance once Beatlemania swept through England was nixed because of the poor sound quality.

The tape was stored for years in a Liverpool office - certainly not helping to retain the already bootleg-like recording - and was recovered from a building that was slated to be torn down by original Beatles manager Allan Williams. He sold the recording to Lingasong.

It then got interesting once the double-album was released in Europe and available as an import in the U.S. The record company ended up in litigation over ownership issues of the tape and I last saw the performance split into two separate albums on another record label.

And the Star Club performance seems to have a lifespan tied to the court system; it pops up in some form, then becomes unavailable due to a tug-of-war, only to resurface again years later.

But through it all it remains a gem, since there are few opportunities to hear the early stages of what became the British Invasion.

I'm one of the biggest Beatles fans around and I was a little skeptical when I bought this album. It says the songs are digitally remastered, but it's tough to improve such rough recordings. That being said, this is a great historical document of where the Beatles were in late 1962: ready to conquer the world and on top of their craft. This is when they were at their live best...before they were superstars and could no longer hear themselves playing. Although the sound quality is rough on this CD, you can tell the utter brilliance of the Beatles by the tightness of the playing and the quality of the singing. This is a 24-song romp of the Beatles' live repertoire of the time. It includes two originals "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Ask Me Why" which would be recorded a few months later for their first album "Please Please Me". There are also treasures here for the diehard Beatles fans, songs I had never heard them do before like "Red Sails in the Sunset", "Hully Gully" and "Your Feets Too Big" just to name a few. The Beatles didn't mess around, there was very little chatter between tunes, they were REALLY into the music and kept the songs comin', much like a live jukebox. The only reason I didn't give this album five stars was the sound quality, maybe one day an even better version will emerge. But until then, scoop this up immediately. It's worth it!