The recordings made by the Beatles, a rock group from Liverpool, England, from their inception as the Quarrymen in 1957 to their break-up in 1970 and the reunion of their surviving members in the mid-1990s, have huge cultural and historical value. The studio session tapes are kept at Abbey Road Studios, formerly known as EMI Recording Studios, where the Beatles recorded most of their music. While most have never been officially released, their outtakes and demos are seen by fans as collectables, and some of the recordings have appeared on countless bootlegs. The only outtakes and demos to be officially released were on The Beatles Anthology series and related singles, and anniversary editions of their studio albums. Bits of some previously unreleased studio recordings were used in The Beatles: Rock Band video game as ambient noise and to give songs studio-sounding beginnings and endings. In 2013, Apple Records released the album The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963, which includes previously unreleased outtakes and demos from 1963, to stop the recordings from falling into the public domain.
Except where noted, all of the following songs are written by Lennon–McCartney and all single and album releases are for the United Kingdom.
1958 Phillips' Sound Recording Services In the spring or summer of 1958, The Quarrymen recorded two songs at Phillips' Sound Recording Services in their hometown of Liverpool. It was the group's first recording session, for which they paid 17s 6d (87.5p or £ in ). The recordings were pressed onto a mono 10-inch 78 rpm shellac disc*, then the sessions tapes were erased to be reused with new customers. Because of the low quality and age of the recordings, the songs are filled with a hiss but are still listenable. The record was not intended for release but for the Quarrymen's personal use. To clear up a long-standing misconception, this disc is not a "shellac" disc as has been previously reported, but a recording lacquer (also known as an "acetate".) A "lacquer" is an aluminum based disc with a thin coating of lacquer applied, that allows for sound grooves to be etched (or cut) into it. See the Wikipedia article at Acetate disc. There's also an excellent website devoted to the Phillips' Recording Service at https://www.percyphillips.co.uk/
In 1981, Lowe sold the record to McCartney for an undisclosed amount. McCartney then had audio engineers attempt to improve the sound quality.
RecordingsWinn, John C. (2003). The Beatles Recorded Legacy, volume 1: Way Beyond Compare, 1957–1965, page 2 "That'll Be the Day" (Allison–Holly–Petty) – released on Anthology 1 (2:07) "In Spite of All the Danger" (McCartney–Harrison) (3:25) Edited (1990s) – released on Anthology 1 (2:44)
Personnel Musicians: Colin Hanton – drums George Harrison – backing vocals, guitar John Lennon – vocals, guitar John "Duff" Lowe – piano Paul McCartney – backing vocals, guitar
Production staff: Percy Francis Phillips – engineer
1960 The Quarrymen Demos The Quarrymen recorded several low-quality, homemade, mono demo tapes.Winn, John C. (2003). The Beatles Recorded Legacy, volume 1: Way Beyond Compare, 1957–1965. pp. 2–4 Those known to still exist are:
"I'll Always Be in Love with You" "One After 909" with Mike McCartney (1:42) Another demo of "One After 909" is known to exist. "Some Days" "Well, Darling" (5:11) "Wildcat" John Lennon's spoken nonsense with radio
Although it is known that Lennon wrote "Winston's Walk" and that McCartney wrote "Ask Me Why" and "When I'm Sixty-Four" during this time, no demo tape of those compositions has ever turned up, but one is believed to exist.
Early Beatles Homemade Recordings As they did when they were the Quarrymen, the Beatles recorded several low-quality, homemade, mono demo tapes. The tapes are the only known recordings featuring their former bass guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe. From the 16 known demos made in early 1960 at McCartney's house, only three have been released.
Recordings "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" (Charles) (2:22) Edited and speeded up (A to B-flat) (1990s) – released on Anthology 1 (1:13) "You'll Be Mine" – released on Anthology 1 (1:38) "Cayenne" (McCartney) (2:30) Edited (1990s) – released on Anthology 1 (1:14)
Personnel George Harrison – guitar John Lennon – guitar, vocals Paul McCartney – guitar, vocals Stuart Sutcliffe – bass guitar
Akustik Studio Recordings 15 October 1960 In Hamburg, Germany, during the Beatles' first stint there, Lennon, McCartney and Harrison recorded a song as the backing group for Lu Walters, the bassist from Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. The Beatles' drummer, Pete Best, was not present, and Hurricanes drummer Ringo Starr played instead. It was the first time John, Paul, George and Ringo recorded music together. Sutcliffe was present at the session but did not play. The song was recorded in the small Akustik studio, in a similar arrangement to the Beatles' recordings at Phillips' Sound Recording Services. The song, with a spoken advertisement as the B-side, was pressed onto nine mono 78 rpm acetate discs. After the song was recorded, Walters, Starr, Ty Brian and Johnny Byrne, all in the Hurricanes, recorded "Fever" and "September Song". None of the recordings were ever released. The session tapes were most likely erased, and none of the discs are known to have survived.
Recordings "Summertime" (Gershwin) – lost or destroyed
Personnel Musicians: George Harrison – guitar John Lennon – guitar Paul McCartney – guitar Ringo Starr – drums Lu Walters – vocals, bass guitar
1961 1st Tony Sheridan Recordings 22–24 June 1961 In what is now the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, in the Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium (then known as []), during the Beatles' second stint in Hamburg, the group, under the name "the Beat Brothers", recorded several songs with English rock and roller Tony Sheridan for an album called My Bonnie, produced by Bert Kaempfert. After recording the songs with Sheridan, the Beatles recorded two songs by themselves. Sutcliffe attended the session but did not play. The session tapes have since been destroyed, but some of the songs have been issued on numerous singles, EPs and albums, both official and unofficial. Information on the recording dates is sketchy, and much of the official documentation was lost in a fire. Sheridan later made more recordings with different backing musicians, resulting in some debate over which songs the Beatles are on. They are generally believed to appear on seven surviving tracks. The various mixes of the recordings have appeared on many compilation albums and other releases. Atlantic Records added extra instruments to two songs for a release in 1964. To complete their contract, The Beatles made more recordings in Hamburg on 24 May 1962.
Recordings "My Bonnie" ( Sheridan) (English intro) with Tony Sheridan Stereo mixed Mono mixdown – released on as a single on 5 January 1962 Edited (intro removed) and stereo mixed (1964) Mono mixdown (1964) Fake stereo mixed (1964) Edited (spoken word by McCartney superimposed over the intro) and stereo mixed (1990s) – released on Anthology 1 (2:42) "My Bonnie" (German intro) with Tony Sheridan Stereo mixed Mono mixdown – released on as a single on 23 October 1961 (Germany) "The Saints" (trad. arr. Sheridan) with Tony Sheridan Stereo mixed Mono mixdow – released as the B-side to "My Bonnie" Fake stereo mixed (1964) "Why (Can't You Love Me Again)" (Sheridan) with Tony Sheridan Stereo mixed Mono mixdown Fake stereo mixed (1964) "Nobody's Child" (Coben–Foree) with Tony Sheridan Stereo mixed Mono mixdown Edited (1964) Fake stereo mixed (1964) "Take Out Some Insurance on Me, Baby" (Hall–Singleton) with Tony Sheridan Stereo mixed Mono mixdown Edited, extra instruments added and mono mixed (1964) Fake stereo mixed (1964) "Ain't She Sweet" (Ager–Yellen) Stereo mixed Mono mixdown Extra drums added and mono mixed (1964) – released on Anthology 1 (2:13) Fake stereo mixed (1964) "Cry for a Shadow" (Lennon–Harrison) Stereo mixed – released on Anthology 1 (2:22) Mono mixdown Fake stereo mixed (1964)
Personnel Musicians: Pete Best – drums George Harrison – backing vocals, lead guitar John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar Paul McCartney – backing vocals, bass guitar Tony Sheridan – vocals, lead guitar
Production staff: Bert Kaempfert – producer Karl Hinze – engineer
1962 Decca Audition 1 January 1962 On New Year's Day, the Beatles recorded an audition for Decca Records in London at around 11am. They likely performed only one take of each song with no overdubbing. The Beatles did not pass the audition, but their manager, Brian Epstein, kept the reel-to-reel tapes to present to other record producers. Epstein arranged for the recordings to be pressed onto monoacetate discs, one of which was later heard by Parlophone producer George Martin, who offered them an audition which would turn out to be successful. The likely order of the songs was:
RecordingsWinn, John C. (2003). The Beatles Recorded Legacy, volume 1: Way Beyond Compare, 1957–1965, pp. 6–7 "Like Dreamers Do" – released on Anthology 1 (2:35) "Money (That's What I Want)" (Bradford–Gordy) (2:22) "Till There Was You" (Willson) (2:58) "The Sheik of Araby" (Smith–Wheeler–Snyder) – released on Anthology 1 (1:43) "To Know Her Is to Love Her" (Spector) (2:35) "Take Good Care of My Baby" (Goffin–King) (2:26) "Memphis, Tennessee" (Berry) (2:20) "Sure to Fall (In Love with You)" (Cantrell–Claunch–Perkins) (2:01) "Hello Little Girl" – released on Anthology 1 (1:40) "Three Cool Cats" (Leiber–Stoller) – released on Anthology 1 (2:25) "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (Holly) (2:01) "Love of the Loved" (1:50) "September in the Rain" (Dubin–Warren) (1:54) "Bésame Mucho" (Velázquez/Skylar) (2:38) "Searchin'" (Leiber–Stoller) – released on Anthology 1 (3:00)
Personnel Musicians: Pete Best – drums George Harrison – vocals, lead guitar John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar Paul McCartney – vocals, bass guitar
Production staff: Mike Smith – producer
2nd Tony Sheridan Recordings 24 May 1962 After their previous sessions recording in Hamburg with Tony Sheridan for Bert Kaempfert, the Beatles returned for one final session to complete their contract. Only one song from this day has survived. The Beatles were accompanied by Roy Young, a pianist who had been playing with them at the Star-Club. Sheridan was not at the session, and he overdubbed his vocals on 7 June 1962 without the Beatles present. He re-recorded his vocals for "Sweet Georgia Brown" on 3 January 1964 to contain a reference to the Beatles' fame. Atlantic Records added extra instruments for a release in 1964.
Recordings "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Bernie–Pinkard–Casey, McCartney) Vocal overdub by Sheridan (7 June 1962) Stereo mixed Mono mixdown Vocal overdub by Sheridan (3 January 1964) Stereo mixed (1964) Mono mixdown (1964) Extra instruments added and mono mixed (1964) Fake stereo mixed (1964) "Swanee River" (Foster) – lost
Personnel Musicians: Pete Best – drums George Harrison – backing vocals, guitar John Lennon – backing vocals, rhythm guitar Paul McCartney – backing vocals, bass guitar Roy Young – piano
Production staff: Bert Kaempfert – producer
EMI Artist Test 6 June 1962