The Beatles - Star Club: Hamburg, Germany - December 1962

Label: Purple Chick, PC-157/158

In Association With DARTHDISC

DISC ONE

25(?) December, 1962, Star Club, Hamburg, Germany

1: Be-Bop A-Lula vocal: Fred Fascher (Teichiku + unbooted)
2: I Saw Her Standing There (unbooted)
3: Hallelujah I Love Her So - vocal: Horst Fascher (Teichiku + unbooted)
4: Red Hot - incomplete (unbooted)
5: Sheila (unbooted)
6: Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey (unbooted)
7: Shimmy Like Kate (unbooted)
8: Reminiscing (unbooted)
9: Red Sails In The Sunset (unbooted)
10: Sweet Little Sixteen (unbooted)
11: Roll Over Beethoven (unbooted)
12: A Taste Of Honey - incomplete (unbooted)

13: Ask Me Why (Road Runner + Teichiku)
14: Long Tall Sally (Teichiku)
15: Besame Mucho (Teichiku)
16: I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You) - incomplete (Teichiku)
17: Twist And Shout - incomplete (Lingasong + Sony + Batz)
18: Mr. Moonlight (Teichiku + Lingasong)
19: Falling In Love Again (Lingasong + Teichiku + unbooted + Batz + Teichiku)
20: I’m Talking About You (Teichiku + Sony + Teichiku)
21: I Remember You (Teichiku + Batz)



DISC TWO

28(?) December, 1962, Star Club, Hamburg, Germany

1: Nothin’ Shakin’ (But The Leaves On The Trees) - incomplete (Teichiku + unbooted)
2: I Saw Her Standing There (unbooted)
3: To Know Her Is To Love Her (unbooted)
4: Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (unbooted)
5: Till There Was You (Third Reich source tape)
6: Where Have You Been All My Life? (Third Reich + Teichiku + Third Reich + unbooted)
7: Lend Me Your Comb (unbooted)
8: Your Feet’s Too Big (unbooted)
9: I’m Talking About You (unbooted)
10: A Taste Of Honey (unbooted)
11: Matchbox (unbooted + Third Reich source tape + Teichiku)
12: Little Queenie (Teichiku + Third Reich source tape)
13: Roll Over Beethoven (Third Reich source tape)


31(?) December, 1962, Star Club, Hamburg, Germany

14: Road Runner (Road Runner + Teichiku + Road Runner + unbooted)
15: Hippy Hippy Shake (Teichiku)
16: A Taste Of Honey - fragment (fuegoentertainment.net + Road Runner)
17: Money - vocal: Bobby Thompson (poss.) (or Tony Sheridan?) (Road Runner)


Bonus tracks:
King Size Taylor and the Dominos and *Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers
31(?) December, 1962 Star Club, Hamburg, Germany

18: Sparkling Brown Eyes - vocal: Keith Hardie (Road Runner)
19: Lovesick Blues - vocal: John Frankland (Road Runner)
20: First Taste Of Love - vocal: Bobby Thompson (Road Runner)
21: Dizzy Miss Lizzy - vocal: Kingsize Taylor (Road Runner)
22 : Hully Gully* - vocal: Cliff Bennett (Teichiku)


This release clears up a lot of speculation about the Beatles’ Star Club tapes, thanks to an unedited and unprocessed source tape (for which we cannot thank DarthDisc and the Darthelves enough). Although the recording dates are still guesses, we now know the correct order for about 2/3 of the songs. Even so, the second half of disc one is sequenced based more on smooth transitions than solid setlist information.

We tried to make sure every Star Club sound was accounted for, but not repeated: auditioning many “Live At The Star Club” CDs and LPS on a number of labels. Even so, we used Darthdisc’s unprocessed tape wherever possible. As well as offering upgrades and previously unheard chat “Red Hot,” though still incomplete, is twice as long as before. “Red Sails…” now has an extra verse compared with the released version, while “I Saw Her Standing There” on disc two has an extra guitar solo. Conversely, we removed looped portions of “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down…”, “Twist And Shout” and “I Remember You.”

It’s by no means perfect, but it’s the best we have at the moment. And it’s the first time we’ve listened to the Star Club tapes in years. Hopefully you’ll gain a new appreciation for these historic recordings as well.

All tracks mono, at the correct speed, and eq’d for the most coherent listening experience. Enjoy!