The Beatles live at Stowe School, Buckinghamshire (found recording of British rock band concert; 1963)

The Beatles performing live at Stowe School. 4th April 1963.

Status: Found

The British rock band The Beatles played a rare engagement at the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire on 4th April 1963. The show was held at in the prestigious boy's school's auditorium, Roxburgh Hall in front of the student audience. Although photos from the show had emerged over the years, the nearest to an audio recording of the night that had emerged was a backstage conversation that was auctioned in Japan in 1997.

History

Just two weeks from the release of their debut album, Please Please Me, The Beatles were in the midst of a UK tour. And although the album would enter the UK charts until 6th April, the popularity of the group was already starting to build. Student David Moores, who was originally from Liverpool, contacted their manager Brian Epstein to see if the group would perform for the student body. Epstein agreed to booking the band for the fee of £100, which was raised by ticket sales to the students. The Beatles arrived late from a recording session with the BBC in London for the radio program, Side by Side. They played more than 22 songs in a one-hour show, before leaving to the school's tuck shop.

On 4th April 2023, 60 years after the performance, BBC News reported that a tape of the concert had been unearthed. The show was recorded by then 15-year-old student John Bloomfield on his newly acquired reel-to-reel tape recorder. Bloomfield set a microphone in front of the stage and recorded most of the concert. While the audio is of low quality, the tape is a rare recording of the group during this period.

Songs on recording

• I Saw Her Standing There
• Too Much Monkey Business
• Love Me Do
• Some Other Guy
• Misery
• I Just Don’t Understand
• A Shot of Rhythm and Blues
• Boys!
• Matchbox
• From Me To You
• Thank You Girl
• Memphis Tennessee
• A Taste of Honey
• Twist and Shout
• Anna
• Please Please Me
• Hippy Hippy Shake
• I’m Talking About You
• Ask Me Why
• Till There Was You
• Money
• I Saw Her Standing There (reprise)

According to The Guardian; The tape runs out at this point, but speculation, based on a set list written from memory by one of the Stowe pupils, suggests two more tracks: Sweet Little Sixteen and Long Tall Sally.

See Also

• The Threetles (lost unreleased recordings from Beatles reunion sessions; 1990s)
• The Long and Winding Road (found workprint of unfinished Beatles documentary; 1970s)
• Help! (partially found deleted scenes from The Beatles film; 1965)
• Revolution 1 (Take 20) (found mix of The Beatles song; 1968)
• Late Night Line-Up (partially found Beatles "Abbey Road" special; 1969)
• The Beatles Cartoon (partially lost skits/bumpers of animated TV series; 1965-1967)
• Carnival of Light (lost experimental Beatles song; 1967)
• Late Night Line-Up (partially found Beatles "Abbey Road" special; 1969)
• A Hard Day's Day - A Day in the Life of a Beatles Tribute Band (found parody film; 2002)
• Yellow Submarine (partially found production material for cancelled CGI remake of Beatles animated film; 2010-2011)
• The Beatles - Cavern Club tapes (partially lost recordings of British rock band; early 1960s)

External Links

• Front Row, The Beatles at Stowe School - BBC Radio BBC program about the tape discovery with excerpts played.