Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Newly discovered John Lennon Live Song Uncovered !

We all have the heard the story by now. How Elton John turned up at a John Lennon recording session in 1974 and they worked on a new Lennon solo song called "Whatever Gets You Through The Night". Later, Elton John recorded a cover version of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Both became big hits, and Elton asked John to come and play live with him if "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" went to No. 1. The song did hit No. 1 and the rest is history. Or is there something new to be learned from this event??



History records that John Lennon made good on his promise to Elton on Thanksgiving night 1974 at Madison Square Garden. It wasn't a sure thing, because Lennon was reported to being nervous, throwing up, and second guessing himself that night.

The soundboard engineer's original Concert Set List even demonstrates the last minute nature of Lennon's eventual appearance. They had to quickly squeeze in the songs Lennon would be playing on... See the tiny black print below.


The entire roof almost came down with thundering applause as Lennon was introduced as a surprise guest of Elton John's. Dave Morrell in his great book, "1974 The Promotion Man New York City (The Morrell Archives Volume 2)" , recalls: "Finally, Elton John had the great pleasure to introduce John to all of us. The place erupted. Besides the Beatles at Shea in '65 and Led Zeppelin here at the Garden a few years earlier, this was the loudest noise from a crowd I ever heard. The ground literally shook. John looked great. With Elton John on Piano and John on guitar they swept through three wonderful songs."

The superstar duo performed "Whatever Gets You Through The Night", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There". The performances were perfectly recorded.

Eventually, a bootleg vinyl LP of the leaked recording came out for hardcore fans to hear what they had missed in person. And it was significantly John Lennon's last live concert performance. And to most, "I Saw Her Standing There" a Beatles tune,  was fittingly his last live song ever performed. Or was it?


Later, Elton John himself officially released the entire show on a CD called Here And There (Live) by Elton John. On the official release, John Lennon is duly credited on the three songs above. And three songs only. 



But thanks to Dave Morrell and photographic evidence to back it up, we now know that the last live song John Lennon ever performed, played and sang on is from this same concert! According to Morrell, an eyewitness, "John Lennon even came back out for "The Bitch is Back" encore."  On the song, John sings back-up vocals ("Bitch, Bitch, Bitch is back...") and plays tambourine. There is no notation of Lennon on the album credits or at the Wiki page for this album release (though there may be after this article comes out). However, here is the photo showing Lennon with a microphone and tambourine as witnessed and reported by Dave Morrell. The last ever live performance of John Lennon (Elton's "The Bitch Is Back") is not only at last uncovered, but recorded and released for posterity!


If you enjoy reading true mysteries in Rock And Roll, check out: The Beatle Who Vanished , the true story of Jimmie Nicol who subbed for Ringo Starr in 1964 only to Vanish one year later....
Article is 2016 (c) Rock And Roll Detective (r), LLC.   
For a Free Excerpt of The Beatle Who Vanished click this link

Monday, November 14, 2016

Rock And Roll Detective Uncovers Lost Beatles Concert Tape. It's Back On The Auction Block!

Fans line up to buy tickets to see The Beatles at Forest Hills May, 1964

After 52 years, it is incredibly rare to discover a complete, previously unbootlegged or unreleased 1964 concert by The Beatles. It is extremely exciting when a new live recording of The Beatles is not only unearthed, but is one that was recorded through a soundboard rather than in the middle of a screaming audience. This means that you can actually hear the vocals and the guitars. Ringo's drums do not sound like they were mic'd, but his drums do appear to be picked up by the three vocal mics.

And here are the details dug up by the Rock And Roll Detective:

The Beatles at the 1964 Forest Hill Music Festival
Fifty Two years ago this month, The Beatles played a live concert at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. They performed for free and donated the proceeds in aid of the United Cerebral Palsy of New York City and the Retarded Infants Services. The show has never been released officially or on bootleg (although one Seventies bootlegger erroneously tried to pass off a vinyl boot as this show.) Previous interviews with The Beatles at this time, and short film clips of the show have surfaced in the past. However, this is the first time a Soundboard recording of the complete show has surfaced.  It was apparently recorded by the WMCA DJs. 

The original reel-to-reel tape is up for auction again on November 27, 2016, at Cordier Auctions, after failing to meet the minimum bid of $2000 last August. Of course, whoever is the winning bidder will own the tape, but the not the copyright or publishing rights to the recordings. 



The Rock And Roll Detective has listened to the recording which contains the complete show. Given the primitive state of live recording in the mid Sixties, this is a decent soundboard.  There is a significant drop in volume and quality that persists during and after George Harrison is heard singing "Roll Over Beethoven". It comes back a little better when John introduces a new song "If I Fell" from their "new movie" "A Hard Day's Night". However, this tape is nowhere near the quality of the newly issued true multi-track soundboard Apple release of The Beatles Live at the Hollywood Bowl. But it is still an exciting artifact nevertheless.  

The Beatles live at Forest Hills as a fan tries to hug George Harrison.


Here is the description of the recording by Cordier Auctions from the August sale.

Lot #234 Estimate 2,000.00 - 4,000.00 USD

The Beatles August 29, 1964 Concert Recording
DESCRIPTION: A reel to reel recording of The Beatles in concert at
Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, New York on August 29, 1964
(they had also played there the night before). The recording, with loud
screaming throughout, includes twelve tracks:
1) Twist and Shout
2) You Can't Do That
3) All My Loving
4) She Loves You
5) Things We Said Today
6) Roll Over Beethoven
7) Can't Buy Me Love
8) If I Fell
9) I Want to Hold Your Hand
10) Boys
11) A Hard Day's Night
12) Long Tall Sally

Of note is the band's reaction to a young lady sprinting towards the stage
while dodging police barricades during the last song.
Also included is John introducing the song "Hard Day's Night" from "our
new movie", George singing "Roll Over Beethoven", and. Ringo being
introduced and singing "Boys".
PROVENANCE: Per the consignor, the tape was won by the consignor
from a New York radio station sometime after the concert,
probably from the WMCA Good Guys as research shows they were
the hosts of this concert.
MEASUREMENTS: 7" diameter.
CONDITION: The beginning of the tape has some crinkling/creasing
with the opening being somewhat fuzzy and flat. Otherwise audio is clear.
Some buzzing begins after Roll Over Beethoven and before George
changes out his guitar after Can't Buy Me Love.
A digital recording of the tape was provided by the consignor.


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