60 years Ago: BEATLES IN SOUTHPORT AND SUBJECT OF BBC DOCUMENTARY
The Beatles spent the week of Monday, August 26, through Saturday, August 31, 1963, performing at the Odeon Cinema in Southport. It marked the third week in a row where the Beatles were the featured band at a cinema performing two shows each night for separate audiences. The group’s set consisted of Roll Over Beethoven, Thank You Girl, Chains, A Taste Of Honey, She Loves You, Baby It’s You, From Me To You, Boys, I Saw Her Standing There and Twist And Shout. In typical Beatles fashion, their days were not spent sleeping late and goofing off.
During the same week, the Beatles were filmed as the featured act in a documentary for BBC television titled The Mersey Sound. The BBC captured footage of the enthusiastic audience attending the band’s Monday night concerts. This was intercut with film of Beatles performing Twist And Shout and She Loves You, shot Tuesday morning without an audience at the Little Theatre in Southport. The following morning they were interviewed by the BBC in Manchester. Film of the boys applying makeup was shot as a lead into the concert footage. On Thursday, they were filmed on the ferry cross the Mersey, signing autographs and looking out to sea, and at the Liverpool Airport, walking downs the steps of an airplane. On Friday morning, the BBC filmed the boys in Liverpool. Ringo was seen exiting his home at 10 Admiral Grove and getting into George’s convertible sports car. Another seen involved Ringo walking through a women’s hair salon, a reference to his often-stated career objective of owning a chain of hair salons. The program was first broadcast on October 9, 1963.
After wrapping up their Southport concerts and their participation in the BBC documentary, the Beatles spent Sunday at ABC’s Manchester studios taping lip-synced performances of From Me To You, She Loves You and Twist And Shout for the television show Big Night Out. The program was broadcast on Saturday, September 7, 1963.
Today’s trivia questions pertain to the BBC documentary The Mersey Sound.
1.        On what program did footage taken from the BBC documentary The Mersey Sound first appear on American television?
2.        What was the song performed by the Beatles on the program referred to in the above question?
1.        Footage taken from the BBC documentary The Mersey Sound first appeared on The Jack Paar Show on January 3, 1964. This preceded the group’s live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show by over a month.
2.        The Beatles were shown performing She Loves You.
Bruce,
Hi. I see that you are going to be in Vegas in October w/The Fab Faux. I don’t know if you have ever seen them but I have had the pleasure about 15 times. They are, hands down, THE best Beatles band I’ve ever seen/heard. There versions of ‘I am the Walrus,” Strawberry Fields,” “While my guitar gently weeps” “Nowhere Man,” and especially “Penny Lane” will blow you away. My wife and I have seen them in NYC, NJ, Long Island and every year when they play at Queens college. I wish I could get out to Vegas to see you & The Fab Faux but believe I won’t be able to make it.
I have every book you have written and have had the pleasure to see you at a Beatles convention years ago and have spoken with you on the phone. Hope to see you again.
All the best,
Brian J Moran, Lindenhurst, Long Island NY.
P.S. Hello to Barbara!
Thanks for taking the time to write. I saw the Fab Faux in LA and I agree with you that they are a great band.