60 years Ago: Beatles Still Working Hard
The Beatles began the week of June 24, 1963, with a return to the Playhouse Theatre in London for another taping of the BBC radio show Saturday Club. The group continued to promote its current hit single, From Me To You, but the other five songs were cover versions that had not been recorded for EMI. The show was broadcast on Saturday, June 29.Although listeners did not know it at the time, three of the songs would later be properly recorded at Abbey Road for inclusion on the Beatles next album.
On Tuesday, June 25, the band played the Astoria Ballroom in Middlesbrough, Yorks. The next evening the group was at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The weekend started with a Friday night show at Queen’s Hall in Leeds, Yorkshire, where the Beatles shared the bill with English jazz clarinetist Acker Bilk. Although the Beatles had a rare Saturday off on June 29, their fans had a busy schedule. From 10:00 am to 12 noon, the Beatles could be heard on Saturday Club. At 6:05 pm, it was time to turn on the television to see the group on a special Mersey Beat edition of the ABC program Lucky Stars (Summer Spin). The show ran until 6:45 pm, causing concern for fans wanting to see all of John’s appearance on the BBC’s Juke Box Jury, which ran from 6:35 pm to 7:00 pm. And this was in the days when TiVo and Digital Video Recorders had not even been dreamed of. It was even pre-Betamax and VHS video recorders! So unless your house had two televisions in the days when many did not have one, you had to choose one or the other. The Beatles finished the week with a Sunday appearance at ABC Cinema, Gt. Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Today’s trivia questions cover the June 29 Saturday Club and Acker Bilk. They are a bit tough, so feel free to use the hints for help.
- What three songs performed by the Beatles on the June 29, 1963 broadcast of Saturday Club would later be recorded for the group’s second Parlophone album? [Hint: Two would also appear on Capitol’s second Beatles album (one opened the Capitol LP and one closed the Parlophone LP), while the third would meet a different fate.]
- Of the five cover songs performed on the show, what artist recorded three of the songs? [Hint: The Beatles did a lot of his songs for the BBC.]
- What were the three songs referred to in question two? [Hint: One is a mission, one is a city and one is a classical command]
- What did Acker Bilk do in America that only a few British artists had done before? [Hint: Acker Bilk did this before the British invasion.]
- The Beatles performed Money, Till There Was You and Roll Over Beethoven on the June 29, 1963, edition of Saturday Club. The three songs would soon be recorded for With The Beatles. Roll Over Beethoven opened Capitol’s The Beatles’ Second Album. Money, which was also on that Capitol LP, was the closing track on With The Beatles. Till There Was You would “meet” a different fate, appearing on Meet The Beatles!
- Three of the cover songs were recorded by Chuck Berry, who was the artist most-covered by the Beatles on their BBC radio shows.
- The songs were: I Got To Find My Baby; Memphis, Tennessee; and Roll Over Beethoven.
- Acker Bilk’s Stranger On The Shore was no stranger on the shore across the pond, topping the U.S. charts in early 1962. He was preceded by Vera Lynn’s Auf Weidersh’n Sweetheart in 1952 and Laurie London’s He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands in 1958. The next British act to top the U.S. charts was the Tornados with Telstar. Then came the Beatles, who topped the U.S. charts numerous times.