Following on from last week’s pirate radio edition of Fixing A Hole we carry on with the pirate theme. Looking into the under the counter world of Beatles bootlegs.

We trace the origins of these Illegal releases in the late 60’s with the infamous Bob Dylan boot ‘Great White Wonder’ and the plethora of low-fi compilations of Beatles concerts, radio and television appearances which began to surface in the early 70’s. Through to the CD age and the arrival of Ultra Rare Trax which presented unreleased Beatles session recordings in wonderful sound quality.

Along the way we discuss the sources of these recordings and what influence these albums had on Apples official Anthology series in the mid 90’s.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Beatlegs!

P.S. If you spot the mistake about Mal Evans early in this edition drop us a line via the email below. Unfortunately there is no prize, but we would love to hear from you.

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Unlike the United States where you could hear wall-to-wall pop music on the radio 24 hours a day. In early 1960's Great Britain, the airwaves were controlled by the BBC. With numerous restrictions imposed on them including the dreaded 'Needle Time', which impacted on the number of records that could be broadcast weekly by the network. The broadcasting of 'Pop Music' was limited to a few shows per week.

Therefore, it was no surprise when Radio Caroline began broadcasting in the spring of 1964 off the coast of Essex. Signalling the arrival of pirate radio in the United kingdom.

In this weeks episode of Fixing A Hole we look at the links between The Beatles and the pirates and in particular the events of May 1967, when 'Big L', Radio London struck gold with a world exclusive and broadcast the new Beatles album, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

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By the summer of 1964 The Beatles had conquered the world. Hot on the heels of their first visit to America, they were back at work. But not in the recording studio. This time it was the film studio, to make their first feature film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’.

Back in the 60’s pop acts were fair game for feature films. Be it a cameo appearance or some convoluted storyline. ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ broke new ground with a story based around 24 hours in the life of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

However, the financial reasons why the film was made go deeper than box office takings. In this episode of Fixing A Hole we take a look at the ‘BIGGER PICTURE’ as to why United Artists made the movie.

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On 29 January 1964 while playing an 18-day residency at the Paris’ Olympia Theatre. The Beatles entered the Marconi Studios in Paris, for their first and only session for EMI outside of the United Kingdom. A session with a specific purpose. To rerecord two of their biggest hits ‘She Loves You’ and ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’.

However, these weren’t straight rerecording’s, but German language versions with titles that translate as ‘Sie Liebt Dich’ and ‘Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand’. This would be the one and only time they recorded foreign language recording of their hits.

In this episode of Fixing A Hole we look into the story behind this unique session and where these recordings where released.

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Patrick Humphries is a well-respected music journalist and author. He worked for both the NME and Melody Maker from the mid-70’s and has written features for Mojo, VOX and Record Collector. In addition, he has authored books about Nick Drake, Bruce Springsteen, and Elton John among many others.

In a change to our advertised episode. Patrick joined Mark and Paul to talk about his latest book, ‘With The Beatles, From The Town Where They Were Born To Now And Then’.

During this fascinating conversation Patrick discusses the impact John, Paul, George and Ringo had on music and culture. Tells us why he wrote his book and shares stories of interviewing Paul, George and Ringo.

Copies of Patrick’s book can be ordered direct from the publisher www.greatnorthernbooks.co.uk or from Amazon With The Beatles: From The Town Where They Were Born to Now and Then: Amazon.co.uk: Humphries, Patrick: 9781914227691: Books

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At lunchtime on January 10th 1969, George Harrison walked out of Twickenham film studios and out on his band mates. As he left his parting words were, ‘I’ll see you in the clubs’.

The Beatles January 1969 ‘Get Back’ sessions were all about throwing aside the excesses of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and getting back to a more basic sound which would allow them to play live together as a group. Just as they had in the Cavern.

In this episode of Fixing a Hole we take a look at the five-year period between 1957 and 1962 when John, Paul, George and Ringo’s served their apprenticeship in the dance halls and clubs of Merseyside and Hamburg and discover what audio and visual recordings of this important era in the groups development have survived.

If you’re a Beatles fan or just love music we’d love to hear from you.

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On their return from India in the spring of 1968. The Beatles set about recording the ‘White Album,’ a collection of 30 songs, many of which were written in Rishikesh.

In between these 6 months of recording sessions, they released their 18th single ‘Hey Jude’ and launched their own record label Apple.

In episode 7 of Fixing a Hole we look at the 2021 Peter Jackson documentary ‘Get Back’. Which tells the story of why following this intensive period of work, John, Paul, George, and Ringo decided that 6 weeks after the release of the ‘White Album’, they would go back into the studio and write, rehearse, and perform 14 new songs in January 1969.

If you’re a Beatles fan, or just love music we’d love to hear from you.

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Ever since Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the group on 10th April 1970. Fans desire to hear new, or unreleased Beatles music has never stopped.

In this episode we tell the story of how a series of articles published in the New Musical Express back in 1974, lead to EMI searching the tape vault for unreleased Beatles recordings. Compiling two reels of tape of unreleased music and the executive meeting which took please in the Spring of 1976 to listen and determine what if anything was suitable for future release.

Amazingly, like all key events in the story of The Beatles. A sound recording of that EMI meeting, almost 5 decades ago was made and leaked into the hands of collectors in the early 80’s.

That meeting and the sound recording would become, the catalyst for the Anthology project co-produced by Apple and EMI two decades later.

In this episode we discuss the ‘Boardroom Tape’ as it has become known by collectors. Together with the chain of events that happened between that meeting in 1976 and the release of the Anthology project in 1995.

If you’re a Beatles fan, or just love music we’d love to hear from you.

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Email: paul@paulhumbley.com