1962 Hamburg Tapes

Of course, there wasn't a Beatles reunions in 1962. In fact, these primitive recordings were made only a few months after Ringo joined the band in August of that year.

When it comes to recordings of The Beatles that have not yet been released, these live performances from the Star Club in Hamburg are a bootleg favourite for many Beatles fans. (But if you've never heard them before, be prepared for fairly poor sound quality.)

At this stage of their careers, The Beatles were not yet a world wide phenomenon. Their stage act was still unpolished and the song selection was more varied than what it would later become. These recordings feature a number of songs that The Beatles never recorded at any other time. It also features a lot of hard to decipher announcements and on-stage banter.

So if you've ever struggled to work out what was being said in these recordings, below is a link to a transcript of as much as can be deciphered.

1962 Hamburg Tapes Transcript