Monday, May 24, 2010

What slow songs and ballads did the Hamburg-era beatles play?

The Beatles, circa October 1960, in Haralds', a favorite haunt on the Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg where the guys could get cheap meals. Left to right: Stu Sutcliffe, John Lennon, unidentified waiter friend, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Pete Best.


Sure, we know already that when the early Beatles played flat out rockers, to paraphrase John Lennon, no one could touch them. A listen to the famed Star Club recordings, the Beatles at the BBC CDs, and a few bootlegs will confirm this easily. But what about their slower material at this point? That's another nagging question that has come up recently. Chiefly, what ballads and/or slower tunes did the very early Beatles include in their grueling nightly sets in Hamburg?

My own band, The Indras, which specializes in playing much of the material covered by the Beatles during the crucial 1960-1962 period, is wrestling with this very question right now. We'd like to add some authentic slower numbers to our setlist, but we're having some trouble turning up reliable information. But the picture isn't completely bleak. Pouring through my books on the subject and CDs, I have come up with the following numbers that must have been performed at one time or another before the moderating hand of Brian Epstein and fame arrived on the scene:

*I Remember You
*Anna
*Baby It's You
*Soldier of Love
*Moonglow (instrumental)
*Till There Was You
*A Taste of Honey
*Where Have You Been?
*Falling in Love Again
*The Honeymoon Song
*Love Me Tender (sung, I believe by Stu Sutcliffe)


I can't seem to find evidence of additional slow songs played by the Beatles onstage in any of my sources, but there must have been other ballads included by the band in their sets. What were they? If anyone out there has any ideas, please share them by leaving a comment here. Thanks!



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