Beatles at the Star Club with transcript, photos

[@HJsCorn909]

Roadrunner (Soundcheck) 1:03 The Hippy Hippy Shake 1:53 Shelia 3:55 Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! 6:32 Shimmy Like Kate 9:01 Reminiscing 12:15 Red Sails In The Sunset 14:50 Sweet Little Sixteen 17:20 Roll Over Beethoven 21:13 A Taste of Honey 24:08 I Remember You 26:42 Ask Me Why 28:15 Bésame Mucho 30:34 Mr Moonlight 33:24 Falling In Love Again 35:45 I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry (Over You) 37:50 Long Tall Sally 39:36 Nothin’ Shakin’ 41:25 I Saw Her Standing There (Seventeen) 43:55 To Know Her Is To Love Her 47:27 Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby 51:03 Till There Was You 54:26 Where Have You Been All My Life? 57:06 Lend Me Your Comb 1:00:29 Your Feets Too Big 1:02:53 I’m Talking About You 1:05:21 A Taste of Honey (Second Performance) 1:08:18 Matchbox 1:11:20 Little Queenie 1:14:39 Be Bop a Lula 1:18:44 I Saw Her Standing There (Seventeen) (Second Performance) 1:21:42 Hallelujah, I Love Her So 1:25:16 Red Hot 1:27:50 I’m Talking About You (Second Performance) 1:29:17 Twist and Shout 1:31:18 A Taste of Honey (Third Performance) 1:33:24

[@davidaroberts3175]

One of the great things about these recordings is they show what a bad ass Ringo is as a drummer

[@ECOISAETALNÉ]

Ringo

[@teamunderground1420]

6:37 Kansas city 9:01 Shimmy like kate 14:50 Red snails in the sunset 17:22 Sweet Little Sixteen 21:14 Roll over beethoven 24:10 A taste of honey 1:14:40 little qeeunie

[@Borella309]

Can anyone get their head around the fact that just 13 months after playing to a small club of drunken Germans in Hamburg's red-light district, this group would then be playing to "a record busting" number of 70+ million Americans on live television. 13 months!

[@JoshMaxPower]

Three handsome guys, all around the same height and around the same age from the same neighborhood, each with a different-sounding voice from the others and capable of three-part harmony and talent up the yin-yang, too. What are the odds, man? Timothy Leary had it right, "The Beatles are mutants."

[@jameseldogger7410]

John: "You lost the war but seem to be having a good time". Hahahahahaaaa, Lennon! During Matchbox (John singing) "I ain't got no knickers but I got a long way to go". John was the driving force behind the Beatles ability to be confident on stage and ultimately with the media.

[@orangelazarus91]

God bless Ringo. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE DRUMMER.

[@LeviBulger]

Lol Ringo probably wasn't even drumming during the time this audio was taken in 1962.

[@stanmirgel5277]

This was the second half of December 1962 so Ringo was well and truly a part of the group by then.

[@filmguymike]

@@LeviBulger Ringo Starr joined The Beatles on August 18, 1962. This was recorded in late December, 1962.

[@spockboy]

Yes you can hear the power Paul talked about when they played with Ringo as opposed to Pete.

[@christoh711]

@@spockboy Yep, and he has more than one type of drumfill... can't believe people used to say he was riding on the coattails of the Beatles. He did put the "Beat" in Beatles

[@frederickrueckert850]

Thanks for taking the TIME to do this. I bought the 1977 album in 77 when I was 7 from saved up newspaper route money and my Dad ! Thanks Dad.

[@thewenik6876]

Awesome show. Love the chatter from the group, too. Thanks.

[@aggremo]

John had such a phenomenal, perfect voice for rock n roll, esp in these early years. Just listen to when he sings! No disrespect towards Paul who could also scream like a motherfucker, there was just something to John, that undefinable "grain" or "grit" that just naturally came to his singing voice, sounds so great, it's very noticeable when it's John, and not John, and of course both Paul and George were good singers, well Paul was great, but NO ONE sounds like John used to...

[@winstonoreggae6332]

Well said sir, I totally agree.

[@fernandoreynaaguilar1438]

This Is Gold Jerry! Gold!! Thank you a million times!

[@lthompson7625]

Thanks for putting this together Stan. This is a great piece of music history. Interesting that you have pointed out the John and George guitar breaks. You can just tell that these lads were going to be massive. I just wish l was sitting at one of those tables with a scotch and coke watching them. Isn’t that a great early version of ‘ l Saw Her Standing There’. The early genius of McCartney is there for all to hear on this. Fabulous bass playing, with great vocals. For Beatles historians out there, this recording is over one year since Brian Epstein had become their manager in Nov1961. According to all the books written by Beatles’ experts,, Brian signed them, cleaned them up, put them in suits,, got them to stop swearing on stage and all the rest. This recording is one year later in Dec 1962. We can all hear John offering to fight with a mouthy member of the audience , Paul is also recorded saying f--off during one of his songs. Perhaps Epstein didn’t travel to Germany with them to keep an eye on things ? Go figure! Just found a letter that George Harrison sent home to Liverpool from Germany. Doesn’t look like he was enjoying The Beatles festive stint at The Star Club: “ Thanks for your letter, which l received just before Christmas. I hope you had a good one, or at least better than ours...We only have three more days to go , and then will be away from this place for good( l hope) “. 28 December 1962.

[@loosilu]

When time travel is invented, I'll meet you there.

[@murphy6700]

Brian wasn't with them in Germany for this.

[@wrekabyte]

I like reading the reports from the Cavern faithful when they came back after the Star Club sojourns. Goes something like. "Shit they've really improved!"

[@theselector4733]

@@wrekabyte I think you probably mean The Kaiserkeller. The Beatles did 3 stints in Hamburg: 1960 - The Indra & The Kaiserkeller, 1961 - The Top Ten & 1962 - The Star Club. By the time they played The Star Club they were a polished, well rehearsed & 'a professional act' who had a recording contract.

[@theselector4733]

That's cos they didn't really want to be there, particularly George, who, as it turns out hated touring. They had a 'contractual obligation' to fulfill with The Star Club. The Beatles had already played there from April - June 1962, this was their third stint in Hamburg in as many years and they were probably "over it", if you know what I mean. Besides, by that time they were already signed to Parlophone and had released "Love Me Do" so were hankoring to promote that and do more recordings.

[@shawnhawley9917]

Thank you for sharing. What a rare gem! Shows what a great band they were at such a young age.

[@taveress8580]

the first rock band of the world . And the greatest rock band of the world . the number one forever. the masters for every rock and punk and heavy style .

[@percy.poccorpachi1105]

Most rock n roll, most punk, amazing The Beatles...

[@aggremo]

Early Beatles was punk...

[@johnmilligan6605]

It's silly to say early Beatles was punk punk rock was just an immigration indeed a parody of rock n roll it had all beenndone before I remember my mum laughing when she saw the first punks in our area and saying when the Beatles grew their hair one inch over their collar it was a million times more radical than the arty trendy punk kids who had nothing original about them as by then society in the big cities where the punks were had become very open and accepting of difference all thanks to the Beatles generation to call the Beatles punk is an insult to their creativity

[@StuartBusby]

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this all together. I've heard these recordings many times, but never before have I felt like i was there, sitting in the audience that night. Your transcripts help to bring the show to life and give a great idea of how much The Beatles on stage and the audience were interacting and enjoying themselves.... Brilliant

[@donna7873]

The tribute to Stuart is the best . A true artist 👍🏼🌼

[@MrAschiff]

It's amazing how they are playing rock music with a huge punch. They're rocking on this.

[@neilfranklin5644]

The birth of punk

[@jameseldogger7410]

Yep. that's what John said in 1980, when asked about the Sex Pistols...he said they were simply doing what the Beatles had done in Hamburg.

[@Fab4nzGordz]

A labour of love. Thank you for doing all that hard work for us Stan. Even putting down the correct words/lyrics they sung, e.g. ''her naval drives me insane.'' Absolutely brilliant!

[@amsedelm]

"Ask Me Why" sounds amazing!!! Wow!

[@sulladrum]

Ringo propelling it all with his solid backbeat and patented Ringo rolls

[@KingsizeMusicOfficial]

Superb effort - thanks for posting!

[@xanjohn]

This is absolutely wonderful. Your work is a labor of love, and illuminates these recordings in a way I never imagined. Thank you so much. If only we had hundreds of photos from December 1962, when these tapes were made. But your selections are just great, regardless. Thank you again.

[@michaelnotigan7796]

1:10:53--The photos by Astrid of Stuart, followed by of John: haunting. They segue into my absolute favorite track, Matchbox, done down and dirty. Not the highly polished studio album version done later. THIS is the Beatles that Lennon later lamented of selling out, this rocking blues wearing black leather jackets in Hamburg. Where would the lads be had they never met Astrid Kircherr, who piqued Stuart Sutcliffe's fancy? Alot less interesting, for sure. Her contribution to what made the Beatles what they were, will never be forgotten.

[@kevinsullivan8570]

There are so many "had they never met" in the Beatle story that it seems magical and pre-ordained. Just think 'what would have happened' if they passed that Decca audition in January 1962? I'm glad I read your comment, it makes me remember those days.

[@rachelcase2461]

Amazing! God, I love it so much. Thank you!! How I love those boys.

[@jeffreyamster6020]

Thanks, Stan. Just magnificent. John certainly wasn't kidding when he said that their best work was in Hamburg. Its also quite amazing to think that less than two decades earlier, the American and British Armies were liberating Europe and Germany from the yolk of Nazi horrors.

[@josuaaschbacher7626]

It was still a different kind of (punk) rock - tedyboys and the harmonic comercialized harmonic music later on

[@stephenshealy8619]

I’ve been searching for the best audio version of the Beatles’ Star Club tapes, and I’ve found it here. The photos and transcript is the icing on the cake. Thank you Stan!

[@sgolston11]

This is extraordinary, Stan! Just fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing this w/ everyone!

[@stellamaris1432]

You don't know how grateful I am for all the work you did to make this video. My English is not very good (and I hardly know German) and I always wanted to know what the boys were chatting with the audience between songs. And thank you also for having put the lyrics of the songs!

[@dphilipp6150]

Großartige Bilder. Die Star Club Zeit ist einfach genial. Was für eine Ära. Super gemacht Stan !!

[@icm65]

This is extraordinary. Thank you.

[@convinzioneobastone]

che energia ! meraviglioso 1962, meravigliosa Hamburg ! meravigliosi ragazzi di Liverpool

[@ElvisBeery]

26:03 You missed "a waste of money!" 😂. GREAT post! You did a stellar job that I very much appreciate. 👍

[@tonyhemphill5366]

great stuff a band learning their trade of which they then become masters off and the greatest band EVER. FAB

[@whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306]

Little did these guys know that soon they were going to be the most famous people on earth. I was reading the wiki about this gig and seems the guy who recorded it got permission from John to do so in exchange for some beer.

[@KiddMoneyBustaC]

That’s a cool little fact

[@jsalljr]

This is simply fabulous!!!

[@ferlandclaude6293]

And this one is even better. How generous of you.

[@filmguymike]

Just a few things to remember: Stewart Sutcliffe had died 8-months prior to this recording and Ringo joined the band 4-months prior to this recording. Even though these are wonderful photographs, it's a little misleading because this is the classic Beatles lineup John, Paul, George and Ringo

[@wabbitinwed]

You can hear the promise in the performances of their originals. Talent waiting for the opportunity.

[@massagetherapyforinjuriesf8197]

Born in Arica. Chile. 1959…fanatic of the Beatles for 50 years now…

[@rodrigoexposito99]

No sabes cuán agradecido te estoy por este hermoso video. De verdad muchas gracias✨

[@MICKEYISLOWD]

You can see where they got there magic from when they began writing. They had already performed these lovely songs which have really neat chord structures. All great composers played all sorts of music before they begin writing.

[@earlgrey3461]

The audio is amazing! Thank You! John Lennon, full of piss and vinegar, how we miss him! ❤️

[@aggremo]

A true Punk rocker/rocknrolla

[@attackofthetheeyecreatures3472]

The guitar in Hippy, Hippy Shake is one of my favorites.

[@chrislong5392]

An enormous amount of work! Thank you. One can quibble here and there, but you nail 99% of this stuff--including a lot I'd never been able to understand (not speaking German definitely hurts in that respect). Really appreciated!

[@stanmirgel5277]

The transcript was done by a lot of different people.

[@CastleOfThoughts]

CORRECTION for the caption "Prost (Cheers) the Star Club @ 1:10:10 John Lennon is softly singing to someone off of the mic, the words, "Everybody but me." Then Lennon kindly asks, "Alright?" to whomever he was singing it. Paul then says, "Prost, Mr. Sutcliffe." / George: Who? Who was it? (Prost means "Cheers") The song, "Everybody But Me" (written by Dave Burgess) was among Stuart's handwritten notes as carefully preserved with the song's lyrics by his sister in one of her books about Stuart Sutcliffe... a song The Beatles used to perform when there were five Beatles. It is most likely that Stuart sang lead on it, considering Paul's nod to Stuart after John sang it, possibly to Astrid and Kraus who would have been there for their final Hamburg appearance. (This section is heard more clearly on the cassette version of The Star Club Tapes which is where I first discovered what was being sung... and then said afterward.)

[@stanmirgel5277]

Thanks.

[@loraineashton7046]

Thankyou this is just brilliant loved every second

[@OffOnEntertainment]

Awesome work pal, thanks for the subtitles!

[@daanje1062]

Ringo is a beast!!

[@claudiogonzalez4027]

Sound great!!!! Excelent!!!👏👏👏👏🎸🎶🎸🎶🎸🎶🎶🎶

[@Diamondman63783]

1:05:20 I'll be leaving the band now.

[@stevelovering9774]

Brilliant piece of work thanks Stan.

[@hernanpatricioorellanaalar3473]

😀👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Great Job!! Highly appreciated! Thank you very much! Greetings from Chile! 🇨🇱

[@pauldenison4641]

Fantastic! Thank you for this

[@seanaiello4984]

Interesting to hear Mr. Moonlight here. They ended up digging that one back up for Beatles For Sale because they didn't have enough material of their own to fill out the album.

[@rosendohernandezcastro8147]

Excelente trabajo! Gracias Stan,

[@alfonsoromero5556]

bless you Stan!

[@jonasvilhena7270]

Great job man Thanks

[@davegeisler7802]

RIP 🙏🏼 Stuart Sutcliffe 1940-1962

[@lloydpinto623]

MY GOD!!! INTERNATIONAL TREASURE THIS!!!! WHAT A FIND!!!!

[@AnandKumar-fs6il]

In John's intro to "Where have you been all my life?" (56:48) I don't think he says "freeloader" and "covered". I do believe he was using words that, well, would be considered politically incorrect today. Just John being John. Listen carefully.

[@enricosanchez894]

1:28:50 To me, it sounds like "She's got a figure like Brian Epstein". For years, records had only part of the song Red Hot- it would end before this line, since it was initially claimed that the recordings were made before the Beatles' contract with EMI.

[@LucaColaMusic]

It definitely is. The video seems to have a few lyrical inaccuracies

[@imthatcook5355]

30:36 best Beatles version of the song in my opinion

[@kazuowatanabe9474]

What An Emotionally And Hot Live It Is 😎 👍 I Know This Live Album 😁 I Knew This Live In 1982, Few Years Later I Bought This Live Album What It Was CD 😁 But Its CD's Track Listings Were All Shuffled🙄🤔 The Reason Was Unknown 🤔 Thanks To Upload 😀 Thank You So Much 🙇

[@spaceengineer1452]

Oh, nice work !! Thanks. :)

[@michaelbooth8948]

Wow! This is brilliant. Thanks very much for sharing this with us

[@luizclaudio8079]

MAN !!!! Is great !!!! Fabolous !!! Thank you !!!!!

[@rainerbuch4997]

Sehr interessant und durchaus geeignet für realistische Erinnerungen an Auftritte der Beatles im Hamburger Star-Club. Ich war zu der Zeit 17 - 18 Jahre alt. Hier zeigt sich dass auch die Beatles neben eigenen Songs viel gecovert hatten, aber auch sehr schnell dazu gelernt hatten.

[@stanmirgel5277]

Hast du gesehen, wie die Beatles im Star Club auftraten?

[@claudiogonzalez4027]

Who would thinking that Boys reach the top of the music World and they will be the most Great band in the world!!!

[@juliussc2394]

quality content

[@tuskedbeast]

Very well done! Thank you!!

[@Anja1814]

Thank you so much :D

[@10faloney92]

Ringo Starr is the drummer here...replacing best in August!

[@DHudelson]

He really sounds great.

[@youdaman5069]

Without a doubt it’s Ringo vs Pete Best. Pete never got aggressive playing plus he always played with a straight loud bass drum kick on every downbeat.

[@jasta12]

Rather hear this than any of their albums, and I saw them in 1966, in Memphis.

[@anthonywallace3830]

You are truly lucky - and good on you for getting the ticket and going! Too often we think we will see a band the next time round and sometimes that chance never comes. What do you remember most about the concert? I was born too late to see them unfortunately. Hope all well

[@dukelelaw]

1:31:18 Twist And Shout

[@eddyblueblood8047]

Thank you for sharing this important information... Big Job 👏👏👏👏

[@scottamichie]

This is magnificent listening history! Thanks! I take it that all recording was from the Star-Club-which was their 3rd Hamburg club. First was India Club and 2nd was Top Ten Club. Love your Stewart S pics, but he died early April, ‘62 right before they arrived for their Star-Club gig. Your photos span all their Hamburg gigs not just the Star-Club; but in any case... they’re great.

[@gregoryeatroff8608]

First the Indra, then the Kaiserkellar, then the Top Ten, and finally the Star Club.

[@skshum]

invaluable!

[@falcogrice5686]

Thanks for upload this. This is gems😊

[@Harriet-Jesamine]

Genius Work

[@murphy6700]

The raw, leather Beatles. This period was the crucible when the Beatles perfected their harmonies and playing - hours upon hours. Hanging out with Stu Sutcliffe, Astrid and Klaus. Pete Best trying his best (!), and the boys becoming real rock n rollers.

[@scottandrewbrass1931]

Pete Best wasn't in the band when this was recorded. Its Ringo.There are no live recordings of The Beatles with " Best" in Hamburg

[@ash5779]

george’s sheila number is too cute :) and those hecklers omg- john going back and forth w that one drunk was funny asl though + kansas city goes so fucking hard

[@yes_head]

LOL, I've read through all the comments and not ONE person has mentioned Stu "The Bod" Sutcliffe's modelling portfolio at 1:08:45. Part of me wonders why I'm seeing those for the first time and that those shots has never made into any documentary about the Beatle's early days. But then again I'm reminded of the bit from Anthology where Ringo talks about the Two Virgins cover and he goes "I said "Hey, you got the newspaper in the shot" and not "Hey, your dick is hanging out."" 😝

[@frederickratel4231]

Sweet little sixteen is sweet. These guys could be contenders

[@larryzink8978]

unreally good

[@maggieseebeck3230]

It’s a shame they had to be tamed in order to make it big. They were such a rockin and rollin band. But I guess Brian knew best since without him we never would have had the BEATLES!!

[@stanmirgel5277]

I think "tamed" is a bit excessive. All Brian did was change their attire and stop them from eating, smoking and swearing on stage. In every other way they remained as they were. The suits were actually a stroke of genius because they were not business suits, they were Mod suits, which was the breaking trend in European youth at time. Their snazzy suits were every bit as cutting edge as their Mod Parisian haircuts.

[@jclequy]

i have the original vinyl release of 1977, for which they did a tremendous job of cleaning the bad quality recordings... but the strong ECHO, which was part of the Bass notes (low frequencies), still remained... ... and the sound was still rather messy... But THIS NEW remaster has been cleaned up at a much higher level, purified at last of that awful echo, and every instrument was re-equalized separately, so it seems... Is this a new CD available on the market? How can we get it? Thanks.

[@wrekabyte]

Had that. Got it now on CD. Still can't get over that version of To Know Her Is To Love Her. This tape is gold!

[@dominiquepaquereau946]

Ringo for sure !

[@allanromano]

NO

[@urasam2]

@@allanromano Actually, yes. Research it

[@jonasvilhena7270]

Great work, thanks

[@kevinsullivan8570]

By this time the Beatles had released Love Me Do and were experiencing their first # 1 with Please Please Me. So this was a throwback for them, and must have been a constant party.

[@stanmirgel5277]

Not quite. Please Please Me had been recorded but not yet released.

[@ledzeppelinrestores]

@@stanmirgel5277 the album was done In 63’ the single of love me do was the Beatles first single and it was out in 62’

[@65TossTrap]

One of their finest. Tops “Let it Be” and the White Album.

[@TEAKUKAMBASSADOR]

And that's not hard to do!

[@paulgentile1024]

Two overrated albums

[@moshbeatle9500]

Great great stuff. Thanks For share...

[@kevinsullivan8570]

This season at the Star Club was a commitment made by Brian Epstein 1 year or so before. With the Beatles single Please Please Me topping the English charts he could have bought out the contract but felt it essential that they honor it to reassure future promotors.

[@cursino1]

In september 1962 PPM was not released

[@Pensfold]

This is an historic document.

[@dennisdezarn5895]

It's an honor to listen 🎶

[@regisgouloudubois5285]

Yes it is but the sound is worse than un the cavern of Liverpool

[@haysfordays]

Pure magic.

[@kankill8911]

Some songs sounds like Ringo's, I'm pretty sure about it. His playing and sound are unique.

[@sharpcheddar7305]

Punk rock.

[@christopherseat9871]

💯🇬🇧♠️✊🤘🍺🍺🚬🇧🇪👉🤘

[@Harriet-Jesamine]

👌👍👍👍 This is where I'm going when I'm dead.

[@imnotthewalrus880]

This isn't punk rock, this is classic rock at it's finest. The playing on these songs gravitate much more to blues, but just sped up with more grittier vocals. The usual way to play punk rock is to focus on power chords and to convey the lyrics with a more scream-ish delivery. So, yeah. Punk is punk, rock is rock. Leave it at that. This is rock.

[@aggremo]

@@imnotthewalrus880 oh God now here we go with the trotting out of specific definitions of what IS Punk and what IS NOT. It's Punk, just shuddup! It's harder than anything anyone was doing or would do for years, it can be considered fringe-rock at best. Don't mistake it, this is extreme music for that Era. Remember the "savage, young Beatles "? Well they were called that for good reason they were fuckin crazy back at this time!

[@jasoncleverley9819]

Did the ‘beep beep’ in Roadrunner find its way into Drive My Car?

[@gidneyandcloyd]

Ha. Yeah, that was probably in the back of somebody’s mind, at the very least.

[@adrianoclincho1852]

Great download man where can I get a copy ? They sound great and having fun oh to be young again sigh!💚✌️🥁🎸🎸🎸🇮🇪

[@dominiquepaquereau946]

4th Club Scott ! Indra - KAISERKELLER - Top Ten and Star-Club !