Beatles bootleg fans tend to be pretty picky about what they seek out and return to, tending to revolve around a handful of recognized classics. These include the material that first appeared on the “Ultra Rare Trax” and “Unsurpassed Masters” collections, as well as perhaps the best bootleg collection ever, the various editions of the inexhaustibly informative BBC material.
Selected concerts also have their big moment. Who doesn’t like the complete Hollywood Bowl package? But then there is the material that most connoisseurs hear once and then never consider again, despite the revelations that might emerge upon re-listening.
Sound quality often plays a role, as does a certain rudimentary musicality – a double death knell, so to speak – in the music that a post-Quarrymen, pre-Beatles outfit recorded in the bathroom of Paul McCartney’s home in Liverpool in the spring of 1960.
The early Bathroom sessions
We don’t know exactly when the photos were taken: probably April or June. Of course, Ringo Starr wasn’t there at this point, and these Silver Beetles consisted of the great trio of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. There was also a musically overwhelmed Stu Sutcliffe on bass and McCartney’s brother Mike, who also got involved. You undoubtedly won’t download this material and turn it up loud in the car, but it deserves a closer look.
Coincidence had a strange way of following the Beatles. After all, what are the chances that someone had a portable tape recorder – a rather bulky device at the time – handy to capture some musical moments of the day when two ordinary, random schoolboys first met, as John and Paul did at the Woolton Garden Fete on July 6, 1957?
Chance and development
The Beatles also had something strange about their development. At this early stage, McCartney is the most assertive presence, and one wonders if that didn’t annoy John Lennon. They are clumsy, bumpy, twangy, often out of tune and it would take a few years and Hamburg before a collective and individual genius developed and they were even remotely capable of what they ultimately achieved.
And yet there is already enough that later trademarks, techniques and even songs are laid out. Weird and wonderful and worth at least a few intensive playthroughs. And why did they record in the bathroom? For the same reason you sing in yours – you just sound better in a damn bathroom. Because of the echo and stuff.
Here are the pieces you should focus on.
The 5 best tracks
“Matchbox”
That’s George Harrison on vocals, and it’s always interesting to note how expressive his singing, as well as his guitar playing, could be in the years before fame. He let it run its course in a way that he stopped showing later, when Lennon and McCartney were more in charge. Just think of that stormy vocal from the Star Club tapes, which are also often overlooked.
Here, one of the few times these adolescent Beatles achieve something approaching a groove, you can tell they’re pleased with themselves, almost surprised that they’re pushing forward more or less together. They loved “Matchbox” as a song, and although no one says it, this BBC version is one of the best live recordings they ever made.
“Hello Little Girl”
Sweet as sugar, but melodically strong. An original that the Beatles believed in enough to play at their failed Decca audition on January 1, 1962. This version has more charm, if less polish. Back then, it took courage to believe that you could write a song as a teenager, since even adult musicians and singers didn’t do that.
So there was also a touch of self-confidence, an attitude that would serve the band well just a few years later when they were told how bad they were. And watch out for those Lennon and Macca harmonies. They are there and they will not go away.
“Ramrod”
The George Harrison show continues with fast fretboard runs in this fast-paced instrumental piece. You want to know why Lennon let him join the band? For this reason. The boy could play better than the others, which was necessary to keep up with this older group.
It’s a Duane Eddy number, and his influence on Harrison’s style has been far underappreciated, almost as if Eddy, with his clean image and clean licks, wasn’t cool enough to be associated with budding teddy boy warhorses. If you listen here, then you know that this is nonsense.
“One After 909”
How much the Beatles must have loved this song. They returned to him on March 5, 1963 at EMI, when their rise was well underway, and again during the Let It Be sessions as they neared the end of the decade and their own finale. Lennon and McCartney cheer and hoot at will, and in this respect we are not far removed from the unbridled joy of some of the early hits.
“I’ll Follow the Sun”
This is notable: a song that later appeared on Beatles for Sale in December 1964, when the band was the biggest act in the world. And here he is recorded in the bathtub, next to the toilet.
The Beatles believed in him enough to bring him back all these years later and had no problem adding him to their official sonic resume. There’s a hint of Buddy Holly present, but more important is the distinctly McCartneyian touch, with that swaying melody seemingly emerging from behind the flaming orb of the title to lure you on a journey worth taking. Not a hard sell.
