Beatles/Joe Pope 1962-1964 Unreleased reel containing material originally broadcast

A shocking upgrade of the Beatles’ BBC live recordings, which had been competing with each other both in the official and underground worlds and seemed to have been exhausted, is now available. This is a literal exclusive recording that was obtained by a enthusiast at an overseas auction and provided for this release. It contains BBC studio live performances up until around August 1963, when the band’s popularity exploded even before their debut. The original owner of this reel was a man named Joe Pope. If you are a long-time enthusiast, you will recognize him as the person who popularized the Beatles’ Decca audition tape. Pope was the head of the fan club “STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER” in the United States. As a person in that position, he also obtained the Decca tape in 1977 and sold the recording as a single under the name “DECCAGONE”. In addition, the “DECCAGONE” single became a huge bestseller and even spread to elaborate copies, which is a very American development. In fact, when you find a used “DECCAGONE” single, it is often a copy. Therefore, the recordings in this issue are copies of the Beatles’ early BBC radio appearances that Pope, who can be called an expert among enthusiasts, owned, which he copied for his friends on Reel To Reel. The surprising thing is the sound quality, especially the 1962 and early ’63 appearances, which were better than any version currently on the market! It can’t be helped, but the masters of the performances from this period are not even available at the BBC. All that remains are air check recordings that fans picked up from the radio speakers of the broadcasts at that time. Therefore, it is difficult to say that the sound quality is high, and it is easy to guess that Pope would have hesitated to release these valuable recordings for this reason. Nevertheless, in the 1980s, recordings from this period gradually began to be released. In particular, the ’62 appearances were released in a series of LPs, including “AT THE BEEB W/PETE BEST,” around 1987. After that, the sound quality slowly improved with the advent of the CD era, but the recordings used for those past releases are exactly the same as the ones used this time. In other words, the tapes of the 1962 broadcasts owned by Pope had been circulated around, or had been dropped from the previous generation, until they were finally released. The air check recordings from these times, which were particularly rough in the LP era, are now much easier to listen to, and last year Lord Reith released the latest version of the BBC compilation “THE BBC ARCHIVES”. However, the reels provided this time of the early BBC recordings, which were thought to be unable to get any better, were recorded with an even easier-to-listen-to, clear upper feeling, which caused a stir among the staff. In particular, the 1962 broadcasts when Pete Best was enrolled had clear sound quality, and the fact that the roughness of “THE BBC ARCHIVES” had been removed was clearly due to the good condition of the tapes. Of course, the level is incomparable to the LP era items and the Great Dane box that swept the 90s, and the sound is clearly better than recent items. And yet, the fact that the sound is still captured well until the end, even after the performance, which was faded out in past items, shows how good the condition is. And I can’t help but think that they recorded the Beatles playing rare repertoire that could only be heard before their debut, such as Roy Orbison’s “Dream Baby” and Joe Brown’s “A Picture Of You”, who would later become George’s best friend. In that respect, several takes of the early 1963 appearances were boldly recorded from the air check sound source in the official “LIVE AT THE BBC Vol.2”, but the rare cover of “Beautiful Dreamer” in particular is much clearer and more natural this time. In the first place, the song used in “BBC Vol.2” was not the same as this one, and since the opening announcement was cut, it seems that the air check tape that was the basis for the LP “BEAUTIFUL DREAMER” was used. As a result, the basic sound quality was lower than this one, and the equalization was disappointing. The only program known for playing “A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues” in front of an audience, the July episode of “EASY BEAT”, was recorded in poor quality on the Contraband’s “STOCKHOLM” and Wizard’s “ORIGINAL AUDITION TAPE, CIRCA 1962” borrowed from there during the LP era, but it was finally upgraded in the LP “AT THE BEEB” series, which was all the rage in the 1980s. The sound source has been used until now, but this time it is much more upper than that and can be called the highlight of this release. It has become much clearer. As an aside, “ORIGINAL AUDITION~” borrowed the only Decca sound source that had leaked at that time, “Love Of The Loved,” from the contraband “L.S. BUNBLE BEE.” Although the order is reversed, “From Me To You,” which was shown in the April edition of “EASY BEAT,” which became known through the previous “AT THE BEEB W/PETE BEST,” has also been cleared in this version. In addition, the only one of the “POP GO THE BEATLES” broadcasts on June 18 that could only be heard in poor sound quality, “Memphis Tennessee,” has finally achieved a significant improvement in sound quality, which is also the highlight of this release. The other parts of “POP GO THE BEATLES” heard here can now be heard in the highest sound quality that is not air check on recent items and the official “LIVE AT THE BBC,” and it cannot be denied that the remaining sound sources contained in the two discs are for enthusiasts. However, the air check sound source of the June 18th broadcast, familiar from the official single “Baby It’s You”, is rather valuable. While Joe Pope and his friends were struggling to release it, the LP “AT THE BEEB” series swept the market, and it is a first appearance sound source that has been buried until today, so it cannot be mocked. In addition, the sound quality is in quite good condition for an air check in 1963, and the tastefulness that conveys the atmosphere of the time is guaranteed to feel fresh. As for this reel, of course, if you are a enthusiast, it is natural that you would want to have such a valuable sound source in its raw state. Of course, it is summarized on Disc-3 as “Unprocessed Version”. Here, not only the hiss noise, but also the noise and tape damage that occur everywhere in air checks are recorded in their original state. By listening to this, you should be able to realize how carefully the original characteristics have been stretched and restored. By the way, the latter half of Disc-2 and 3 summarizes the takes with a remarkable upper feeling, and remasters with different approaches are also recorded as bonuses. If you prefer a clearer high tone, choose the Disc-2 version, if you prefer no hiss at all, choose the Disc-3 version… and enjoy the difference. And there is a reason why we are announcing the release of the upper version of the precious early BBC recordings of The Beatles owned by Pope today, whose existence even the most core enthusiasts would not have known until now. Because their first BBC appearance was broadcast on March 8, 1962, today is exactly 60 years. This shocking new excavated BBC recording is suitable for such a memorable day. Above all, the upper feeling that the veil has been lifted from their dynamic performance from before their debut to just after their popularity explosion is exceptional! About Joe Pope He is known as the owner of the reel closest to the master of the Decca Audition recordings, and the first person in the world to release the recordings. His full name is Joseph Pope. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and published the fanzine “Strawberry Fields Forever” in 1972. In 1974, he held the first Beatles convention in Boston. In 1976, he produced his first 7-inch bootleg of “How Do You Do It / Revolution”. The following year, in 1977, he obtained a copy of the Decca production master, pressed a 7-inch color record under the Decca brand, and sold it through a fanzine. In 1999, he died of cancer at the age of 51. Upgraded parts [Teenager’s Turn – Here We Go / 2 broadcasts in 1962] Improved sound quality from previous releases. High frequencies are extended and natural sound quality. Previously released versions have fade processing at the beginning and end, but here the beginning and end of the track are cut out and no unnecessary processing is done, which is proof of the low generation. [Saturday Club / 2 broadcasts in 1963] This is the same air check source used by GRATE DANE and SECRET TRAX, but because it is low generation, it is overwhelmingly clearer and has a much wider dynamic range. “Beautiful Dreamer” has improved sound quality from the official release. Poor reception noise areas have been corrected. [Easy Beat / broadcast on April 7, 1963] The best sound quality of any other previously released discs. [Pop Go The Beatles / broadcast on June 18, 1963] “Memphis Tennessee” has a significantly improved sound quality than the previous release. [Easy Beat / broadcast on July 21, 1963] The sound quality has been improved from the previous release. Mastering notes Discs 1 and 2 contain remastered versions in which the various sound sources recorded on the reels have all been rearranged and organized in the order of BBC broadcast. Since each was leaked in a different way, the sound quality of the original tapes is different (it seems that there are multiple sound source providers). In order to alleviate this sense of incongruity, during mastering, hiss reduction and EQ adjustment were performed to make the sound quality as uniform as possible. The BBC sound sources currently in circulation tend to be concentrated in the 1kHz band, which makes the sound image blurred and difficult to listen to, so the EQ processing was done with this in mind. Tape hiss has been reduced, but excessive noise reduction that would make the sound whirring has not been performed. Naturalness is emphasized. Shocking upgrade! Two works featuring historically unearthed audio released simultaneously!