The Beatles: Giggling Fit Tape Found in Loft

[yerblues1968]

THE BEATLES: GIGGLING FIT TAPE FOUND IN LOFT


telegraph.co.uk
Last Updated: 9:05PM BST 25 Jul 2008


A never before heard tape of John Lennon and Paul McCartney having a fit of the giggles during a recording session has been discovered tucked away in a loft.

The rare clip features The Beatles in happier times joking with each other during a recording of melancholic ballad I'll Follow The Sun in 1964.

The 30 minute reel-to-reel tape is being auctioned after being discovered in a loft, where it had sat unplayed for more than 40 years.

Auctioneer Jon King said: "The vendor lives up north and was clearing up his father's loft when he discovered it.

"His father is still alive and worked in the music industry.

"When you listen to the recording it makes your skin tingle because it's from a period of time when the Beatles were still friends, it's early Beatles.

"You can hear John, Paul and Ringo having a joke and a laugh together. They are laughing because they can't get a song right.

"It's a real collectors piece. We are expecting a lot of interest in it worldwide."

The tape, which includes other Beatles hits and cover versions of other artists' songs, goes under the hammer at Cameo Auctioneers in Midgham, Berkshire in August. It has an estimate of £8,000 to £12,000.

During the recording of the cult ballad which was released on the Beatles For Sale album in December 1964, John Lennon is heard saying: "I'm playing baby. I know I can't stop laughing because I can see them two. I'm not looking at you."

Paul McCartney replies: "You were."

John Lennon says: "It's just going to get funnier and funnier as the evening goes on. It's 11o'clock you know."

Paul McCartney says: "Let's just try this once more and if it's the last one that's hard lines."

The pair are then heard trying to record the track a number of times before collapsing in a fit of laughter.

Eventually they get it right as on the second side of the tape there is a completed recording of Follow The Sun.

The newly discovered Beatles recording also includes hits, Don't Put Me Down Like This, I Feel Fine, She's A Woman, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Honey Don't, I'll Follow The Sun, I'm A Loser, Too Much Monkey Business, Nitty Gritty, Somethings Gotta Hold Of Me and I Shall Not Be Moved.

The iconic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band drum stick sold for a $1.1 million at auction recently - four times the estimate.



At the link is a short video clip of The Beatles laughing uncontrollably.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2459720/The-Beatles-Giggling-fit-tape-found-in-loft.html

[yerblues1968]

BEATLES RECORDING WORTH ITS WEIGHT IN POUNDS


August 5, 2008
eonline.com
by Natalie Finn
Today 5:15 PM PDT


More than 30 years later, the Beatles' records are still golden.

A recently unearthed reel-to-reel tape of what is believed to be a Fab Four recording session from 1964 was auctioned online Tuesday for 9,300 pounds, or, $23,446 (including tax and handling fees), according to Cameo Auctioneers in the Berkshire village of Midgham.

On the 30-minute tape, one can hear the banter taking place between Paul McCartney and John Lennon as the group tries to get through a take of "I'll Follow the Sun," which is on the album Beatles for Sale (Beatles '65 in the U.S.), without collapsing into giggles.

"It's just going to get funnier and funnier as the evening goes on," Lennon says.

"I'll Follow the Sun," which continues onto side two after beginning toward the end of side one, is preceded by renditions of "Don't Put Me Down Like This," "I Feel Fine," "She's A Woman," "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" and "Honey Don't."

The side-two tracks include "I'm A Loser," Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business," the Hollies' "Nitty Gritty" and "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and the gospel tune "I Shall Not Be Moved."

The auction house told BBC News that the buyer wished to remain anonymous and would only confirm that a man, whose dad once worked in the music biz, discovered the tape in his father's attic in northern England.

www.eonline.com/uberblog/b22337_beatles_recording_worth_its_weight_in.html