Fab-ulous Live Evolution

The Beatles are one of my all-time faves, and it’s well-known that they cut their teeth on the club circuit. In the UK and in Germany, the Fab Four were known as a potent (and often volatile) live act before they were signed to Parlophone Records. However, this energy carried on and evolved over the years, as the Fabs got older and their creative visions changed.

So roll up, roll up for the Fab-ulous Live Evolution of Mssrs. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starkey.

1. “Can’t Buy Me Love” - The Beatles (live at the Hollywood Bowl, 30 August 1965)
   Beatlemania in the U.S. started with concerts in New York and Washington, DC, but it came to a head with concerts at Shea Stadium and Hollywood Bowl. And this performance from 1965 captures some of that energy: the loud crowds, the Beatles in hyper mode, and the powerful punch of their early hits. The crowd noise on the recording would prove exceedingly difficult for George Martin to work with in assembling a live Beatles album - so much so that it took until 1977 for this recording to officially surface. And given that the raw, three-track recordings have surfaced on unofficial channels, it’s easy to see why no live recording of the Beatles was issued during their prime years. It’s a pity, because they knew how to rock, as well as how to work a crowd. While the songs popped on the studio recordings, they exploded on the stage.
2. “Get Back” - The Beatles (live on the roof of Apple Studios, 30 January 1969)
   This is the opening salvo of the infamous “Rooftop Show,” where The Beatles, along with Billy Preston on keyboards, decided to crawl out of the studio and “audition” some of their new material in front of a live audience - one that stood 40 feet below on the street, or in neighboring office buildings or cars on the roads. While this isn’t their strongest live performance (those days having been left behind over three years prior, if not longer), it shows that, as a band, they still had their potency, even if internal strife was tearing the band apart at the time.
3. “Imagine” - John Lennon (live at the Apollo Theater, New York City, 17 December 1971)
   John Lennon’s live performances were few and far between. His “Live Peace In Toronto” shows in 1969 occurred during the recording sessions for Abbey Road and Let It Be, and were thrown-together affairs. After the breakup of the Fabs, Lennon only performed in charity concerts. The concert where this acoustic guitar version of “Imagine” was performed was to raise awareness of the plight of John Sinclair, an anti-war activist who was serving a 10-year jail term for possession of marijuana. I love this version of “Imagine” because you can hear the audience’s response to the then-current hit song, as well as Lennon’s emotion behind the lyrics.
4. “Maybe I’m Amazed” - Paul McCartney & Wings (live as The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland, 17 December 1979)
   This song first appeared on McCartney’s first solo album, the aptly-named McCartney. The studio version featured Paul on all of the instruments, and came across as a sincere, if workmanlike performance. When he played it on the Wings tours, however, the song became a majestic ballad, full of pomp, energy and life. This is from the same concert as “Coming Up,” which Mandel highlighted in his “One Night Only… Times Seven” posting earlier this month, and features the final lineup of Wings in one of its final live shows (they would play one more time on December 31st, as part of the “Rock For Kampuchea” shows in London).
5. “Photograph” - Ringo Starr & The All-Starr Band (live at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 3 September 1989)
   It’s hard to pick a Ringo Starr track that’s better live than it was in the studio. Not to slight Ringo, but he’s more of a showman in the “compère” sense: he knows how to work the crowd and give credit to the others in the band, but isn’t known for knockout live performances of his own work. But on his 1989 tour, he had something to prove. He was fresh out of rehab, having finally kicked a decades-long alcohol addiction, and had a band with a lot of talent (Billy Preston, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm, and Joe Walsh, to name a few). So this performance of “Photograph,” which was co-written with George Harrison, is a step above Ringo’s usual live offerings.
6. “All Those Years Ago” - George Harrison with Eric Clapton & Band (live in Japan, December 1991)
   As is the case with Ringo, it’s tough to find a great live cut from George Harrison. Like Lennon, his live shows are few and far between: other than a tour in 1974 (”Hari’s On Tour”) that blew out his voice by the fourth show, he mostly played one-off and charity gigs. One of these - the Concert for Bangla Desh - stands as a landmark of charity concerts: the first of its kind, and one of the most successful. But he mostly stuck to his gardening, until a lost bet with Eric Clapton had him on a short tour of Japan. And George did his best to keep his fans satisfied, as this live version of “All Those Years Ago” shows: while not the most peppy performance, George, Eric and band put a lot of work into the song, and it benefits from this effort.
7. “Get Back” - The Beatles (live on the roof of Apple Studios, 30 January 1969)
   To close things up, I include this, the third run-through of “Get Back” from the Apple Studios rooftop concert. This take is interrupted by the London Police, who are responding to a noise complaint by the studio’s neighbours (many think that this police action was actually brought on by The Beatles’ PR people as a way to “add a little edge” to what was turning into a very sad recording and filming process). So you hear the band get startled by the constables, your hear instruments drop out as the officers unplug the amps, and you hear Paul improvise new lyrics during the run-out (”You’ve been singing on the roofs again/And that’s no good/’Cos you know your mommy doesn’t like that/She gets angry/She gonna have you arrested!/Get back…”). And when all was said and done, John Lennon lets loose one of the classic lines of the Fab canon.

And I also offer this BONUS track:

• “Live And Let Die” - Paul McCartney & Wings (live in Seattle, WA, June 1976)
  I couldn’t leave this song out of a live Fabs retrospective, as it’s often one of the highlights of a live McCartney show. He tends to pull out all the stops on this: energetic performance from Paul and the band, lots of lights and lasers, and firworks that heat up whatever venue he plays. When I saw him perform this song at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas back in 1993, it was one of those “woah - wow!” moments. I decided on this performance from Wings Over America because it includes a live brass section, something that Macca should use again (not to dis on Wix, but synthesizers can’t beat real brass).

Download: “Can’t Buy Me Love” - The Beatles (mp3)
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Download: “Get Back” - The Beatles (mp3)
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Download: “Imagine” - John Lennon (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Maybe I’m Amazed” - Paul McCartney & Wings (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Photograph” - Ringo Starr & The All-Starr Band (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “All Those Years Ago” - George Harrison with Eric Clapton & Band (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Get Back” - The Beatles (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: “Live And Let Die” - Paul McCartney (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)