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Monday 27 April 2015

The stereo Star Club

The Beatles: Zu Laut! Live at the Star Club Hamburg
The same people who recently released the ultimate BBC upgrade collection now have made available a mock stereo version of The Beatles Live at The Star Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962.
The digital stereo processing allows you to discern each instrument better than previous mono releases of the material.
The new release is a 2CD + 1DVD package with the title "The Beatles: Zu Laut! Live at the Star Club Hamburg".

Track listing of the two CDs
The DVD contains a load of 1966 interviews with Peter Eckhorn, Manfred Weissleder, Hans Walther Braun (who plays part of his tape) and Bettina the barmaid from the Star Club. For the first time, these interviews have been translated and are presented with selectable subtitles on the disc. It also has an an 80 minute slideshow with about 200 photos covering their time in Hamburg from 1960 to 1962, set to the soundtrack of the CDs, plus an onscreen transcript of what is being sung and spoken. The transcript shows up on screen by default but you can disable it if you just want to watch the pictures. Other material on the dvd includes: archival footage of the Reeperbahn and Grosse Freiheit, a guided tour of the Grosse Freiheit with Tony Sheridan, the 1972 Nationwide feature on the Star Club Tapes, a five minute sequence shot inside the Star Club for the tv series Hafenpolizei in 1962, footage shot inside the Top Ten and Star Club in 1966, Bruno Koschmider's films of the Bambi, Indra and Kaiserkeller; and colour footage of the Reeperbahn and Grosse Freiheit from 1959.

The CD/DVD package has been provided free of charge from the same community of Beatles fans and collectors that gave us the BBC collection. No doubt it will soon be ripped off by bootleggers. Since the Star Club recordings were made in the out-of-copyright-in-EU year of 1962, it may even be released legally in Europe.

13 comments:

vagma said...

The Lord writes: "Thank you wogew for the cover!)"

This is the cover of the EP with a photo of the very early Beatles.

But is the photo genuine? Or is it photoshopped?

wogew said...

The EP was a sampler record released before the full set. The cover of the EP is a genuine 1962 photo of the Beatles on the Star Club stage in late 1962, but has been colourised from a black and white photo.

georgefromhenley said...

The colour Star club photo was taken from a postcard from around 1964. The Beatles is from the first Star Club stint - not their last when the tapes were recorded.

wogew said...

The postcard and photo was depicted in my earlier blog post, hence the "thank you" I think. Also, the same photo as on the EP cover was used in black and white on the 2014 OxTango release. Yes, georgefromhenley, the image of the Beatles on stage on the full version Zu Laut postcard cover CD is from an earlier visit by the Beatles, and originally Roy Young could also be seen in that photo.

vagma said...

A fantastic photo! Thank you so much for the info!

phil overture said...

original photo...
http://i0.wp.com/www.beatlesbible.com/wp/media/1962-star-club_06.jpg

Unknown said...

Just a question about the DVD subtitles on the slideshow. These don't appear to be selectable on my copy. Am I missing something?

Anonymous said...

As I've never heard the Star Club stuff, this looks like the release I want of it. Great package!

Ariel C said...

Really loved the DVD. Never knew John did not play on 'till There Was You. Really enjoyed the recordings!

Unknown said...

Where can I get a copy of this?

phil overture said...

Here, Mike....

http://www.bootlegzone.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32260

You'll find the link to the CDs on page 5. The DVD links are a bit later.
I have to say I wasn't very impressed with the sound, especially when compared to the first generation samples that Roger posted a while back. I'll wait for a better source.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the info as always. So, since I'm always late, where can we get it now, that previous link is no longer available.

phil overture said...

Paul, Try here...

https://mega.co.nz/#F!ds8QHa5C!lU38Zj0VHBjG6V6xy4ekKw

It's under 'Non BBC Projects'.