December 25, 2010 – 4:28 am

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THE BEATALS

Wildcat! [Madman 13/14, 2CD]

Very good home recordings.

Yes, the famous “Beatles” did briefly spell their name “Beatals” (circa 1960). This two-CD set, on Vigotone subsidiary label “Madman”, is the most thorough collection of the Liverpool home recordings made by Paul McCartney on a primitive borrowed tape recorder. These drumless recordings feature occasional bass guitar… by early member Stu Sutcliffe, and are the only recordings of him. - Philip Cohen

It was to their mutual delight that Paul’s school and John’s art college were in adjoining buildings. Now it was easy for John to find an accomplice in playing truant, and the two of them spent long afternoons together at Paul’s house in Forthlin Road, practising songs, teaching each other chords, and raiding the pantry for jam butties. Sometimes they’d play standing in the tub in the tiled bathroom to get a better echo. Their voices complemented each other perfectly, with Paul’s sweet, round tones softening the edges of John’s strained nasality. The harmony they produced, an intertwining that seemed to melt into a third, unheard voice, was lovely.

An affectionate songwriting competition developed between them, one they would use to fuel their creative spirit for years to come. One day Paul played for John a song of his own composition, and John improvised one on the spot so as not to be topped. Although they composed together for only the first year or two, they wrote over a hundred that first year.

John found that it was easy to compose the beginning melody for a song, but he got stuck for a transition and a break. Paul had a special facility for writing the “middle eight” bars. Paul’s mellow, pretty melodies in turn complemented John’s strident rock riffs. On those first afternoons in Paul’s living room, it seemed like the pieces of a vast puzzle were falling into place.

- The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story Of The Beatles, by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines

Completists might want to search out Misterclaudel’s Lapis Lazuli (2010) and Purple Chick’s Strong Before Our Birth for more early Beatles.

Thanks to Phil for sharing the tracks.

Note: A longtime music fan, Philip Cohen was a contributor to the now-defunct ICE Magazine and compiled the boxsets for The Yardbirds, The Small Faces, Humble Pie and Nice.

Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality MP3s - sample rate of 224 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD in full.

Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. It could be that the server was very busy. Please try again later. Kindly email us at [email protected] if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files.

Disc 1

Track 101. Wildcat #1 (1:24) (2.4MB)

Track 102. Wildcat #2 (2:24) (4.2MB)

Track 103. I’ll Always Be In Love With You (2:19) (4.0MB)

Track 104. You’ll Be Mine (1:42) (3.0MB)

Track 105. Matchbox (0:53) (1.7MB)

Track 106. “Some Days” (1:32) (2.6MB)

Track 107. Cayenne (2:28) (4.0MB)

Track 108. One After 909 (1:28) (2.6MB)

Track 109. “Well, Darling” (3:19) (5.7MB)

Track 110. “You Must Write Everyday” (2:32) (4.1MB)

Track 111. That’s Where Your Heartaches Begin (1:14) (2.0MB)

Track 112. Hello Little Girl (1:51) (3.2MB)

Track 113. The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise (2:30) (4.5MB)

Track 114. “I Don’t Know” (Improvisation)(5:52) (9.5MB)

Track 115. “I Don’t Need No Cigarette Boy” (5:53) (Improvisation) (10.1MB)

Track 116. “That’s An Important Number” (Improvisation) (7:49) (13.4MB)

Track 117. Improvisation (4:56) (8.0MB)

Disc 2

Track 201. I’ll Follow The Sun (1:46) (2.9MB)

Track 202. Hallelujah, I Love Her So (2:12) (4.4MB)

Track 203. One After 909 (2:25) (4.2MB)

Track 204. Movin’ And Groovin’ / Ramrod (3:45) (6.1MB)

Track 205. Improvisation (11:44) (20.0MB)

Track 206. Improvisation (7:42) (13.1MB)

Track 207. Improvisation (11:06) (18.9MB)

Track 208. Improvisation (17:40) (30.0MB)

Click on the link to order The Beatles ‘ Anthology series.