THE BEATLES – STOWE SCHOOL, 1963

ByBeatles Magazine

Jun 2, 2024 #The Beatles

The Stowe booking came about when a pupil at the school, David Moores – from Liverpool and later chairman of Liverpool FC, he was a member of the prominent family which owned Littlewoods football pools – wrote to the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein in January 1963 to enquire if the band would play the school. Despite their increasing success and the draws on their time, Epstein agreed to the booking. He wrote back “It would be a great pleasure for the boys to appear at Stowe, but I must advise you they are heavily booked and I can’t make much allowance with regard to their fee.” Epstein quoted £100 in his letter. Moores confirmed – and after a little hiccup when Epstein asked for someone over 21 to sign the contract – the 240 tickets were sold at 10 shillings each. In comparison, a 7 March show, in Nottingham and for the public, had a ticket price of 6s and 6d. The relatively pricey Stowe performance was planned for 5.30pm that April Thursday.

That would have been it, an oddity in the Beatles calendar, a show performed at a public school (i.e. a private school) just under two weeks after the release of their first album Please Please Me and a week before their third single, “From me to You,” was in shops. The band had just completed a UK tour with Chris Montez and Tommy Roe where they weren’t the headliner. Nonetheless, they were on the up.

This extraordinary, historically significant recording is the earliest full Beatles show from the UK to have emerged. Sandwiched between the release of debut album Please Please Me and “From me to You,” it catches the band as they bulldozed their way into the national consciousness. The album was a best seller, as was its preceding single “Please Please me.” The word was out. There had been two recent national TV appearances, each on ABC’s Thank Your Lucky Stars in January and February. Specially taped appearances on BBC radio were increasingly frequent: the morning of the Stowe concert, they taped tracks for Side By Side, broadcast on 24 June. The day after the Roxburgh Hall appearance, they were at EMI’s London headquarters to receive silver discs – their first – for the “Please Please me” single, a ceremony at which they played a couple of songs. That evening, a show at east London’s Leyton Swimming Baths.

The Beatles Stowe School 1963This atypical approach to promotion was witnessed by the audience gathered in the Roxburgh Hall of Stowe School, a Buckinghamshire all-boys institution hosting a late afternoon concert.

“We hope if you like it, you’ll buy it,” says Paul McCartney. It’s 4 April 1963 and The Beatles are on stage and about to perform their third single “From me to You.” It’s out in a week.

To his left, John Lennon instantly responds to the entreaty. “And if you don’t like it,” he retorts. “Don’t buy it.”

Just under 60 years on from the show, the BBC’s Samira Ahmed – a big Beatles fan – was on holiday in 2022 and given a chance to visit Stowe School.

After Ahmed was put in touch with some old pupils a twist emerged. David Moores had recently passed way, but there were hints the concert had been recorded. John Bloomfield, aged 15 then, had indeed taped it on a Butoba MT5 recorder which ran on 12 batteries. He used a reel of BASF tape and fixed a microphone to the front of the stage. He still had the recording. Mark Lewisohn was contacted. Samira Ahmed began looking into the Stowe show.
Brian Epstein had booked the band to play two half-hour sets. They arrived late, so played one long set. The tape catches 22 songs – digging has found that they performed 24: the tape ran out, so “Sweet Little Sixteen” and “Long Tall sally” were not recorded. Both sides of the forthcoming “From me to You”/”Thank You Girl” single are played: up 10th and 11th. “Baby It’s You,” “Chains,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret” “P.S. I Love You” and “There’s a Place” from the Please Please Me LP are not heard. George Harrison had lost his voice, which maybe explains some of the omissions.

Also, Billy J. Kramer’s version of Lennon and McCartney’s “Do You Want to Know a Secret” was heading up the charts at this time, perhaps a reason to shy away from the song in a live setting.

At the end of song two, “Too Much Monkey Business,” the response is audible but understated. When they play “Some Other Guy” Paul mentions the Big Three’s single version. Cue a “boo” from John.

What did change at Stowe though was how they approached what was being played. The ad hoc nature of the long set is acknowledged 40 minutes in, after “Twist and Shout.” “As you may have noticed,” says Paul. “This is a bit unrehearsed, we thought we’d be doing two half-hour spots.” Requests shouted from the audience are played: “Anna,” “Please Please me.” Following “Ask me Why,” Paul goes all the way by asking “Any requests?” A shouted “How do You do it” is ignored.

In 1963, The Beatles had two national UK tours under their belt and there were one-nighters too.
A noteworthy diversion at Stowe is the version of Ann-Margaret’s waltz-time “I Just Don’t Understand” which, until this point, was only known from when it was recorded for one of their Pop Goes The Beatles radio shows in July 1963. Before playing it, John remarks “We’d like to do one we haven’t done for a bit, cos we don’t usually play this long.”

THE BEATLES AT STOWE SCHOOL, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND 4 April,1963. Piece of history. Recording made by schoolboy John Bloomfield ★The 1st LIMITED EDITION includes a BONUS CD included 2 DISC SET,with the best sound quality+Notes & Booklet. ORDER YOUR COPY HERE:

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★DISC-1
Stowe School, Buckinghamshire, England (April 4, 1963)
1 introduction
2 I Saw Her Standing There
3 Too Much Monkey Business
4 Love Me Do
5 Some Other Guy
6 Misery
7 I Just Don’t Understand
8 A Shot of Rhythm and Blues
9 Boys
10 Matchbox
11 From Me To You
12 Thank You Girl
13 Memphis Tennessee
14 A Taste of Honey
15 Twist and Shout
16 Anna (Go To Him)
17 Please Please Me
18 Hippy Hippy Shake
19 I’m Talking About You
20 Ask Me Why
21 Till There Was You
22 Money(That’s What I Want) (cuts out)
23 I Saw Her Standing There (reprise)
BONUSTRACK/EMI House, London (April 5, 1963)
24 From Me To You 0:50
25 Please Please Me 2:54

★BONUS 1CD
1 I Saw Her Standing There
2 Too Much Monkey Business
3 Love Me Do
4 Some Other Guy
5 Misery
6 I Just Don’t Understand
7 A Shot of Rhythm and Blues
8 Boys
9 Match box
10 From Me To You
11 Thank You Girl
12 Memphis Tennessee
13 A Taste of Honey
14 Twist and Shout
15 Anna (Go To Him)
16 Please Please Me
17 Hippy Hippy Shake
18 I’m Talking About You
19 Ask Me Why
20 Till There Was You
21 Money(That’s What I Want)