The UK’s earliest known full live recording of The Beatles has been unearthed
The BBC has shared an hour-long recording of The Beatles playing live in 1963. The recording, which was made by then-15-year-old schoolboy John Bloomfield at the private boarding school of Stowe, is the earliest known full live audio of the band playing in the UK. It was made on April 4th, 1963.
The Beatles were invited to perform at Stowe after another pupil called David Moores wrote to manager Brian Epstein and requested that the band play at the private school. The Beatles were paid a fee of £100 for the performance, which Moores raised by selling tickets to his schoolmates.
The BBC broadcast parts of the recording on Radio 4’s Front Row to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the performance. Bloomfield, now in his 70s, said that the event seems “ridiculous in retrospect”.
“No one knew who the Beatles were at this school but they turned up and played an incredible concert and that was the beginning of the ’60s as far as we were concerned – it was fabulous,” he said.
You can hear a clip of the unearthed recording below.
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