Happy 70th Birthday John!

A 20-year-old John on his recently purchased Rickenbacker 325 in 1961 at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg.

Another American rock & roller from whom the early Beatles drew some of their Hamburg and Liverpool-era material was, in Sir Paul McCartney's own words (from his Roots of Rock program, which I heard on the BBC World Service while living in Norway during the fall of 1999), "The Great Larry Williams."

A favorite Larry Williams number, which John used to sing, was Slow Down. As always, click on the previous highlighted text to be transported magically to Larry's original recording of the song. What a rockin' tune!

Even better, click here to hear The Beatles performing the song live at the BBC during 1963, a recording which I think provides a pretty good idea of how the band must have sounded onstage in Germany and Britain between 1960-62. . . not forgetting the poor quality Star Club recordings of course. Don't you just love Youtube? Enjoy!

Yeah, yeah, boys!

Here's a shot of Pete Best taking the lead vocal on some song with Paul on the drums. Who's handling the bass though? Is that Paul's bass in George's hands?

During their formative years in Hamburg and Liverpool, the Beatles included tunes by several American R&B "girl groups" in their song catalog. One number, sung by original drummer Pete Best, was Boys , a tune written by Lester Dixon and Wes Farrell and recorded by the Shirelles. The song was the B-side of the better known single Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, released in late 1960. As usual, click on the previous highlighted length to hear the original tune. Boys is also notable as the first lead vocal taken by Ringo Starr in the recording studio when the Beatles recorded their album "Please, Please Me" in February 1963. Click here, to hear that completely rockin' version of the song. Enjoy!