The Beatles Live At The Hollywood Bowl To Be Released On CD For First Time

For the first time since it was released on vinyl in 1977, The Beatles: Live at the Hollywood Bowl is about to be released in an expanded version by Apple Corps, Ltd.

The original album contained songs from two shows at the venue over the course of a year, August 23, 1964 and August 30, 1965. A third show, on August 29, 1965, was also recorded but the sound quality was deemed unusable although one small part of the song Dizzy Miss Lizzy was used from that show and put into the August 30 performance.

The concerts were recorded on three-track tape, something that wasn’t readily available in 1977 when it was decided to release the shows. A compatible machine was found but it started melting the tape so a vacuum was used to blow cool air over the player while the music was transferred to sixteen-track media.

The 1977 album was considered important and made many year-end lists but the sound was seriously lacking. The masters were not good sonically and the sound of the screaming girls was overpowering. Still, the album filled a need for fans, being the band’s first (and only) live album, going to number 1 in the U.K. and number 2 in the U.S.

While this new version of the album chronicles the original shows, it is not a simple rerelease. The recording is sourced from the original three-track tapes and producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell have completely remixed and remastered the songs in an attempt to preserve the excitement of the shows while presenting them with the best available clarity and quality.

Giles Martin said “A few years ago Capitol Studios called saying they’d discovered some Hollywood Bowl three track tapes in their archive. We transferred them and noticed an improvement over the tapes we’ve kept in the London archive. Alongside this I’d been working for some time with a team headed by technical engineer James Clarke on demix technology, the ability to remove and separate sounds from a single track. With Sam Okell, I started work on remixing the Hollywood Bowl tapes. Technology has moved on since my father worked on the material all those years ago. Now there’s improved clarity, and so the immediacy and visceral excitement can be heard like never before. My father’s words still ring true, but what we hear now is the raw energy of four lads playing together to a crowd that loved them. This is the closest you can get to being at the Hollywood Bowl at the height of Beatlemania. We hope you enjoy the show…”

Along with the original thirteen tracks, in the original running order, four new songs from the show have been added. Also included is a 24-page booklet with a new essay by journalist David Fricke.

The Beatles: Live at the Hollywood Bowl will be released on CD and via digital download on September 9 followed by an 180-gram gatefold vinyl LP on November 18. The album is being released in conjunction with Ron Howard’s new documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years which will have its U.K., French and German premiers on September 15 followed by the U.S. Australia and New Zealand on September 16 and Japan on September 22. In the U.S., it will be available on Hulu starting September 17.

The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl track list

Twist and Shout [30 August, 1965]
She’s A Woman [30 August, 1965]
Dizzy Miss Lizzy [30 August, 1965 / 29 August, 1965 – one edit]
Ticket To Ride [29 August, 1965]
Can’t Buy Me Love [30 August, 1965]
Things We Said Today [23 August, 1964]
Roll Over Beethoven [23 August, 1964]
Boys [23 August, 1964]
A Hard Day’s Night [30 August, 1965]
Help! [29 August, 1965]
All My Loving [23 August, 1964]
She Loves You [23 August, 1964]
Long Tall Sally [23 August, 1964]
You Can’t Do That [23 August, 1964 – previously unreleased]
I Want To Hold Your Hand [23 August, 1964 – previously unreleased]
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby [30 August, 1965 – previously unreleased]
Baby’s In Black [30 August, 1965 – previously unreleased]