A lost recording of The Beatles playing an intimate gig at a Buckinghamshire school over 60 years ago has been recovered – and could soon be on display for the nation.
Sir , John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr performed for pupils and teachers alike at Stowe on April 4, 1963.
Former student John Bloomfield, who was a teenage stage manager at the school at the time, captured the special gig on camera and hopes his recording will soon be enhanced with the help of special technologies.
‘Talks are underway to get [the tape] cleaned up and for a permanent home in a national cultural institution,’ BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, who uncovered the story, said.
She continued to : ‘John feels strongly that it should not end up, as so many Beatles relics have, in the vault of a private individual.’
Bloomfield thoughtfully placed a microphone at the front of the stage to record the gig, but feared the quality was worthless and kept it safely in storage for the best part of six decades.
During the concert, The Beatles played over 23 songs, including their second single Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, and I Just Don’t Understand.
The exciting revelation comes four months after it was confirmed that Sir Paul’s at the National Portrait Gallery later this year.
The exclusive images were taken by the musician between December 1963 and February 1964 – from the emergence of Beatlemania in Liverpool to performing on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York for an audience of millions.
Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm will run between June 28 and October 1 and is one of two major exhibitions that will launch the gallery’s summer programme.
