It was Hamburg that did it. That’s where we really developed. To get the Germans going and keep it up for twelve hours at a time we really had to hammer. We would never have developed as much if we’d stayed at home. We had to try anything that came into our heads in Hamburg. There was nobody to copy from. We played what we liked best and the Germans liked it as long as it was loud - John Lennon

By far the best pop group of all time, and in the vanguard of the sixties sexual revolution, The Beatles served an extraordinary apprenticeship in the blue collar bars and rock ’n’ roll clubs of Hamburg’s St Pauli district.

There, before an audience of local gangsters and prostitutes, drunken sailors and rockers spoiling for a fight, over 800 hours onstage, they honed their presentational skills and evolved their image; at once fostering the humor and pioneering musical spirit that would be cornerstones of their future success.

The Hamburg repertoire was necessarily vast and varied and the Beatles’ Sound evolved from it. The demands imposed on the group encouraged an eclecticism that - it may be argued - would reach full expression with Rubber Soul and Revolver.

This panorama of influences involved naked first generation rock ’n’ roll, rhythm and blues, soul, rockabilly, country & western, show tunes, film themes and the era’s perfect pop craftsmanship - which Lennon and McCartney would look to emulate - Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Goffin and King.

Many of the songs performed by The Beatles onstage in Hamburg would be recorded for the early albums, appear in radio sessions, or surface later on their respective solo projects.

Hamburg was a hard school. It was where it all began.

This wondrous 2CD set complete with 67 tracks and a glorious 36-page booklet, opens its first disc with the fast-paced LITTLE RICHARD cut Long Tall Sally, the swing, jazz, rhythm and blues classic from RAY CHARLES Hallelujah I Love Her So, one of the greatest rock and roll recordings of all time with EDDIE COCHRAN and his own Hallelujah I Love Her So, and then choosing a few stand outs as we go, tracks such as the vibrantly upbeat Roll Over Beethoven (CHUCK BERRY), the timeless, luxuriant gold of PEGGY LEE’s Till There Was You and the twanging guitar of DUANE EDDY’s Three-30-Blues are gems, one and all.

Other highlights on the first disc include COCHRAN’s propellant rocker C’mon Everybody, the romantically timeless THE SHIRELLES’s track Will You Love Me Tomorrow and the vibrantly frenetic Hippy Hippy Shake (CHAN ROMERO), which are backed by such brilliance as JERRY LEE LEWIS’ frantic, manic piano work then brings us Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, two beauties from THE COASTERS, Tennessee’s favorite son, CARL PERKINS with his roustabout Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby, and then come both the jazz-grooved Hit The Road Jack (RAY CHARLES AND HIS ORCHESTRA) and the Beatles’ covered (on their first album) DR. FEELGOOD AND THE INTERNS cut Mister Moonlight.

Disc One:
1. LITTLE RICHARD Long Tall Sally 2. RAY CHARLES Hallelujah I Love Her So 3. EDDIE COCHRAN Hallelujah I Love Her So 4. LENNY WELCH A Taste of Honey 5. CHUCK BERRY Roll Over Beethoven 6. BUDDY HOLLY and THE CRICKETS Words of Love 7. PEGGY LEE Till There Was You 8. CHET ATKINS Till There Was You 9. CARL PERKINS Your True Love 10. DUANE EDDY Three-30-Blues 11. EDDIE COCHRAN C’mon Everybody 12. GENE VINCENT AND HIS BLUE CAPS Over the Rainbow 13. THE SHIRELLES Will You Love Me Tomorrow 14. CHUCK BERRY You Can’t Catch Me 15. CHAN ROMERO Hippy Hippy Shake 16. LITTLE RICHARD Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey 17. ARTHUR ALEXANDER Anna 18. THE COASTERS Besame Mucho 19. THE COASTERS Searchin’ 20. JERRY LEE LEWIS Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On 21. EDDIE FONTAINE Nothin’ Shakin’ (But the Leaves on the Trees) 22. BO DIDDLEY Who Do You Love? 23. BO DIDDLEY Mona 24. DUANE EDDY Moovin’ n’ Groovin’ 25. CARL PERKINS Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby 26. THE SHIRELLES Mama Said 27. RAY CHARLES AND HIS ORCHESTRA Hit The Road Jack 28. CHUCK BERRY Rock and Roll Music 29. LARRY WILLIAMS Dizzy Miss Lizzy 30. DR. FEELGOOD AND THE INTERNS Mister Moonlight 31. DINAH WASHINGTON September In The Rain 32. BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETS Everyday 33. BENNY GOODMAN QUARTET Moonglow.

The jam-packed second disc opens on what was a tremendously huge hit for Elvis in the mid 50’s, here sung by CARL PERKINS on Blue Suede Shoes, a pulsating trio from LITTLE RICHARD (all three of them downright beloved classics of their time), and amongst the others, other great pieces include the harmonized beauty Three Cool Cats (THE COASTERS), the high school, dance appeal of BOBBY VEE’s Take Good Care of My Baby and BO DIDDLEY’s foot-pumper Road Runner.

Other stand out cuts include the a couple of pearlers from GENE VINCENT AND HIS BLUE CAPS in both Be-Bop-A-Lula and the brilliant Ain’t She Sweet, the rockabilly sound of JOHNNY BURNETTE AND THE ROCK’N’ROLL TRIO on Lonesome Tears In My Eyes, the rambunctious Sweet Little Sixteen (CHUCK BERRY), and then come the rock on, big slapper sound of THE JODIMARS’ Clarabella, the feverish Shazam (DUANE EDDY), and rounding the collection out DEL SHANNON’s absolute classic Runaway, the insanely magnificent MARLENE DIETRICH cut Falling In Love Again, and both the flawless Baby It’s You (THE SHIRELLES) and the grand guitar master himself, CHET ATKINS with his Theme from The Third Man.

Disc Two:
1. CARL PERKINS Blue Suede Shoes 2. LITTLE RICHARD Tutti Frutti 3. LITTLE RICHARD Lucille 4. LITTLE RICHARD Good Golly Miss Molly 5. ARTHUR ALEXANDER A Shot of Rhythm & Blues 6. THE COASTERS Three Cool Cats 7. EDDIE COCHRAN Summertime Blues 8. EDDIE COCHRAN Three Steps to Heaven 9. DUANE EDDY Ramrod 10. BOBBY VEE Take Good Care of My Baby 11. BUDDY HOLLY and THE CRICKETS Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues 12. BO DIDDLEY Road Runner 13. GENE VINCENT AND HIS BLUE CAPS Be-Bop-A-Lula 14. GENE VINCENT AND HIS BLUE CAPS Ain’t She Sweet 15. CARL PERKINS Matchbox 16. EDDIE COCHRAN Twenty Flight Rock 17. JOHNNY BURNETTE AND THE ROCK’N’ROLL TRIO Lonesome Tears In My Eyes 18. CHUCK BERRY I’m Talking About You 19. CHUCK BERRY Sweet Little Sixteen 20. THE SHIRELLES Boys 21. RICHIE BARRETT Some Other Guy 22. THE JODIMARS Clarabella 23. THE OLYMPICS (Baby) Hully Gully 24. ANN-MARGRET I Just Don’t Understand 25. DUANE EDDY Shazam 26. RAY CHARLES My Bonnie 27. FRANK IFIELD I Remember You 28. DEL SHANNON Runaway 29. GENE VINCENT AND HIS BLUE CAPS Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine 30. MARLENE DIETRICH Falling In Love Again 31. BUDDY HOLLY Crying, Waiting, Hoping 32. CARL PERKINS Lend Me Your Comb 33. RAY CHARLES What’d I Say (Parts 1 & 2) 34. THE SHIRELLES Baby It’s You 35. CHET ATKINS Theme from The Third Man

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