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Another hectic day for the Beatles; eight hours inside a BBC radio studio followed by two separate “houses” at the Tooting Granada with the Roy Orbison package tour.
The BBC session was for both the second and third editions in their own series Pop Go the Beatles. Curiously, program three was taped first, between 9.30 am and 1:30 pm; number two was thenrecorded between 1.30 and 5.30. (A rehearsal element was included in thesetimings.) The Beatles’ guests in program three were Carter-Lewis and the Southerners and in program two the Countrymen.
Before the series began, the Beatles let it be known that they would use the privileged BBC airtime to broadcast songs that had formed the backbone of their pre-fame live repertoire. An article in the New Musical Express of 24 May 1963 stated: “The Beatles will sing five or six numbers in each presentation (program). R&B material will be strongly featured.” It was an interesting decision, for although they did play a few Lennon-McCartney numbers, they certainly could have featured them much more. Instead, the Beatles opted for versatility, letting the British public hear the songs they could no longer perform in live concerts now restricted to 20-25 minutes and hit material.
It was because of this decision that people have been able to hear – and preserve – studio environment, often live in-one-take recordings of rare Beatles performances, a huge cache of remarkable material.