Contra Band Music

The Beatles arrived in Portsmouth on November 12th, 1963 for two concerts at The Guildhall. Both shows would end up being postponed until De...

The new book arrived here this morning, and it looks amazing! The printers did their usual superb job reproducing my photos and image scans...

King Kong, 1975 A minor upgrade (at the time) of the Washington DC kinescope, substituting "Shout!" for the truncated "Twist ...

The Beatles' sole touring visit to Ireland kicked off November 7th, 1963, as they flew from London to Dublin for a performance at the Ad...

Smilin' Ears, 1977 Another iteration of the June 30, 1966 Tokyo concert, this one lifted straight from Tobe Milo's double EP of the ...

On November 5th, 1963, the morning after their Royal Variety Show performance, The Beatles sat for an interview conducted in an unusual fash...

King Horn, 1986 By request, here is a double-LP of pirated "songs The Beatles covered", interspersed with interview excerpts of th...

October 1963 was a pivotal month for The Beatles; already firmly ensconsed atop the British pop scene, their appeal began to expand to other...

CBM, 1972 Some of the Xmas flexis, the Yellow Matter Custard BBC tracks, a Tony Sheridan single, and "Dig It". Side 1: - Dig It -...

Another BBC Radio interview, this one recorded October 3rd, 1963 for The Public Ear and broadcast November 3rd. The interviewer is Michael ...

contra-band music, 1970 This was the earliest bootleg to bear a "Contra Band Music" imprint; however, it bore no relation to the w...

The Beatles spent September 12th, 1963 at Abbey Road Studio 2, taping songs for their second LP, With The Beatles . The only reel to have su...

Togah, 1980 A 1-sided Tobe Milo LP; that is to say, side B is blank. It's not a 2-dimensional disc. Most of the content is the soundtrac...

The Beatles' summer of 1963 wound down with a six-night residency at the Gaumont Cinema in Bournemouth. Between shows on August 23rd, th...

Neon, 1986 A sumptuously-packaged double LP of French Beatle concerts, with the bootleg debut of the January 1964 show, and major upgrades o...

July 30th, 1963 was perhaps the busiest day yet in an already hectic summer for The Beatles. Beginning at 10am, they taped "Please Mr. ...

Contra Band Music, 1972 CBM's copy of an earlier bootleg, one of the first containing "Get Back" outtakes, plus a peace messag...

From July 22nd through 27th, 1963, The Beatles shared the bill with Gerry and the Pacemakers at the Odeon in Weston-Super-Mare. When not per...

HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD? Volume Four of the amazing Beatlegmania series is now available for pre-order! The newest installment is packe...

By request, here is the earliest Beatles-related bootleg, a mega-obscure LP containing an audience recording the Plastic Ono Band's perf...

On June 30th, 1963, The Beatles started a summer season of seaside resort concerts, at the ABC Cinema in Great Yarmouth. Backstage before th...

Crocodile/Bulldog, 1988 A double-picture disc set containing the Adelaide concert (sides 1 and 2), the Beatles Sing For Shell Melbourne tel...

On April 18th, 1963, The Beatles performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the first time, as part of Swinging Sound 63 , a multi-art...

no label, 1980 ZAP Records' copy of a Melvin bootleg, Ed's Really Big Beatle Blasts , the first bootleg to compile all three legenda...

The Beatles performed on BBC Radio on a regular basis throughout 1963, usually bantering with presenters such as Rodney Burke and Brian Matt...

King Kong Records, 1975 A repackaging of two earlier CBM titles, Supertracks 1 and Supertracks 2 . Side 1: - You Really Got A Hold On Me - ...

To kick off the new year, I'm taking a new approach to posting Beatles interviews and spoken recordings. Rather than jump back and forth...

CBM, 1974 The first, and for a long time, only, issue of the afternoon Paris concert from June 20th, 1965. Side 1: - Twist And Shout - She...

Disc jockey Tom Clay of CKLW-AM in Windsor, Ontario flew to London early in April 1964 to visit The Beatles at Twickenham Studios during fil...

Stash Records, 1988 Compilation of Beatles covering their favorite artists - one side each for Buddy Holly/Carl Perkins/Chuck Berry/...

On December 6th, 1966, in the midst of extended sessions for "Strawberry Fields Forever", The Beatles took time out to record some...

Audifon, 1978 Side 1: - Watching Rainbows - Madman - Mean Mr. Mustard/Madman - Blackbird - Honey Hush - Stand By Me - Hare Krishna Mantra - ...

Here is another of the many interviews John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave from their room in Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel during the May...

King Records, 1983 The second album in Yellow Dog's early 80's Get Back trilogy. Some fun Chuck Berry covers from Apple Stu...

The Beatles' only performances in Montréal took place September 8th, 1964 at the Forum (at 4:00 pm and 8:30 pm). It was the last stop pr...

Alternative Record Company, 1983 Sloppily-designed compilation with a handful of Beatles/Lennon outtakes, a song from Tokyo, a few Get Back ...

A few weeks into the prolonged "White Album" sessions, Paul flew to America to promote Apple Records and meet with Capitol executi...

Zakatecas, 1976 Pretty much a sampler from Sweet Apple Trax and Yellow Matter Custard , with some Christmas bits and "Some Other Guy...

Cleveland disc jockey Jerry G. Bishop would accompany The Beatles on their August 1965 North American tour, but a few months earlier, he had...

no label, 1981 Perhaps Audifon's best-selling title, the "Black Album" was a three-disc set of Get Back rehearsals packaged a...