It was 50 years ago on this coming July 2 that The Beatles played a concert in Madrid that long-running rumors say was recorded by fans. And it now turns out with high-quality equipment (for the time). To mark the show’s golden anniversary the recording is scheduled to be issued on that date as a vinyl album, and only in Spain.
Spanish news source Efe Eme reports that the concert at the Plaza de Toros – yes, a bullfighting ring – was taped on a quarter-inch reel-to-reel recorder using four microphones and a mixer. The 12-song set featured such Fab Four originals as “She’s a Woman,” “I’m a Loser,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Baby’s in Black,” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Feel Fine” and “Ticket to Ride” alongside such cover songs “Twist and Shout” (a 1962 #17 pop hit for The Isley Brothers), Carl Perkins’ “Everybody’s Tryin’ to Be My Baby,” Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” and Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally.” It is unclear as yet if Apple Corps – the company owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison that oversees rights to the band’s work (and does so rather tightly) – has given official authorization for the release.
