Stop the Presses! Revise the Canon! Stolen Beatles Tapes Found!

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Raids Recover Original Beatles Tapes
1 hour, 1 minute ago

LONDON - Police raids in England and the Netherlands on Friday recovered what could be about 500 original Beatles tapes that were stolen in the 1970s, including some never-released tracks.

British police said the tapes were "priceless," and that the only such recordings that have been heard before were bootlegs.

Dutch police, who recovered all the tapes in the Netherlands, agreed, but said they were still analyzing the material.

"We're currently investigating whether they really are the originals, but it appears to be so," said prosecutor spokesman Robert Meulenbroek in Amsterdam. "There are about 500 tapes, so there's quite a bit to research."

Five people were arrested in separate police raids in England and Holland. Their names were not immediately released.

The tapes contain what are known as the "Get Back" sessions, which were to become an album in 1969 before the project was shelved. Some of the songs, including "Get Back" itself, became part of the "Let It Be" album, said London police.

For many devoted fans and collectors, the original reel-to-reel tapes would be a valuable recovery by Apple, the Beatles' record company. Over the years, pirate copies had turned up in Britain, continental Europe and the United States.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry led the investigation with help from London detectives. They first identified suspects who were thought to have been involved in the theft and handling of the tapes. Further inquiries across Europe led to the joint operation by British and Dutch police.

Two people were arrested Friday in West London, and three at an undisclosed location south of Amsterdam, police said.

― hstencil, Friday, 10 January 2003 19:24 (twenty-three years ago)

who gets to research them? DG to thread!!

DG (two years from now): "They were all horrible rubbish so I wiped them."

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 10 January 2003 19:28 (twenty-three years ago)

"Dutch police, who recovered all the tapes in the Netherlands, agreed, but said they were still ~~burning copies for friends~~ analyzing the material."

― hstencil, Friday, 10 January 2003 19:31 (twenty-three years ago)

I know this will make some of you unhappy (more special issues of MOJO with the Beatles on the cover, more BBC specials about the Beatles, more hype around anthologies), but I'm very pleased.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 10 January 2003 19:33 (twenty-three years ago)

don't bother me. Actually, I'd kinda like to hear some lo-fi Beatles rehearsal tapes, for some reason.

― hstencil, Friday, 10 January 2003 19:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I think I may have heard something from this at a party once, supposedly an early recording of "The One After 909." I was not in a state of mind to make any sort of realistic judgment about its authenticity though.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 10 January 2003 19:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes. The "Anthology" series has some my favorite stuff so these could be cool, too.

― christoff (christoff), Friday, 10 January 2003 19:49 (twenty-three years ago)

i listened to the anthology cd's last night. first time i've listened to the beatles in YEARS. i had given up on them. it's fun to hear them in their rough states. and guess what i realized??? they write damn good songs and have damn cool arrangements. who knew???

i was looking for the rough version(s) to Tomorrow Never Knows, but i guess it's not on the anthologies i have (2 & 3). if anyone would be a pal and get in touch with me if they have those songs, i'd be much appreciative

kisses

― JasonD (JasonD), Friday, 10 January 2003 20:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Just keep fuckin' Jeff Lynne away from them!

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 10 January 2003 20:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Follow up story: Paul demands to change writing credits on songs, Unfamiliar with particulars

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 10 January 2003 20:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Just keep fuckin' Jeff Lynne away from them!

Fortunately Jeff was George's friend so I think he's out of the Beatles loop now. I think the trick here is going to be keeping Paul away from them, which doesn't seem likely. I say they should be handed over to the Freelance Hellraiser but I don't imagine there'll be a groundswell of support for this proposition

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 10 January 2003 21:42 (twenty-three years ago)

if its tapes from the late 60s then its a pity it was all found. I'd like to hear rehearsals from the early 60s.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 10 January 2003 22:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Considering the disorganized state of the Beatles' affairs -- not just the row about McCartney/Lennon vs. Lennon/McCartney, but the fact that none of the interested parties can get to agree to a remastering of the original albums fit for CD consumption -- I'm not going to hold my breath that any of this is gonna see the light of an official release any time soon.

Anyway, from what I've heard of 'Let it Be' sessions stuff, much of the material is truly, miserably, pathetically (and fascinatingly) subpar. And there's no guarantee that the tapes are in any half-way decent condition.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 10 January 2003 23:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh wow, they finally found the "Get Back" tapes? Hurrah! I guess we can all look forward to the inevitable 4-CD box set with nine hours or so of a heroin-addled Lennon forgetting the words to his own songs and McCartney 'leading' the band through one half-assed Everly Brothers cover after another.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 10 January 2003 23:57 (twenty-three years ago)

where's a magnet when I need one.

― jack cole (jackcole), Saturday, 11 January 2003 00:13 (twenty-three years ago)

500 tapes? Christ...yo do realize what this means....

Anthology IV
Anthology V
Anthology VI
Anthology VII
Anthology VIII
Anthology IX
Anthology X
Anthology '95
Anthology '98
Anthology XP
Anthology: The Final Conflict
Anthology: The Phantom Menace
The Return of Anthology
The Curse of Anthology
Now thats what I call Anthology, volume #106...

and so on...

― Lord Custos Omega (Lord Custos Omega), Saturday, 11 January 2003 03:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Their very farts were surely genius. I want to hear it all.

― Rockist Scientist, Saturday, 11 January 2003 03:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Their very farts were surely genius.

Phoney beatlemania will never bite the dust.

― Ringo Counting His Money (jackcole), Saturday, 11 January 2003 03:34 (twenty-three years ago)

can i just echo what justyn said ?
i mean of *all* the eras for 500 tapes to be from.
couldn't be from any other era mind cause
circa 66/67 everything was actually use-able.
god i still love them so so much.

― piscesboy, Saturday, 11 January 2003 04:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Their very farts were surely genius. I want to hear it all.
You'll have to wait for "Now thats what I call Anthology, volume #273" before they get to that. But as a teaser "Anthology the Next Generation" has a medley of armpit noises.

― ultimate shlongdong (ultimate shlongdong), Saturday, 11 January 2003 06:27 (twenty-three years ago)

unfortunately it's ringos

― ultimate shlongdong (ultimate shlongdong), Saturday, 11 January 2003 06:30 (twenty-three years ago)

this just came in on the news: not only do the lost tapes contain several never-released tracks, but also the puffy remixes, special multimedia tracks and guest appearances from fred durst, justin timberlake and eminem.

― dyson (dyson), Saturday, 11 January 2003 08:30 (twenty-three years ago)

This is gonna be great as long as, instead of releasing takes 1 to 311 of Get Back, they put out a compilation of all the fighting in between. I'd buy that.

Also, if they do make more anthology type stuff, does George's wife get to be as involved as Yoko? Does she want to be?

How much is 500 tapes anyway? These aren't C90s, presumably, but studio masters. How long are they?

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Saturday, 11 January 2003 14:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't see why this is such a big deal. The Get Back tapes have been leaking since the album was recorded! In fact, the first Beatles bootleg ever was apparently Get Back stuff. In the way of related bootlegs, there's been The Black Album, Sweet Apple Trax, multi-volume The Let it Be Rehearsals, and giant box sets of 20-30 discs like the mammoth Get Back Journals and 30 Days and tons and tons of stuff so numerous it's insane.

I usually love their outtakes, things like complete CDs of all of the alternate takes of "Strawberry Fields" and whatnot (demos, 4-5 remakes, orchestrated versions, etc.) or even alternate mono mixes of White Album stuff but aside from 2 or 3 discs of highlights, Get Back outtakes are usually terribly dull to listen to.

― Adam Bruneau, Monday, 13 January 2003 01:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Studio reels IIRC are about half an hour (or perhaps less?)

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 13 January 2003 01:07 (twenty-three years ago)

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