It was 46 years ago today (June 13th, 1977) that the Beatles' pre-fame live album was released in the U.S. The infamous Live! At The Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany; 1962 album was culled from tapes recorded during Christmas week 1962. Although they have been advertised many times as being either a night in which Ringo Starr was sitting in for the band's first drummer Pete Best, or his debut performance with the group, he had in fact been a full member of the Beatles for over four months at the time of the recording. It should be noted that the Beatles were under contract to EMI Records at the time of the recording until today, which legally nullifies any claim of exclusive ownership to their performances.
In 1977, nearly 30 performances from the Beatles final stint in Hamburg were released as The Beatles – Live At The Star-Club In Hamburg, Germany 1962. It was the first ever live release to document the group's early, cover band repertoire. The group, who had never authorized the album's release, sued and won the rights to the master tapes in 1998. During the trial, George Harrison took the stand representing the Beatles and claimed that they never knew they were being recorded.
The recordings include several dozen songs, which were taped by fellow Liverpool musician Ted “Kingsize” Taylor over several nights. The Star-Club tapes feature many songs the Beatles never officially recorded, such as Tommy Roe's “Shelia,” Frank Ifield's “I Remember You,” Marlene Dietrich's “Falling In Love Again,” Chuck Berry's “Little Queenie” and “I'm Talkin' 'Bout You,” Fats Waller's “You're Feet's Too Big,” Gene Vincent's “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” Nat “King” Cole's “Red Sails In The Sunset,” Arthur Alexander's “Where Have You Been All My Life?,” and Buddy Holly's “Reminiscing,” among others.