Record

Performance TitleSwinging Sound '63
Performance Date18 April 1963
Performance DayThursday
Performance Time20:00
Main PerformersRolf Harris - wobble-board,
Del Shannon,
Matt Monro,
Susan Maughan,
Ottilie Patterson,
Shane Fenton,
George Melly,
Kenny Lynch,
Eric Delaney - vocals
Orchestra or BandThe Beatles (George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr),

Shane Fenton and The Fentones (Shane Fenton aka Alvin Stardust - vocal, Jerry Wilcock, Mick Eyre - guitars, Graham George - bass guitar, Tony Hinchcliffe - drums),

Chris Barber and His Band with Ottilie Patterson,

The Springfields (Dusty Springfield - vocal, Tom Springfield, Mike Hurst - vocals, guitars),

The Vernons Girls (Maureen Kennedy, Jean Owen, Frances Lea),

Robin Hall and Jimmie MacGregor,

BBC 'Jazz Club' All Stars (Danny Moss - tenor sax, Diz Disley - guitar, banjo, Keith Christie - trombone, Lennie Hastings - drums, Mike Cotton - trumpet, Lennie Felix - piano, Tony Coe - clarinet, Jack Fallon - bass guitar),

Gerry and the Pacemakers (Gerry Marsden, Freddie Marsden, Arthur Mack, Les Chadwick, Les Maguire)
Set ListSetlist included:

'Please Please Me' (The Beatles),
'Misery' (The Beatles),
'Twist and Shout' (The Beatles),
'From Me To You' (The Beatles),
'Die Moritat von Mackie Messer (Mack The Knife)' (Ensemble)
Performance NotesThe event was produced for the BBC Light Programme series and was the third and final Light Programme pop concert.

Debut performance by The Beatles at the Royal Albert Hall.

They were programmed half way down a mixed bill. Introduced by George Melly, the band took to the stage in the first half to perform their hit 'Please Please Me' followed by new composition 'Misery'. They had planned to perform 'From Me To You' coupled with 'Thank You Girl' in the second half, but took the last minute decision to lead with the more up-beat 'Twist and Shout' before segueing into 'From Me To You', taking organisers by surprise in front of an ecstatic audience. The show finale saw The Beatles return to the stage to perform 'Mack the Knife' alongside everyone on the bill.

Most of the second half of the concert was relayed live on the BBC’s General Overseas Service (now the BBC World Service) but the overseas link only lasted until 10pm, missing the entire Beatles performance by two minutes.

The show has since become part of Beatles legend, because it was following this performance that Paul McCartney first met future fiancée Jane Asher, who was there covering the concert for the Radio Times, aged just 17 years. After being photographed screaming at the band, she interviewed them, joined them afterwards for drinks and a five year relationship with McCartney ensued.

"I met Jane Asher when she was sent by the Radio Times to cover a concert we were in at the Royal Albert Hall - we had a photo taken with her for the magazine and we all fancied her. We'd thought she was blonde, because we had only ever seen her on black-and-white telly doing Juke Box Jury, but she turned out to be a redhead. So it was: 'Wow, you're a redhead!' I tried pulling her, succeeded, and we were boyfriend and girlfriend for quite a long time."
(Paul McCartney, The Beatles Anthology)

The Rolling Stones were invited backstage for this concert as they had just met The Beatles. The Rolling Stones, '...watched in awe as the Beatles calmly applied their makeup and triggered a riot the instant they walked on stage to a non-stop barrage of bras and undies sailing over the footlights.'
('The Rolling Stones, Fifty Years', C Sandford, 2012)
Related Archival MaterialProgramme (RAHE/1/1963/48)
B&W Photograph of the Beatles taken outside the Hall (RAHE/3/1963/2)
URLhttps://thirdlight.royalalberthall.com/pf.tlx/6Q6v_L6vVgAvC
Catalogue
Reference NumberTitleDate
RAHE/1/1963/48Swinging Sound '6318 April 1963
RAHE/3/1963/2Photograph of the Beatles outside the Royal Albert Hall18 April 1963
Work
Ref NoTitleNo of Performances
Iomatyzioh_M_BSwinging Sound '631
Performers
CodeName of Performer(s)
DS/UK/5062Asher; Jane (5 April 1946); English actress, author and entrepreneur
DS/UK/10277Harris; Rolf (30 March 1930-10 May 2023); AO, CBE; Australian musician and television personality
DS/UK/13283Shannon; Del (1934-1990); American rock and roll singer-songwriter
DS/UK/12750Monro; Matt (1930-1985); English singer
DS/UK/13625Maughan; Marian Susan (1938-); English singer
DS/UK/9486Patterson; Ottilie (1932-2011); Northern Irish blues singer
DS/UK/12576Stardust; Alvin (1942-); English pop singer and actor
DS/UK/9555Melly; George (17 August 1926-5 July 2007); English jazz and blues singer, critic and writer
DS/UK/12526Lynch; Kenny (18 March 1938-18 December 2019); OBE; English singer, songwriter, entertainer and actor
DS/UK/9577Delaney; Eric (1924-2011); English drummer, bandleader
DS/UK/10829Vaughan; Frankie (3 February 1928-17 September 1999); CBE DL; English singer
DS/UK/694The Beatles (1960-1970)
DS/UK/9489Barber; Chris (1930-2021); British jazz trombonist, bandleader
DS/UK/13910Springfields (1960-1964)
DS/UK/11822The Vernons Girls (fl 1950s-1960s)
DS/UK/12089Hall; Robin (1936-1998); Scottish folksinger
DS/UK/12091Macgregor; Jimmie (1930-); Scottish folksinger and broadcaster
DS/UK/11512Disley; William Charles "Diz" (1931-2010); Anglo-Canadian jazz guitarist, graphic designer
DS/UK/6891Fallon; Jack (1915-2006); British jazz bassist
DS/UK/14000Gerry and the Pacemakers (1959-1966)
DS/UK/13994Moss; Danny (1927-2008); MBE; British jazz tenor saxophonist
DS/UK/13995Christie; Keith Ronald (1931-1980); English jazz trombonist
DS/UK/13996Hastings; Leonard "Lennie" (1925-1978); English jazz drummer
DS/UK/13997Cotton; Michael Edward "Mike" (1939-); English jazz and R&B trumpeter, flugelhornist, harmonicist, vocalist, bandleader
DS/UK/13998Felix; Lennie (1920-1980); British jazz pianist
DS/UK/13999Coe; Anthony George "Tony" (1934-); English jazz musician, composer
DS/UK/4336Springfield; Dusty (16 April 1939-2 March 1999); OBE; English pop singer and record producer
DS/UK/17264Marsden; Gerard "Gerry" (1942-2021); MBE; English musician, television personality
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