This was the 13th and final date of The Beatles’ last residency at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, situated on Große Freiheit off the infamous Reeperbahn.
The residency had begun on 18 December 1962, and saw The Beatles perform for a total of 39 hours over 13 days.
The Beatles had previously appeared at the Star-Club in April-May and November 1962. This time around they each received a fee of 750 DM (£67) per week. They performed for three hours each night, with a night off on Christmas Day.
The Beatles were reluctant to fulfil this contractual obligation, as their profile in Britain was rapidly ascending. Back home they were enjoying burgeoning chart success, more prestigious live shows, plus television and radio appearances. Despite the enduring fondness they felt towards Hamburg and its residents, there was little the city could do for their career now.
Recordings of The Beatles’ performances from this period were released in 1977 on the double album Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962. The group was taped by the Star-Club’s manager, Adrian Barber, at the request of musician Ted ‘Kingsize’ Taylor.
Barber used a Grundig reel-to-reel home tape recorder and a single microphone. Although commonly held to come from 31 December 1962, it is likely that the Star-Club recordings date from a range of nights in that month.
I’m listening to those recordings right now!
The Star Club recordings have fascinated me since I first heard them in 1977 and I have read a a lot about them over the years. I do realize that they are now likely to be from several performances, most likely from different days as well. The tapes have been used to give copies to the original tapers´ friends over time, different selections of songs have been used each time so the mix-up will remain until somebody finds the actual original reels and get the correct order of the recordings. But even if the date(s) are uncertain, I post the following on this date on this Forum as that is the most common date used.
One thought about them that I have been unable to find is how many people would have been present on a standard night? Of course, if 31 December 1962 is correct, that is not a standard night as it was New Year´s Eve but anyway…
So based on what we can hear on the tapes we have access to in terms of cheering and clapping and such, what would you think is the attendance -50 people? 100? What was the capacity for the club?
I found some more pictures of their final night at the Star Club. Johnny and the Hurricanes, my band, shared the stage with them that night. You can see these and many more Hurricanes historical facts at .
We need more of these recordings! Hundreds of hours more please..
These Star-Club tapes should be the next ones put through Peter Jackson’s software for clean-up. Just imagine the sound improvement on such an aural historical document.