Although they were in the middle of a season of concerts at Margate’s Winter Gardens, The Beatles travelled to London to record shows six and seven of their BBC radio series Pop Go The Beatles on this day.
They rehearsed and recorded the first between 10.30am and 1.30pm, at London’s Aeolian Hall. The guests were Carter-Lewis and the Southerners.
The Beatles performed six songs: ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, ‘A Taste Of Honey’, ‘Nothin’ Shakin”, ‘Love Me Do’, ‘Lonesome Tears In My Eyes’ and ‘So How Come (No One Loves Me)’. Each of these versions was included on 1994’s Live At The BBC.
Show seven also featured six songs: ‘Memphis, Tennessee’, ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’, ‘Till There Was You’, ‘Matchbox’, ‘Please Mister Postman’ and ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’. Three of these – Memphis, Tennessee, Matchbox and The Hippy Hippy Shake – were included on Live At The BBC, and the remainder were issued on 2013’s On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2.
The guests on show seven were The Searchers. The programme was taped from 1.30-3.30pm, after which The Beatles returned to Margate for their first concert of the evening.
Show six of Pop Go The Beatles was broadcast from 5-5.30pm on the BBC Light Programme service on Tuesday 23 July, with show seven at the same time a week later.
The remainder of these songs were included Vol. 2 of the BBC recordings — at least according to the session notes for that set. Put these 12 songs in a playlist, and you’ve got a heck of an album!