The
upcoming DVD of "The Beatles At Shea Stadium" from HMC will be the 10 song version, due to there being no existing film footage for the missing two songs (
"She's A Woman" and
"Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby"), as back when when this version was produced in 1991, it was believed that the raw elements from this filming were not saved after the TV special was produced in 1966. At the time, there was also no longer any offstage footage from this show other than what's in the film, but this version does have the 10 songs without any talking over any of the songs (in the earlier broadcasts, quotes from interviews with the Beatles, conducted by Larry Kane, was overdubbed to the soundtrack). As in earlier broadcasts of the film, "Act Naturally" is edited to the studio version of the song, because they felt Ringos singing was not up to par. Soundwise, this release will have strikingly better and stereophonic sound, with the screaming lowered and the music boosted so the performance should sound much clearer.
Of course, once it's out there, other bootleggers will be able to add the original sound as a selectable second audio option, and perhaps try to add the missing songs into the mix - perhaps with a slideshow for visuals.
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| Fan-made attempt to illustrate "She's A Woman" |
However, a rumour says that Paul McCartney has later managed to get hold of a copy of the film as it was before it was sent to Brian Epstein. As we know, the full version was sent to Brian Epstein in November 1965, and the two missing songs edited out by January 1966 - after which all leftover footage was binned. But rumour has it that someone who worked for Sullivan kept a full version of the show, and that his copy was bought by Paul McCartney in recent years. That copy will of course also have the soundtrack as it was before the January 1966 overdubs. So if Apple should decide to release The Beatles' Shea concert film at some point in the future, they may be able to bring us a version which includes the two missing songs. Ringo's original concert vocals for "Act Naturally" really aren't that bad either, they should stick with it.
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| Fan-made recreation: "Act Naturally" with the genuine concert audio of the song. |
Depending on the quality of that copy of the film, it may be used to some day bring us the ultimate official version of "The Beatles At Shea Stadium".
