Update (3/29/08)

Update (3/22/08)

Update (3/16/08) On the issue of the tapes themselves, we recently spent an evening with Eric Krasker's "Les Beatles: Enquete Sur Un Mythe, 1960-62 ("The Beatles: Investigation of a Myth 1960-62")" that features new research on the Beatles' work with Tony Sheridan, the Raymond Jones mystery, the sacking of Pete Best and the origins of the Star Club tapes. (The book, available currently only in French with a short English supplement, is planned for an eventual English edition.) Krasker published an essay on the tapes in Beatles Unlimited in 2003, which is reprinted in the supplement. He disputes previous contentions that there are four sets recorded and gives what appears to be good evidence there were only three. Sifting through the murky origins of the Beatles is no easy job. We're not going to contend Krasker is the final word, but all research is good. We look forward to this book coming out in English and seeing the full impact of Krasker's work.

Update (2/25/08)

Update (2/24/08)

Fuego Entertainment is proud to introduce the very first performance of the Beatles featuring the "Fab Four" John, Paul, George and Ringo. These tracks were recorded in late 1963 at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany and lost for over 33 years in the record and tape collection of legendary promoter/producer Mr. Jeffrey Collins. They are available now at Fuego Plus. Of the 15 "Lost" tracks seven were later recorded and released by The Beatles through EMI. Eight of the tracks were never released by The Beatles at all. Some of the tracks include Kingsize Taylor's Band "The Dominoes" who utilize their piano on such Beatles favorites as "Money", "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There".

None of tracks from this recording have ever been heard before. Some people are saying that several or all of these tracks are the same as the Star Club recordings from December of 1963. All of these tracks were recorded prior to that in the first ever live performance that included Ringo Starr after he had replaced Pete Best on the drums. Within a few days following this performance at the Star Club the tapes were hand delivered to Mr. Collins by the DJ he had booked into the Star Club the night the recordings were made.

The tapes are in bad condition after sitting for over 35 years in Mr. Collins collection. They have been processed to remove noise but the sound quality can be improved much more. Prior to releasing the final album the tapes will be digitally remastered using the latest technology.

We hope you enjoy learning about these historic recordings. Over the next few months we will be adding new information about these 15 tracks in Fuego Plus for all Silver and Gold members to enjoy. In addition Silver and Gold Fuego Plus members will be offered the opportunity to purchase the complete digitally remastered CD prior to it's general release.

The Complete Beatles "Lost" tracks:
1. ROAD RUNNER
2. HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE
3. A TASTE OF HONEY
4. MONEY
5. REMENICING
6. ASK ME WHY
7. I SAW HER STANDING THERE
8. SPARKLING BLUE EYES
9. LOVESICK BLUES
10. FIRST TASTE OF LOVE
11. DIZZY MISS LIZZY
12. DO YOU BELIEVE
13. OOH POOH PAH DOO
15. TWIST AND SHOUT
16. CANNONBALL

Fuego Entertainment Commencing Digital Re-Mastering of the Historic Lost Beatles Tapes, "Jamming with Beatles and Friends, Star Club, Hamburg, 1962" Marketwire February 20, 2008: 09:15 AM EST

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. (OTCBB: FUGO) announces that its majority owned joint venture Echo-Fuego has commenced the digital re-mastering and enhancement process to improve the quality of the historic Beatles lost tapes in preparation for its future release. The process will take a few months. Once finished the recordings will be part of an historic double CD featuring the 15 original recordings from 1963 and the 15 digitally enhanced recordings. The title of this historical collector's item is "Jamming with Beatles and Friends, Star Club, Hamburg, 1962".

This is an important historical recording because it was the very first time that Ringo Starr actually played with the group "live" after replacing Pete Best on the drums. Seven of the songs on this tape were later studio recorded and released by the group through E.M.I. but the remaining eight tracks were never released.

The recordings were made in 1962, a short time before their signing with E.M.I., during the FAB FOUR'S first live appearance together at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany playing before a small audience of about twenty to thirty people. The original tape of this live recording was "lost" for over 33 years in the record and tape collection of legendary music producer and promoter Mr. Jeffrey Collins.

The complete list of all the tracks and the story of how this historic lost Beatles tape came into the possession of Mr. Jeffrey Collins is now available on our Fuego Entertainment, Inc. web site at http://www.FuegoEntertainment.net.

This 15 track set was recorded at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany a short while after the Ted Taylor recordings and boast different and perhaps better takes of "A Taste of Honey" and "Hippy Hippy Shake" (using Tony Sheridan as a 5th Beatle). These are the only two songs found on the original Star Club releases with which this recording should not be confused.

Other tracks make good use of Kingsize Taylor's Band "The Dominoes" who utilize their piano on such Beatles favorites as "Money," "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There" all of which were subsequently used on the groups' first studio recordings for E.M.I.

What makes this album truly unique are the eight songs not available on any previously released L.P.s or singles -- which include Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" and George Harrison vocalizing Maurice Williams' "Do You Believe." One of the most outstanding tracks on this album must be "Ask Me Why" showing just how John Lennon and Paul McCartney became such a winning combination.

The release date will be announced in the near future. We invite Beatles fans around the world, our shareholders, members of the media and all interested parties to subscribe to our RSS news feed to receive Fuego news updates. Our RSS news feed link can be found on the front page of our website. www.fuegoentertainment.net.

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. is engaged in the production, acquisition, marketing, sales, and distribution of entertainment products. For more information, please visit Fuego Entertainment at http://www.fuegoentertainment.net.

Hi Steve,

I caught this broadcast on NBC yesterday morning. The report claims that this is the first time Ringo played with the band - incorrect. The report made it sound like the Star Club tapes were newly discovered - incorrect. Some of the "new" material, as you deftly mentioned, is definitely not The Beatles. Purple Chick, on the other hand, did it right! Love your site, Jim

Update (2/3/08) Here's a MSNBC report on the tapes with an interview with Jeff Collins, who is the person who provided the tapes to Fuego. The report includes a few more segments of audio than what we've heard from Fuego already. You can hear some of what the holders of the tapes claim is the Beatles definitely isn't.

This is what I've been waiting for for years and years. I've never liked any of the Star Club CD releases either grey market or black market. This is the ultimate digital compilation of this material. Back in 1977, I played the original Lingasong/Bellaphon album to death. I loved all the in between song banter which made listening to it for me like being there almost {well with the lo fi sound quality, being there down the hall a bit or in the men's room ;>) }. When I purchased this material on many different cd compilations most if not all of the between song stuff was edited out (why I don't know as it would have fit on one cd anyway). The reason, at least for me, to listen to the Star Club tapes is the atmosphere that comes through. With only the music there wasn't much atmosphere just bootleg quality live song recordings. I'm so glad to have these recordings back in their original form. Thanks for your wonderful Beatle Page.

Hi Steve !

I am Eric Krasker, author of the French book The Beatles: Investigation of a Myth (1960-1962) published in 2003.

I perfectly agree with Doug Sulpy's conclusions. If you except the 'Version III' of A Taste Of Honey, there's nothing new here. As previously indicated, most of this tape has been released before, either on the official double LP Bellaphon (and CDs) or on bootlegs. However, all these 15 tracks belong in fact to Set 3, not 4 as still wrongly claims Hans Olof Gottfridsson. Therefore, I Saw Her Standing There is actually Version II and not "Version III". In fact, Set 4 never existed as I clearly explained in my book and in this long article on the 'Ottawa Beatles site' .

Moreover, the song listed as 'Ramshackle Shake' in Gottfridsson's book, and as 'Beautiful Girl' on the Road Runner bootleg is in fact Sparkling Brown Eyes (Billy Cox), and sung by Keith 'Sam' Hardie (with the Dominoes). This song was originally recorded by Wanda Jackson and released in 1961 on Capitol (ST 1511).

You'll find all the details (and more!) in the English version of my book which will be published in 2008 by Atlantica. Compared to the French one, it will be a revised and updated version with previously unpublished documents.

You'll find the review of my book of 2003 (The French version) plus the one published in 2005 with Jean-Claude Hocquet (entitled : La France et les Beatles) in Beatles Unlimited (Holland – 2005).

Warmest Regards,
Eric Krasker

Hi Steve!

Hans Gottfridsson here, author of "The Beatles: From Cavern to Star-Club." Interesting to read about the Star-Club tapes. After read more about them it appears to be the very same material that I listen as SET 4 (p. 183-184) in my book. These tracks were known to Paul Murphy already when putting together the original Star-Club release, and a couple of the track where also used. What’s interesting is that the tracks and in-between chat on the set 4 tape has not been tempered with as is the case with the official releases. If I’m correct the tape include seven Beatle tracks. The rest is Kingsize Taylor and his band. The most interesting track, "Money," (is) a collaboration between the Beatles and Tony Sheridan. Unfortunately the sound is not very good.

Cheers!
PhD Hans Olof Gottfridsson

Life is sometimes funny isn´t it... The tape mentioned has been floating round for some years. I got it from at least two different sources. One in Europe and one in the US. If remember correctly Paul Murphy said to me when we spoke just after the book been released that a set of back up tape was lost from a studio during the work. This might be such a copy, but that’s only a guess.

Hi Steve, just to back up your interesting finds about the Fuego tape ... That FUEGO Tape is most likely the tape described as “Set 4” inside the book “From Cavern To Star Club” by Hans Olof Gottfridsson, Premium Publishing 1997, see p. 183/184 there.

Tape of 15 tracks consisting out 2 incomplete sets (running time 37:12), tr. 1-7 Beatles, tr. 8-15 Ted "Kingsize" Taylor, rec 30 Dec 1962 or 31 Dec 1962 at Star Club Hamburg, apparently by Adrian Barber tape is in the hands of a German collector states the 1997 book.

The tracks times are from the book, I updated the info a bit w/bootleg releases,
not known when the book was edited, therefore not all tracks listed in the book as “unreleased” have this status nowadays anymore.

1 Road Runner (McDaniel) 01:53 bootlegged on ROAD RUNNER
2 Hippy Hippy Shake (Chan Romero) 01:42 released on STAR CLUB LP/CD [Fuego clip 0:31]
3 A Taste of Honey (B. Scott - R. Marlow) 01:45 Version III previously unreleased [Fuego clip 0:34], different to released version I on Star Club LP/CD and bootlegged version II
4 Money (Scott / Marlow) 03:28 Version III, presumably Tony Sheridan ld-voc backed by Beatles, bootlegged on ROAD RUNNER
5 Remiscing (Curtis) 01:39, released on STAR CLUB LP/CD
6 Ask Me Why (Lennon / McCartney) 02:14 Version II, released on STAR CLUB LP/CD
7 I Saw Her Standing There (Lennon / McCartney) 02:47 (Fuego full clip 03:00),
comment: bootlegged on ROAD RUNNER; Version III, diff. to cv STAR CLUB, ROAD RUNNER clearer but misses 0:08 "Hello, Ich bin so schuechtern 1,2,3,4" announce, tape is complete but drop out during instrumental solo, bootleg CD “Quarrymen At Home Revisited” & XMAS EP has beep, w/"Prosit neues" announce; Paul said at end: „Danke schoen liebe Gaeste und Prosit neues ... let me hear you, let me hear you ...(Jahr)", judging from these announces the recording (IMHO) is rather from 31 Dec 1962, in Germany you wouldn’t say “Prosit neues Jahr” one day before last day of the year.

Book said then: After the Beatles introducing Horst Fascher, the tape recorder is turned off for a while

Tracks 8- 15 have presumably NO BEATLES INVOLVEMENT
Tracks 8 -10 are listed as “possibly Ted "King Size" Taylor & The Dominoes”
Tracks 11 -14 are listed as “Ted "King Size" Taylor & The Dominoes”
Tracks 7- 11 are bootlegged on ROAD RUNNER (see http://www.bootlegzone.com/album.php?name=ra-001§ion=1)
Tracks 12-15 are previously unreleased

8 Ramshackle Shack (unknown) 02:20 Gottfridsson lists this as "Ramshackle Shake", ROAD RUNNER as Beautiful Girl (2:08)
9 Lovesick Blues (C. Friend / I. Mills) 2:45 (Fuego clip 0:39)
10 First Taste Of Love (Pomus / Spector) 02:08
11 Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Williams) 02:58
12 Do You Believe (unknown) 01:59
13 Ooh Pooh Pah Doo (Hill) 02:42 Gottfridsson lists this as Coo-Poo-Pah-Doo Shimmy (= Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo)
14 Twist and Shout (Medley / Russel
15 Rebel Rouser (Connolly Priest / ScottTucker) 02:17 Gottfridsson lists this as "unknown vocal song",The Dominoes backing waitress Bettina Derlien.

To sum it up, “A Taste Of Honey” (Version III) seems really the only interesting track from that tape, when you consider the four unreleased Kingsize Taylor tracks as rather not so tensing.

All the best from Germany.
Evelyn

Astute Beatles fan are already calling foul. According to Steve Marinucci, who runs Abbeyrd's Beatles Page, of the four tracks on the Fuego site, only "A Taste of Honey" is unheard, and the "Lovesick Blues" cover isn't even by the Beatles at all. As for the sound quality, Marinucci says they are no better than earlier "Star Club" releases, which are decidedly lo-fi.

Here's the complete press release from Experience Hendrix:

January 15, 2008, SEATTLE, WA - Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., has responded to a spate of recent press announcements indicating that Fuego Entertainment has acquired North American rights to over 200 live performance music tracks by Jimi Hendrix. Experience Hendrix is the company founded by the late James Allen Hendrix, the father and sole heir of Jimi Hendrix. Since 1995, Experience Hendrix has owned and administered all the music and related rights created by the legendary guitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix.

Experience Hendrix is familiar with the material acquired by Fuego: it is a collection of inferior quality bootleg recordings of Jimi Hendrix previously marketed in the UK by the now defunct record company Purple Haze Records. During the past several years Experience Hendrix filed legal actions in the UK against Purple Haze and its affiliates, and won several UK court judgments which held that Purple Haze had no legal rights to release these recordings, and enjoined any further release of same. by the now defunct record company Purple Haze Records. During the past several years Experience Hendrix filed legal actions in the UK against Purple Haze and its affiliates, and won several UK court judgments which held that Purple Haze had no legal rights to release these recordings, and enjoined any further release of same. On May 24 of last year, the Court of Appeal in London upheld the 2006 decision of the English High Court rejecting the claims of Purple Haze's purported licensor John Hillman to ownership of interests in the music of Jimi Hendrix. It appears that Fuego Entertainment has purchased the discredited claims and inferior copies of Hendrix recordings from Hillman and/or Purple Haze and intends to resume their unauthorized distribution. Experience Hendrix serves notice that it will take all legal action necessary to remove this bootleg material from the market and recover damages against Fuego Entertainment and associated parties for infringement as authorized under applicable law. { END }

"A preliminary analysis:

- I Saw Her Standing There is the booted-but-not-released version.
- Hippy Hippy Shake is the released version.
- Lovesick Blues is the booted version (not the Beatles).
- A Taste Of Honey, however, is new.

The biggest clue is the line: "I dream of your *sweet* kiss and then" The other two versions have "I dream of your *first* kiss and then"

On that board, Doug Sulpy said this:

"Given Purple Chick's analysis (which I trust), it looks like what we might have here is a variant of the "Road Runner" tape, with additional material. ... I also think it's a good idea to sit back and wait and see what happens with this... and keep our fingers crossed that more new material appears."

Update II 9:20 A.M. (1/13/08) Here's a list of tracks that Fuego apparently has. This may not be complete: Road Runner, The Hippy Hippy Shake, A Taste of Honey, Money, It¹s You That I¹m Thinking Of [I don't know this is the actual title], Ask Me Why, I Saw Her Standing There, Ramshackle Shack, Lovesick Blues, First Taste Of Love, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Do You Believe, Ooh Pooh Pah Doo, Twist and Shout and Rebel Rouser. As in our earlier update, some of it has been released before and some of it isn't the Beatles at all. And the quality is, again, no better than the previous Star Club tapes.

Update (1/13/08) We have heard the short excerpts and one complete track that are on Fuego's site. Despite the hype of the press release, not all this stuff is new. Some of it has been released as part of the original Star Club tapes, some of it has been bootlegged and some of it ("Lovesick Blues," sorry to say) isn't the Beatles at all. And again, despite the hype in the press release, the quality is no better than the previous Star Club tapes. The only completely new track of what's circulating is the excerpt of "A Taste of Honey." None of this should be a surprise. We seen overhyped news of unearthed Beatle tapes come up before with the same result.

Update (1/12/08) We don't have a whole lot of new information to give you. No one we're aware of has heard any of the tracks. At least one online comment we saw said the Fuego website caused some spyware alarms to go up on their computer. Fuego took a day to send out confirmations to the Fuego Plus part of their website, but there were no Beatle music there that we could find. It seems that you'll have to pay to hear any of it at all.

(1/11/2008) Fuego Entertainment announced Thursday it has acquired 15 songs recorded by the Beatles at the Star Club in Hamburg after, they say, the ones that were released and stopped by the Beatles in a court suit several years ago.

The tapes will be made available online one at a time through Fuego's website. Fuego, formerly a company specializing in Latin music, announced just Wednesday it had reached an agreement with music producer and promoter Jeffrey Collins to form an English music division. The Beatle tracks Fuego has acquired come from Collins' collection.

Here's is the press release issued by Fuego Entertainment on Thursday:

Fuego Entertainment Acquires 15 "Lost", Never Before Released, Recordings by The Beatles

Thursday January 10, 6:00 am ET

MIAMI, FL--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 10, 2008 -- Fuego Entertainment, Inc. (OTC BB:FUGO.OB - News) today announced it has acquired 15 tracks of previously unreleased music by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, "The Beatles." The recordings were made in 1962, a short time before their signing with E.M.I., during the FAB FOUR'S first live appearance together at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany playing before a small audience of about twenty to thirty people. The original tape of this live recording was "lost" for over 33 years in the record and tape collection of legendary music producer and promoter Mr. Jeffrey Collins.

The Star Club Hamburg recorded most groups that appeared at their club in the late 50s and early 60s under a performance contract that included payment in full for any live recordings made at their club. Many of these recordings were released by Polydor (West Germany). However this particular tape was sold along with several others to Jeffrey Collins, of the Collins Organization, a booking agency in London, England. The original idea was that the tapes would be used to promote the Star Club as a venue and the groups to other clubs that the Collins Organization used. The tapes were in fact not touched until 1994 when, with the release of the B.B.C. tapes and a renewed interest in The Beatles, Mr. Jeffrey Collins decided to search for the lost tapes.

This 15 track set was recorded at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany a short while after the Ted Taylor recordings and boast different and perhaps better takes of "A Taste of Honey" and "Hippy Hippy Shake" (using Tony Sheridan as a 5th Beatle). These are the only two songs found on the original Star Club releases with which this recording should not be confused.

This is an historical recording because it was the very first time that Ringo Starr actually played with The Beatles "live" after replacing Pete Best on the drums.

Other tracks make good use of Kingsize Taylor's Band "The Dominoes" who utilize their piano on such Beatles favorites as "Money," "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There" all of which were subsequently used on The Beatles' first studio recordings for E.M.I.

What makes this album truly unique are the eight songs not available on any previously released L.P.s or singles -- which include Paul McCartney singing Hank Williams' "Lovesick Blues" and George Harrison vocalizing Maurice Williams' "Do You Believe." One of the most outstanding tracks on this album must be "Ask Me Why" showing just how John Lennon and Paul McCartney became such a winning combination.

The complete list of all the tracks, the complete story of how this "lost" tape from The Beatles came into the possession of Mr. Jeffrey Collins and sound clips from several of the recordings from this album will soon be available on our Fuego Entertainment, Inc. web site at http://www.FuegoEntertainment.net. When you enter the web site click on the "Fuego Plus" menu button.

"I am delighted to be given the opportunity to work with such professional businessmen within the Fuego Entertainment Organization and I am truly looking forward to running the new joint venture and achieving the goals that we will set for ourselves," said Jeffrey Collins.

"Our previously announced Joint Venture with Mr. Collins's Echo Vista Group, incorporates into our exciting music library an extraordinary, diverse, valuable catalog of music. In some cases, never released recorded music, The Beatles is only one example. I'm extremely excited about this acquisition and the future release of this historical Beatles album. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed music groups in the history of popular music," stated Hugo Cancio, President & CEO of Fuego Entertainment.

This one of a kind historical album will be released under the Echo-Fuego joint venture, a majority control music division of Fuego Entertainment. A release date will be announced in the near future.

Fuego Entertainment, Inc. is engaged in the production, acquisition, marketing, sales, and distribution of entertainment products such as short films, documentaries, television shows, music, and tour productions. Also, through its subsidiaries, the Company provides management and development of television stations, recorded music, and music publishing services worldwide. The music operations include discovery, production, development, and distribution of recorded music. The Company also markets its music catalog through compilations and re-issues of previously released music and video titles, as well as licenses tracks to and from other producers and record labels for various use, including film, documentaries, short films and television soundtracks. For more information, please visit Fuego Entertainment at www.fuegoentertainment.net.

This press release contains statements, which may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of Fuego Entertainment, Inc., members of their management, and assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements.

Apparently, the audio is not studio quality, but better (and from the way he sounded, easily so) than Star Club. Here's how this is going to work: They're going to put one full cut on their website plus 3 :30 second clips. You'll have access to them if you join the website ($4.95 a quarter). Every three months, they'll change the tune, maybe offer 2 for that quarter. Eventually, after all 15 tracks have been available on-line, as downloads, a conventional CD will be issued. And, according to the guy, the company has already checked with lawyers. So, this is a go. (By the way, one of the cuts is apparently already on line. And he says "Lovesick Blues" is marvelous.)