Talk Downunder - The Beatles

 Vinyl Long Play · Raven Records / PVC Records · PVC 8911.
1982 · Australia.

"This album does not contain any music performed by The Beatles and is not a Capitol or EMI Records product. It is comprised of interviews and press conferences only."

 Back cover.

Labels.

Liner notes:

Side One.

1. MESSAGE FROM ENGLAND (0.55)
Studio tap. sent to DJ Barry Ferber. March 1964. George sands greetings from train carriage during filming of 'A Hard Day's Night'
2. HONG KONG (2.18) June 10
Interviews at President Hotel by Bob Rogers.
3. DARWIN (1.12) June 11
First interview on Australian soil, at Darwin Airport, by John Edwards.
4. SYDNEY (7.00) June 11
Description of arrival at Mascot Airport by Kevin O'Donohue. First Sydney press conference at Sheraton Hotel, before general media.
5. ADELAIDE (10.00) June 12/13
Interview on plane from Sydney by Bob Rogers. Appearance on balcony of South Australia Hotel, described by Bob Francis. Hotel room interviews by Bob Rogers
6. SYDNEY (3.30) June 14
Ringo interviewed by Garvin Rutherford en route to Melbourne to join rest of group.
7. MELBOURNE (5.52) June 15/17
Appearance on balcony of Southern Cross Hotel. Hotel interviews by Allan Lappin and Bob Rogers. Concert announcements at Festival Hall.
8. SYDNEY (5.06) June 18/21
Paul's birthday party at Sheraton Hotel. 'Good Guy' Mike Walsh gives Ringo a kazoo lesson. Interview on plane to Wellington by Bob Rogers.

Side Two.

1. WELLINGTON (5.30) June 22/23
Interviews at St. George Hotel by Bob Rogers.
2. AUCKLAND/DUNEDIN (14.55) June 24/25
Interviews at Royal International Hotel and The New City Hotel by Bob Rogers.
3. BRISBANE (2.48) June 29/30
Interviews at Lennon's Hotel by Tony McArthur.
4 SYDNEY (9.52) July 1
Farwell airport interviews by Bob Rogers and Garvin Rutherford.


THE TOUR SCHEDULE JUNE 1964.
Sunday 7: Flight from Amsterdam to London to Beirut
Monday 8: Karachi. Calcutta. Bangkok. Hong Kong
Tuesday 9: Hong Kong Princess Theatre, two concerts
Wednesday 10: Flight to Australia (evening)
Thursday 11: Darwin (2 am). Sydney, press conference
Friday 12: Flight to Adelaide. Centenial Hall, two concerts
Saturday 13: Adelaide, two more concerts
Sunday 14: Flight to Melbourne, Ringo arrives Sydney then Melbourne
Monday 15: Melbourne Festival Hall, two concerts
Tuesday 16: Melbourne, two more concerts. Lord Mayor's Reception
Wednesday 17: Melbourne, two more concerts
Thursday 18: Flight to Sydney. Sydney Stadium, two concerts
Friday 19: Sydney, two more concerts
Saturday 20: Sydney, two more concerts
Sunday 21: Flight to New Zealand
Monday 22: Wellington Town Hall, two concerts
Tuesday 23: Wellington, two more concerts
Wednesday 24: Flight to Auckland. Town Hall, two concerts
Thursday 25: Auckland, two more concerts
Friday 26: Flight to Dunedin, two concerts
Saturday 27: Flight to Christchurch, two concerts
Sunday 28: Flight to Brisbane, via Sydney
Monday 29: Brisbane Festival Hall, two concerts
Tuesday 30: Brisbane, two more concerts
Wednesday 1: Flight to Sydney, thence to London via Singapore, Frankfurt
Thursday 2: Arrival at Heathrow Airport, London

Edited and prepared by Glenn A Baker and Warren Barnett
Special thanks to Dave White & Radio 2SM, Bob Rogers and Max Barrenger for to and permission.
Ⓟ & Ⓒ 1981. Raven Records, Australia.
Not to reproduced without express permission.

Photographs from the book 'The Beatles Downunder' by Glenn A. Baker, published November 1981 by Wild & Woolley Press, Sydney, Australia
Dedicated to Dr. Winston O'Boogie.
Artwork by Pamela Collocott Typesetting by Kerry Bremner

One strict aspect of Beatle protocol was that the group always appraised cities land the reaction therein) equally, so as to never threaten civic pride or leave themselves vulnerable to charges of favouritism But this rule was rent asunder in Adelaide and then Melbourne as John Lennon declared, repeatedly and incredulously, "This is the greatest reaction we have ever received anywhere in the world" 

No single instance of Beatlemania throughout the the globe ever came close to the intensity and sheer magnitude of the social upheaval which accompanied the 1964 Australian Beatle Tour. No street crowds, in New York or London or Liverpool ever eclipsed the antipodean hordes which, at times, comprised a third of the entire population of a city. As Derek Taylor once declared: "It was clear that many of the eleven million people in Australia viewed The Beatles in a messianic light". 

Yet, for all its extraordinary features, the visit is invariably dismissed in Beetle reference books with the single line: 'June 1964. Far East Tour'; followed by copious detail of the 'Hard Day's Night' film premiere in London, About the only thing generally known is that stand•in drummer Jimmy Nicol deputised for Ringo on some dates. 

In a nutshell, the Australasian tour followed a May holiday which had followed the filming of 'A Hard Day's Night'. Ringo collapsed with acute tonsilitis on June 3 and Jimmy Nicol (from Georgie Fame's band) was recruited for shows in Denmark and Holland. He was retained for the first leg of the Far East trip when Ringo's discharge from the University College Hospital was delayed by few days, and played in Hong Kong and Adelaide. Ringo joined the group in time for the six Melbourne concerts. 

The Beatles played 32 concern in 19 days throughout Australia and New Zealand, performing before approximately 200,000 people. With a gross exceeding half a million dollars, it was the most successful entertainment venture ever staged in the two countries.
This album captures the words of the Fab Four as they made their way through the madness of a continent obsessed with all they had to offer. from the sharp cockiness of the early press conferences to the fatigued boredom of the later interviews. It is an audio accompaniment to the lavish book The Beatles Downunder' published by Wild & Woolley Press, Australia. 

---