Video: 'The Beatles in Hamburg'

(Saturday, October 15, 1960, afternoon Central European Time; during The Beatles in Hamburg) — For the very first time, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — the final line-up of The Beatles — recorded music together today in Hamburg, West Germany.

The lads from Liverpool, England, were the backing group for Lu Walters, whose real name was Walter Eymond, on a version of a version of the George Gershwin classic “Summertime” and possibly “Fever” and “September Song.”

Walters was the bassist in Rory Storm’s band The Hurricanes, which also featured Starr on drums at this time (Starr would not formally join The Beatles until August 1962).

The recording was made in the small Akustik Studio, located by the railway station at Kirchenallee 57, Hamburg, where members of the public were able to record messages for family and friends and have them pressed to 78rpm acetate discs. The discs had spoken word advertisements on the b-sides.

Two others members of The Beatles at this time — bassist Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best — were not part of this recording. Sutcliff (who would leave the group in 1961) was present but didn’t play and Best, who would be replaced by Starr 22 months later, was not present.