Following a four-month gap spent touring and recording, The Beatles returned to the BBC on this day to record a session for the music radio programme Top Gear.
The session took place at London’s Playhouse Theatre from 7.30-11.30pm. The Beatles performed six songs: ‘I’m A Loser’, ‘Honey Don’t’, ‘She’s A Woman’, ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby’, ‘I’ll Follow The Sun’, and ‘I Feel Fine’. They also gave an interview to host Brian Matthew.
The show was first broadcast on 26 November 1964 on the BBC Light Programme service, from 10pm-midnight.
Five of the six songs were later issued by Apple Corps. ‘I’m A Loser’, ‘She’s A Woman’, ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby’, and ‘I Feel Fine’ were all included on 1994’s Live At The BBC, along with the speech track ‘Riding On A Bus’.
‘I’ll Follow The Sun’ was released as part of the same year’s ‘Baby It’s You’ EP, and also on 2013’s On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2. That album also included ‘Honey Don’t’, and a version of ‘I Feel Fine’ without Lennon’s overdubbed second lead vocal part.
This session’s version of ‘I’ll Follow The Sun’ was the third known recording of the song, in addition to the Beatles For Sale studio version and an early attempt believed to date from 1960.
Isn’t the recording of “Everybody’s Trying…” from the Nov. 25th “Saturday Club” taping? At least that’s what the “Live at the BBC” liners claim. Curious if they got that wrong?
The four songs recorded on November 17, 1964 for Top Gear (broadcast November 26, 1964) were repeated on the Saturday Club aired on December 26, 1964. So not only “Everybody’s …” was repeated here, but also: I’m A Loser, I Feel Fine and She’s A Woman