CD Review: "A Letter Home" by Neil Young

Neil Young's latest album

How ironic is this? Neil Young announced in March of this year that Pono - the company he founded in order to develop a dedicated music player and a music downloading service that would provide "high-quality" recorded audio - was almost ready to begin the release of "the finest quality, highest-resolution digital music from both major labels and prominent independent labels" using the FLAC audio file format. It has been a long-term ambition of his. But, then, about a month later - on International Record Store Day (April 19th., 2014) - Young released A Letter Home, the most low-tech recording imaginable. It is full of muffled audio, speed distortions, pops, crackles, and constant hiss - probably the worst-sounding album you've ever heard. What the heck was going on? 

No, Neil was not being a cynical hypocrite. The audio is dreadful, but that's the point. The sound of the album is part of its essential concept. The choice of songs, the way they are presented, and the degraded sound of the music itself - all of these elements are enmeshed in an intriguing whole. It's more of a performance piece - a work of art - than a typical commercial collection of pop songs.

Neil inside the Voice-o-Graph booth

The reason for the inferior sound? A Letter Home was recorded in a Voice-o-Graph booth at Jack White's Third Man record store in Nashville, Tennessee. These booths were once a staple of fairgrounds, arcades, and tourist attractions - there used to be one, for example, on the 86th. floor of the Empire State Building. The idea of these booths was to record your voice direct-to-disc - a 65-second message, poem or song - which you could then mail to relatives and friends. The Voice-o-Graph was manufactured by the International Mutoscope Corporation. Between 1910 and 1960, it produced about 40 different models.

When Neil Young heard that White had acquired - and refurbished - a 1947 Voice-o-Graph vinyl recording booth, he decided to check it out. The Voice-o-Graph looks like a phone booth. White obtained his in June, 2013 from a novelties collector based in Washington, D.C. He then spent a few months having it fixed up: acoustic tiles and carpet were added; a digital clock was installed, so that customers could keep an eye on the recording time; and a small window was cut into one of the walls of the booth, so that you could watch as the direct-to-disc cutting was taking place. Some important technical refinements were also achieved: the head cutters were modified in order to change the speed of the discs that were produced from 78 r.p.m. to 45 r.p.m. (this extended the recording time from 65 seconds to about 140 seconds - depending on how thick the grooves were); the motors were adjusted in order to allow a more consistent sound; and new discs were found, in order to extend the longevity of the final product (the original discs were made of a laminated cardboard - now they use clear, polyvinyl discs that measure 6" in diameter). The updated version of this 1947 Voice-o-Graph was inaugurated at White's Third Man Records on Record Store Day in 2013. Since then, over 1,000 discs have been made - customers paying $15 a shot. The original 65-second discs in 1947 cost 35 cents. 

The guts of the disc-cutting

Once Neil had stepped inside the booth and experimented with his own first recording on the device, he conceived the idea of doing a whole album's worth. He cleverly combined two guiding ideas: the original intent of the Voice-o-Graph - used to record a brief message to loved-ones (A Letter Home); and doing an album of cover-songs - pitched in a retro-fashion as songs that inspired him in his younger days, before he became a songwriter in his own right. The inferior sound quality would then no longer be seen as an obvious detriment to the final product - it would actually enhance the presentation.  As Neil Young puts it: the album is "a collection of rediscovered songs from the past recorded on ancient electro-mechanical technology that captures and unleashes the essence of something that could have been gone forever."

A Letter Home is Neil Young's 34th. studio album. It was produced ("reproduced") by Neil Young and Jack White. It features Neil on guitar, piano, harmonica and vocals; and Jack on piano and vocals on two of the tracks. There are 11 songs on the album. The first four sit comfortably with Young's folky-background: "Changes" by Phil Ochs, Dylan's "Girl From the North Country", "Needle of Death" by Bert Jansch, and "Early Morning Rain" by fellow-Canadian Gordon Lightfoot. From there, the styles become more varied: some country - Willie Nelson's "Crazy" and "On The Road Again"; a 12-bar blues by Ivory Joe Hunter - "Since I Met You Baby"; some more folky stuff - "Reason to Believe" by Tim Hardin, and another Lightfoot piece, "If You Could Read My Mind"; the Springsteen piece "My Home Town"; and some late-fifties pop from the Everly Brothers - "I Wonder if I Care as Much". It's primarily 50s and 60s material - the Springsteen track is notably anachronistic.

Neil with his mother, Rassy Young

There are two voice-only tracks - one at the very beginning and the other in the middle - where Neil addresses his mother "Rassy" (Edna Ragland Young, who died in 1990) in the style of "a letter home".  In the middle vocal piece, Young sets the context for the musical choices on the album: "Jack and I have discovered a lot of the old guitar songs; we've rediscovered songs that I used to sing at Grosvenor [1123 Grosvenor Avenue - Neil's and Rassy's home in Winnipeg in the early 60s], when we were together there - you know - the records I used to play ... I'm gonna send some of these to you."

Emerging from the booth

The voice-only track that opens the disc establishes the concept for the album: "Hi, Mom! It's great to be able to talk to you ... My friend Jack has got this box [the Voice-o-Graph booth] that I can talk to you from ... to tell you how much I love you and to also tell you that I think you should start talking to Daddy again ..." [Rassy and Scott, Neil's father, had separated in 1957, when Neil was 12, and divorced in 1960.] And then Neil's comments get really quirky: "You know how we used to watch the weatherman all the time on TV, and we used to know what was happening, you know, up there in Winnipeg? Well, I met this guy named Al. He's the weatherman for the whole planet, if you can imagine that. He's sometimes not popular because - this is very strange - but people turn on the weatherman ... They say bad things about him and put him down. So things haven't been that great lately ... Every once in a while all hell breaks loose, Mum, and the whole thing is like nothing I've ever seen before. And it seems to be happening everywhere, all the time." And then, appropriately, he goes directly into a poignant rendition of Phil Ochs lovely song "Changes".

Sit by my side, come as close as the air,
Share in a memory of gray;
Wander in my words, dream about the pictures
That I play of changes.

Green leaves of summer turn red in the fall
To brown and to yellow they fade.
And then they have to die, trapped within
the circle time parade of changes.

For most of A Letter Home, Neil is playing acoustic guitar. On three tracks he uses piano (how did they fit the piano into the Voice-o-Graph booth - maybe Jack White's 1947 Voice-o-Graph booth works like the Tardis?). He adds harmonica on a few tracks. And the use of whistling on "Needle of Death" is a simple, but effective mood-setting technique.

"A Letter Home" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (right) - Jack White to the right of Neil Young

The low-tech, inferior audio is surprisingly varied. Neil's high-pitched, tenor voice comes through clearly most of the time, even though he often adopts a quiet, contemplative approach. When the guitar playing is primarily in the Travis-picking style, it registers well; but when the guitar accompaniment is mostly flat-pick strumming, it can become undifferentiated and muddy. And if there is too much going on - "On The Road Again", for example, has piano, harmonica and double vocals - the sound becomes a murky wash.

For me, the standout tracks on here are "Changes", "Needle of Death", "Crazy", "If You Could Read My Mind", and "I Wonder if I Care as Much". "Needle of Death", a  Bert Jansch song, is particularly moving. Young doesn't push the vocal - he does it in an understated style. As he comments right after the performance: "That's a heavy song". It reminded me of Danny Whitten, a former member of Crazy Horse, who had been a heroin addict. Neil wrote "The Needle and the Damage Done" about his friend.

Much of Neil Young's output in the last decade has been meditative. He has been doing a lot of self-assessment - looking back at his life and his experiences. The near-death shock he had in 2005, when he suffered a brain aneurysm, probably prompted much of this contemplation; but it didn't slow him down. In the last ten years, he has averaged about one album of new material each year - solo and in tandem with Crazy Horse. He has also published a memoir - Waging Heavy Peace (2012). And he's been working diligently at organizing and releasing his Neil Young Archives series - remastered CDs of live shows. 

A Voice-o-Graph disc: it cost 35c in 1947; $15 now at Jack White's store

A Letter Home - in addition to its status as a unique audio experiment - is another Neil Young exercise in nostalgia. As you listen to the performances on this disc, you can't help but feel the aura of poignant reminiscence. Neil Young singing Dylan? Neil Young singing Lightfoot? All three of these master songwriters have had their brush with death. All three are in the twilight of their careers. 

Neil Young performing Bert Jansch's "Needle of Death" in the booth.

A Letter Home is a clever work of 'meta-music' (similar to the notion of meta-fiction in literature). What I mean is that its unique status as a combination of covers album and audio experiment pushes you to respond to it in a different way. And this is precisely how Young conceived the project. It's typical of this rock artist who has always defiantly done his own thing. He has been fearless throughout his career - willing to take risks, in order to follow his own artistic vision. 

Granted, A Letter Home may not be one of those Neil Young albums that you come back to on a regular basis. But it's a strangely atmospheric and listenable work - as long as you divine its intent, accept the audio limitations of its recording technique, and listen with an open mind and an open heart.

Resources: details about the technical improvements to Jack White's 1947 Voice-o-Graph come from an article on the Wondering Sound website by John Morthland.

Book Review: "Tune In" - a bio of The Beatles by Mark Lewisohn

Lewisohn's epic new Beatles book

Do we really need yet another detailed history of The Beatles? A history so detailed and comprehensive that it will run to three volumes - each volume consisting of about 800 pages (400,000 words). You would be forgiven, if you were to think not. After all, there have already been a host of books published about the band, covering virtually every aspect of their career - including a handful of superior efforts, which skillfully tell the full story: books by the likes of Hunter Davies, Philip Norman, Ray Coleman and  Bob Spitz. And, of course, the Fab Four themselves eventually got to provide their own version of the tale - in the exhaustive and lavishly-illustrated book The Beatles Anthology (2000). The full arc of the career is so well-known now - Liverpool, Hamburg, England, Europe, America, and the World - and the catalogue of tours, singles, LPs, and films is so familiar, that it's hard to imagine that another history - especially a tome of this scope and size - could find a place in such a seemingly saturated market. But believe me, for a veritable Fab Four fanatic like me, this is an essential addition to any serious Beatles collection. In fact, it turns out to be the definitive treatment - because the author of this biography is Mark Lewisohn.

If you're not familiar with the man, Mark Lewisohn is responsible for two of the very best resources about The Beatles. The first is The Beatles Recording Sessions (The Official Abbey Road Studio Session Notes, 1962-1970), published in 1988. EMI Records gave Mr. Lewisohn access to the entire archive of Beatles recordings done at Abbey Road Studios in St. John's Wood, London between June 6, 1962 and May 8, 1970. He listened to every single take: not just the final mix of each track released on a single, EP, or LP recording, but the scores of takes that it took to get to the final mix. He listened to hundreds of hours of alternative takes and unreleased tracks. EMI also made available to him all of its unpublished documentation for every recording session The Beatles ever did at Abbey Road. In this book he provides, for each session, the studio number (usually they worked in Studio Two), the times for the session, the names of the songs they were working on (including the number of takes they performed of each song), and the names of the producer and engineers. It is a one-of-a-kind book; and it is indispensable for those interested in how the band set about creating their recordings.

 

Mark Lewisohn's other master-work about the Fab Four is The Complete Beatles Chronicle (1992). It is sub-titled "The Definitive Day-By-Day Guide to The Beatles Entire Career". It is primarily a chronology of what the band was up to each day: concert performance, recording session, TV show, radio program, film work, etc. But it also includes important appendices - separate lists which document their discography, the peak chart positions for all their recordings, all their radio and TV appearances, every venue they played at in the UK and around the World, and their repertoire - every known song they ever performed live. It is another fascinating treasure-trove - also indispensible to the serious fan.

Mark Lewisohn listening to EMI's complete archive of every Beatles' recording session

You get the idea - Mark Lewisohn is a Beatles expert. He was already one of the most knowledgeable aficionados of the group before he even started work on the current book. And he then put a further ten years of work into its preparation: including exhaustive research and countless interviews with people involved in the Beatles' story. Back in July 2012, when I was doing the National Trust tour of Mendips (where John Lennon grew up with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George) on Menlove Avenue in Liverpool, I was chatting to the tour guide, Colin Hall - who lives much of each year in the house. He mentioned to me that Lewisohn's book was due out soon and he encouraged me to get it, because it would certainly be the ultimate treatment of its subject. He was correct.

Colin Hall, tour guide at Mendips on Menlove Avenue (left), and Mark Lewisohn

Mark Lewisohn's projected three-volume history is called The Beatles: All Those Years. Volume One - called Tune In (2013)  - was published late last year. I picked it up immediately and raced through it in about a week. I took copious notes at the time but, for one reason or another, I had not got around to reviewing it until now - which is certainly not a reflection on its value or interest. 

The McCartneys (l-r): Mike, Mary, Jim and Paul

Tune In covers the story from the beginning, and leaves off at the end of 1962, with the band all primed and ready to go for the growing hysteria that would morph into Beatlemania in the autumn of 1963. And what is the beginning of the story? Well, Mr. Lewisohn provides some backstory on each of the family groups that would nurture the key members of the band. He also describes the cultural and musical scene in Liverpool and outlines the emergence, first, of the skiffle craze and, then, the birth of the city's thriving rock 'n' roll culture.

Mr. Lewisohn, as you can tell, is a walking encyclopedia of Beatles lore and information. And his book is cram-full of exquisite detail on every aspect of the band's development. If you are a true Fab Four fanatic, like me, then the layering-on of the detail never becomes tedious. After all, most serious fans know exactly how the history goes - it's the wallowing in the details that is the delight of tomes like this. And it is in the details that we get a more nuanced understanding of the familiar narrative - things, after all, are never so simple and black-and-white as we are often led to believe.

John and Cynthia Powell (first wife)

But it's not just the incredible detail that makes this book so compelling; it is also the even-handed and insightful judgments he makes throughout the book. Mark Lewisohn has no axes to grind, it seems to me. Unlike many of the other books I've read about The Beatles, Lewisohn doesn't inflate the reputation of one individual, in order to downgrade the reputation of another. He carefully considers much of the received opinion about the band, and comes to his own conclusions - based both on the facts and on balancing the opinions of the many witnesses he has interviewed or read.

And it's the many interesting insights that make Tune In so valuable. For example, as you wade through this comprehensive account, it becomes evident what it is about The Beatles that was so special. Let me itemize some of the key points that Lewisohn makes. The band was a tight group. It wasn't, like most of their contemporaries, a leader-singer fronting a backing group - what Lewisohn characterizes several times as Harry and The Somethings. In the late fifties and early 60s, the UK pop scene - centred, of course, in London - was dominated by individual singing stars. It was different in Liverpool, where things were all about groups. The Crickets - Buddy Holly's band - was taken as the model: a tight four-piece, with two guitars, bass and drums. It was the universal adoption of the electric bass guitar which marked a definitive break with the immediate past; no more stand-up bass (like the jazz groups), and no more skiffle-styled tea-chest bass.  

Early days: Paul playing with John in The Quarrymen

As part of their own tight-group ethos, The Beatles invariably used a three-part harmony attack. And in these early days, they would employ a strict rotation in lead-singing duties amongst John, Paul and George. Unlike the slick, "professional" approach that other bands brought to their performances, The Beatles insisted on being themselves. No choreographed dance-steps (à la Shadows). They would eat sandwiches on stage. And smoke during their sets. They wore leathers and cowboy boots. They preferred black and dark colours for their stage clothes.  And after their first visit to Hamburg, they adopted the long-haired look of the "exis" (existentialists) - the so-called Parisian look. They didn't have any prepared banter - no script. They carried on as they pleased. Their natural charisma allowed them to command the stage. John and Paul would engage in constant repartee and would get up to some strange shenanigans. Added to the driving rock 'n' roll sound, the unique and casual stage presence made them mesmerizing to watch. They did compromise later with Brian Epstein about some elements of their stage presentation, but when they made it big, they still insisted on making it on their own terms. 

The Beatles also had a unique repertoire. They were already writing their own material. And added to the usual warhorses of the Liverpool bands (Little Richard, Chuck Berry, et. al.) were more obscure songs - A and B sides from the many American R&B singles they would check out in local record shops. These shops had individual listening booths, dubbed "browseries". The Beatles were constantly searching for interesting and off-beat material to put into their repertoire. They spent a lot of time in record shops - including the three NEMS shops run by the Epstein family. The Beatles amassed a large repertoire: rock 'n' roll, country, R&B, novelty songs and pop. They could do a 45-minute matinee show, and then follow that - at the same venue - in the evening with another 45-minute show, and not repeat a single song. In the days of two to two-and-a-half minute songs, that would mean about 40 different songs.

Brian Epstein - Beatles' Manager

Tune In focuses its attention on all the key individuals in The Beatles early history. There are long sections that tell us all about the early lives of Brian Epstein and George Martin. We learn a lot about Alan Williams, Tony Sheridan, Astrid Kirchherr, Jürgen Vollmer, Klaus Voorman, Stuart Sutcliffe, Pete  and Mona Best, Neil Aspinall, Bob Wooler and Bill Harry.

In Hamburg (l-r): Pete Best, George, John, Paul, and Stuart Sutcliffe (photo by Astrid Kirchherr)

Lewisohn brings his critical judgment to bear on some long-standing controversies in The Beatles history. He documents fully why Pete Best was pushed from the band: it was primarily a musical issue, but it was also a personality problem. Put bluntly, Pete Best was  a crummy drummer. This kept being pointed out to the band at key moments. When Tony Sheridan, for example, would step onto the stage in Hamburg to sing a couple of songs with the band, he would invariably turn around and yell off-mic to Pete to keep the beat. When the German producer Bert Kaempfert used The Beatles as a backing group for Sheridan during a recording session (they were dubbed The Beat Brothers), he was so dissatisfied with Best's drumming that he removed his bass drum and tom-tom, leaving only the snare drum and cymbal. George Martin was also critical of Best's work. After the first Beatles session at Abbey Road, Martin planned to bring in a session drummer for their next recording date. Best just wasn't good enough.

Just arrived at The Indra in Hamburg - shoddy equipment and poor instruments

But it was also apparent that Pete Best did not fit in with the others. He was a moody loner. He could not relate much to the others in the band. After a show, the group would usually hang out together - but not with Pete. Pete would take off immediately and do his own thing. The reason he lasted so long, really, was because they had always had trouble finding a drummer; Pete had a good set of drums of his own; and his mother, Mona, had been a big help to the group - giving them gigs at The Casbah, the social club she established in the basement of her home.

George, Stuart Sutcliffe and John in Hamburg
(photo by Astrid Kirchherr)

Lewisohn marks each key turning point in the band's development - making its particular significance clear. The group's tour of Scotland in early 1960, for example. The Liverpool promoter Alan Williams became an associate of the London based entrepreneur Larry Parnes. Parnes had established a stable of teen idols - handsome young men, whose names were changed to fit a preconceived image. He began with Tommy Steele and Marty Wilde; and moved on to sign the likes of Billy Fury, Vince Eager, Duffy Power and Johnny Gentle. In May 1960 Parnes had booked a tour of Scotland for Gentle, and he asked Alan Williams if he could find a Liverpool band to work as a backing group for his singer. Williams offered the gig to The Beatles. It was a moment of decision. Paul would miss a written paper he was required to do for his A-Levels. Stuart Sutcliffe was also close to his A Level exams. And George would have to quit his job at Blackler's department store - ending his apprenticeship as an electrician. They took the job on May 18th., rehearsed all day on May 19th., and then they were off. They were now the first Liverpool rock group to go on tour. 

(photo by Astrid Kirchherr)

The Beatles' first visit to Hamburg was an even more important turning point. It was there that they were transformed into a dynamic, tight rock band. When they first arrived at the Indra Club, they would play standing still. Their boss, Bruno Koschmider would yell at them to "Mach shau!" ("Put on a show!). Eventually, they learned to let loose on stage - engaging in all manner of silly antics and outlandish behaviour. They played long, long hours. Lewisohn lists the incredible statistics: in their first two Hamburg visits (over 27 weeks) they played for 918 hours - that's the equivalent of 612 ninety-minute shows! During their second visit to Hamburg they played 92 nights in a row. They returned to Liverpool as an incredibly tight outfit, and they blew every other band off the stage.

In the Abbey Road cafeteria with producer George Martin

Another fascinating turning point that Lewisohn covers was George Martin's eventual capitulation to the band's artistic freedom. When The Beatles had their first recording session at Abbey Road - it was an audition of sorts - Martin had it already in mind that he would do the typical producer thing and provide them with a catchy tune to record for their first single. He was also looking to pick one of the band as prime vocalist (Lennon would have been the obvious choice) in order to rename them - in the current fashion - as Paul McCartney and The Beatles, or John Lennon and The Beatles. [Oh, how Paul would have loved to be chosen as "leader" of the band. But, no chance!] The Beatles had their own plans. They already had it in their minds that they would only record their own songs for their 45 r.p.m. singles. George Martin was dubious, but he agreed to work with them on what he thought was the best song they presented to him - "Love Me Do". Even after it was released as their first single in November 1962, Martin wasn't convinced that it would be successful. But when it got into the Top Twenty chart, he changed his mind - and his attitude. He met with the group and announced that he would no longer attempt to foist other material on them; that they would now work together in the studio primarily on the group's own songs; and, oh, by the way, they would now set about recording their first LP. The band was floored, but they were up to the challenge. And after their very first session George realized that it was best to leave the group as a "leaderless" unit. 

(photo by Astrid Kirchherr)

As I said earlier, Lewisohn's insights often counter received wisdom. For example, Paul McCartney has always been recognized as the most "musical" of the group - a natural, who could pick up things so quickly. His shift to bass guitar, after Stuart Sutcliffe left the group, is a good illustration of his innate musicality - he learned bass with great facility, and became proficient in no time at all. But Lewisohn points out that in the early days, when he was still on guitar, Paul always had the shoddiest instrument. And Paul was always the most nervous of the group when they faced an audition - blowing it several times. During the recording of "Love Me Do", for example, John was doing the lead vocal, but also had to play the harmonica. To ease into the crossover, George Martin asked Paul to sing the final line of each verse - before John came in on the harmonica. Paul was very nervous about this and folded under the pressure. It was like the Decca audition in January, 1962. Although Lennon, arguably, was the best all-round vocalist - able to cover the most varied of styles - he only sang four of the 15 songs they recorded at the audition; George sang four; and Paul handled seven. Paul had succumbed to nerves then, too. And it happened again at the group's first audition for BBC Radio.

Lewisohn also takes things we already knew, but refocuses our attention on their importance by his particular emphasis. The phrase "John, Paul, George and Ringo", for example, as Neil Aspinall points out to Lewisohn, indicated the chain of seniority, as well as the pecking order, in the band. John was the original member; it was he who accepted Paul into the band; George was introduced to John by Paul; and it was primarily George who lobbied to bring Ringo in to replace Pete Best. The dynamics in the group were interesting. Paul, George and Ringo each had their own close bond with John, whom they recognized as the leader. But then the group often split into two pairs: John and Paul; George and Ringo - although George often served as a buffer and catalyst between John and Paul. There was some ambivalence between Ringo and Paul, and between George and Paul - and this would become manifest later in their career. And the publishing contract signed by John and Paul meant that the band's primary songwriters would earn significantly more than the other two - something they couldn't help but resent a little. All things considered, though, the real binding strength in the band was the John-Paul-George musical triad.

Brian Epstein and George Martin at Abbey Road

Another conclusion of Lewisohn is how lucky The Beatles were to have three such honest men running key aspects of their career: Brian Epstein, their manager; George Martin, their record producer; and Dick James, their music publisher. In those days, many people in the music business were dishonest shysters - only in the business to make as much money as they could. They thought nothing about ripping off their naive clients. The Beatles seemed able - perhaps because of their unique talent and charisma - to earn respect and to attract loyal people. In some ways, it was their own open and honest attitudes which encouraged the honesty of people around them. Other notably honest and loyal members of the band's entourage: Neil Aspinall, Mal Evans and Tony Barrow.

Mark Lewisohn demonstrates clearly that The Beatles slow, but inexorable, growth was a natural and authentic progression. It was based on ambition, experience, ability and creative drive. They remained untainted by hype and commercial dilution. At nearly every stage of their development they insisted on doing things their way. They hated the inauthentic "star image" of the show-biz scene. They wanted to be themselves. They fought against, and defeated, the condescending attitude that just about everybody had in the London entertainment and media industry for people from the "provinces" - cities like Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham. 

Mark Lewisohn - author of Tune In

Tune In is a wonderful achievement. I have read many different versions of The Beatles' early history. Mark Lewisohn's book is the definitive account. How long will it take him to produce the next two volumes? They cannot come soon enough, in my opinion. Meanwhile, I highly recommend this first volume. All serious fans of the Fab Four should get this book. It is fully footnoted; it has a comprehensive index; and it includes 24 pages of interesting photographs. Kudos to Mr. Lewisohn - he has done it again!

Rare colour photograph from Hamburg - Pete Best on the left