 |
| Peter and Paul just playing "Let it Be" together. Photo taken by Geoff Baker |
 |
| Peter met Paul again in 1996 |
The Liverpool convention was as exciting as ever, the most enthusiastic moment was when I met Peter Hodgson. Peter was the owner of the early Beatles tapes from 1960. As we wrote in the 13th issue of this magazine, Anthology 1 album had a mystery, the three songs from the tape - "Hallelujah, I love her so," "You'll be Mine" and"Cayenne" have been first released on the album but actually these have been available on bootleg for years. Peter told me the following story, which may unravel the mystery. When Paul McCartney borrowed the Grundig tape recorder from Peter's grandfather, he made 2 or 3 copies of the tape for himself. After he returned the tape and the tape recorder back to Hodgson, he brought the copies to Germany with him. Many years have passed since then and eventually one of them was passed to a bootlegger.
The original tape included unusual tracks which Paul McCartney failed to copy. They included the early versions of "Ask me Why" and "When I'm 64"! Of course, they were not featured in any of the bootlegs. It is well-known that they often played "When I'm 64" in the early 1960's but nobody ever heard it, it must be a valuable recording.
However, we may not have an opportunity to hear the songs for awhile, as the original tape is now owned by Paul McCartney. Peter had a great experience whilst handing over the tape to the ex-Beatle. He was invited to Paul's private studio in East Sussex on 27 March 1995 and he enjoyed talking about good old times and playing instruments with Paul. Photos were taken by Paul's publicist, Geoff Baker while Peter was playing "Let it Be" on the piano with Paul. Peter was also lucky enough to hear the rough mix of "Free as a bird" in the studio.
