On 20 November 1965, The Beatles convened at the Donmar Warehouse rehearsal theatre (41 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, London) to prepare for, what would be, their final UK tour starting on 3 December in Glasgow. Donmar was a lighting and stage equipment hire company whose main offices were situated next door at 39 Earlham Street. The Beatles had previously used the cavernous space at number 41 on 12 October 1963 to rehearse for their next-day, debut appearance on Val Parnell's Sunday Night At The London Palladium.
(Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall watch as Ringo puts a record on the portable turntable)
Back in 1965, the group brought along a portable record player and some LPs for inspiration. From the many photographs taken on this day by Robert Whitaker, I can spot three albums.
(John shows Paul a chord on the Vox Continental organ as George [with a Gibson ES-345 TD] chats to Vox technician Gary Stewart Hurst in the background)
The first LP, resting in plain sight on the Vox Continental organ, is Live At The Regal by BB King. Recorded on 21 November 1964 at the Regal Theatre in Chicago, this live album was released in the UK on His Master's Voice (HMV) label in 1965. Interestingly, George Harrison played a Gibson ES-345 TD semi-hollow electric guitar this day that is very similar to the ES-355 'Lucille' that BB King famously played.
The second LP was harder to spot.
Left on a table at the back of the rehearsal theatre, I could just make out Soul Dressing by Booker T & The MGs. Release on Stax in the US, this LP came out on Decca's Atlantic label in the UK in 1965. It makes sense that these were the records they were listening to at the time because I hear the sonic influence of Soul Dressing on some of the recordings from the Rubber Soul sessions such as '12-Bar Original', 'Drive My Car', 'The Word' and 'Think For Yourself'.
Which leads me to the final album I spotted. In another shot of Paul McCartney at the Vox Continental organ, an early pressing of The Beatles' new LP Rubber Soul can be seen on top of the BB King record. The album was not released until 3 December in the UK and 6 December in the US. It is possible that they were given this test copy to approve before the mass manufacturing began. A photograph taken at EMI's Hayes factory on 24 November shows an employee listening to pressings of the new Beatles record.
(The Beatles working on a live arrangement for 'Yesterday')
Can you find any other LPs hidden in Whitaker's photographs from this day?
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