Tussen De Bollen (Unicorn Records UC-161/62)
Disk One; Radioverslag Aankomst Schiphol, 5 Juni, 1964 – Radiojournaal Live Hilversum / Radioverslag Persconferentie Schiphol, Idem / Polygoon-Bioscoophournaal, comentaarvan Phillip Bloemendal – fragment “I Saw Her Standing There” / RadioverslagOpnames televisiteshow, Treslong, Hillegom, 5 Juni, 1964, Vara BalansHilversum 1, 23:00uur fragment “Twist And Shout” / Televiste-Interview Met De Beatles, Treslong, Hillegom5 Juni, 1964, Nederland 1, 20:20uur. Presentatie Berand Boudeewiin en Herman Stock / Vervolg televisie-interviw radioverslag. Middagconcert Blokker, 6 Juni1964, Waar het publick meezingt met le volgende aummers “I Saw Her Standing There” / I Want To Hold Your Hand / All My Loving / She Loves You / I Saw Her Standing There / I Want To Hold Your Hand / All My Loving / She Loves You. [ 45:47 ]
Disk Two : First Dat ( Friday 5 June, 1964 ); Pathe news coverage ( 5 June 1964 ) / Interview ( Hillegom – TV, Nederland 1, 5 June, 1964 ) / Press conference at Schiphol airport / VARA TV, in the foyer of Treslong Hall, Hillegom ( I Want To Hold Your Hand – Intro – Introduction and Interview ) / VARA TV, Treslong Hall, Hillegom ( She Loves You, All My Loving, Twist and Shout, Roll Over Beethoven, Long Tall Sally, Can’t Buy Me Love, She Loves You, Outro ) / Radio coverage ( Evening ) VARA ‘Balans’, Hilversum 1; Second Day ( Saturday 6 June, 1964 ); Radio coverage, afternoon concert ( KRO ‘Echo’) / Afternoon concert at Auction Hall ‘Op Hoop Van Zegen’ ( I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, All My Loving, She Loves You ) / ‘Polygoon’ cinema newsreel, 12-06-64 ( I Saw Her Standing There ) / VARA TV coverage ‘Beatles In Holland’ 21-07-64 / Item on The Beatles In Holland from the documentary LP ‘Onze jaren 45-70’ ‘Twist And Shout’ / Vara Radio Hilversum 2, 25th Anniversary, 03-06-89 ( Reminicences by Herman Stock and Berend Boudewijn ) [ 68:07 ]
The album “Di Bietels – Tussen De Bollen” was originally released in 1984 by the Beatles Dutch fanclub ‘Beatles Unlimited’ for the Dutch Market. The album was released to commemorate the only visit by the Beatles to Holland in 1964. As with most recordings that come from the European continent, the Dutch usually come up trumps in capturing and keeping pretty much everything that comes their way and so it is with the Beatles visit to Holland that practically nothing is spared and everything is presented here from the Beatles arrival at Schiphol airport to the final note that they played and more.
The LP was transfered to disk early in the CD age using the same title and cover but with added material that would now fit the space afforded by the technology. Various other tracks appeared on other live compilations and then, at last, the original concept was referred to again on the Unicorn Records CDR of the same name ( UC – 072 ). Other silver CD productions have followed such as Secret Trax’s version of desk top bootlegger Silent Sea’s “In Holland”
A mere 12 years later and Unicorn have found more material – enough to establish a second disk with – in the vaults and have possibly come up with the final word on the Holland trip.
As mentioned the first disk spans from the moment that the fabs’ plane dropped cargo on the 5th of June, 1964 at Holland’s (inter)national airport. A reception that was broadcast on Holland’s national radio. This was followed not too long afterwards by a press conference for the Dutch press inside one of the meeting rooms within the massive airport. There’s not much here that’s of any musical note but will be a great historical piece for you, if you speak dutch ..
The two tracks that follow are, thankfully, with musical entertainment but are still reportage pieces for the news so, while they might feature performances, these are generally abbreviated or spoken over in Dutch yet again.
Track 5 features an interview with the Beatles with Herman Stok sat within the audience, taking questions from the audience and then feeding them on to Berand Boudewijn on the stage whowould translate the questions for the band. It’s still essentially a satirical piece of japery rather than the knowing, political disruption that they turned towards at the end of the Beatles touring career, track 6 is another report with a slice of the performance from the afternoon concert’s “Twist And Shout” while track 7 features an almost instrumental recording of “I Saw Her Standing There” again from the afternoon show.
Tracks 8 – 14 are the concert from the June 6th, Afternoon show at the Cafe-restaurant, Treslong, Vosselaan, Hilegom with tracks 8 – 10 coming from a very good audience cassette ( The same tape that obliterates the vocals ) – it does beg a little forgiveness to be honest but in the same breath it has to be said that it is clear given the circumstances and the fact that it is sourced from vinyl while tracks 11 – 14 are sourced from a mixture of a PA and TV sources these are obviously better than the aud. recording but still suffer with age a little.
Disk two carries on the madness but this time, mixed in English. A pathe newsreel doc begins the disk with a bed of screams and Beatles music. It’s not much without it’s visuals but a charming piece from the 60’s.
Tracks 2 – 3 seem to be the same interviews that features on tracks 2 & 5, disk one but is are short, inconsequential snippets.
Track 4 is a much longer version of track 2 (!) but running at 12 minutes we get the full interview setting.
Track 5 is the full concert at Veilinghal Op Hoop Van Zegan, Veilingweg, Blokker where the Beatles ( apart from Jimmy ) apparently mimed along to their hits. This fact seems to be a little bit of a fallacy as we can clearly hear Paul singing OVER the vocals that are in place unless there is a very zealous McCartney impersonator in the audience .. Unfortunately, possibly for space restrictions on the artwork, Unicorn haven’t split the track up in to their respective songs so, unless you’re happy to do the editing yourself, you’ll have the be content to listen to the full thing as one piece.
Track 6 is another Dutch radio report with the fans and with a snippet of “She Loves You” from the same concert for good measure. Moving on to the second portion of the disk we move along to the second day of gigging in Holland beginning, within track 7, with another radio broadcast, news report with a bed of the Beatles concert ( ‘Twist And Shout’ ) from the afternoon.
Track 8 is part of the afternoon concert from the Auction Hall containing 4 songs in good quality ( In fact, the same kind of quality that the tape from Blokker showed – a little too much bass and hardly any vocals ) that is, once again, not separated by songs.
Track 9 is the dutch version of the earlier Pathe newsreel featuring news of the concert earlier that day. Again, lost without it’s visuals, it’s saving grace this time is the version of “I Saw Her Standing There” from the same concert.
The rest of the CD is made up of post visit Beatles reminiscence from later on that year, 1970 (?) and 1989. Firstly a short round up of the Beatles trip to Holland, the second a very short clip snipped from a documentary LP featuring a muffled clip of “Twist And Shout” and finally an interview with Herman Stok and Berend Boudewijn, again, in Dutch.
Taking in Unicorns ethic of ‘more is more’ pretty much anything that can be found for the Beatles trip to Holland has been used, sometimes twice or three times. It would appear it would be safe to say that you shouldn’t need your old collection of Dutch Beatles CDs but for the ease of track distinction then you might want to put them side by side.
