About The Beatles at Stowe School
On 4 April 1963, The Beatles played a unique live concert at Stowe school in Buckinghamshire, having accepted a booking by one of the pupils.
Present on the day was 17-year-old John Bloomfield, with his new reel-to-reel tape recorder. The recording he made is the earliest known of The Beatles playing a live concert in the UK, just at the point they were becoming the biggest band in the nation. It features a mix of twenty-two tracks, drawn from their brand new album at the time, Please Please Me, and their tightly honed repertoire of R&B favourites, as well as banter with the crowd.
This event features a special playback of the recording, now part of the British Library’s sound collection. John Bloomfield himself talks to broadcaster and writer Samira Ahmed about the day of the concert and the making of the recording, and we are joined by official photographer David Magnus who documented the moment. And Beatles’ expert Mark Lewisohn places the event in the story of the band’s extraordinary journey.
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John V Bloomfield
John V Bloomfield made the earliest known of The Beatles playing a live concert in the UK when he was just 17 years old.
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John V Bloomfield was educated at Stowe School. He has had a long career as principal shareholder and managing director of Queens Row Lighting, having also founded the well-known retailer and wholesaler of lighting goods, Mr Resistor. He was also Chairman and CEO of property companies Hispano Quatro and the Hilstone Group. John is also founder and principal donor of the Bloomfield Dyslexia Centre at Guy’s Hospital as well as a range of other child and adult welfare and arts initiatives. His considerable music archive included the Stowe School Beatles tape until he gave it to the nation in the care of the British Library.
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn is a historian best known for his books on the Beatles.
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He is the author of milestone works, The Beatles Recording Sessions, The Complete Beatles Chronicle and co-author of The Beatles' London. Lewisohn is now 22 years into the mountainous challenge of setting down a complete history of The Beatles and their times in a comprehensive and contextual biography (All These Years) which is being published in three hefty volumes. The first of the trilogy, Tune In, was a New York Times bestseller and he is still working flat-out on the second while time whizzes by worryingly fast.
Samira Ahmed
Samira Ahmed is an award-winning journalist, writer, and BBC broadcaster and President of the Twentieth Century Society.
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Samira presents Newswatch on BBC One and Front Row on Radio 4, where in 2023 she broke the news of the existence of the Stowe School tape. Samira interviewed Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon live for the launch of Paul’s The Lyrics and will publish her BFI Classics book on the film A Hard Day’s Night on 2 April. It will be on sale at the event.
Venue opening times
Venue opening times
This is an in-person only event in the British Library Knowledge Centre.
The Knowledge Centre will be open from 14.00, books will be available for purchase at the venue.
Please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event. If you have specific access requirements please email customer@bl.uk
Concessions
There are a range of concessions available. These include discounts for British Library Members, Young Persons (16–25s), and visitors on Universal/Pension Credit and free entry for carers.
