Subject:	Shea Stadium Concert DVD
Posted by:	beatlesray on 7/21/08 3:40 PM
Does anyone have an idea which DVD of the Shea Stadium concert is the best quality? Thanks...
[Posted by millertek on 10/30/08 7:07 PM] I've seen the original broadcast which is darker and grainy and contains the entire show - not just the beatles but the setup and opening acts...I think people refer to this as the broadcast. I have also seen a brighter redone copy - of both the concert and entire broadcast. And of course, Anthology has portions of the sow in pristine shape....hmmmm....None of which are currently in print - but might be findable on the net....
[Posted by Badapple on 9/21/09 12:48 AM] I have a copy of this which states that it has been transfered from the original ABC-TV 35mm broadcast master. Seeing as this has never officially been released on DVD, i would say that this has to be the best copy out there so far
[Posted by Beatlescollector on 9/26/09 6:47 AM] Maybe I'm a skeptic, but I'd be hard-pressed to trust the bootleggers to be telling the truth about the source of their Shea Concert DVDs. After all, it's pretty darn easy to simply claim that their DVD has been "transfered from the original ABC-TV 35mm broadcast master". All I know is, I've seen dozens of the various versions being passed around collectors and sold at conventions over the years -- and none of them come even close to the quality of the source film, as was very evident when we were first treated to small snippets of the Shea footage in the Imagine (Lennon) documentary film from 1988, and again later (as noted) in the Beatles Anthology video series. I asked Neil Aspinall in 2004 whether there were any plans to put this out on DVD finally -- and he said that it's one of those things that they want to do someday, but they had other priorities (at the the time, they were working on the remastered HELP DVD and the LOVE Cirque de Soleil show). Who knows if it's even on their minds these days? Clearly, there's pent up demand for a number of videos: - Shea Stadium - Compilation of the Beatles promotional videos (with 5.1 soundtrack, of course!) - Let it Be (not likely going to happen anytime soon as Olivia Harrison has indicated that George didn't want to see it released. There's also some technical challenges due to some missing audio) - Live in Tokyo, June 1966 (both the afternoon and evening shows would be nice) - Beatles Sing for Shell (Festival Hall, Melbourne, June 1964) - quite easily one of their best concert performances recorded, though all known copies are incomplete - Drop In (October 1963) - short (4-song) ripping performance from a Swedish TV show. The Beatles were in top form, at the peak of their performing skills, and the crowd was polite and didn't ruin the soundtrack. This could be combined with other TV appearances from the time time period (ex: Thank Your Lucky Stars, Big Night Out, and the Royal Command Performance). Alas, I'm not holding my breath while I wait to see any of these appear. :) Rod