The Beatles In Tokyo 1966 CD & DVD: Do not buy this!

It must be bad fir you to go off on one - in this case.

Andrew, thanks for the honest review on the Beatles in Tokyo CD/DVD. On your recommendation I cancelled my copy this morning. I was aware this was not an apple product but was certain that it would be good quality for the price. Keep up the good work. A big thumbs up. Cheers. Rob

That's why you should never purchase bootlegs because this is a bootleg. The quality control on bootlegs is non-existent. I purchased a bootleg once about 20 years ago and it was sourced from a cassette that had been duplicated at least 10 times at fast speed so in quiet parts, you could hear a very loud humming. Some bootlegs are the worst. I wish Beatles collectors would stop promoting them and giving them your money. But thanks for the review. I hope it stops others from purchasing this piece of shit.

There was once an official, Apple-sanctioned Japanese Laserdisc of the second show. There is no excuse for taking the material from a substandard source. The recording was made using Japan's earliest handheld color video cameras. The resolution is not up to modern standards. Essentially VHS-level resolution. Apple Corps now owns the recordings. The release that you review is an unauthorised, but technically legal release.

You should had ended the video by throwing the product it in the trash. And no that company didn't forget to credit Apple for the footage, I think you need to snitch or rat on this company to Apple & EMI so they can get it off the market and will never rip off any Beatles' fans again.

I never think of the Beatles as a live band as they stopped touring before if you like they became sophisticated in music genre with 66 on the cusp of this as Rubber Soul had already been released. Having said that LOVE the rooftop gig. I may be in the minority I am glad they never reformed or did a concert after 66, this left them with their mystique and studio fineness, and the end being "THE END" was part of their lasting greatness!

Hi Andrew...just posted a comment on your George Harrison Ranked post from a few months ago...

I don't know why anyone would consider buying a bootleg in 2021 - I haven't seen the tracklisting but I'm guessing there's nothing on here that hasn't been circulating on boots for years. Find a torrent for "TMOQ Gazette Volume 25: Tokyo 1966 Live on DVD and CD" - that's all you need.

Thanks for the review Andrew. I was pissed when I missed out on this, but after hearing your review I am glad I didn't get it. I have a old vhs tape of one of the shows. I can watch that if I need a Beatles in tokyo fix.

I hadn't even heard of this, but I'm glad you offered this information before I stumbled upon this release and even considered it.

This package "is"---or WILL PROVE TO BE---a "MUST-BUY". Hold it, stop throwing those jellybabies---and Beatle boots at me---let me explain!
Our host, if not poinnnnnting it out, angling an elbow at it & raising an eyebrow---notes that Apple (the Good Apple) is nowhere referenced or credited anywhere in the package. He doesn't say permissions & rights weren't obtained, but he can't find that they were.
This is an imminent "rarity", a fluke that may not BUT MAY have future "value" (or PRICE, anyway) as result of quantities being truncated if any rights were infringed.
For MANY reasons, DON'T OPEN THE PACKAGE!

Both shows have circulated on bootlegs and semi official DVDs over the years. The first show was released on quite a lavish laserdisc in the 90s, only in Japan. The packaging is great (although the photos on the cover are actually from the 2nd show). Audio is great for what it is. Picture isn't as good as what's in the Anthology but still pretty good, you can actually see the sweat on their faces (especially Paul's), just a bit washed out. The 2nd show appears on a DVD which from memory was called Around The Beatles which has the original Around The Beatles special (in full), the show in Washington 64 and the 2nd show in Japan 66. It appears to come from an old home film print.
Personally, I think both shows have their pluses and minuses. Overall, the 2nd show is a tighter performance, but some songs were better on the first show. If I Needed Someone for example, George's voice was a little off on the 2nd show. The other thing with that 1st show is that they were having a lot of trouble with their microphones. They have to keep adjusting them because they keep moving (possibly due to vibration). Apparently, every show in Tokyo was professionally filmed and I've heard of collectors who have copies, but they've never circulated.

It really is quite surprising that The Beatles have never released an official live DVD. There's been a few semi-official things which have been licensed but weren't produced by EMI or Apple. Yet they do have a lot of full shows in the archive, as seen on the Anthology and in the Ron Howard movie. The full (or close to full) live shows that I'm aware of are Washington 64, Melbourne 64 (although only audio for a few songs which weren't filmed due to commercial breaks), Paris 65 (there's actually 2 versions of that one), Shea Stadium 65 (missing a couple of songs, 1 song was dubbed with the studio version and Paul McCartney re-recorded some of his bass parts), Tokyo 66 (all shows, only 2 in circulation) and there's one from Germany 66 as well which is about half the show. Then there's NME Poll Winner's Concerts from 64 and 65 (they also played 66 but this was not filmed, which is a shame as it was their lasted official performance in England and the only time George played his SG on stage). Between all of that, plus various other songs and clips, there'd be more than enough content to fill a 2+ hour DVD. They could edit it together as one ultimate concert experience with the best versions of each song. I'd have preferred that to the Ron Howard film honestly.

Perhaps there was a good reason for it being delayed so many times.

It works out to be about 60 Australian dollars,so no,if you say it isn't really very good.

Hope you enjoy Liverpool I just came back there was a great George Harrison play on

a well packaged bootleg . i bought the beatles at the budokan dvd years ago , fun to watch & a piece of beatles' history .

Oh man! I ordered this in January and it's finally on the way.

Great review 👍

Bootleg is a bootleg. Can't believe Universal Music Group hasn't shut it down sooner.

The video footage of one of the concerts has been around as a bootleg forever... hope you didn't pay too much. Bootlegs should be free....my copy of the concert looks fairly descent. There are tons of people putting together packages like this, they're pirates.

I am still waiting for an official release of the July 1. 1966 concert on blu ray or dvd! sure this is a bootleg and not an official release; because there is still no official release !
by the way: some weeks ago that gig (white suits) was uploade here on YT, but they took it down some days ago. the audio was ok and the picture quality was quite good vhs quality.

like I said: I am still waiting for an official concert blu ray by the beatles!

Wish that Apple could release an official Budokan live album and remastered concert on Blu-Ray.

I doubt Apple gave them permission.

Not an official release so the source material isn't going to be the best. Might be worthwhile if you haven't seen and heard it all before.

I only get official beatles releases from Apple or universal , not unofficial releases like this one , I avoided them at all cost .

Andrew send it back , I know you have opened it & played the dvd , but you did not know what the condition of the dvd & the cd was like until you played it . The price £30.00 wow send it back & get a refund you have been totally mislead .

Always just buy official products from official labels. Some of these independent products. Always do your homework

Had a great laugh on the Apple comments. It's a historical artifact. For someone who didn't have it on VHS or the old bootlegs, then it's not terrible.

Hi Andrew . Well I have seen some other videos on people that have gotten this . And they have raved about how great it is . I do have all that is on this from other CD's and DVD's as well and I just couldn't see it being better then the one's that I have !! So I was on the fence about all of this one . UNTIL your video mate :). WOW you know I do appreciate you great ( honesty ) about this :"))). Not everything I have bot or have shone on my channel I did like . But I do thank you for your this and this is Y you are so much better then a lot of other channels out there . + you do well in them all mate :). Clap clap clap well said about this CD/DVD and thank you for this video cheers !!!!

I'm gonna buy this CD not because you say not buy this but because I'm a fan and this is cool

I'LL BUY WHAT EVER I FEEL LIKE BUYING. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO BUY AND WHAT NOT TO BUY!😣

Excelent work Andrew thanks ¡congratulations I've suscrib

Just had an email to say the vinyl released had ben pushed back yet again, so cancelling and getting a full refund was an option, one I have take after seeing this. I think you just saved me a tidy sum, thank you.

Andrew, is this release & all subsequent releases effectively bootlegs? Or is there a loophole as it’s a broadcast which is a bit of a grey area in the law? I’d certainly love The Beatles / Apple to restore this properly even if the performances are a little substandard. They shots really restore all known footage and have it available to stream from their website.

Okay.I believe you.

Mine arrived in Australia today. Not listened to it yet - Opened it. Made an entry for it on CLZ Collectorz, so if you enter it on there you can thank me LOL. If it's crap - Shit happens.

This whole thing does indeed smack of a cash grab. Especially now that you mention the quality of the audio and video I wouldn't be surprised if they simply just did a transfer of the widely circulated bootlegs of this material and threw together a nice looking package.

Man buys a bootleg product and finds it's shoddy - shock, horror! 😏

It is what it is, they DID NOT rehearse for this tour which is well documented, just watch the Munich video, they actually gather together onstage for a second to discuss how a song goes! In Tokyo they were tired, fed-up and facing protesters in Tokyo telling the Beatle to "go home". Also, these recordings come from 1966 television, so again sonically it is what it is. As for the package, it's top notch (I'm talking about the 2-LP version pressed on white vinyl, I don't waste my time on cd's anymore), you get a great book with many unseen or rarely seen photos, plus the artwork they created in their Tokyo hotel room is included as a blown-up frame-able poster (excellent), and the replica ticket is a nice touch. The video's of the 2 concerts has circulated forever, and some are excellent (of which I have a gorgeous copy of both shows). Last, this is a BOOTLEG, there was NO permission given by Apple or The Beatles and this is absolutely not an officially sanctioned release in any way shape or form. For 2-LP's on white vinyl, a 90 page book, poster and replica ticket, plus the 2 concerts on dvd all for $80CAD.....deal of the century is all I can say!

No sign of Apple inc. or even a thank you to them , and plagerising Wiki?
It's simply a bootleg, or as the say " the grey market".
That said, some boot pressings are better than others. I have seen one edition of this concert where people are really happy with the quality.

When I want to enjoy the Tokyo shows I put on HMC’S TMOQ Gazette. It has both shows on DVD and CD in upgraded quality and the dvd includes some of the opening acts from Japan that I had never seen before. Quite enjoyable.

I read somewhere that a Tokyo concert was filmed for police use exclusively, never shown and is a really robust performance. Your compilation idea is a good one and yeah, the Ron Howard effort was attrociously bad in every respect.

I heard from a friend that if you buy the Anthology DVD set you get the Jap stuff in much better quality..

I'm so glad you reviewed this. I was on the fence about buying it, still might just for collection, but now I know for sure it sux !

why you haven't show us some shorts of the dvd to see the quality?

I'm not surprised about this. I got not that long ago a cd called ultimate live in japan, the cd side of the beatles in tokyo sounds very similar. Similar in that the first performance sounds better than the second one.

Thank you for the warning!

"I'm sure that's just an oversight" 😂
Brilliant delivery on that line.

I mean this is obviously a bootleg. It's very easy to produce and sell these days. To have any expectations of getting a quality product is just naive. You can't get mad when you know it's a substandard release