The WKBW broadcast of Get Back mark 2
It�s known that tapes of the Get Back acetate mark 2 were circulating during
September 1969, which was presumably the means by which Rolling Stone were able
to review it. On 20 September, possibly prompted by the review, WKBW of Buffalo,
New York, broadcast their tape of the prototype album. This was probably not the
first time these songs had been revealed to the public, and there is evidence that
WKBW�s tape is a second-generation of another radio station�s copy � but is the
earliest broadcast we have a permanent record of. For this reason, we include it in this
set.
What remains via a recording of the show is not particularly brilliant to listen to,
although its sense of historical place excuses its technical shortcomings. The
recording is very lo-fi, with speed fluctuation, and a persistent �message� repeatedly
cutting over the music: �WKBW exclusive�. (This was to prevent other stations
making a copy and broadcasting it as their own.)
More fundamentally, we can only hear the left channel of the stereo image. This,
though, was an artefact of the tape itself, rather than a mess-up on the part of WKBW
or the person who recorded it; subsequent bootlegs from the same source (not from
the broadcast itself, as there are no announcements) are the same � it must have been
a flaw from the point the disc was transferred to magnetic tape sometime over the
summer.
By now, of course, the album was known to have been subject to more delays, and a
December release had already been announced. The DJ quotes from the Rolling Stone
article in his summing up:
�A brand-new, double Beatles album � there�s two records on this set � it�s called Get
Back, and it�s set for release in December. �It�s a model of simplicity,� it says, �in
concept, music, philosophy and politics.� � �Regression�, it says here, �appears to be
one of the main themes for the album, beginning with the cover photo where they�re
posed in the offices of EMI Records in Manchester [sic], just as they were for their
first English album in 1963,� the one that said, Please Please Me.�
The mention of a two-record set is curious. Possibly Rolling Stone believed that the
mooted oldies LP was set to be the second half of a package, as hinted at from the Beatles�
own quarters. In any case, all of the acetate copy was aired, with the possible, though not
certain, exception of �Get Back (Reprise)�, which is absent from the surviving tape. A further
gap in the album was caused by the owner of the tape deciding to record a much later
broadcast (by the same station � you can tell by the voice-over) of �Across the Universe�
from a December 1969 charity LP, across part of the show � it cuts off the end of �Dig
A Pony�, obliterates all of �I've Got A Feeling� and clips off the start of �Get Back�.
How did this happen? Presumably not deliberately. The owner perhaps had his Get
Back reel loaded in his tape machine when all of a sudden �Across the Universe� was
announced � and he just hit �record�. It�s fortunate the song was later included on Let
It Be, making its sudden appearance here less obtrusive than it might otherwise have
been.

Curiously, �One After 909� has a point at which an unsubtle tape edit causes a repeat
of part the song, towards the end. Another oddity exits in that while �The Long And
Winding Road� is playing, a plug for another station, CJRN of Canada, cuts out the
song for several seconds. Our WKBW presenter is confused by this (it must be the
first time he�s heard the tape too), and supposes that�s the end of the album, until the
song returns to play through from a point prior to the interruption.
Quite what�s going on here is not clear. A possible solution is that CJRN had supplied
WKBW with a copy of their own tape, and during duplication, a station
announcement was accidentally dubbed on. Thus, the tape could have been rewound a
little, and copying resumed so that all the song is there, albeit in two parts. And a
similar problem may have beset �One After 909�, hence the repeat section.
Assuming this is correct, CJRN had the tape first, and there is a realistic chance that
they may have broadcast it before WKBW. The fact that WKBW purchased their
copy from an anonymous seller in Toronto supports this general theory; the location is
close to CJRN�s studio.
This listing shows the contents of the remaining home recording, in its ultimate state:
1. One After 909
2. Rocker - Save The Last Dance For Me
3. Don't Let Me Down
4. Dig A Pony [incomplete]
5. Across the Universe [from a later broadcast]
6. Get Back [incomplete]
7. For You Blue
8. Teddy Boy
9. Two Of Us - Maggie Mae
10. Dig It
11. Let It Be
12. The Long and Winding Road

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