The Beatles - Live at the BBC
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Free Music Notes for Live at the BBC
Free Music Review: "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" so I bought this twice
Hit: 5 Stars
As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various recordings from the 60's and 70's.
Doesn't it seem unfathomable that a band in their own stratosphere like the Beatles could have any releases that are underrated? The truth is there are many that aren't aware of the pure brilliance of the "BBC" and "Hamburg Germany" CD's.
It doesn't get much better than the opportunity to hear not only the plethora of songs included on the double disc but the diversity of the material. Do we take the Beatles for granted? There are times. If you listen to the music straight through it is easy to see why you may have a new appreciation for their collective genius. If you study what they were doing in 1962 compared to any other releases, it didn't take a special ear to comprehend great things were already here and a new level of honor would soon be created.
The Beatles could take a cover tune and make you think it was there own. They could mesmerize you with a ballad one moment and rock the house the next. That is what the "BBC" selections are all about.
Don't let any mention of some of the tracks sounding rough stray your course. It adds to the charm, as if you are hearing it way back when!
"Roll Over Beethoven" followed by "All My Loving." One of the many pleasurable aspects of the listening journey are the wonderful renditions of songs they didn't put on the released studio recordings these include but are not limited to the next five songs mentioned: "Shot of Rhythm and Blues" and "Some Other Guy" sound delectable through your speakers. "Carol", Johnny B. Goode", and "Memphis" couldn't sound any grander if they did it 100 more times.
When the Beatles paid homage to Chuck Berry and Little Richard and their other rhythm and blues heroes, they didn't cheat their own core of fans with the end results.
Interspersed throughout the festivities are the tunes Lennon and McCartney penned. If you want to soak up different arrangements of a myriad of songs you already know and love, it's as easy as clicking and buying.
John and George we miss you!
Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"
Free Music Review: forgettable
Hit: 3 Stars
This double album really passes me by, as a bit dull. I can find one really good rare track, written by Macca, 'I'll be on my way', that is the only original that is not on another album, this should have been polished and put on the album that is closest to it, time period wise.
The rest is forgettable, although I do remember a good cover of 'the honeymoon song'.
Free Music Review: "What about my book?!"
Hit: 4 Stars
This CD should settle once and for all that the Beatles were fine performers live. It would be hard to prove that on copies of broadcasts from Shea Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl. With the exception of one obvious edit on "Hard Day's Night" (though to rectify it, they play the ending fadeout riff ad nauseum at the end of the song "Here's proving that they're playing live!" says the BBC emcee), this is the Beatles live (and usually without the fanfare of screaming teenage fans).
From 1962 to 1965, the Beatles performed live on the BBC featuring not only their own songs but other popular songs from other artists (Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles and Buddy Holly, to name a few). There's even a few out of the ordinary songs included, like Ann Margaret's "I Just Don't Understand" (sung by John) and "The Honeymoon Song" (sung by Paul).
This is the Beatles at their most fun (and it sounds like they're indeed having fun!). Featured on this CD are are many songs never before released on LP or CD, like "Please Don't Change a Thing" and "Nothin' Shakin' (But the Leaves on the Trees" (both sung by George), "Double Shot of Rhythm and Blues," "I Got a Woman" (sung by John), "Lucille" (sung by Paul, why did that DJ have to pipe in on the instrumental introduction?), "Johnny B Goode" and "Carol" (both sung by John), "Hippy Hippy Shake" (sung by Paul), "Some Other Guy" (it's hard to believe that though this is featured in both The Compleat Beatles and The Beatles Anthology, this is the only version to surface on CD, bootlegs notwithstanding), "Young Blood" (sung by George), "Ooh, My Soul" and "Clarabella" (both sung by Paul, the latter featuring harmonica by John), "To Know Her Is to Love Her," "So How Come (No One Loves Me)," "Sure to Fall" (lead by Paul with harmonies from John and George), "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" and "Got to Find My Baby" (both sung by John), "That's Alright Mama" (sung by Paul) "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Lonesome Tears In My Eyes" (both sung by John) and the only Lennon/McCartney song never before released (at least aired on the BBC) "I'll Be On My Way." This song was given to Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas after they had written it.
Of course, there's the alternative version of "From Me to You" (retitled "From Us to You") at the beginning and there's also also notable versions of "Baby It's You" (with a jazzy coda, rather than the fadeout on Please Please Me), "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" (with no echo reverb on George's vocal) and "Honey Don't" with John on vocals rather than Ringo), "I Saw Her Standing There," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," "She's a Woman," "Things We Said Today," "Love Me Do" (with Ringo on drums), "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Rock and Roll Music," "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Till There Was You."
There are no recordings from 1962 featured here but I had read no quality recordings existed. Also included are short interviews with the Fab Four. Paul gives a rare serious answer as to what the Beatles miss in the midst of all the fame and fortune, John is the most jovial ("No, I play harp on this song! I play harmonica on 'Love Me Do'!"), Ringo gets a banana thrown at him ("'Ere, Ringo, have a banana"), George is wry as he introduces "Roll Over Beethoven" as a song that goes back to 1822 and at the beginning of Disk 1, each of the Beatles introduces themselves ("I'm Ringo and I play the drums" "I'm Paul and I play a bass" "I'm George and I play the guitar" "I'm John and I, too, play a guitar. Sometimes, I play the fool!"). Mark Lewishon provides some insightful liner notes and we learn that "Ticket to Ride" was one of the last songs the Beatles performed on the BBC. It doesn't include all the songs they performed on the BBC, since there was a CD single featuring 3 other songs from the BBC sessions not included here (also worth getting and probably even harder to find). Nevertheless, if you're a serious fan of the Beatles and this is not in your collection, this would be a worthy purchase.
Free Music Review: Sometimes I play the fool.
Hit: 4 Stars
Between March 1962 and Jube 1965, the Beatles were featured performers in fifty-two BBC radio programmes and sang eighty-eight different songs, thirty-six of which they never recorded for a record. The reason that they made so many "live" appearances on radio is, the Musicians Union had a deal with the BBC, so that a certain percentage of airtime each day had to feature live musicians. In other words, they couldn't just play records all day. This collection features 56 songs that the Beatles recorded especially for radio, including 29 songs they never commercially recorded. There are also a few bits of chat between the Beatles and the radio hosts. But the highlights, of course, are the otherwise unrecorded songs. Almost all of these songs are covers of other artists' songs, although there is one Lennon-McCartney original. The most covered performers are Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Little Richard. They also cover other legends like the Coasters and Buddy Holly, plus some very obscure artists that you probably never heard of. The BBC didn't save many of these shows, so some of the songs are taken from home recordings that people made off of their radios. Consequently, the sound is a bit sketchy on some of the songs. Regardless of that, this is an essential collection for any Beatlemaniac.Free Music Review: Early Beatles without George Martin
Hit: 5 Stars
Many of the songs on these discs could have been hits for The Beatles if they hadn't already saturated the charts.
Their tones are much more American than the pop hits that made them
popular. It sounds like they have different instruments and amplifiers.
New Beatles songs after all these years.