The Beatles - Live at the BBC
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Free Music Notes for Live at the BBC
Free Music Review: Raw, untamed Beatles
Hit: 4 Stars
3 types of Beatles fans will be most likely to appreciate what's found here:
1) Very young fans who don't know very much "oldies" music. They'll see these as "new" Beatles songs.
2) Moderate fans who don't know much about the Beatles early years but don't care to buy the first 4 albums or the Star Club stuff, but DO want to have something from that era to listen to.
3) Collectors that want this material to complete collections and hopefully upgrade the quality from bootlegs.
I don't own any Beatles bootlegs (yet) so I can't comment comparisonwise on quality except to say that the only tracks I felt were subpar as to listenability were "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby","I Forgot to Remember to Forget" and "Ticket to Ride".
The material here comes from performances on British radio and TV shows: "Pop Go the Beatles","Saturday Club","Side by Side","Easy Beat","Top Gear" and "From Us to You". Interspersed here and there are brief interviews and snippets of the band speaking to emcees of the shows.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Probably the most interesting rarities are a song the band gave away ("I'll Be on My Way" was written for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. It's about as good as a Beatles album cut in the early years.) and a raw live cut of "I Saw Her Standing There." A faster take on early B side "Thank You Girl" fares well and a cover of Arthur Alexander's "Soldier of Love" does well enough you wish they'd used that instead of "Anna" for "Please Please Me". The rest are early rock and R&B covers with the best interpretations coming on Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen", Carl Perkins "Nothin' Shakin'",Everly Brothers album track "So How Come (No One Loves Me)",Little Richard's "Ooh! My Soul", and a better Ringo vocal than the "Past Masters" version for "Matchbox".
LOWS:
"Keep Your Hands Off my Baby" probably suffers most in terms of sound quality. "Young Blood", a Coasters cover, is a boring rendition of a classic. Why they chose to include this number on their failed Decca records audition is beyond me. "Honeymoon Song" is just execrable...I have to think either Brian Epstein or the producers of "Pop Go the Beatles" must have talked them into recording that dog. As noted by others, "Hard Day's Night" has a very OBVIOUS edit of the piano solo (George Martin couldn't make it and no one in the band could play the part..)
BOTTOM LINE:
If you want to hear how the early Beatles sounded live without screaming girls or horrible "Hamburg" sound quality, this is the most inexpensive way to do it. No-frills rock and roll...
3 1/2 stars for the music, but an extra 1/2 star for the great packaging. The liners give info as to where and when it was recorded, producer, and a tidbit about every song performed. The brief interview snippets give you the feeling of listening to a long vintage radio show, although they can easily be programmed out if you want tunes only.
Free Music Review: Beatle Bootlegs Finally Officially Released
Hit: 5 Stars
LIVE AT THE BBC was the test run for the three ANTHOLOGY CD's and the mega documentary series. This was the Beatles when they enjoyed what they were doing and were energetic and enthusiastic. After listening to these recordings it is clear to see why the Beatles were always called a musical group more than a rock group and why they really stood out from all the rest (were The Beatles a pop group that could play rock n' roll or a rock group that can play pop? This is a debate that will go on forever unanswered.). The Beatles rock, but they also loved to listen to all types of musical styles from country, blues, r&b etc. and it is very evident on '...BBC'. The stand out song here is the cover of "Some Other Guy". This was a staple of all upcoming Liverpool groups probably made popular by the British group Johhny Kid and the Pirates. The Beatles perform this song on a old black and white movie clip live from a performance from the Cavern Club shown on various documentaries. Finally it is heard digitally remastered on CD. This is The Beatles at their rocking best with great vocals from Lennon and McCartney and great guitar work from Harrison. The song right after from the same set is "Thank You Girl". The driving force in the song is McCartney's bass playing. It's energetic and pounding. The final leg of the song ends with Ringo drum fills that showcases his drumming inventiveness. The other gem is "I'll Be On My Way" a Lennon/McCartney original that was not officially recorded on any of their albums. The other songs show their musical influences from Chuck Berry to Little Richard and a moody rendition of Phil Spector's "To Know Her is to Love Her".Lastly, one aspect of these recordings is hearing Ringo Starr's drumming before it was subdued in the EMI studios. All in all a must have for any Beatles collection that is so fun to listen to.Free Music Review: still sounds fresh to me!
Hit: 5 Stars
With "Live At The BBC", you get the discover the Beatles' strong fascination with American r 'n' r and r 'n' b, and at this early point of their career they already showed their exceptional talent as songwriters and intrepreters of many Top 40 hits.
Whatever they did, like covering songs such as "Soldier Of Love", "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby", "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry Over You", "To Know Her Is To Love Her", etc., etc., they did them surprisingly well. Not to mention that this 2-cd record (entirely in mono) also showcases their famous sense of humor, joking around and bantering with BBC hosts.
With that, I would like to think of the Beatles not as the most phenomenal and influential pop band of all time, but the Beatles as any other rollicking good bar band, doing those songs in their own personal best. And the most important thing is, they really had fun in doing it.
I wasn't even yet born in that era, but listening to "Live At The BBC" makes as if I already have lived in those carefree but innocent times, savoring those good ol' songs (but they still sound fresh!) that take me back down memory lane. This is really irresistible--you should have this one, too.
Free Music Review: Classic R&B Combines with Beatles Candor
Hit: 4 Stars
This is a great album that combines the flippant humor of the Beatles with R&B standards of their time and our's. Songs like "Johnny B. Goode," "Memphis, Tennesee," and "The Hippy Hippy Shake," bring back the glory days and (then) contemporary staples of R&B. But the Beatles knew how to please their fans, singing their own "I Feel Fine," "Ticket to Ride," and "A Hard Day's Night." The comedic asides between each song provide a little insight into the humor of the Beatles. This is a great CD to listen to, but it's hard to listen to repeatedly because of the talking in between songs. Once you've heard those once, it's more than enough.Free Music Review: A roaring album full of catchy hooks and busting enthusiasm
Hit: 5 Stars
I was listening to my copy of 'Live at the BBC' today and I realized something: I prefer it to not only the Anthology collection, but also the '1' collection and a few of the Beatles actual albums! Wheras the Anthology albums are at times frustrating to listen to and rarely do they actually reveal anything about the construction of classics, this CD is a joy to listen to! '1' is a good place for beginners to start, but it is hardly a great collection of the best Beatles songs (there are no songs on it from Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, or The White Album!) I even prefer 'Live at the BBC' to 'Let It Be' and 'Please Please Me'. While this not only provides listeners with insight into the kind of music the Beatles were influenced by, it also is a valuable piece of history. The Beatles are the greatest band ever to exist, and this album shows the transition of the Beatles from a pop group to real artists. But 'Live at the BBC' isn't really about studio experimentation or making great statements in their songs. This is just a fun collection of great rock n roll songs. The Beatles still sound like their having a ball being Beatles.
'Live at the BBC' is guaranteed to get you tapping your foot and bobbing your head. The Beatles' wit is shown in the various interviews in between songs. Their musicianship is also displayed as they whip out classics- their own classics like 'A Hard Days Night' and 'Love Me Do' as well as rock n roll classics such as 'Johnny B. Goode'.
I love 'Live at the BBC' and I wish it didn't live under the shadow of the Anthology series. While the Anthology DVD is absolutely excellent, the albums leave a lot to be desired. The came can be said of the '1' CD- though I have to give '1' credit for getting me into the Beatles. Sure, I wasn't alive when the Beatles were together (I wasn't even alive when John Lennon was), but I have taste in music and I know more about the Beatles than many people who WERE there. This is an excellent CD, well worth your time. Trust me.