Live at the BBC - Beatles (The) (CD 2001)

This review is for Angela. Hope you like.


Heh, it looks like a bowtie! ...Thus ends the worst opening of a review ever.

Between March 1962 and June 1965, the Beatles appeared on 52 radio programmes for the BBC and performed 88 songs, 36 of which were never commercially released. For years, it was possible to get these songs as bootlegs taped from the original BBC radio programmes in the 1960s but, as you can imagine, the sound quality was pretty awful. So in 1994, producer George Martin set about compiling the best of the songs and digitally remastering them.

The result, Live At The BBC, is an essential purchase for any crazed Beatles fan. This two-disc set shows the Beatles' musical roots through a large number of cover songs, while also providing a look at their personalities through snippets of radio interviews. This gives you the feel that you are actually listening to a radio broadcast and lets you see the Beatles as a group of funny, laidback guys, rather than the untouchable musical geniuses they are now known as. A nice thing about this set is that the Beatles sound more rough and unpolished than on their studio releases, letting you hear what they sounded like before Beatlemania was in full swing.

The sound for all the tracks is mono, as the songs were originally intended for a one-time radio broadcast. The songs are as good as they're going to get, though, and, if you're insane like me, you can pretend you're actually listening to the Beatles on the radio back in the '60s.

I have to mention that the set comes with a 48-page booklet that provides information about all of the songs, along with lots of pictures of the Beatles. This is a fantastic addition, and I'm glad it was included. So, onto the actual CDs. It would be impossible for me to talk in detail about all 69 (good number) tracks, or even to ignore the interviews and discuss only the songs, as there are 56 of them, so I will try to be brief.

It is obvious that the Beatles admired Chuck Berry, as they cover four of his songs on the first disc alone. John sings lead on all of them, and my favourites are his excellent versions of Johnny B Goode and Memphis. The boys were also fans of Little Richard, and Paul does covers of two of his songs, Long Tall Sally and Lucille. The bad thing about these performances is that Paul tends to get drowned out by the instruments. There is also a Buddy Holly cover, Crying, Waiting, Hoping, sung by George.

The Beatles' admiration for R&B and soul music is evident in their covers of Ray Charles' I Got A Woman, Smokey Robinson's You Really Got A Hold On Me, and Arthur Alexander's A Shot Of Rhythm and Blues. John sings lead on all of these songs. As you can see, John was pretty much the leader of the group at that time.

That's not to say the other guys don't also get a chance to sing. George does a cover of the Coasters' B side Young Blood, and Paul covers the Elvis Presley hit That's All Right (Mama) and the Jodimars' obscure Clarabella, along with a few covers that appeared on Beatles albums, A Taste Of Honey and Till There Was You.

Some of the songs on Live At The BBC were actually performed in front of an audience (lucky bastards), thus a crowd of screamers can be heard (fortunately, they don't drown out the music). The Beatles' live version of the little-known Some Other Guy is a highlight. Of course, the entire CD is not just cover songs. An unreleased Lennon-McCartney composition, I'll Be On My Way, is a real gem, and hits I Saw Her Standing There and Can't Buy Me Love are also here.

Disc two features more of the Beatles' hits, with songs like A Hard Day's Night, All My Loving, I Feel Fine, and Ticket To Ride. Ringo finally gets a chance to sing on I Wanna Be Your Man and a cover of Carl Perkins' Matchbox, during which he messes up the words. It's cute, though.

Again, the Beatles' love for Chuck Berry shines through on their covers of Roll Over Beethoven, Rock And Roll Music, and Sweet Little Sixteen. Paul does two more Little Richard covers, Ooh! My Soul and Kansas City/Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!. His version of Chan Romero's The Hippy Hippy Shake is quite entertaining and has become one of my favourites.

George gets to sing more on this disc, with the cover of Carl Perkins' Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby a highlight. There is also a rare version of Perkins' Honey Don't, which Ringo sang on the Beatles For Sale album. However, on this live version, John sings lead.

There are simply too many songs for me to talk about, so let me just say almost all of the songs on here are good or excellent. The only exception is I Forgot To Remember To Forget, an Elvis cover which is, I think, sung by George, but it's so hard to hear that you can't really tell. Other than that, though, this set is wonderful, and the booklet alone makes it worth the price. Live At The BBC lets us hear the roots of the greatest rock 'n' roll band ever, when they were just a group of guys trying to put on a good show.

Other Beatles CDs
A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles (The White Album), Yellow Submarine (Songtrack), Abbey Road, Let It Be, Past Masters Volume One, The Beatles Anthology 1, The Beatles Anthology 2, The Beatles Anthology 3, Free As A Bird (Single), Real Love (Single)

And in case that wasn't enough:
A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, Beatles Anthology, Ed Sullivan Presents the Beatles, Concert for George, How I Won the War, Imagine (film), Beatles Essay, George Harrison CD