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

"The next few minutes are in the laps of the gods and the hands of the Beatles," says one presenter at the beginning of this album.

"Live at the BBC" provides something that even the greatest Beatles album can't- a candid look at the four members themselves. This collection of radio numbers is more than a window to the early days of Beatles music; it's a portrait of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Through a collection of interview snippets, placed sporadically in with the music, we see the quartet as not the music deities they are now, but four guys who enjoy a rollicking good time.

"Live at the BBC's" sixty-nine tracks span the Beatles' years at the British radio station, roughly 1963 to 1965. Despite the relatively short amount of time, the group managed to amass a plethora of songs, the majority of which appear on this album. While many are covers, "BBC" allows us to see the early songwriting prowess of Lennon and McCartney with numbers never heard until this album, including "I'll Be On My Way," a very close relative to their later number "I'll Follow the Sun," and other obscure songs like "Thank You Girl" (which appeared as a B-side). Through performances of "Carol," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping," "To Know Her is to Love Her," "I Got A Woman," and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," the group shows their admiration of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Phil Spector (who later became instrumental in their psychedelic metamorphosis), and even Ray Charles and Elvis. Throughout it all, the Beatles show their clout as a straight rock-and-roll band with excellent versions of "The Hippy Hippy Shake," "Rock and Roll Music," and the classic "Johnny B. Goode." Of course, no Beatles album is complete without some oddities, and "BBC" is not without them. The initial song track on the first disc is "From Us to You," an augmented version of their hit "From Me to You." Also, "BBC" includes a rare version of Carl Perkins's "Honey Don't," sung by Lennon instead of Starr.

Just because "BBC" provides a plethora of little-known numbers doesn't mean it's devoid of the classics. "Love Me Do," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Ticket To Ride," the "Kansas City/Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" medley (which appeared on "Beatles For Sale" in 1964), and "All My Loving" appear on this album as novel counterparts to the studio versions.

Listening to the interview clips, one acquires a more profound knowledge of the Beatles themselves; they weren't just rock behemoths, but mortals like us. "Riding on a bus," they reply when asked what they miss being able to do after fame's grip set in. But, of course, true Beatle humor shines through. "Do you ever get tired of being Beatles?" queries an interviewer, only to have the group yawn in unison.

On the back of this album, there is a minuscule note from the people at Apple and Capitol records: "...However, some tracks have been included for their historical significance, do not represent the usual fidelity of studio recordings." They bludgeon the nail on the head with that quote. When listening to "Live at the BBC," remember that the British Broadcasting Company utilized a dyad of mono recorders, without frills and the studio experimentation of later albums. During the course of the two discs, there are many audio problems; the instruments will overpower the vocalist, or vice versa; whole instruments will simply disappear from the track, only to come rallying back a few seconds later; on "Things We Said Today" the guitar is more of a harmonious buzz than anything else; some tracks sound grainy and uneven, but the minor sound problems give "BBC" its essence, its soul. It's as if you've been teleported back to 1964, and you're huddled around your paltry transistor radio in Surrey, straining to hear John's and George's guitars, Paul's vocals, Ringo's drumming, the harmonies and melodies, the complete experience.

The spontaneity of the tracks also adds to "BBC's" effect; you're presented with slightly different versions of the songs you're accustomed to. For instance, there's the subtle difference in "From Me to You" (however, according to the liner notes, the "From Us to You" version was used as the opening theme for their radio program of the same name), as well as a complete lyrical change on Ringo's adaptation of "Matchbox." Caught up in the moment, he sings, "I'm an old poor old boy and I ain't got a home...and everything I do turns out mighty wrong." However, like the audio quirks, this only aids "BBC's" appeal.

"BBC" also provides some little minutiae of the recording world. The fact that "She's A Woman" appears on this album is a wonder; how it managed to slip past the BBC's censors will always be an enigma. The Beatles themselves thought it was comical that the line "Turn me on when I get lonely," an ambiguous drug reference, was green-lighted by the BBC. However, when a similar phrase ("I'd love to turn you on") was popped up on "A Day in the Life," (which initially appeared on the band's 1967 epic "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band") it was subsequently banned by the BBC. Many speculators believe that the 1964 crew at the BBC wasn't astute enough to comprehend the veiled allusion. (By the way, "She's A Woman" was penned shortly after the group had its first encounter with drugs.)

"Live at the BBC" is a perfect example of pre-psychedelia-but-pre-Beatlemania music; it's a pure Beatle experience. Immerse yourself in the innocent youthfulness of "Nothin' Shakin'" and "Slow Down," and remind yourself that there was a time when the Beatles weren't the immense force that they were during the sixties. They were just four wide-eyed young guys from Liverpool, banding together and experiencing the elation of playing music. They weren't experimenting, they weren't delving into the world of drugs, they were simply putting on a show for the good people of merry old England. This is untainted rock, innocent rock, just plain rock and roll to be cherished for the ages.