The Beatles: On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2

The Beatles: On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2

2013

Apple, Capitol, UM^e

Track Listing: Disc 1: 1. And Here We Are Again  2. Words of Love  3. How About It, Gorgeous?  4.
Do You Want to Know a Secret  5. Lucille  6. Hey, Paul...  7. Anna (Go to Him)  8. Hello!  9.
Please Please Me  10. Misery  11. I'm Talking About You  12. A Real Treat  13. Boys  14.
Absolutely Fab  15.  Chains  16. Ask Me Why  17. Till There Was You  18. Lend Me Your Comb  19. Lower 5E  20. Hippy Hippy Shake  21.Roll Over Beethoven  22. There's a Place  23. Bumper Bundle  24. P.S. I Love You    25. Please Mister Postman   26. Beautiful Dreamer  27. Devil in Her Heart  28. The 49 Weeks  29. Sure to Fall (in Love with You)  30. Never Mind, Eh?  31. Twist and Shout  32. Bye, Bye   33. John – Pop Profile (Bonus interview track)  34. George – Pop Profile (Bonus interview track)

Disc 2:  1. I Saw Her Standing There  2. Glad All Over  3. Lift Lid Again  4. I'll Get You   5. She Loves You  6. Memphis, Tennessee  7. Happy Birthday Dear Saturday Club  8. Now Hush, Hush  9. From Me to You  10. Money (That's What I Want)  11. I Want to Hold Your Hand  12. Brian Bathtubes  13. This Boy  14. If I Wasn't in America  15. I Got a Woman  16. Long Tall Sally   17. If I Fell  18. A Hard Job Writing Them  19. And I Love Her  20. Oh, Can't We? Yes We Can  21. You Can't Do That   22.  Honey Don't  23. I'll Follow the Sun  24. Green with Black Shutters  25. Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!  26. That's What We're Here For  27. I Feel Fine  28. Paul – Pop Profile (Bonus interview track)  29. Ringo – Pop Profile (Bonus interview track)





This is the 2013 sequel to the 1994's "The Beatles Live at the BBC" album.


















It consists of live performances and interviews the band did with the British Broadcasting Corporation during the early part of their career ('63-64). There's quite a bit of overlap in the song selection, so a lot of people may see that as a drawback but these are different performances than were featured on the first volume. Still, it gives the impression this is less essential than Volume 1 since there's only 2 songs that have never been recorded by the Beatles this time around...

Being more of a "Rubber-Soul-on-up" Beatles fan, I was somewhat afraid I would have a rough time making it through the album...Two discs...63 tracks...Over two hours of early 60's Beatles. Turns out it wasn't hard at all...

While I listened to this I found myself pretending that I was around in '64 and listening to these for the first time...It feels so right...The interviews interspersed with the performances really compete the illusion and are actually the reason this is so entertaining. The Beatles were fantastic at interviews...To this day I don't think any other band has ever aced interviews the way the Beatles did. And this was the time period where music interviews were based around the questions, "Why is your hair so long? "Why do you play so loud?" But to be fair, the interviews contained on this release are of better-than average quality for the time, and the long-form pop profile interviews are informative and nicely done.

The big draw, much like the last installment of this series, was the chance to hear clear Beatles live performances, stripped of the white-noise/incessant audience screaming that marred live recording of the time.

 "LOOK! THERE'S THE BAND I SO DESPERATELY WANTED TO HEAR! SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

When I go to concerts the only screaming I usually do is when I get an eyeful of the beer prices...

"TWELVE DOLLARS?!?!?! SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I do enjoy the extra tinge of energy these live recordings generate too. Even the cover songs, which were always a major sticking point for me, are much easier to take in this context. Hell, I actually enjoy the shit outta them.  In particular, I love their spiky version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee."  They did this song on the first volume too, if I remember correctly, but it had been so long since I last heard that one that I had forgotten how much I liked it.  Listening to the two back to back, I like this version better. It seems a little more lively...But yea, when you find me grooving out to  songs like "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" you know something's up...

Holy cow, it just struck me that I've been writing this post for 4 days straight and the track listing is still longer than the post itself...I guess I just don't have much to say on this, other than count me in for Volume 3!
 
Here's my recent interview with the BBC:

BBC: Jamin, why is your hair so long?

Jamin: It's not, me head's just short! (Ha ha ha ha)

BBC: Why is your music so darn loud?

Jamin:  Can't help it. I turn up the knob on me stereo and the music just comes out that way! (Ha ha ha ha)

BBC: What's the first thing you notice in a girl?

Jamin: That look of disgust! (Ha ha ha ha)



Alright, enough horsin' around, here's "If I Fell" by the Beatles...