As much as the Beatles were loved in the USA, we were short-changed. We thought we were getting a lot with an album every ten months, a handful of singles each year, a movie every two years, an occasional tour, and a sloppy Saturday morning cartoon.

But, in the UK, the Beatles were doing stage shows--not just their own act, but pantomime and vaudeville-type things--and tons of live radio, where "From Me To You" was converted to "From Us To You" and made their signature tune. LIVE AT THE BBC collects more than 60 of the best moments from their radio appearances in one fabulous package.

There are a couple odd glitches--the solo on "A Hard Day's Night" is an obvious edit of the studio solo patched over a live performance, for instance--but the vast majority of the music here is superb.

The cover of "Sweet Little Sixteen" is fantastic, really hard stuff the way Lennon always said he preferred the Beatles to sound. Harrison shines on "Nothin' Shakin'" and "Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby." McCartney wails on "Long Tall Sally," "Lucille," and "The Hippy Hippy Shake." The whole band delivers a jolt with my very favorite early Beatles rocker, "Some Other Guy."

Ringo, as always, is the heart of the Beatles sound. On "Thank You Girl" he sounds like he's going to knock the bandstand to pieces. Why he isn't universally acclaimed as one of the 2 or 3 greatest Rock drummers of all time is beyond me.

This is a great record of the Beatles early days, when they were just beginning to step away from a very 1950s sound. Who could have guessed how far they'd go in less than a decade?

It bears noting that at the time this compilation was released, the Beatles were banned from the BBC. Not because of any song content, mind you (as if), but because, if I remember the exact wording, they were "too boring." This all changed soon enough, when a year later Beatlemania was revamped by the Anthology series and "Free As A Bird"/"Real Love" releases.

But in the heyday of the sixties, the love affair between the Beeb and the boys from Liverpool was hot and heavy. And mutually beneficial, no doubt.

For those of us who love the "personal history" stuff of the Beatles story as well as the technical, which-riff-goes-where stuff, this set is a treasure trove. Not only do we get to hear early interviews where Paul, George, Ringo, and even cheeky John still have butterflies in their stomachs, but despite the low-tech feel of the recordings, the energy of the songs recorded here is palpable. In between the songs the lads chat with DJs and share Christmas and other holiday greetings. This gives us a glimpse, in part, into even the pre-"toppermost of the poppermost" days.

My favorite songs on the collection feature George, and listening to them gave me further insight into the frustration he must have felt playing an undeserved "second fiddle" role to the Lennon-McCartney partnership. His covers of "Young Blood", "Crying, Waiting, Hoping", "Nothin' Shakin'" are so fresh and spot on, to say nothing, of course, of "Roll Over Beethoven". Even though a Harrison original doesn't show up here, his musicianship and importance in the group comes through.

"Nothin' Shakin'", by the way, a terrific rockabilly number, is one of several unique recordings on this collection, along with songs such as Carl Perkin's "Glad All Over" (not to be confused with the Dave Clark number of the same name).

A must for any serious Fab Four collection.

The four Beatles introduce themselves and the instruments they play. Leave it to Mr. Lennon to be the witty one: "I'm John and I too play the guitar. Sometimes I play the fool."

Live at the BBC means that this was broadcast on any one of their radio program appearances from 1963 to 1965. However, there are actual live versions of "Thank You Girl" and "I Saw Her Standing There" here. And their version of "A Hard Day's Night" is interrupted during that final guitar just to prove that this wasn't just a record playing.

The rapport between the radio host and the Beatles is also fun, in the spirit of the dialogue on the A Hard Day's Night movie. John in particular is quite a clown. They get Lee Peters to introduce "Baby It's You" in his famous James Mason-impersonation voice. Another time, we learn that the Beatles current single is at number one in Portugal and it's called "Crisnk Dee Night", or "A Hard Day's Night".

The real treat is that the majority of songs aren't on any other Beatles album. They cover songs by Arthur Alexander, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley, to name a few. Basically, these two discs show what groups and artists influenced the Beatles. However, there are songs that are already on their studio albums, such as "Things We Said Today", "You Really Got A Hold On Me", "I'm A Loser", and "Ticket To Ride".

They capture the spirit of the originals. Foe example, John sings "I Got A Woman" by Ray Charles and it's a 50's rockabilly number. "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" is a Shangri-La's/Shirelles type number that could've been included on Please Please Me.

Well-known numbers that don't need any introduction: Chuck Berry's "Johnny B Goode" and Elvis Presley's "That's All Right, (Mama)" and Chan Romero's "Hippy Hippy Shake" which they originally did in their days with Tony Sheridan.

Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Carl Perkins in particular are given special note. They do five Perkins numbers here: "Sure To Fall (In Love With You)", "Matchbox", "Glad All Over", "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby", and "Honey Don't." Nine, count'tem NINE (!) Chuck Berry numbers are done here. Other than the aforementioned three, the others are "Roll Over Beethoven" which they did on With The Beatles, "Rock And Roll Music" from For Sale, "Memphis, Tennessee", "Sweet Little Sixteen", "I Got To Find My Baby", and "Carol", which the Stones did on their first album. Little Richard songs are "Lucille", "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey", "Ooh! My Soul", and "Long Tall Sally".

The liner notes over each songs tells which artist originally covered this song, the show it was broadcast, and when it was recorded and transmitted. A very valuable addition to anyone Beatles collection.

The Beatles 'Live at the BBC' is an excellent historical document that captures their early energy in 'live' studio recordings.

The sound quality is sometimes less than great, and the performances are sometimes less than perfect, but this set is full of raw energy and enthusiasm, and the Beatles could were pretty tight as a unit. It's certainly worthwhile to hear them live without the legions of screaming fans and general poor sound quality of other live offerings.

Many of the early classics by the Lennon/McCartney team are here, such as "Thank You Girl," "I Saw Her Standing There," "Can't Buy Me Love," "A Hard Day's Night," "I Wanna Be You Man," "All My Loving," "Things We Said Today," "She's a Woman," "I Feel Fine," "I'm a Loser," and "Love Me Do."

There's also an unreleased original "I'll Be On My Way," that has kind of Buddy Holly meets "I'll Follow the Sun" feel to it, with nice harmonies by John and Paul.

There are also little interview snippets that offer a glimpse of the Beatles' wry humor, and one can imagine them cutting it up in the studio. The real highlight is the number of covers that were never put on any of the studio records. These songs show us the various R&B, early rock and roll and rockabilly influences that the Beatles drew from to create their music.

They play songs from Elvis, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, The Shirelles and Buddy Holly. They also picked from the catalog of the great songwriting teams like Leiber/Stoller/Barrett and Goffin/King.

"I Got a Woman" was a hit by Ray Charles and also recorded by Elvis. The Beatles play a faithful rendition here.

There are also versions of covers that appeared on Beatle records, such as "Baby It's You," "You Really Got a Hold On Me," "Long Tall Sally," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," and "Slow Down."

This is a fine collection with plenty of early rock gems.

"The Beatles - Live at the BBC", containing recordings done by the Fab Four for the BBC during the years 1962-1965, provides an interesting perspective on John, Paul, George and Ringo, when they were still a bunch of young and ambitious friends, who just got together to play some rock'n'roll and impress the ladies, way before Lennon decided to change the world and McCartney decided to write enough sweet love songs to fill a candy store.

The recordings in the double album are mostly cover versions of r'n'r and r'n'b standards by the artists the Beatles liked - Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Larry Williams, Carl Perkins, and the rest. Here and there some of their early original hits (Love Me Do, Can't Buy Me Love, Ticket To Ride, and more).

The performances are strong and vigorous. John and Paul scream their lungs out, George's guitar imitates Chuck Berry quite well, and Ringo keeps the steady beat. They sound like they're trying to convince England that they're the best band in the world. They did manage to do that eventually.

All in all, not an album for everyone. People who look for all the famous songs from their later period - Let It Be, Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever - will be disappointed. There is nothing psychedelic or experimental about these recordings - it's pure rock'n'roll.

If you're not (yet) a big Beatles fan, I recommend you'd start by buying one of their classic studio albums - Help!, Sgt. Pepper's or Abbey Road. However, if you already own most of the Beatles' material and you want to hear different Beatles - young, innocent and full of appreciation to the r'n'r legends of the '50s - this is an album for you.

One last note - due to the fact that these recordings were taken off radio sessions, the sound quality is so-so. Most of the songs sound good, but it's not what you're used to hear on studio albums.