The Beatles - Live at the Hollywood Bowl

I was just perusing our vinyl, which I don't do often enough, to look for something to listen to over lunch and this jumped out at me. Can't remember the last time I pulled out any Beatles, much less this record, but dug its rawness when it was released in 1977 and dig it still!

Recorded over two shows at the Bowl in August of '64 and '65, and initially considered sonically too inferior for release, Beatles' producer George Martin transferred the initial 3-track to 16-track and did what he could to sweeten the sound - and the public certainly thought he did a good job, as it reached number 1 on the New Musical Express charts in England and number 2 on the Billboard charts in America!

The set here is a mix of originals and covers, from the all-too-brief opening of "Twist and Shout" to "She's a Woman", "Dizzy Miss Lizzie", "Ticket to Ride", Can't Buy Me Love", "Things We Said Today", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Boys", "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", "All My Loving", "She Loves You" and "Long Tall Sally". I'm sure anyone reading this will know all of these tunes and the performances are energetic and lively and the vocals and, of course, amazing - especially considering the lack of monitors and decent PA systems at the time!

Apparently, and surprisingly, this has not yet been released on CD, though I'm sure it will at some point as it is a super memento of the Fab Four at their swingingest!