THE BEATLES
live albums

Live! At the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 (1977)
Lingasong Records

Fans love to whine about the sound quality on this invaluable document of the pre-Beatlemania band, captured on the last night of their last Hamburg stint. These people obviously never had to deal with loving a band like Television or the Velvets for whom recordings far worse than this are all you have, and you learn to fucking love them or else. For my money, this is the only way to hear the Beatles live. The band is in top form, manic energy on full blast. Allan Williams found this cassette under a pile of rubble in Germany and, despite lawsuits from the Beatles, managed to get it released with perfect timing at the dawn of the punk era. Of course it was with some strange kind of foresight that the Beatles created a legacy which could adapt to any future, and they seem as influential here to the spirit of '77 as they were crucial to that of '67.

There are numerous variations of this package. The rundown is this: thirty songs exist, most packages stop at 26. If you end up missing some, hey, that's what KaZaA's for. This album should not be overlooked by any Beatles nut, even a fairly casual one, great sound or no great sound. Crank the bitch up and dance.


The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (1977)
Parlophone/Capitol

This is taken from two of the Beatles' concerts at the eponymous venue, in 1964 and 1965. Lots of fantastic crowd noise, a great setlist, fucking stellar band performances, and an ace sound job from George Martin. Short of a perfect-sounding STAR CLUB, what else could you want? "Can't Buy Me Love," "Boys" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" here top the studio versions -- although generally the 1964 songs are superior to the 1965 selections.