Beatles Live at Hollywood Bowl essential?

Thousands of excited, absolutely thrilled teenagers, especially now that their excitement has been toned down to the perfect level.

That totally adds to the rockin excitement of this new Hollywood Bowl.

 

John would have definitely liked to say that too, but who'd listened to him?

 

Swedish radio 1963 is excellent.

 

It's essential for the spouses who don't know what to get us for Christmas

 

I have been listening to this as my go-to in my (admittedly rather primitive) car stereo. It's great--so much energy, vitality, and that certain Beatlesque je ne sais quoi.

Definitely essential.

PS I want more.

 

After reading so many great reviews, when I actually got to listen to it on a proper system, I must say I was a bit underwhelmed.
The recording is still a crappy recording, even by '64-'65 standards; the crowd is still annoyingly noisy - maybe a little less than the '77 release? possibly; but I haven't listened to that cassette (as I had it) for ages, and this is more or less as I remember it; sound dropouts are still significant.

Since this has been remixed, you'd think they might do better than bass&drums on the left channel, guitars on the right. Vocals are mostly in the center-ish, but I still get that Please-Please-Me-Stereo-Mix feeling which I'm not really keen on. In general, I think that placing the drums only (or mostly) on one channel is always a mistake. Maybe with the 3-channel multitracks they might have created a mono mix that would probably have been more engaging than this stereo thing.

Performances are great, yes (well, not throughout), but it's something you have to imagine, EQing it in your brain, rather than something you're actually listening to.
The bonus tracks - I can see why they where left out in the first place.

So, I listened to it twice with special attention, but I don't see myself returning to the Hollywood Bowl in the near future.
Unlike the BBC recordings, which are something I cherish and continue to go back to, and never get tired of.

 

I wasn't sure either, so do what I did, buy it from a place that accepts returns.

 

There's absolutely no way to please every living soul, so if it's not for you, it's all good, people are different!

For those of us who are thrilled that we now have an absolutely fantastic sounding hard rocking live Beatles album, put this bad boy on, crank your system, and hear the best rockin documentation of Beatlemania THERE IS!

It's currently #7 on the Billboard charts!

A top ten in this day and age, not to bad!

 

Fully agree Maccafan, The album is, and should be a classic as time goes on...
I can't wait for the LP. Please God, may there be no mastering, pressing or other dreaded issues.
I still feel the same as I said earlier regarding the new film. Had to settle for Hulu and joined because of the Beatles.
AL. was so week with just two cities... Being in Bham, only an hour from Tuscaloosa, I planned to go.
But they were only opened one day a week, and never answered the phone. Did not sell tix on-line either.
Was certain the Crim Tide fans had already bought them all..
I'll get the blue ray, can't say how often I'll actually watch it though. Perhaps my issues with the films ending will fade with time.
See your in Selma, if your up north by Hoverville we should get together sometime, have a many things you would like to see...

 

Nope, I already have it and loads of other Beatles live tapes, none very interesting. A 2-hour set from Cavern in 1961 (or fill in the location and date when they were supposedly a great live band) in excellent fidelity would be desirable though.

 

...ehm, no. If we must mantain a minimum of objectivity, it's not "fantastic sounding". Some of the BBC sessions, you might say are "fantastic sounding"

It sure is, being about the only one.

 

To each his own!

Sounds absolutely fantastic cranked on my Bose system!

She's A Woman is rockin my place as I type!

BEATLEMANIA UNLEASHED!

Lovin every second of it!

Bruce Mulle, one thing I have to say to you, ROLL TIDE!

 

"...as if the music has been caught just coming out of the shower, too naked, too raw. And also it seems to miss the point. If you want the pure music there are the studio albums – if you want the live experience, you need the fans."

An article from todays Guardian:
All you need is love… and screaming: what the Beatles really meant »

 

I agree, generally, but it really is something to them open with Twist And Shout and listen to the audience response. Real Beatlemania. Gives you an idea just how popular they were.

 

I'm still loving this album!
In fact, I loaded my old "Real Love" 45 onto my jukebox just so I could get me some live Beatles on there.... Too bad there wasn't a 45 single released from the new version of the album. I would have opted for "I Want To Hold Your Hand"/"She's A Woman."

 

I kind of want to hear the Schlitz track.

 

1959 vocal version: Nelson Riddle - The Joy Of Li…:

 

I pretty well own "every possible second of recording" of anything that has been released by the Beatles, and don't find it essential. Big this year, forgotten next year...

 

Yep, I think it is. The only authorized live album from The Fabs. You have to have it.

 

While you get a level of the excitement of Beatlemania, The Beatles were not the ultimate live band. Their best stuff was in the studio.

Admittedly, while they loved to perform initially, they got tired of it because they couldn't hear themselves over the screaming. It stopped being fun for them. It did help sell records.

So fun? Yes. Essential? No.

 

Actually, that's not the same record.

I have that promo 45, and it's a great record and pretty valuable, too, in the sense that it includes that vocal version of "The Joy of Living." (Nelson Riddle's "Joy of Living" album only has an instrumental version.)

But the 45 on my jukebox is entirely different. It's literally a radio commercial for Schlitz, with reworked "Joy of Living" lyrics, followed by the promo-only vocal version, all on one side of the record. (The label and the cover-sleeve art are pictured below.)

The Schlitz TV and radio commercials that utilized this song as part of a year-long ad campaign were so popular that the brewer pressed up a number of discs like this as promotional pieces. The picture sleeve is heavy cardboard with pasted-on cover art.

I have the disc on my jukebox because I love Schlitz! (Note that the Schlitz being made these days is the original 1950s/1060s formula, not the horrendous, cheaply made swill the company produced in the 1970s, which ran the company into the ground.)

 

Can you guess what this sign hanging in a bar in Chicago means?

 

Ha! Isn't that their early 70s slogan... "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer"?
Truer words were never spoken.

 

Yes! Very good! It's in Polish.
The literal translation is: "No Schiltz? No beer" but it was a short way of saying "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer."

 

Somehow we have strayed from the Beatles. Quick, better open that craft brew before we return to our regularly scheduled opine fest.