Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
| Live at the BBC | ||||
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| Live album / compilation album by the Beatles | ||||
| Released | 30 November 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 22 January 1963 – 26 May 1965, United Kingdom | |||
| Genre | Rhythm and blues, rock and roll | |||
| Length | 133:37 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| Compiler | George Martin | |||
| The Beatles chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Live at the BBC | ||||
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| 2013 reissue cover | ||||
Black and white artwork for the 2013 remastered and repackaged version of the album
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
| Rolling Stone |  |
Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by the Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 to 1965. The mono album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks of dialogue; 30 of the songs had never been issued previously by the Beatles. It was the first official release by the Beatles of previously unreleased performances since The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl in 1977 and the first containing previously unreleased songs since their final studio album, Let It Be, in 1970.
Although the songs were recorded ahead of broadcast, allowing for retakes and occasional overdubbing, they are essentially "live in studio" performances. Most of the songs are cover versions of material from the late 1950s and early 1960s, reflecting the stage set they developed before Beatlemania. Before the album's release, comprehensive collections of the Beatles' BBC performances had become available on bootlegs.
A remastered repackaging of the album was released on 11 November 2013 along with On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2, a second volume of BBC Radio broadcasts. The two volumes were also released as a double set.
The Beatles performed for 52 BBC Radio programmes, beginning with an appearance on the series Teenager's Turn—Here We Go, recorded on 7 March 1962, and ending with the special The Beatles Invite You to Take a Ticket to Ride, recorded on 26 May 1965. Forty-seven of their BBC appearances occurred in 1963 and 1964, including 10 on Saturday Club and 15 on their own weekly series Pop Go the Beatles, which began in June 1963. As The Beatles had not accumulated many original songs by this time, the majority of their BBC performances consisted of cover versions, drawing on the repertoire that they had developed for their early stage act. In total, 275 performances of 88 different songs were broadcast, of which 36 songs never appeared on their studio albums.
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