The Beatles: The Illustrated Lyrics: 1963 1970

22 tracks recorded in 1963 including Abbey Road studio takes and various live recordings from Europe & the UK

A complete 4CD boxset from the source of the 1963 radio series "Pop Goes The Beatles"
From January 1963, The Beatles regularly pulled in U.K. audiences of around ten million on "Saturday Club" and a myriad of other BBC pop shows, until they received the ultimate recognition from the B.B.C. when they were offered their own show, "Pop Go The Beatles". For some groups, a series that demanded five new recordings each week might have been daunting, but it allowed The Beatles to air their influences, and try out some new favourites. Pop Go The Beatles was broadcast in the summer of 1963 and this 4 CD set contains all sixteen episodes. The show features the band taking requests, interacting with presenters Lee Peters (first four episodes) and Rodney Burke (all the other episodes), playing their favourite songs and most importantly, performing live. Whilst most of the Beatles performances here appear on the more extensive BBC collections, it’s a treat to hear these shows in their entirety (except they're not !). The Beatles hadn’t been to America yet and were still Britain’s best kept secret. The innocence of 1963 comes through in these recordings…you can tell they were still just having fun playing together. An added bonus is the exhaustive 20 page booklet of sleeve notes, so detailed that it even transcribes all the between-song banter!

Interesting package for Beatles fans - a five disc set of all of the Beatles acetates, from "Ain't She Sweet" through the Let it Be period. Disc five is a WBCN radio show from September of 1969, which was basically a broadcast of the Glynn Johns mix of "Let it Be," often known as Kum Back. This album was out long before the official "Let it Be" album, even receiving a review in Rolling Stone.

Emerging from Liverpool, England in 1960, the Beatles were a seminal British group that evolved from rock/pop origins into pioneers of musical experimentation. The band solidified its iconic lineup in 1962, featuring John Lennon (vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, keyboards, percussion), Paul McCartney (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals, keyboards), and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals, percussion) after signing a recording contract with EMI. This followed a brief period with Stuart Sutcliffe (bass, 1960-61) and Pete Best (drums, 1960-62).