On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2


On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 is a 2013 live/compilation album featuring 40 previously unreleased tracks from the Beatles' 1963–1964 BBC Radio broadcasts. It was released on 11 November 2013, along with a remastered and repackaged Live at the BBC Volume 1, which was originally released in 1994. The album is available as a two-CD set and a three-LP set. An exclusive limited edition lithographic print is also available from the Beatles online store.

Content

Most of the songs performed on the album are taken from the Beatles' first four LPs Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale. Many of the other songs performed are the band's covers of early rock and roll classics by American artists such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, many of which were never recorded in a studio or released on a Beatles album during the groups time together. "I'm Talking About You" had appeared on various releases, of dubious legality, from 1977 onwards featuring material recorded in December 1962 at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. "Beautiful Dreamer" had never been on a previous Beatles release, leaving only "Dream Baby " and "A Picture of You", both low fidelity recordings with Pete Best from 1962, as the only songs from the Beatles' BBC performances that have never been issued in any version.
There are several witty and irreverent moments among the 23 speech tracks of in-studio conversation and banter with the late Brian Matthews presenter of radio's 'Saturday Club' and 'Easy Beat'. "A Hard Job Writing Them", for example, includes the moment where Ringo describes the trouble he had writing songs for A Hard Day's Night and Paul launches the ship "Top Gear" in an unusual voice.

Reception

The album received very positive reviews upon release. Damian Fanelli from Guitar World said the album is "an exceedingly satisfying release, yet another example of how talented, charming and generally 'different' the Beatles were. In terms of George Harrison's guitar playing, we get to hear the good, the not so good and the intriguing."
Mojo music writer Jon Savage reviewed the album, giving it four stars and stated, "There are several surprises: a tough version of Chuck Berry's 'I'm Talking About You', an early 'Words of Love', covers of 'Lend Me Your Comb' and 'Beautiful Dreamer'."

Track listing

Speech tracks are in italics.

Personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications