A preview of the second volume of The Beatles’ Live At The BBC collection is being streamed online – listen to it below.
The original collection of recordings was released in 1994, hitting No 1 in the UK charts and selling more than five million copies worldwide within its first six weeks of release. Its follow-up, On Air – Live At The BBC Volume 2 will be released on Monday, November 11.
The double album contains 63 tracks in total – none of which appear on the original collection. Some 37 previously unreleased performances will feature, as well as 23 previously unreleased recordings of in-studio chat between the band and BBC radio hosts.
Commenting on the release, Paul McCartney said in a statement: “There’s a lot of energy and spirit. We are going for it, not holding back at all, trying to put in the best performance of our lifetimes.”
Between March 1962 and June 1965, 275 Beatles performances were broadcast by the BBC in the UK. The group played live on 39 radio shows in 1963 alone. One day in 1963, the band recorded 18 tracks for three editions of their Pop Go The Beatles show.
Two tracks on the compilation were never recorded by the group’s record label EMI so make their debut on the release. These include a performance of Chuck Berry’s ‘I’m Talking About You’ and a cover of ‘Beautiful Dreamer’. The release also includes audio of the band in conversation with BBC DJs Brian Matthew and Alan Freeman and Pop Go The Beatles hosts Lee Peters and Rodney Burke.
Live At The BBC was assembled by George Martin in 1994. On Air – Live At The BBC Volume Two was compiled and researched by producers Kevin Howlett and Mike Heatley.