The Beatles Are Releasing A New Album

If I told you that The Beatles and Paul McCartney both have new albums out, what year would you think we were in?

Fresh on the heels of Paul’s “New” climbing the charts into the top 5, comes The Beatles “On Air-Live at the BBC Volume 2" which is a 63 track, 2 CD set and the sequel to 1994’s “Live at the BBC”

But wait! There’s more! The Beatles: The BBC Archives: 1962-1970, a 336-page book chronicling the Beatles' BBC radio and television appearances, was published in late October by Harper Collins. The book was written by Kevin Howlett, who also served as a producer on the latest BBC audio release and penned the set's liner notes essay. The elaborate tome comes packaged in a mock tape box, with the cover of the book designed to look like a tape reel.

You'll not only hear the freshness of the music in this recording, which stands to this day, but their personalities come through as well. The funny, off the cuff banter between the boys and their host makes you love the music even more. The music by the way, is performed live in the studio which was a BBC demand.

Volume 2 includes Beatles covers of songs by Buddy Holly, Arthur Alexander, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and Chuck Berry; as well as some Talma-Motown hits, and more. Aside from the 37 previously unreleased musical performances, Volume 2 also includes 23 tracks of in-studio chatter and interviews between the Beatles and BBC hosts. Co-producer Mike Heatley admits that he initially thought Volume 2 should feature less studio chatter, but Howlett convinced him to go the other route. While Heatley wouldn't go so far to say that the spoken segments are as important as the musical performances, he says they do stand up to repeated listening.

I know I’ll be listening over and over!