I really like this recording of an early
Beatles performance. They show a prodigious
amount of talent and ability. Even through
the muffled lens of a poor original recording
you can tell that these guys are putting
out the real thing with tremendous energy.
They were unspoiled by all the hype and
promotion and show a professionalism that
we will probably never hear again in a
small club setting. As such, this recording
is an historical document that will be
revered by present and future generations.
True, the sound quality is far from 192 kHz
sampling frequency by 32 bit digital surround.
Remember, these guys probably had a total of
100 watts of amplifier power on stage. The
work they did with what they had at the time
was remarkable! True, they can be heard tuning
up the guitars. But they did it by ear without
a handy digital quartz guitar tuner -- and
they have better tuned guitars than Chuck
Berry (whose Gibson was always a little bit
out, but he bent the strings into tune as
he played). Given the fact that most vocals
released in the past few years have been
"sweetened," or digitally pitch-corrected,
the great harmonies of the four from 'Pool
don't require the modern refinements.
This collection of 28 tunes contains 26
covers of the "jukebox hits" of the time and
two originals -- "I Saw Her Standing There"
and "Ask Me Why." The first was better
recorded on "Live at the BBC," but both tunes
show the world-conquering ability of the four
respectful lads.
Until we have the sonic reconstruction
techniques equivalent to the photo-enhancing
methods shown in the futuristic "Blade Runner"
movie, this CD is the best available that shows
how it was way back when... and it was very
good indeed!


Good songs, not so great quality.   August 28, 2001
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

When you look at the Beatles, and you think of all the problems they went through in 1962 -- playing for 8 hours every night at Hamburg, Pete Best, the first but not-so-good drummer, taking drugs -- after looking at all that, you think to yourself, "How could they do something this good?" These are good songs, not so great quality. In fact, on some tracks you can't hear the words. Also, 10 of these songs appear on LPs in the following 3 years, which tells you that clear, clean, crisp studio versions can be found. However, Hamburg started the Beatles, so for historical purposes, it's a good CD to have.