Salient. Official Newspaper of Victoria University of Wellington Students Association. Vol 40 No. 26. October 3 1977

Live At Hollywood Bowl

Live At Hollywood Bowl

The Beatles Capitol

Be careful with this record. Because they're the Beatles, don't expect too much from them. For you must remember several things. The Beatles audience affected everything simply because they weren't there to listen to the music. So it dindn't matter how poor the sound was. The Beatles couldn't hear what they were playing due to the screaming and the complete lack of mixers. Don't think that this LP ias is like any other live LP - it's in an area of its own. Now we have mixers. Now people listen to the music, and don't scream through the whole concert. I've heard bootlegs better than this, but this is how The Beatles' concerts were so why should they falsify the sound?

When you listen to this you understand why The Beatles decided to stop touring' The concerts were holding their talents up. They were being wasted playing the same 28 minutes of music night after night. They didn't have to worry about the quality of the music at their concerts. Their playing, in comparison with the studio LPs of their time, is extremely simple. The imperfectior of the live singing of Paul and John are an improvement. Harrison doesn't extend himself on his solos. (Not that he ever did much, anyway, - his lead breaks were predictable and only a bar long). McCartney keeps a prodding bass, while Ringo just does his job. Rarely id John's rhythm guitar exceptional. But why should they extend themselves in this situation?

The opener, Twist and Shout, is musically one of the best but the audience are still fresh and manage to drown it out easily. Having only 28 minutes on stage the Beatles tried to cram as many songs in as possible. Rarely did they sing more than one verse and a chorus of each song.; Twist and Shout is the only example of this at the Hollywood Bowl. She's a Woman is noteable for Paul's singing which is bought out as his vocals are damn near drowned out. . Dizzy Miss Lizzy is a good 50s rocker—the first song to take over the crowd. The guitar work, though good, is unimaginative for Harrison.

The drumming, though, is poor - too much cymbal work. Strangely, the song gets boring - it could do with the Twist and Shout treatment. Ticket to Ride, one of their most overrated songs, is very badly recorded. As always, it drags. Can't Buy Me Love lacks body. It is done as if they want to get it ober with. On Things We Said Today John and Paul's harmonies make up for the twangy acoustic backing. Due to the supposed lack of audience participation it is extremely echo-ey. John sings Roll Over Beethoven. The rhythm and lead guitars stand out, as does the backing; The recording of I Should Have Known Better is so perfect I think it's the studio version rehashed; Boys is sung by Ringo who ruins it with a trashy cymbal sound. Paul plays bass very well - a reapeating, fast and corny arpeggio. The bass also features on a Hard Day's Night, but the other instruments sound terrible.

Paul sounds as if he has got a cold. Ringo drums maniacally on Help, a good effort at making a rocker out of what is really a slow soft song.

All My Loving has some curious fast half-beat strumming by John; George, also, improves on She Loves You, and provides string lead work. Finally they provide a good rocker. Long Tall Sally.

George Martin has hardly touched the tapes, and was right in doing so. - he has kept the atmospher of the concert. For they put this record out—not as music, but as a collector's item. If you want to feel the atmosphere of a Beatles concert listen to this. Nowadays live albums are as good to listen to as studio albums. However, this one is not! The sound is raw and unbalanced and the screaming keeps on going through the songs.

The Beatles, as they showed later, are capable of so much more. An interesting thing is the inane conversation they entered into with the audience. EG: 'For our next song we'll do a tune from one of our films - the black and white one. We've made two films - one black and one white and the other coloured. Are You Ready Paul?

C.R. Bourke.

Drawing of a sleeping child among flowers