Beatles Big Beat Box

On August 29, 1966, the Beatles gave their last live performance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco: hard to believe that a mere two-and-a-half years had passed since the Fab Four launched their first two-week American tour in February, 1964. A chronological compilation of newsreel and interview footage of varying quality (the sequences are tinted, but neither cleaned up nor sharpened) shot between 1964-1966, the inscrutably named Beatles Big Beat Box serves up a few nostalgic Beatlemania jewels, as we watch the Beatles' hotel sheets being cut into souvenir strips, or a group of teenage girls at the Hollywood Bowl holding $8.50 tickets that they wouldn't part with for anything less than a personal meeting with [fill-in-the-Beatle], or Ringo talking about plans to open a chain of hair styling shops. Although songs such as "A Taste of Honey" and "Words of Love" crop up in the background, all of the music is performed by "The Overtures and others," including the 13 cuts on the enclosed extra CD (why anyone would want to own Beatles sound-alike renditions when the real thing is readily available escapes me). In short, there are numerous better programs on the Beatles' early days, ranging from The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit (VL-11/91) to the multi-volume The Beatles Anthology (VL-9/96). Very optional. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)