Disco de The Beatles: “Unauthorised Live, Vol. 1”

If you have the Beatles Anthology, this is a waste of time and money. The bulk of the entire 51 minutes here consists of the Beatles February, 1964 in Washington, D.C. Most of that was already aired on the Anthology, and they used a cleaner, crisper tape source. Here the audio is terrible and the video is grainy, muted and washed out. There are no tight camera angles and everything is shot from a blurry distance. The entire footage from here is dreadful.

More interesting is the brief segment with Pete Best, from the American game show, "I've Got a Secret." Watching Pete and hearing him interact proves conclusively that Ringo was the right replacement for the boys. Not only could Ringo drum circles around Pete, Ringo's charismatic personality cemented the Fab's legacy. It's impossible not to love Ringo, from this footage it seems a stretch that Pete could ever have won a solid fan base, he's not funny, stiff, and has zero charisma.

The only decent bit on the entire DVD is some brief footage (not shown on the Anthology), of the Beatles right before taking the stage in August, 1966, at Candlestick Park. I bought this solely because I am a die-hard Beatlemanic and had never seen this rare footage before. It lasts only 70 seconds. If you're a hardened fanatic like me, you'll have to buy this DVD just for those previous 70 seconds. If you're just a casual fan, pass on this.

This DVD features three segments: the Beatles' 1964 Washington, DC concert, their 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert, and a press conference from their August 1966 final tour. In between segments you see a blue screen with music notes all over it, which looks like it was done on a home computer. Next comes the quality issue: I have bootlegs that look and sound better than this DVD. Then comes the issue of completeness: At least two out of the three shows (I'm not sure about the interview) are incomplete. Of the Washington concert, only 8 of the 12 songs are presented. I have a bootleg DVD with all twelve - including "Long Tall Sally." Of the Hollywood Bowl concert, 2 of the 10 existing songs are here. I have a bootleg of the entire performance. If you want the complete Washington concert, check out the Beatles Around the World DVD. As for the Hollywood Bowl, one other song is presented (and in much better quality too) on the Anthology. So after all that, why is my rating so high? Well, yes the quality is bad and the shows are incomplete, but there are few other places where you can legally find this material. So it may not be a bad buy.

My girlfriend and I were just discussing how violent some of the cartoons from our childhood were. Some of our favorites shows from childhood just don't seem appropriate for our kids.

Not the case here -- the Beatles cartoons are good clean fun! As someone else mentioned, the song portion of the show is reminiscient of the "Monkees' romps." As The Beatles' music plays, our Fab Four are often being chased by non-threatening bad guys. Silly but sweet.

Episodes would often end with Ringo delivering a very punny line, punctuated by his charming laugh -- "heh-huh -- yeah."

We wish these would get released soon!

BURBANK VIDEO's 59 minute VHS of THE BEATLES is selling around the web for major bucks. Beware, cuz this one is low-grade in quality.

An SLP speed, plus multi-generational film clip dubs give a general murkiness and blur to what had the potential to be an interesting hour. Some of this footage is decidely rare, which just doubles one's frustration.

The documentary occasionally relies on glimpses of space launches and political events to represent the times, but for the most part we see lots of Beatles and actually hear their music. This accurate chronological story lacks only details about the

fiasco, and curiously there's no mention of the

, despite a clip of John performing "Revolution." Just about everything else is here, though.

But these are minor quibbles, as is annoyance with a narrator who repeatedly says, "Brian EpSTEEN."

Despite its visual limitations (the tape has a strong HiFi audio track), this one's still recommended for Beatles fans. Where else can you learn that Ed Sullivan granted EpSTEEN's Beatles top billing on his TV variety show for a drastically discounted thirty-five hundred dollar per program fee, plus free hotel and airfare? Talk about a bargain!!

The DVD release of the animated series is long overdue. The episodes are funny, charming and of course full of great Beatles music. Many of the episodes were directed and animated by Australian born Ron Campbell, who later went on to work for Hanna-Barbera on many other successful series (he also won two Emmy awards and a Peabody award). It would be a shame not to recognize his and creator Al Brodax's talents with the DVD release of the timeless Beatle Cartoon series.