Beatles Tapes From Wigg Interviews

Beatles (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 16, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000002GLK
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,884 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting interviews for the die-hard Beatles buff, July 18, 2009

By 

Steven Bailey "Cinemaven" (Jacksonville Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Beatles Tapes From Wigg Interviews (Audio CD)

The Beatles Tapes was released in 1977, hot on the heels of a wave of "new" Beatles albums including an early mono recording of a Hamburg appearance, and Capitol Records' milking of their golden goose (the "Rock and Roll Music" double-album, "The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl"). Because of the high-profile P.R. on these other records, The Beatles Tapes was dismissed as another rip-off interview album. Too bad, because these interviews show The Fab Four in a manner nearly as compelling as their best music.

David Wigg, a reporter for The Musical Express, interviewed The Beatles separately on various occasions between 1969 and 1973; when a second surge of Beatlemania hit the States in the late '70s, Wigg stitched the audio interviews together and called it an album. Such opportunism not withstanding, the interviews make for enjoyable listening.

The interviews with John Lennon (with occasional interruptions from Yoko Ono) vacillate dramatically (and interestingly) between 1969 pacifism and 1971 post-Beatles hostility. Paul McCartney, ever the Beatles' P.R. rep, does his unflappable-optimism routine, shortly before he publicly announced The Beatles' break-up. George Harrison nicely conveys his spiritualism as well as the origins of many of his best songs. And Ringo Starr is typically and drily witty throughout. (Asked how he'd like to be reincarnated, he answers, "As one of our cats. They have a great time.")

While it's hardly a bonafide Beatles album, The Beatles Tapes is a worthy addition to the Beatles' recorded catalog. Far less legitimate Beatles entries (remember those colored discs that came out in the late '70s?) got far more attention.