Live At The Bbc

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Like a majority of up-and-coming British bands of the 1960s, the Zombies made nearly two dozen BBC Light and Radio 1 transmissions between the fall of 1964 and the spring of 1968. The 29 cuts hail from a variety of those programs. In many cases their alternate persona as a consummate and immensely soulful cover combo is likewise illuminated. The parenthetical bonus tracks moniker may be seen as somewhat of a misnomer, since this volume is in essence the fourth (Live on the BBC) volume of the remarkably thorough and highly recommended Zombie Heaven (1997) four-CD compilation. The contents are presented in a relatively chronological manner, commencing with one of the group's earliest shots (if not the earliest shot) on Saturday Club, broadcast on October 3, 1964. The obligatory plug of their own She's Not There and You Make Me Feel Good, coupled with a fiery take of Bo Diddley's Road Runner and Little Richard's Early One Morning, most reveal the quintet's passion. That becomes a prominent motif throughout, resulting in some of the Zombies' best and most spirited performances during their all too brief history. Other practically compulsory listens include their rendering of I'm Going Home, Henry Glover's Soulsville, and an additional Little Richard number, Rip It Up, which is reworked into a masterful fusion of pop and rock guilded with hints of jazz. Billy Stewart's Sitting in the Park and the gorgeous rendering of Bacharach and David's The Look of Love are among the other zeniths. The latter boasts what may be Colin Blunstone's finest vocal with this aggregate. The mind boggles that it was not crafted into some kind of official studio release. In terms of originals, there are two inspired takes of Tell Her No -- one highlighted by Rod Argent on acoustic piano -- as well as an absolutely riveting and blistering reading of What More Can I Do from a late January 1965 Saturday Club session. The Kenny Everett Show Jingle-Medley is taken from a pair of appearances by Argent and Chris White from April of 1968. Sadly, this is the only material circa Odessey & Oracle (1968), as they had already broken up by the time the album was issued. Live at the BBC is essential for enthusiasts and the curious. Those not in need of the massive aforementioned Zombie Heaven can easily couple this title with any number of the single or double-disc anthologies to achieve a copious collection of the Zombies' pre-Odessey & Oracle output. ~ Lindsay Planer, Rovi