Given the heat that respected documentarian Ken Burns took when he devoted nearly 20 hours to the history of Jazz, only to be criticized for numerous omissions, today’s fans may take for granted that even the most epic documentary could never do justice to a broad history of music. Try telling that to Brit Tony Palmer, who in the 1970s attempted to wrap the whole of popular music’s history into the 17-episode series All You Need Is Love, just released for the first time in a $100 DVD set. (Too pricey? A narrower, ’60s-centric version called All My Loving is also available.) Naturally, it’s an incomplete story, and Palmer’s sometimes over-educational, sometimes eccentric tone makes it occasionally more amusing than authoritative. But whatever their reaction to its presentation, viewers will have to be impressed by the scope and quality of material contained here: long chunks of performance, highlights from 1,000 hours of concert and interview footage, and script contributions from authorities like Leonard Feather and John Hammond. (In the first hour alone, we see everyone from traditional African drummers and American hillbillies to legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler.) Viewing pop history — from Africa through blues, vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley, et cetera — from a Beatles-era seat and trying to make sense of it all produces some unusual theories about “what it all means,” and some of the examples proffered here may be less vibrant than those available elsewhere — but what a rich time capsule of long dead or retired artists whose sounds still reverberate today.