In the liner notes for the 2010 remasters of the Beatles’ compilations 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, journalist Bill Flanagan writes that the group’s “greatest impact was on people born between 1945 and 1957.” Balderdash! How Mr. Flanagan (who was born in 1955) came up with that particular range defies any sort of reasoning. He may have been more accurate in saying that for just about anyone with two ears born after 1945, the Beatles were simply “it”. Or maybe in my case, born two years after Flanagan’s cut-off date, they were everything.
However, he is partly correct is stating that the double 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 LPs released in 1973 served as “introductions for fans that came aboard after the Beatles broke up.” That and the fact that EMI knew the group’s music transcended time and space, that virtually everything they touched turned to gold, and that this set of posthumous releases was only the beginning of innumerable others to follow.
In 1973, I readily scooped up 1962-1966 (aka Red), but I didn’t have some of the albums the collection’s 26 songs came from. On the other hand, I felt no need to buy 1967-1970 (aka Blue) because I had the original albums with those songs — including the elusive, out-of-print Hey Jude (aka The Beatles Again) collection of singles and B-sides that has yet to be reissued. At a time when rock was unsteadily widening its stance, it’s no surprise that both compilations snuck into the Top 5 and went onto sell millions.
Unlike subsequent single-disc sets that only span the hits, 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 dig a little deeper. Most of the songs on the Red album charted as singles, but popular tracks never released on 45s, such as “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away,” ‘Drive My Car,” “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” “In My Life” and “Girl,” also made the cut. The Blue album takes it further, including cream-of-the-crop tunes from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles (aka The White Album), Abbey Road and Let It Be. You can follow the lemmings to the trough and buy 1 from 2000, but you’ll be depriving yourself of “A Day In The Life,” “I Am The Walrus” and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Altogether, 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 are probably the best value for the casual Beatles fan with a penchant for more than just the hits. They are also strong indicators that remastered versions of other posthumous releases like Rock ‘n’ Roll Music, Love Songs, Reel Music, perhaps even Rarities and The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl, are on the drawing board and being prepared for generations to come.
~ Shawn Perry
