Are you satisfied with The Beatles Red and Blue compilations?

I would make 3 albums. There would be 1962-1965, 1965-1967, 1968-1970

The first album would cover up until Help!, the second would start in the Rubber Soul era and end after MMT, and the last album would cover the late period Beatles.

 

Love Me Do was their first record. It deserves a place on the compilation.

I Saw Her Standing There opens their first LP, and is an all time classic --- it also should be there.

 

ISHST is a way superior song, but LMD has an undeniable historical relevance.

 

I had a similar idea except I went '62'-64, i.e. singles and albums up to Beatles for Sale - then '65-'67 from Help to MMT and '68-70. In the end for the car I went with 4 CD's where it was '62-'64, '65-'66, '67-'68 and '69-'70.

 

Oh, I moved Hello Goodbye to the ‘red’ disc along with the first 5 songs of ‘blue’, starting the ‘blue’ cd with Day.
Similar timings.

 

The so-called 'revisionism' deposing Pepper did not start in the 1990s. As early as 1975 in their excellent book 'The Beatles, an Ilustrated Record', Roy Carr and Tony tyler of NME wrote: "This almost flawless album can be seen as the peak of the Beatles' creative career... 'Revolver' is the kind of achievement which any artist would be more than satisfied to regard as some kind of culmination to his career" and "The Beatles were never to surpass the standard of writing and playing which can be found on almost every track".
Pepper received a further demotion later in the book where they write: "...the general critical opinion towards the [White] album ...it was OK, but it was also something of a comedown after Pepper - nowadays critics are inclined to reverse these opinions"
They also note that "With The Beatles" is among their five best albums, and the best before "Help!". This opinion has not yet gained much traction but I agree with it, always have.

 

I don't listen to much Beatles these days but back in my student days everyone had to have a copy of these plus ChangesOneBowie, ChangesTwoBowie and Queen's Greatest Hits. I think it must have been the law to have them or something. Usually they would have been taped from someone else's records of course.

You can argue that some singles and album tracks could be added or dropped but I'd keep them as they are, they've become part of the collective memory that I suspect most of us start humming the next track in our head as the previous one ends.

 

Listening to (and enjoying) both at work atm.
Off-topic, but George’s solo on All You Need Is Love HAS to be the #1 WTF-moment in rock ever!

 

True but I’m burning a revised edition for my own personal taste.

 

I mean, you can nit pick them and everyone will have a track or two that they'd substitute in/out, but overall, I think they are great. They were my introduction to the Beatles back in the early 90's as an 12 year old. They served their purpose well at that time and made me want to dive deeper into their studio albums. I am still very fond of them for nostalgic purposes and would recommend them to anyone just starting to dip their toes into the water.

 

Those 2 albums remain the ABC of The Beatles' music. I would not change anything from the blue lp. And, on the red one, i would only add 3 more tracks:
- I saw her standing there
- Twist and shout
- Got to get you into muy life

 

Like 1 they’re also ideal for road trips and at work if you’re not in an ‘album’ mood. It’s great to track the band’s artistical growth. It’s easy to make out that the Help-period is the exact dividing line in all that.

 

Hi everyone,

I have noticed the track count discrepancy between the Red and Blue albums. Ignoring running time, it still seems like you could safely add two tracks to the Red album.

I think Rain is an automatic add to the Red Album. If we take the "No Covers" and "No Northern Songs by Harrison" rules at face value, plus the original desire to collect most of the US/UK singles and a few choice album tracks, that doesn't leave much else. I'm usually thinking of tracks like "Do You Want To Know a Secret?" or "I Saw Her Standing There" as the only possible adds.

In addition - I don't feel there's too many Rubber Soul songs on the Red Album. Not because it isn't skewed towards Rubber Soul - it is, definitely - but because the compilers were probably considering the mix of UK and US versions when putting this together. This has probably been mentioned before, but if you take Rubber Soul, Yesterday And Today, and Revolver as the albums, and also think UK/US/Europe single releases, then you get this matrix on the second disc:

1. Help! (Single / Help)
2. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (Help)
3. We Can Work It Out (Single / Yesterday and Today)
4. Day Tripper (Single / Yesterday and Today)
5. Drive My Car (Yesterday and Today)
6. Norwegian Wood (Rubber Soul)

1. Nowhere Man (Single / Yesterday and Today)
2. Michelle (European single / Rubber Soul)
3. In My Life (Rubber Soul)
4. Girl (European single / Rubber Soul)
5. Paperback Writer (Single)
6. Eleanor Rigby (Single / Revolver)
7. Yellow Submarine (Single / Revolver)

Through this lens, there's only one Help album cut, one Yesterday and Today album cut, and two Rubber Soul album cuts that weren't also singles. Sure - it still sucks that Revolver doesn't have a deep album cut - but hey - I didn't compile it.

Also - I've had a completely different thought about the "Two Missing Tracks" on the Red Album.

If we consider Allen Klein's previous compilation "Hey Jude (aka The Beatles Again)", then the Red and Blue albums would make that compilation completely redundant - except for two missing songs. "I Should Have Known Better" and "Rain". Interestingly, these two tracks would be in the 1962 - 1966 range, and would fit okay in the sequence. Could these two B-sides been removed to preserve some sales of Hey Jude? No idea, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Oh yeah - I'm a huge fan of the Red and Blue compilations. They're my normal "go to" for a Beatle overview, even if the Red seems shy by two tracks.

Cheers,
Paul

 

Anthologies.

 

Close, but Anthology 2 covered all of '65 including the Help! era, while Anthology 1 spanned up until the end of '64.

 

I've never understood why Old Brown Shoe is included. Replace that with Within You Without You and all is well with the world.

 

I know it's sacrilege, why not edit out a verse of your least favorite track and have 0.5 sec gaps between tracks.
I have a "thing" about early fades, I wouldn't touch the piano(s) long fade at the end of ADITL. It was made lengthy and drawn out for a purpose.

When I did a needledrop of these albums some years ago and was setting the REC level (looking for the loudest piece on each side of the vinyl LP's) I was really surprised at the high levels on The Ballad Of John and Yoko. Some serious bass there!

 

No Taxman = No dice.

 

Oh - one more thought about the two missing tracks on the Red Album.

One more thing I've considered is the placement of the two missing tracks.

Side 2 and Side 3.

Assuming it was a last minute pull - what might have fit on those sides, chronologically? And what might have pulled them? Going back to George and the royalty situation, if they'd picked two Harrisongs to include, that were also single-ish in nature, we do have "I Need You" from Help, and "If I Needed Someone" from Rubber Soul.

How might have this looked?

1. A Hard Day's Night
2. And I Love Her
3. Eight Days a Week
4. I Feel Fine
5. Ticket to Ride
6. Yesterday
7. I Need You

1. Help!
2. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
3. We Can Work It Out
4. Day Tripper
5. Drive My Car
6. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
7. If I Needed Someone

Interesting, anyway.

Cheers,
Paul

 

I rather like the fidelity of these discs.
However I find the song selection to be weirdly disjointed.
Like as if someone snatched the joint right out my mouth.
I find the very idea of a Beatles compilation unsettling is the thing.
They ARE history.
I feel all jumbled up inside when the very order of the universe is altered by such an endeavor.
I am very sensitive.

 

Harrison is my favourite Beatle, but I don't think either of those songs should have been included over other missing songs like "Blackbird," "Dear Prudence," "Hey Bulldog," "Helter Skelter," "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," etc.

If they really needed to include a 4th Harrison song, it should have been "Taxman" on the Red Album.

 

The blue album is kind of perfect, Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da is like Looking through a Glass darkly, why didn`t they record the track ?

 

Oh, it was another band, my bad

 

I was not worrying about being literally anal just mentioning the like concept.

 

Perhaps in 1973 Revolver wasn't that highly rated and contained a lot of weird songs that didn't gel with the rest of the catalogue. Same as the White Album.

As for George's White Album track I'd replace guitar with "Piggies"