1962-1966 (Red Album) - Beatles (The) (Cassette 1993)

There are places I remember, All my life though some have changed, Some forever not for better, Some have gone and some remain... * * * The Beatles Retrospective 1962-1966 (The Red Album) is an anthology of Beatles music which includes their hit singles, and selected tracks from their first seven albums and three movies. (Yellow Submarine was on the US release of Revolver, although the Yellow Submarine movie and album would not be released until later.) This period covers the most significant period in my life. In the spring of 1962, I was a chubby, short, bespectacled 12-year-old living in..

In my life, I love you more... -- John Lennon, In My Life I became a Beatles' fan rather late in life, relatively speaking, in part because my taste in music tends to veer to the classical/orchestral film score end rather than rock. The fact that I was less than a year old when the Fab Four made their American TV debut in February 1964 and that I lived in South America from 1967 till 1972 also explains why I wasn't really exposed to The Beatles' music until the 1980s, by which time the group had split and John Lennon had been taken away by a madman's bullet. My fascination with the "lads...

Whenever writing about a Beatles album, I usually think it would be sufficient just to list the tracks on the disc and let it go at that. After all, I'd wager that most folks out there have a passing familiarity with the Beatles, and are at least familiar with the songs on this particular compilation. This album is little more than a greatest hits album, and the songs here are as ingrained in popular American culture as the New York Yankees, Ford Motor Company and Budweiser. One thing that's always been amazing about the Beatles is how well that band's music holds up as the years roll past....

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a review on The Beatles 1967-70 (Blue Album) compilation basically recommending that this was the best starting point for those new to the band. I also persuaded people not to buy the One album for the obvious reason that it only included the number one hits, which I think was 27 tracks in total. As you will no doubt be aware, a band s best records are not necessarily those that make the top of the charts. With almost double the material, covering all The Beatles single releases, the two previous compilations are much better value and certainly more insightful....