In April 1973, three years after news broke that The Beatles would not work again as a group, two compilation albums were released. Called simply 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, each became known by the dominant color in its artwork. Just as their 1968 double LP was soon called the White Album, the 1973 collections were forever referred to as the Red and Blue albums. Together, they included the 26 A-sides of The Beatles’ British singles and a further 27 tracks from the catalogue.
Within the 1962-1966 album, there are fifteen British A-sides and four singles not released in the U.K. The tracks were made when The Beatles pursued a demanding concert schedule, which after their international breakthrough in 1964, took them all over the world. Time for writing and work in the studio was restricted by their tours and many other commitments, such as acting in the movies A Hard Day’s Night and Help!. Yet, despite these pressures, the advances made on their records in performance, songwriting and sound are startling. At the time, each new disc sent a message to their musical contemporaries. Beat that!
Beginning with “Love Me Do” from 1962, after following a chronological sequence, the Red album closes with songs on the last of the group’s singles in this time span – “Eleanor Rigby”/”Yellow Submarine”. While that double A-side was at the top of the U.K. chart, The Beatles played the last concert of their North American tour in San Francisco on August 29, 1966. They never played live to a paying audience again.
For those who missed the phenomenon of The Beatles as it was progressing, the Red and Blue albums provided an excellent introduction to the group’s work. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters has acknowledged their formative influence on his musicianship: “It was with those two albums that I really fell in love with music. I would sit and play along and that’s, basically, how I learned to play guitar. That’s the foundation of my understanding of composition and arrangement. It’s all rooted in those two albums. Had I sat down with any other albums to learn to play guitar, I don’t think I’d be doing what I do.” — Kevin Howlett