I recently purchased, at considerable expense, the three Beatles Anthology albums and immediately felt pangs of regret. Not because I was in any way disappointed with the music. No. My sense of regret was that I had never bought them, or even heard most of the tracks, before.
Here’s a simple fact for you. The Beatles were, and remain, underrated. It is possible that you might not be a big fan of the band but it is not possible to deny their all pervading influence on nearly everything we hear today.
There are not many ‘new’ songs on the Anthology collection, but there are numerous different takes and versions of songs we know well. Earlier on, I was listening to one of the albums, yet again, and particularly a slightly different version of Penny Lane. 58 years have passed since that song was released, as a double A-side with Strawberry Fields Forever, and it is still as fresh as a daily. I still get that frisson of excitement when Paul McCartney begins to sing. And in my minds eye I can see the firemen rushing into the barber’s in the pouring rain: very strange.
The genius of all four members comes everywhere. I am struck by the sheer brilliance of Ringo Starr’s drumming, which has been mocked by various people who don’t understand how the feel and the groove of drumming works. He is in the pocket all the time and his fills are perfect.
I guess we all have our favourite Beatle and over the years mine has gone from George to John and finally to Paul, but I would add that without all four members, The Beatles would not have been as special as they were.
The Anthology is littered with snippets of speech from the members of the band, as well as their manager Brian Epstein and others. The albums take you to a place which feels like you are in the room with them. Listening, I feel grateful that I was alive when The Beatles were alive and that the music sounds as good, if not better, than ever. My other regret is that John Lennon was taken away from us when he was only 40. Who knows what music might have come later, quite possibly with a reformed Beatles?
I am now at the stage where I know who wrote which song. Penny Lane – yes, obviously Macca. Strawberry Fields Forever – clearly John. Lest we forget that the greatest double A-side of all time was kept from number one by Engelbert Humperdinck’s Release Me. I’ll let old Enge off, though.
There’s a fourth Anthology album coming out this autumn and – you’ve guessed already – I can’t wait. For over 50 years, Steely Dan have been my favourite band of all time, but despite the fact the Beatles split up long before Do It Again and Reelin’ In The Years emerged from a clear blue sky and blew my teenage mind, the Fab Four are gaining ground.
If you tell me there is no such thing as perfect, I offer you The Beatles, the greatest rock band of all time, bar none.
