1967-1970 (The Blue Album)

1962-1966 ("Red") covers the Beatles' Merseybeat era, a time when the Beatles were considered a singles "teenybopper" band. Among the best cuts on the first CD are "Please Please Me", "She Loves You", "Eight Days a Week", and "Ticket to Ride".

Their progression from teenyboppers to "serious band" begins to show in the songs from 1965's Rubber Soul, including "Norwegian Wood", featuring George Harrison on the sitar, and John Lennon's introspective "In My Life", which hints at the band's glorious and more complex studio work that was to follow.

The Red CD collection ends with two songs from 1966's Revolver, a record that placed the band on even higher creative ground: Paul McCartney's masterpiece "Eleanor Rigby" is the first time a string quartet accompanied a rock and roll record, and "Yellow Submarine" was one in a line of catchy, childlike songs written for resident jester and drummer extrodinaire Ringo Starr.

The first disc of 1967-1970 ("Blue") has the far more unenviable task of selecting four representative tracks from 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, still considered to be the most ground-breaking and influential album in the history of rock. "A Day in the Life" is the standout -- Sgt. Pepper's closer and emotional peak.

The CD closes with the two songs that best demonstrate the eventual clash in Lennon and McCartney's songwriting styles: McCartney's "Hey Jude" and Lennon's "Revolution" were sides A and B respectively of the Beatles' greatest-selling (and perhaps just "greatest") single. Where Lennon's song is a snarling, self-righteous rocker, McCartney's is a sing-song orchestral ballad. The one you like best probably depends on whether you're a "John" or "Paul" person -- truth is they're both great.

The final CD spans from 1968's The Beatles ("The White Album") to the end of the band's career. McCartney's best moments "Let it Be", "Get Back", and "The Long and Winding Road" (Despite that over-the-top Phil Spector production) are here, as are Lennon's "Don't Let Me Down" and "Come Together". The closer is "Long and Winding Road", though it's perhaps a weaker conclusion than "Two of Us" might have been.

The Red and Blue collections are awesome reminders of the Beatles' past accomplishments and their continued vitality even today.


The ULTIMATE desert island disc   August 31, 2002
R.J. (Toronto, Canada)
21 out of 22 found this review helpful

No matter how much music I've listened to over the years, I always come back to the "blue" album, in my opinion the best greatest hits package of all time. From Sgt. Pepper, to Magical Mystery Tour, to the White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be, it captures the best of the Beatles' later more creative period. This was my introduction to A Day In the Life, I Am The Walrus, Don't Let Me Down, and other songs which I didn't know at the time. Many years later I have bought all the records, heard all the songs a million times, but there's something about playing this at the right time that makes this the one I would take to a desert island with me. (if I could choose only one)

Any collection which has Hey Jude, Let It Be, Get Back, Strawberry Fields Forever and While My Guitar Gently Weeps on the same album is pretty damn great no matter how you look at it, and there's much more of course. Over the years there have been other much hyped collections, but the red and blue albums are absolutely definitive.


The Art of Great Compilations (and Sequencing)   July 10, 2004
Paul Allaer (Cincinnati)
21 out of 24 found this review helpful

Despite the number of releases in the late 90's with the Anthology series, the Beatles greatest songs have been compiled only one time in the last 30 years, in 2000's "1". It's fun to go back to the companion 1973 releases "1962-1966" and this "1967-1970" (28 tracks, 99 min.), and marvel in particular at the latter's song selection and sequencing.

While now a bit awkwardly on 2 CDs, the original double vinyl was the perfect package. The song selection is just about perfect, really. Nothing to take away from "1", but can you really call that the ultimate compilation of the Beatles when it doesn't have "A Day in the Life" (the definitive Beatles song?) or "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"? Maybe it's too soon yet after "1", but I really believe there is room for a 2 CD collection of the entire Beatles catalogue (greatest hits and essential album tracks) along the lines of "The Definitive Bob Dylan", a great example of how to use the full capacity of CDs. Is anyone with me on that?


A thorough and satisfying collection   May 26, 2000
John Jones (Chicago IL)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

A more thorough overview of their significant hits from the respective period than the companion Red album, all twenty-eight of the songs included on "1967-1970" (The Blue Album) are rock classics.

We're treated to a generous seven of the eleven tracks from "Magical Mystery Tour," and "Sgt. Pepper's" is accurately represented as well. Another bonus is the faster, more popular version of "Revolution," different than what was included on "The White Album."

From trippy pop ("Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "I Am the Walrus") to classic rock ("Get Back," "Come Together,") to their all-time epic masterpiece ("A Day in the Life"), this compilation of the Beatles is virtually without error. For baby boomers, a trip down memory lane. For musicians, a textbook on composition and production. For lovers of pop and rock music, an unbeatable treasure.


More like a 100 stars for this album,'The Beatles 1967-1970'.   June 29, 2006
T. Goyer
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Like many before me,this "blue" Beatles best-of served as my first,in-depth sampling of The Beatles' output from their post-'Revolver' era from early-1967 onward... You couldn't find a better 100+ minutes of music to listen to straight through than the superb 28 tracks that make up 'The Beatles 1967-1970'. I bought this initially back in the winter of 1988 (I was 18 at the time) on cassette,and it changed my life. True; the 2-cd version often retails at $34.00,which is a bit much,but the material contained is beyond priceless.. About the songs. The songs!! There's not a lame one among the batch of 28. What's even cooler is that -even as the songs unfurl chronologically- they pack a flow to rival any of anyone's favorite best-of albums... The flow of all 28 is remarkable... A fantastic mix of all their late '60's #1 hits as well as choice album cuts ("A Day In The Life","I Am The Walrus")... Seriously folks; anyone who is feeling the itch to discover The Beatles' later output should get this "blue" best-of first,then graduate onto the studio albums themselves.. That's what happened to me and I wound up (so far) buying all of the albums from 'Rubber Soul' (1965) onwards... This blue '1967-1970' never disappoints. Because the liner notes/inlay booklet doesn't tell you which album each track is culled from,I'll happily fill you in:

Disc One:

1.)Strawberry Fields Forever(John in vocals)
2.)Penny Lane(Paul on vocals)
(Both originally released as a stand-alone single in early 1967 and both served as the first tracks recorded for what would be 1967's "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". However,the two songs weren't released on any Beatles' album until late-1967's 'Sgt. Pepper' follow-up 'Magical Mystery Tour'.)

3.)Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band(Paul on vocals)
4.)With A Little Help From My Friends (Ringo on vocals)
5.)Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds(John on vocals)
6.)A Day In The Life(John and Paul on vocals)

3-6 from the legendary 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'; 1967.

7.)All You Need Is Love (John on vocals)
8.)I Am The Walrus(John on vocals)
9.)Hello,Goodbye(Paul on vocals)
10.)The Fool On The Hill (Paul on vocals)
11.)Magical Mystery Tour(John on vocals)

7-11 from 'Magical Mystery Tour'; 1967

12.)Lady Madonna(Paul on vocals)
13.)Hey Jude(Paul on vocals)
14.)Revolution(John on vocals)

12-14 all stand-alone singles released in 1968. All were/are
huge hits. Sweet!

Disc Two:

1.)Back In The U.S.S.R.(Paul on vocals)
2.)While My Guitar Gently Weeps(George on vocals)
3.)Ob-La-Di,Ob-La-Da(Paul on vocals)

1-3 taken from 1968's double-album 'The Beatles' (aka "The White Album").

4.)Get Back(Paul on vocals) (Originally recorded 1969 as a single and not released on album until 1970's 'Let It Be'. Twistedly,'Let It Be' was recorded prior to 1969's final Beatles' studio album 'Abbey Road',but not released until later...)

5.)Don't Let Me Down(non-album b-side to the "Get Back" single; John on vocals)
6.)The Ballad Of John And Yoko (non-LP stand-alone single; John on vocals. One of the very few Beatles tracks recorded with only John and Paul playing all the instruments..)
7.)Old Brown Shoe(b-side to "The Ballad Of John And Yoko"; George on vocals)

All of the hits plus some choice b-sides as well.. Yeah!!

8.)Here Comes The Sun(George on vocals)
9.)Come Together(John on vocals)
10.)Something(George on vocals)
11.)Octopus's Garden (Ringo on vocals)

(All culled from 1969's *true* final Beatle masterpiece,'Abbey Road')

12.)Let It Be (Paul on vocals)
13.)Across The Universe(John on vocals)
14.)The Long And Winding Road (Paul on vocals)

12-14 from 1970's (actually recorded early 1969) 'Let It Be'.


So there you go... 28 of THE very best music ever to grace the world... (Seriously.) Please do yourself a favor and check out *any* Beatles' music. But a choice place to start certainly is here. Have Fun/Enjoy/Peace!

Thanks for your time.

Tim Goyer
Albany,NY
USA
6/28/06