album #48

anthology II, disc 1 (the beatles)

This is a fun cache of music; it's not really a proper album, seeing as this is about 18% of the Anthology, and it's the only slice of the pie I have in my collection. It's not even my favorite slice of the pie- I remember loving Anthology II, Disc 2 more as a kid; I must've misplaced it once upon a time.

AII/D1 covers the days of Help, Rubber Soul and Revolver; I'm fairly sure that the live tracks are from their famous Shea Stadium gig. These tracks, then, are slightly before the period of my peak interest, but it's still a highly intriguing time in the band's history- transitioning from Beatlemania to the studio. The watery, kinda-cool, kinda-awkward take of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” especially in contrast to the overwhelming adoration on their concert tracks, gives you a sense of how brave that transition was- the choice to make it, to leap into the unknown, surely against their label's wishes.

Some various thoughts provoked by the tracks:

“Real Love”- holy hell, this is a great song. And truly a pretty moving production, as well. Something beautiful in the simple act of Yoko allowing the boys to make it. “I Feel Fine”- I've always really liked the song, and it's sinking in now how this truly is a hard emotional state to reach, and when you're there it truly is something to celebrate- pure, simple, uncomplicated mutual love. “Ticket To Ride”- never really loved this song, but it's just now, just tonight, hitting me how perfect this song is. It truly does describe how my most important relationships ended, and the manner that I now expect relationships to end. It's hard to keep two hearts in sync. This song tells the story, simple and sad and perfect.

“You've Got To Hide Your Love Away” > “Yesterday.”

The Anthology version of “And Your Bird Can Sing” is my favorite version- the mid-sixties cascade of guitar, it's just honey to my ear. It's a bit of a shame that their stoned giggles break the take down. “I'm Looking Through You” is a beauty; best song on the album, besides “Real Love” perhaps.

This reminds me that I should get Help!, an album of theirs that I loved as a younger man. And also, hell, why not Magical Mystery Tour? And Abbey Road. My Beatles collection is, in fact, startlingly thin. I guess it's because I've got the albums all up here, man.

I've never really considered this an album, and until today it's been years since I listened to it all in a row. These are more like filler songs, fun little classics that pop up on shuffle. In any event, it's all pretty good. The Beatles were, how you say?, pretty darn good.