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ard to believe, but there are some feckers out there who just don’t like The Beatles.
Which, of course, takes some effort – and more than a dash of stupidity.
We’re talking about, after all, The Greatest Band That Ever Walked This Green Earth, a mischievous, curious and forever restless foursome who pretty much soundtracked the entire evolution of pop music, from covering Tin Pan Alley, Motown and Brill Building classics to taking both songwriting and the fine art of recording on one hell of a trip. From bubblegum pop to power pop, power ballads, psychedelia, avant-garde, hard rock and back to those early Hamburg rock’n’roll roots.
And right now, given that we all really should be indulging in as much alone time as we possibly can, there’s a body of work here that plays out over 7 years and 13 albums to explore. And adore. The soundtrack not only to the 1960s generation but also to four inseparable friends who, of course, finally did separate. And just why, and how, reveals much not only about the pressures of fame and the character of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, but also about how the teenager that found a voice in the 1950s found out in the 1960s that partying hard came at a price.Â
But, hey, what a party.
For the uninitiated, and for those who just want be taken down through Strawberry Fields all over again, here are three 80min Beatles mixes, which we created back before the Guide took up every waking hour of every single goddang day. Two mixes celebrate the work of the Fab Four; the third, entitled The Black Album, pulls together 1970s solo output from John, Paul, George and Ringo, quite a chunk of it first tried out when The Beatles were still beating.
You may also want to indulge in an exhaustive and magnificent 18-part, 28-hour audio history of the band, The Beatles Anthology Revisited, created by a fan as an extension of the eponymous 10-hour TV history put together with a little help from Paul, George and Ringo back in 1995. You can stream or download all 18 episodes right here.
In the meantime, below are the three 80min GG mixes that can also be streamed or downloaded.
Because it’s The Beatles, you should listen to each mix at least once a day. For the rest of your life.