The classic Beatles Red & Blue albums have been given a nice refresh for their 50th Anniversary. Formats are separate 6LP vinyl and 4CD boxed sets, (with added slipcase only, no book it seems). Both albums available individually too. Each LP now comes with either 3 vinyl records or 2 CDs. Exclusive red and blue vinyl issues from the official Beatles store, plus there’s the “Now & Then” single too. Quite nicely done. Text from the official Beatles website…
" Remixed and Expanded: ‘Red’ has 12 additional tracks, including for the first time some of George Harrison’s earliest songs and some classic Beatles versions of R&B and rock ‘n’ roll hits that were so influential on the band. ‘Blue’ has 9 additional tracks including “Blackbird” and “Glass Onion” including the last new Beatles song, “Now And Then” for a total of 21 new additions in total Together the 4 CDs contain 75 tracks. With a booklet containing new sleeve notes by journalist and author John Harris, the new collections are a joyous celebration of The Beatles’ timeless musical legacy."
Have to admit, I thought that as well, despite it being nicely done in terms of the extra tracks etc, but would have much preferred a Rubber Soul refresh courtesy of Giles, so I’m a bit on the fence on this one.
Talking of getting it right:-
I have original vinyl copies of the Red and Blue albums as most of us have. My Red copy has been manufactured wrongly because the second LP (sides 3/4) commencing with Help! has the lyrics insert sleeve printed on blue paper instead of red! Consequently across the four records I have three blue insert sleeves and only one red one.
Has anyone heard of this discrepancy before and do you think it’s worth a fortune?
Just heard Now and Then on R6. My initial view is that it is not as good as all the hype going around in the media at the moment. But to be fair, I was never a full-on Beatles fan so maybe it is more that it is not to my taste rather than not as good as the hype is making out.
