When The Beatles released the double compilation album(s) 1962-1966 (The ‘Red’ album) and 1967-1970 (The ‘Blue’ album) in 1973, it was a big deal, especially for die-hard fans of the legendary band. For many people, this was their intro to the Fab Four if they were too young to see them make their iconic American television debut on the The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
Speaking of television, below is a commercial for the album, presumably from circa 1973.
Like pretty much everything The Lads from Liverpool did, this double album was a smash success, initially selling over one million copies in the United States. It would go on to ultimately sell seven million copies. There’s a strong argument to be made that this album sparked the “greatest hits” run of LPs from the ‘70s that would go on to sell obscene numbers. This was the story of The Beatles. They’d innovate, knock us on our asses, and change the world. And we loved it.
