Literally tens of millions of words have been written about The Beatles, covering everything from the minutiae of their recording sessions to the all-encompassing nature of their impact on popular culture. One book takes almost 50,000 words to get to the point where five teenagers leave Liverpool for the first time in 1960 for a series of performances in Hamburg.
So there seems little point in trying to add to those words here – everyone already knows, after all, that The Beatles rank alongside William Shakespeare and football where British contributions to global happiness are concerned. Instead, we’ll restrict ourselves to selecting a dozen of their recordings that happily combine a thorough examination of your audio system’s talents with the band’s customary knack for exquisitely, instinctively correct pop music.
