This is the album that kick-started my lifetime love of music. The picture is the battered remains of my original copy of With The Beatles that was bought way back in 1963. It wasn’t specifically bought for me, I’m sure my parents must have listened to it once or twice on the family Dansette, but I was the one who played it to death.

I know every note on that magical piece of black plastic, I studied every line on the jacket and the cover is seared into my brain. The Beatles were, of course, the sensation of sensations when I was a kid. They might as well have arrived from outer space, Liverpool was only about 80 miles from my Yorkshire home but I knew nothing of that city just that it spawned the Fab Four who brought music to life and made kids like me want to be them, emulate them and worship them.

The Beatles were literally the soundtrack to my young formative years and my complete and utter love of their music continues to this day. They were the epicentre of the societal transformation of both music and culture. It’s hard, if not impossible, to explain just what an impact they had musically. People listening to The Beatles today hear their music ‘in the round’ whereas we were dragged along in their wake one single and one album at a time.

Their output and crucially the supreme quality of their output is staggering by modern standards. With The Beatles is their second album, released in November 1963 and follow on from their debut album Please Please Me which came out in March 1963, in between they released four singles and two EPs. With The Beatles was revolutionary, from the cover to it’s content. In my opinion it stands the test of time but then I’m totally and utterly biased. And quite proud of the fact.