FROM THE HEART

I am as much of a Beatles fanatic as the next guy or girl, and while I was disheartened to read Robert Hilburn’s lukewarm review of “Anthology 2,” I also believe B.C. Katz’s rebuttal (Letters, March 24) went too far.

In defending the Beatles’ artistry, Katz felt compelled to trash contemporary artist Alanis Morissette, satirically citing one of her “profound” lyrics about oral sex in a theater. That line is part of a song (“You Oughta Know”) about the larger issues of trust and betrayal, and Morissette is speaking from her heart, no less than Lennon and McCartney did in their time.

Admiration of one generation’s music does not require the denigration of another’s.

MICHAEL WOLFFE

Los Angeles

Will somebody please poke John Lennon so he can roll over to catch the latest travesty from the remaining Beatles--namely, “Anthology 2.” Is nothing sacred? Even for a record company, hardly a paragon of institutional integrity, this new collection of Beatles droppings is a disgusting display of egregious corporate crapola.

As the marketing chief at Capitol during the Beatles’ legitimate period--1964-69--I recall vividly John Lennon’s horror when he learned that Capitol, desperate as always for revenues and not especially hopeful of chart-busting sales from its largely middle-aged artist roster, was planning to include in an otherwise nondescript Beatles album (if, indeed, there was such a thing back then) two tracks that had been previously released as singles--even today, a common enough industry practice.

Capitol’s decision infuriated Lennon (a true artist and an honorable man), who viewed this assault on the Beatles’ artistic credentials as an abomination; another example, as Lennon put it, of the “record company [expletive] the kids” who already had invested their hard-earned allowance to buy the singles.

Well, John, better that you go back to your eternal slumber than see that nothing has much changed since your unfortunate departure from this life. Your old chums, Ringo, George and Paul, as well as your favorite record company are still “[expletive] the kids.” Only this time, they’re calling it history.

ROCCO CATENA

Los Angeles