The Essential Beatles | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 2 February 1972 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1962–1969, EMI and Apple studios, London | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Language | English | |||
Label | Apple | |||
Producer | George Martin and Phil Spector | |||
The Beatles Australian chronology | ||||
|
The Essential Beatles is a greatest hits compilation album by the Beatles which was exclusive to Australia and New Zealand on the Apple Records label. [1] All of the songs featured on the album (with the exception of "With a Little Help from My Friends") reached the top 3 in the Australian charts as singles and EP tracks. [2]
Most of the songs on the album are presented in true stereo, while "Love Me Do", "P.S. I Love You" and "Baby You're A Rich Man" are in "fake stereo". Two notable mastering glitches appear on the album: "Penny Lane" running slow with a noticeable "warble" and "Long Tall Sally" on this album, has the stereo channels reversed. [2]
The album was reissued twice in the 1980s. The first time as part of the Superstars of the '70s box set, released by the Australian branch of World Record Club in August 1980. [3] The second being in December 1982, where it was paired with the Barry Miles book The Beatles In Their Own Words in a box set titled: The Beatles Sight & Sound. [2] [4] [5]
The album was issued on cassette in 1972, but has never seen a compact disc release (as was the case with non-canon Beatles albums at the time). It remained in print until 1991, when all the Australian Beatles vinyl was deleted from EMI Music Australia catalogue and replaced with imported vinyl from the UK. [6]
All tracks are written by Lennon–McCartney except as noted
No. | Title | Notes on mix variations | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Love Me Do" | Fake stereo mix created from mono Please Please Me version | 2:22 |
2. | "Boys" (Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell) | Stereo mix from Please Please Me | 2:28 |
3. | "Long Tall Sally" (Enotris Johnson, Robert Blackwell, Richard Penniman) | Stereo mix. The left and right channels are reversed from the original stereo mix . [2] First released on The Beatles' Second Album (except without the echo added by Dave Dexter Jr.) and the Australian and New Zealand only release, Greatest Hits Volume 1 . | 2:04 |
4. | "Honey Don't" (Carl Perkins) | Stereo mix from the album Beatles For Sale | 3:00 |
5. | "P.S. I Love You" | Mono single mix in fake stereo | 2:05 |
6. | "Baby, You're a Rich Man" | Mono single and album mix in fake stereo | 3:10 |
7. | "All My Loving" | Stereo mix from the With the Beatles album | 2:10 |
8. | "Yesterday" | The original 1965 stereo mix from the Help! album | 2:07 |
9. | "Penny Lane" | New stereo mix. First featured on the German 1971 release of Magical Mystery Tour . The version on The Essential Beatles runs slower and has a noticeable tape "warble" [2] | 3:05 |
No. | Title | Notes on mix variations | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Magical Mystery Tour" | Stereo mix from the Magical Mystery Tour album. | 2:50 |
2. | "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" | The original 1965 mix from the stereo Rubber Soul album.the channels are reversed | 2:04 |
3. | "With a Little Help from My Friends" | Stereo mix from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . | 2:40 |
4. | "All You Need Is Love" | Stereo mix first appearing on the Magical Mystery Tour album | 3:03 |
5. | "Something" (George Harrison) | From the Abbey Road album | 3:05 |
6. | "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" | From The Beatles album | 3:10 |
7. | "Let It Be" | The album version from the Let It Be album | 4:03 |
Chart | Peak Position |
---|---|
Kent Report Albums | 10 [7] |
Go-Set Top 20 Albums | 6 [8] |
Please Please Me is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album is 14 songs in length, and contains a mixture of cover songs and original material written by the partnership of band members John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin's film score. In contrast to the Beatles' first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership.
Help! is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride", appeared in the film and take up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side includes "Yesterday", the most-covered song ever written. The album was met with favourable critical reviews and topped the Australian, German, British and American charts.
Worldwide, the British rock band the Beatles released 12 studio albums, 5 live albums, 51 compilation albums, 36 extended plays (EPs), 63 singles, 17 box sets, 22 video albums and 53 music videos. In their native United Kingdom, during their active existence as a band, they released 12 studio albums, 1 compilation album, 13 EPs, and 22 singles. The early albums and singles released from 1962 to March 1968 were originally on Parlophone, and their albums and singles from August 1968 to 1970 were on their subsidiary label Apple. Their output also includes vault items, remixed mash-ups and anniversary box-sets.
1962–1966, also known as the Red Album, is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. Released with its counterpart 1967–1970 in 1973, the double LP peaked at number 3 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it topped the Cash Box albums chart and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart while 1967–1970 reached the top spot. The album was re-released in September 1993 on compact disc, charting at number 3 in the UK.
Something New is an album by English rock band the Beatles, released in 1964 for the North American market only.
Reel Music is a compilation album featuring a selection of songs by the Beatles that were featured in their films, as the title suggests. The album was released on 22 March 1982 in the United States and the following day in the United Kingdom – almost simultaneously with the theatrical re-release of the film, A Hard Day's Night, which had been "cleaned" and re-edited with stereo Dolby sound. In the US, Reel Music peaked at number 19 on Billboard's albums chart.
20 Greatest Hits is a compilation album featuring a selection of songs by The Beatles that were number one singles in the UK and US. It was released on 11 October 1982 in the United States and 18 October in the United Kingdom and marked the 20th anniversary of The Beatles' first record release, "Love Me Do", in the UK in October 1962. 20 Greatest Hits was the last Beatles album to be released with variations between the U.S. and UK versions. There is an extremely rare 8 track tape version of this album, of which approximately 10 to 15 copies still exist today. Legend has it that Capitol Records decided to pull the plug on the release at the last minute, as 8 tracks were not selling well in late 1982, and all copies were to be destroyed. However, there were a few that survived.
"Help!" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that served as the title song for the 1965 film and the band's accompanying soundtrack album. It was released as a single in July 1965, and was number one for three weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom.
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It is the fifth track of their third UK album A Hard Day's Night and was released 20 July 1964, along with "If I Fell", as a single release by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Beatles Box Set is a sixteen-disc box set compiling the entire recorded works of the Beatles as issued by the band between 1962 and 1970. It was released on 15 November 1988 in Britain and America, with the same catalogue number in each of those countries. While available also in vinyl LP and cassette formats, the box set was the first complete collection of original Beatles material to be released by EMI and Capitol Records on compact disc.
The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 is a box set compilation composed of the Beatles' 1965 American Capitol Records releases. The set, which contains stereo and mono versions of all 92 tracks, was announced on 22 March 2006.
Love Songs is a compilation album that comprises love songs recorded by the Beatles between 1962 and 1970. It was released by Capitol Records in the United States on 21 October 1977 and on Parlophone in the United Kingdom on 19 November 1977. The compilation peaked at #24 in Billboard's Top LPs & Tape chart during a 31-week stay that began on 12 November 1977. The RIAA certified the album with sales of three million units in 2000 even though the compilation was deleted in the late 1980s. The New Zealand release followed the US release with cat. no. and pressing plates, and was released on 2 different EMI labels.
The Number Ones is a compilation album of hits by The Beatles released in 1983 by EMI on the Parlophone Records label in Australia. It is a localised version of the 1982 compilation album 20 Greatest Hits.
Past Masters is a two-disc compilation album set by the English rock band the Beatles. It was originally released as two separate volumes on 7 March 1988, as part of the first issue of the band's catalogue on compact disc. The album contains all songs released commercially by the band that were not available on the Beatles' 12 original UK albums or the US Magical Mystery Tour LP. It was compiled by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who also wrote the liner notes. The majority of the Past Masters set consists of A- and B-sides from the band's singles, including single versions of songs that appeared in a different form on the band's albums. Also included are the full contents of the UK-only Long Tall Sally EP, two German-language tracks, a song recorded for the American market, and a track released on a charity compilation album.
The Beatles in Mono is a boxed set compilation comprising the remastered monaural recordings by the Beatles. The set was released on compact disc on 9 September 2009, the same day the remastered stereo recordings and companion The Beatles were also released, along with The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey.
The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings), also known as The Beatles: Stereo Box Set, is a box set compilation comprising all remastered recordings by English rock band the Beatles. The set was issued on 9 September 2009, along with the remastered mono recordings and companion The Beatles in Mono and The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey. The Stereo Box also features a DVD which contains all the short films that are on the CDs in QuickTime format. The release date of 09/09/09 is related to the significance to John Lennon of the number nine.
Greatest Hits Volume 1 is a greatest hits compilation album by The Beatles which was exclusive to Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. The album was compiled by EMI Australia to fill in the gap between Rubber Soul and Revolver.
Rarities is the name of two separate and unrelated compilation albums by the English rock band the Beatles. The first was released in the United Kingdom in December 1978, while the second album was issued in the United States in March 1980.
Greatest Hits Volume 2 is a greatest hits compilation album by The Beatles that was exclusive to Australia. The album was compiled by EMI Australia to fill in the gap between Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.