THE BEATLES
compilations

A Collection of Beatles Oldies (1966)
Parlophone Records

This quick rundown of the Beatles through '66 is a great set of tunes, of course, though it does leap around a lot. It has Paul's two beloved album tracks, "Michelle" and "Yesterday," all the hit singles, and a new song, actually released in the U.S. in 1965, a cover of Larry Williams' "Bad Boy." The artwork is kitschy and stupid. (Translation: Nathan loves the artwork.) No CD, even though I think it's on the whole a better collection than BEATLES 1.


Hey Jude (1969)
Capitol Records

Actually, this is what typically passed for a "new Beatles album" in America (MEET THE BEATLES!, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, SOMETHING NEW!, BEATLES '65, BEATLES VI, YESTERDAY AND TODAY, etc., all poorly-sequenced compilations), one of many reasons their U.S. discography is ignored on this website. But this one's here because it was so popular it managed to find release in Britain as a semi-companion to A COLLECTION OF BEATLES OLDIES, despite the off-the-wall presence of two A HARD DAY'S NIGHT tracks, for no reason I can figure out. Ending with "Don't Let Me Down" and "The Ballad of John and Yoko" is a great idea. No CD release, though, and with good reason; everything here is on PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO except the AHDN stuff. Hell, it's all on the second disc of THE BEATLES 1967-1970 too. The cover art is wonderful, though, so I'm glad my old vinyl copy ("The Beatles Again" is the title on the label) is still in the closet.


The Beatles 1962-1966 (1973)
Apple/Capitol

One thing the Beatles' catalog was always missing was a strong greatest hits compilation. Allen Klein set out to correct this with two double-LP sets covering the breadth of the band's career, divided into the period through REVOLVER (the "red album") and the material from "Strawberry Fields" on (the "blue album").

The selections -- and chronological sequencing -- are great. Taken together, both sets encompass all 22 singles plus the double-A sides, many album-only cuts, and even a few b-sides. If anything it's bizarre how much stuff made the cut of the 1967-1970 collection, which manages to fit "Old Brown Shoe," among others.

On LP, both the albums (or either, really) are a wonderful introduction to the depth of the Beatles' catalog. Pushing this set above the mark is its wealth of material from RUBBER SOUL. "Girl" and "In My Life" truly light up the second disc to a degree typical compilations never touch.

On compact disc, a medium on which the comps were released in 1993 to fill the void once again for a hits set, this is an anemic collection. It runs less than 65 minutes, which would be fine and dandy if the band had opted to put it on one CD (with time to spare). Instead, it remains a double disc set... and despite the minimal amount of music contained, the suggested retail price is $35.

Not only is this blatantly greedy, it's just senseless. And the decision was not imposed on the Beatles by a record company. Although the '67-'70 set can't fit on a single disc, it's short enough that the entirety of 1962-1966 could be added and still fit on a double set. Capitol wanted to release it like this, but the Beatles vetoed the decision in the interest of "artistic integrity" of the original LPs. Read that again for me. "Artistic integrity." Of a fucking greatest hits compilation, which the band didn't want released to begin with. My God, it's amazing how far idols can fall.

If they had to keep the albums separate, why didn't they flesh this one out -- or both of them, really -- with more tracks? That's what the CD format is for. They could add more from REVOLVER, which is criminally underrepresented by simply the two singles (the main reason this doesn't get five stars), or more from WITH THE BEATLES and PLEASE PLEASE ME ("I Saw Her Standing There"? "Twist and Shout"? "Not a Second Time"?). They could do a million things and create collections that would want everyone to rush out and buy the studio albums (which are also ridiculously priced at around $17, but it's good music). They didn't.

Adding insult to injury, it's not something collectors can skip since it has stereo mixes of songs previously available on disc in mono only. Get it used or don't get it all. Don't do any more favors for the supposed patron saints of popular music.

Thirty years later, the Beatles' catalog is still missing a strong greatest hits compilation. Had the initial plan gone through, this would be it. As it stands, the red and blue albums use twice as much hard material as is necessary (especially since they have the same artwork anyway), and the great track selection and huge listenability factor get lost in the shadows of this vast error in judgement.


The Beatles 1967-1970 (1973)
Apple/Capitol

(See 1962-1966 for the most relevant details about my opinions on these sets.) When I listen to this, which I have on CD only to match the other one and to get a copy of the clean-intro "Day in the Life," it just makes me want to pull out the other albums. Which probably means it's doing its job. All the music here is good to great except some of the '67 stuff, but I've said enough about that. It's as good a compilation as you can hear for a band that just doesn't lend itself to compilations. Cool cover.


Rock and Roll Music (1976)
Capitol Records

With above-par mixing and selection (with George Martin's close involvement a not-so-subtle benefit), this wildly successful set of dirty-ass fast and furious rock & roll, presented in kinda-sorta chronological order, is a fun listen, but not worth seeking out. Stick to the original albums. Unfortunately, this package was so popular (enough so that I don't doubt a future appearance on CD) that it made clear to Capitol the cash cow was there for the taking and they milked it for the next few years with a series of mindbending, awful compilations.


Love Songs (1978)
Capitol Records

The selections are strange, and you have all these songs already, and two records is such overkill, but the "tasteful" fake-gold-embossed packaging of this money-grubbing compilation is so hilarious I had to give it two stars. There's no CD of this or the three increasingly idiotic sets that followed, though all except BALLADS have been out on cassette as recently as 1994. (And BALLADS may have been but I've never seen it.) This may be a useful Beatles album if you're trying to score a chick and she's a real tightwad.


The Beatles Ballads (1980)
Parlophone/Capitol

The tracklist of this pointless compilation is so similar to LOVE SONGS it's not really worth discussing. This frequently resembles a Paul McCartney solo album. (I am not sure if this set was released in the U.S.; I've never even seen it. I know this much: it didn't sell.)




Reel Music (1982)
Capitol Records

This is just stupid. The booklet that came with this record has more value than the music, which is just a few cuts from each of the soundtrack albums. A ridiculous cash grab, accompanied by the release of the "Movie Medley," which is equally worthless. Capitol's pandering insults to the intelligence of Beatles fans fortunately ended after this onerous package.


20 Greatest Hits (1982)
Parlophone/Capitol

If you must have something like this, buy BEATLES 1 instead. But while we're on the subject can I mention how all the promos for "1" talked about it being the first single-disc hits collection of the Beatles' work? Is that an outright lie or what? Although 20 GREATEST HITS, which incidentally has a much better cover than "1," has never been on CD, it existed and sold very well and was in print on cassette (with XDR mastering, whatever the fuck that is) until quite recently. My tape of this, which I can't seem to find anywhere in my apartment but I know it's somewhere, is the only place I've ever heard the infamous four-minute edit of "Hey Jude."


Beatles 1 (2000)
Capitol Records

On the one hand, I do think every band should have a single-disc compilation on the market. On the other, there are so few people who would be inclined to own only one Beatles disc it's hard to really see the point of this one or why it became so popular. Limiting it to songs that hit #1 is a massive error in judgment, and aside from "Yesterday," I'd say the same of opening the floodgates to songs released as singles in America only like "Eight Days a Week" and "The Long and Winding Road," especially since "Please Please Me" isn't here. Frankly, any Beatles compilation that does not have "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a pathetic, sad joke, but I'm glad they sold a lot of records, blah blah, whatever. I got mine used. I was elated at the time like everybody else that they had such massive success over the pop artists of the day with a collection of decades-old chestnuts, but in retrospect, so what? All it "meant" was the rich were just getting richer.

Good music, though.