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Beatles Discography
The Beatles released an impressive 13 albums in a mere
seven years. This was an astonishing achievement considering the quality and
creativity of nearly every release.
The Beatles Albums
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The first four Beatles vinyl albums differ based on their location of
release. Those released in the US were of lower sound quality and had some of
their songs omitted. Additionally, even though the first four Beatles albums
were originally released as both monaural and stereo recordings in the United
Kingdom, stereo phonographs were quite rare in England at the time.
Naturally, then, Martin and the Beatles only spent a lot of time on the mono
mixes. Many early songs were later remastered by Capitol Records for the US
as artificial stereo with bass on one side and treble on the other side, with
loads of added echo, much to the disgust of fans today.
When it came time to release the Beatles catalog on CD, the decision was
made to use the original British versions of the albums, since those were the
"way the Beatles originally intended them to be." The first four
CDs are of the original mono mixes. No official stereo mix of the first four
albums has been released on compact disc, but there are plenty of
"official looking" bootleg CDs floating around that include the US
stereo mixes and even bear the "Apple" logo. Martin and the Beatles
started to spend more time on stereo mixes by 1965.
In The U.K.
Originally signed to Parlophone/EMI in the UK, the Beatles' (UK) official
studio albums (not including compilations and the like) were:
- Please Please Me, 1963
- With the Beatles, 1964
- A Hard Day's Night, 1964
- Beatles For Sale, 1965
- Help!, 1965
- Rubber Soul, 1965
- Revolver, 1966
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967
- Magical Mystery Tour, 1967, released in 1967 in the US, 1976 in
the UK. The songs from the film were initially released on two EP-length
discs in the UK in 1967; for the US market, they were padded out to a
full-length LP by padding it with the A- and B-sides of the three 1967
singles the Beatles released.
- The Beatles
(the "white album"), 1968
- Yellow Submarine, 1968
- Abbey Road, 1969
- Let It Be, recorded in 1969, released in 1970
Compilations and other releases
- The Beatles 1962-1966 (the "Red Album") and The
Beatles 1967-1970 (the "Blue Album"), 1973 (two double
compilation albums, featuring as covers the photograph originally taken
for Please Please Me and a re-creation of that photograph taken
in 1969, originally for Get Back, which became Let It Be
- Past Masters, Volume One, 1988 (singles from 1962-1965 and
other songs that were left off earlier albums)
- Past Masters, Volume Two, 1988 (singles from 1965-1970 and
other songs that were left off earlier albums)
- Note: The reason for the Past Masters compilations are so that every
song the Beatles released in 1962-1970 could be on a CD. They include
singles and B-sides, two songs sung in German, the contents of an EP
released in 1964 that had four additional songs, the "single"
versions of the songs "Get Back" and "Let It Be", and
a version of "Across the Universe" that had bird-like sound
effects.
- Live at the BBC, 1999 (Contains 36 songs the Beatles recorded
for various BBC radio shows that never were recorded for Capitol/EMI. This
collection only emphasizes how much the Beatles as the #1 band on the
globe worked like dogs in 1963 and 1964, sometimes recording 18 songs in a
session for the BBC.)
- Anthology 1, 1995 (Containing rarities, demos, out-takes and
the first "new" Beatles song since the band broke up in 1970.)
- Anthology 2, 1996 (Containing rarities, demos, and out-takes)
- Anthology 3, 1996 (Containing rarities, demos, and out-takes)
- The Beatles 1 2000 (A collection of the Beatles' #1 hits on the
Billboard [US] and Melody Maker [UK] charts, including both sides
of their double-A sided singles if both hit the top slot. The collection
has 27 songs in it.)
- Let It Be... Naked, 2003 (Remastered and remixed cut from the
original sessions, as it was meant to be, devoid of arrangements
by original producer Phil Spector. The first copies released shipped with
a 21-minute Fly on the Wall bonus disc.)
In The U.S.
In the United States, as noted above, the Beatles albums were rearranged,
retitled and remixed. Some of the US releases were nearly identical to one
another, often times only varying by one or two songs. Most releases
contained songs that were also found on other records, which made things
difficult for the American Beatles fan trying to purchase the band's entire
catalog. Some of the US releases included:
- Introducing the Beatles, Vee-Jay Records, 1963
- Meet the Beatles, Capitol Records, 1964
- The Beatles Second Album, Capitol Records, 1964
- A Hard Days Night Soundtrack, United Artists, 1964
- Something New, Capitol Records, 1964
- Beatles vs. Four Seasons, Vee-Jay Records, 1964
- Songs Pictures and Stories, Vee-Jay Records, 1964
- Beatles 65, Capitol Records, 1964
- The Early Beatles, Capitol Records, 1965
- Beatles VI, Capitol Records, 1965
- Help! Soundtrack, Capitol Records, 1965
- Rubber Soul, Capitol Records, 1965
- Yesterday...and Today, Capitol Records, 1966
- Revolver, Capitol Records, 1966
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Capitol Records, 1967
- Magical Mystery Tour, Capitol Records, 1967
- The Beatles
(the "white album"), Apple Records, 1968
- Yellow Submarine, Apple Records, 1968
- Abbey Road, Apple Records, 1969
- Hey Jude (The Beatles Again), Apple Records, 1969
- Let It Be, Apple Records, recorded in 1969, released in 1970
- Rock and Roll Music, Capitol Records, 1976
- Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, Capitol Records, 1977
- Live at the Star Club: 1962, Lingasong Records, 1977
- Love Songs, Capitol Records, 1977
- Rarities, Capitol Records, 1980
- Rock n' Roll Music Vol.1, Capitol Records, 1980
- Rock n' Roll Music Vol.2, Capitol Records, 1980
- Reel Music, Capitol Records, 1982
Filmography
Lyrics
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"Beatles Discography"
and from
http://www.white-on.com
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