The Beatles Past Masters- come up with a better name.

I think the Beatles Past Masters CDs are a simple, well-organized, and comprehensive collection of Beatles B-Sides and "odds and sods" tracks (and all presented in chronological order as they ought to be).

They are the Gold Standard by which all other B-Side compilations should strive to meet in terms of presentation.

Except I think the title of the compilation sucks. "Past Masters" is just boring, and doesn't actually tell you what the collection's purpose is because any officially released Beatles song could be defined as a "Past Master".

When i first became a Beatles fan and didn't know a lot about their music I didn't understand that it was a B-Sides/non-album songs collection and didn't understand the purpose of it.

So, let's come up with a better name for it. What would you call it if you were in charge of naming the compilation? I'm trying to go for something that conveys to non-fans at a glance that it's a collection of B-Sides and other non-album songs.

I would pick "B-Sides And More". I know it's not a very "sexy" title, but it at least gets the point across quickly as to what the collection is a lot better than "Past Masters".

 

side tracks ? is there a b-sides compilation with a decent name ? odds & sods ?

 

It's boring but "Non-Album Tracks" says it all.

 

"Really good leftovers"

 

Northern Songs

 

Odd and ends
Up the b-side

 

It's been used before, but I still love "Off The Beatle Track"

 

I strongly disagree. I think they were miserable, slapdash, boring and minimised some great work. After all, it's not just b-sides; many of their biggest-ever hits were relegated to that collection.

Now that we have the Anthologies and some other detritus, it'd be interesting to see the catalogue redone the way it should have been done in the first place: as two-cd sets with a main catalogue album on disc one and era-specific side tracks on disc two. For each of the main catalogue albums. Like they've just done with Sgt Pepper.

Oh, and a name? Well, "Cold Cuts" is available...

 

Yes! Okay, that's both clever and gives you an idea of what it's about.

 

It's a collection of non-album tracks. It does exactly what it set out to do. It's not a Greatest Hits collection.

 

The Beatles - Some Old Recordings We Know You'll Want to Hear

 

Boing Boom Tschak

 

"Flip your wig, flip the record".

 

The challenge would be coming up with a worse name.

For better name, I suggest
Part 1: You know my name
Part 2: Look up the number

 

a collection of beatles oldies

 

Well to be precise it's an addendum to their original CD release series, and their actual track listing doesn't make much sense outside of that - Magical Mystery Tour is a collection of non-album tracks too, one whose inclusion at the time was iffy, since it was an American release in an otherwise UK-focused release campaign. Also, if they had put out the Yellow Submarine Songtrack at the time instead of the original soundtrack with its measly four new Beatles songs - or put out neither - then the Past Masters tracklisting would have been different.

What I mean is that in the 30 or so years since they were first released, the Beatles catalogue as we know it has shifted somewhat, causing the Past Masters albums to lose their status as a 'definitive' anything and really serve as another signpost in the long list of Beatles compilations, from Hey Jude through Rock and Roll Music through Rarities and, frankly, the Yellow Submarine Songtrack I just mentioned.

A new, sparkly overhaul wouldn't be that bad an idea.

 

beat the meatles.

 

"Single Gems"

 

I like that one!

 

Amos del Pasado

 

Not just B-Sides. Plenty of A-Sides on those collections too.

So, why not just call it "The Singles"

Otherwise, what's wrong with "Past Masters?" Seems fine to me.

 

"A-Sides, BEATLE-Sides, Z-Sides"
---'Z-Sides', meaning the songs that weren't singles!

 

True it's not a Greatest Hits collection but it does have some of their greatest hits.
I am so grateful that they did put this together.
George Martin said that his biggest regret was that the singles were not on the albums,
but they thought they were doing a service to the fans so that they didn't have to buy something that has already been released.

 

Because it's not a collection of all the Single A-Sides and B-Sides (they already put out a CD box set of those), it's a collection of non-album tracks that happened to (sometimes) be A-SIdes or B-Sides.

 

I know you are referring to the audio presentation, but I always thought the visual presentation could have been better.

Then again, it's better than the Eight Days a Week album cover design.