Will solo Beatles eventually become group compilation albums ?

I agree that money will win out, and that this collection could make Beatles, Inc. a few more bucks.

But $100 million? NFW...maybe 10% of that...if they're lucky.

 

It'll happen. Maybe not soon but it'll happen. Money always talks in the end and as Apple's profit margins decrease down the years they'll eventually find an economic reason and some justification to do it. There's simply too much quality Beatles-solo material that so far, has only been heard by us die-hards. Another 25 years down the line and there just won't be enough original fans who will care to be precious about it. Once upon a time it was inconceivable to me that my favourite pop tunes would end up as soap ads or that they'd remix Elvis as a dance act or colourise classic Laurel and Hardy movies - all unthinkable at one time - but here we are!

 

Not wanting to be ghoulish but once the principal actors are deceased, basically anything can happen to the Beatles catalog. And "anything" probably will happen. The same way that tastemakers, pop stars and other celebrities can host their own Spotify channels, create Beats playlists, or have their own personal Sirius sattelite radio shows or channels. What's going to happen to that trend in the future? More and more of it, of course. If Brian Eno can "curate" Fela Kuti's reissues, or if Jack White can market himself as the sole person who "rediscovered" Paramount Records, making it seem like it's his own, what's to stop some other future celebrity or influential musician from "curating" the Beatles, in some not-so-far-off future date?

 

Beatles 1 was before iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube. No way a compilation like this is selling any 11 million copies. Not even with fake Ringo quotes.

 

Not going to happen. The actual plan is to divide the Beatles' recordings into three sets of solo albums and a mini-LP for Ringo.

 

To all of those who say never...

As a few folks here have said, but others have ignored: It has ALREADY happened:

Free iTunes EP: '4: John Paul George Ringo' »

 

This was all unfathomable to me at one time. The mere thought of combining solo Beatles material into a 1 style hits comp. But all 4 are essentially over as solo acts selling any quantity of singles or albums.

They've released nearly everything several times over. They still have some remixes, they can do, some demos, a few unreleased tracks. But a solo comp featuring all 4 hasn't been done. To the average fan on the street, who probably knows the songs, 70% of them, you play My Sweet Lord or Imagine, & they'll go, oh yeah the Beatles. Except for us, most people don't even understand the difference,between solo Lennon doing Imagine as opposed to, oh yeah that's the Beatles.

The money is enormous, I mean could be... I dunno, we could talk about Carnival of light. But having never heard it, it's hard for me to say much about it.

 

More like 0.1% of that. Anyone wanting this stuff has it already.

 

Maybe. But everybody already had all the songs on the 1 album also. Had them all for 30 years plus. Just out of curiosity, what do you think they could issue, that would sell better.

 

- I very much doubt that McCartney would want this, he does very well out of his greatest hits compilations. I'm not sure that Ringo would care.
- Even if he did agree, they would need to get approval from Yoko and Olivia, and we know how easy that is to obtain.
- And even if those hurdles are overcome, then comes the battle of egos as each stakeholder fights for as many of their tracks as possible (more tracks = greater recognition and more royalties).

I can't see it happening in the real world.

 

Look at how many Beatles at BBC 2 sold. I don't think there is much of a market for any product any more. 1 was 16 years ago and was the Beatles album for non fans.

 

It's kind of crazy (but not so crazy considering..) you bring this up.. because I was searching tirelessly the other day - and sure I would find SOMETHING - I was looking for a compilation of solo Beatles material, whether it be official, or bootleg, on Discogs and couldn't find a damn thing.. so is there NOTHING out there for us folks who might want to purchase something like that?

PS: **** the haters. I agree there's too many Beatles threads but I'm actually interested in something like this

 

I think a logical option (and probably the easiest to release without having to be approved of by too many record companies) would be The Best of Apple Records: The Solo Years (similar to the various artists compilation Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records, which was used to promote the 2010 remastered Apple Records albums). A solo Beatles compilation released by Apple might look something like this:

1.  Give Peace a Chance – Plastic Ono Band
2.  Maybe I'm Amazed – Paul McCartney
   
3.  My Sweet Lord – George Harrison
   
4.  It Don't Come Easy – Ringo Starr
   
5.  Instant Karma! – Plastic Ono Band
   
6.  Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey – Paul & Linda McCartney
   
7.  Isn't It a Pity – George Harrison
   
8.  Back Off Boogaloo – Ringo Starr
   
9.  Imagine – John Lennon
10.  My Love – Paul McCartney & Wings
    
11.  What Is Life – George Harrison
    
12.  Photograph – Ringo Starr
    
13.  Whatever Gets You Thru the Night – John Lennon
    
14.  Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings
    
15.  Bangla Desh – George Harrison
    
16.  You're Sixteen – Ringo Starr
    
17.  #9 Dream – John Lennon
    
18.  Band on the Run – Paul McCartney & Wings
    
19.  Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) – George Harrison
    
20.  Only You (And You Alone) – Ringo Starr

As much as I wanted to sequence the titles in perfect chronological order, there were too many instances where there would be back-to-back hits by John ("Give Peace a Chance"/"Instant Karma!"), George ("My Sweet Lord"/"Isn't It a Pity"/"What Is Life"), and Ringo ("Photograph"/"You're Sixteen"), so I decided to have the songs play in a rotating John-Paul-George-Ringo order.

Alternates:
 Power to the People; Jealous Guy; Happy Xmas (War Is Over); Mind Games
 Another Day; Hi Hi Hi; C Moon; Jet
 All Things Must Pass; Dark Horse; You
 Oh My My; No No Song; Snookeroo

 

I say make your own compilation at home and be done with it.

 

I think if anything happens it will be Apple bundling the current Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr greatest hits into a 4-CD box. Easy and cheap to produce, no wrangling permissions, and it will probably sell heaps to satisfy the OP's criteria for huge profits.

 

Speaking of Christmas and the Beatles 4 solo EP, I would love to see an official release collecting their solo Christmas singles, and perhaps tacking on the "Free as a Bird" single edit of the Beatles' "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)":

1. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
2. Wonderful Christmastime
3. Ding Dong; Ding Dong
4. Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On
5. Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

 

Shaved Fish / Wings Greatest / The Best of George Harrison / Blast from Your Past? I could see that happening.

Unfortunately, it would be a very uneven collection as each of these compilations had their own unique formats: Shaved Fish included incomplete and/or crossfaded versions of "Give Peace a Chance" and "Happy Xmas"; Wings Greatest was released much later, thus covering a longer period, and as the most commercially successful solo artist, that meant a lot of missing hits; The Best of George Harrison was half-filled with Beatles recordings leaving only 6 showcases for his solo career; while Ringo's Blast from Your Past was surprisingly the most stable greatest hits comp.

 

I agree with the unevenness. A project like this is most likely to be driven by the Apple accountants who wouldn't care, as these comp's sell well enough on their own.

 

I think it would be a HUGE seller! My gosh...when you put all the solo hits into one package it's astonishing! You have to stop at 1980 though when John died. But you can include Free as a Bird and Real Love.

 

Never.

 

Public domain one day.

Assuming Disney and Warner don't extend the copyrights into the next century.

 

I don't see it happening, they wanted separate careers. Those that are alive and in control respect that and i'd expect the next generation who will be in control of the estates, will continue that. All four estates would have to agree. It's easy enough to compile and burn your own set. I wouldn't be surprised to see 4 separate sets with similar art work, like the Kiss solo albums, come out at some future holiday. Who knows though.

 

I already made one called "Now The Beatles Roll In Their Graves" consisting of Glee Beatles covers and Kidz Bop Beatles covers!

 

What I wouldn't mind seeing is a bundling of Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (or Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon); the 2CD version of Pure McCartney (or All the Best!, even if it is missing "Maybe I'm Amazed"); Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison; and Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo.

 

I like that it can be done in iTunes or burned CDs, and there certainly are enough songs from each of them to do 1 LP from 1970, another from 1971, right up to 1975. Thats 6 yearly LPs full of some pretty decent stuff.