2019 Beatles UK Singles boxed set (Was: "Beatles Mystery Boxed Set")*

My one copy sits in the collection and other albums don’t even want to be near it. They keep rearranging themselves when I’m not home.

 

Be fair, Past Masters was never intended to be, or described as, a comprehensive collection of variant mixes. "Let It Be," "Across the Universe" and "Get Back" all had major, immediately obvious differences from the album versions, and "Love Me Do" was an entirely different recording from the album version.

I'd love to hear high-quality digital versions of the U.S. "Walrus" and promo "Penny Lane" singles, along with the different mix of "Tomorrow Never Knows" that was mistakenly included on the first pressing of the UK mono Revolver, but Past Masters is a way for casual fans to grab all the non-album songs in one place. Weighing it down with the Australian stereo mix of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "All My Loving" with the high-hat intro, etc., etc., would have made a 2CD set for generalists into a cumbersome slog that only nutcase fans (like myself) would get excited about. There's a place for all that stuff, but Past Masters isn't it.

 

This would all fit good to an entirely new version of Rarities. Or a compilation called Alternate Masters.

 

Well, they got Paul right!

 

Like this? It’s a legit Westwood One CD for broadcast.

BEATLES US盤　特集　第26回　RARITIES ON COMPACT DISC "ALL TOO MUCH" / "Complete Christmas Recordings"

 

Yo! @slane! Where is that list?

 

Really? At the time, the EP box contained the best mastering of She Loves You--at the very least, the cleanest transfer and at least an attempt to disguise the multiple edit points in the song. However, it wasn't until the 2009 remasters that the team was able to smooth over the edit points and match the EQ's of each edit piece so that they are no longer apparent. Even if you've memorized where the edits are, you'd be hard pressed to find audible evidence of them. That's why its my favorite mastering.

 

The edits are still apparent on the 2009 remasters. Rouse and team did a nice job repairing them but I still hear some of the more jarring edits.

 

Bypassed Masters

 

Too bad they didn't reverse him, too. Then we could just flip the whole sleeve....

 

That's true, but I think the version in the EP box has more punch and impact, which is fundamental in that song IMO.

 

Thanks Beatlened, it's all coming back to me now...

This is even worse that I thought: EMI/Apple in the UK decided as far back as 1982 to strip "Please Please Me" of its #1 status! They didn't demote it in 2000 for the "1" CD because they couldn't squeeze it on there, they had already done so 18 years prior for the "20 Greatest Hits" LP!

So the "20 Greatest Hits" LPs in the UK and US are basically the #1's of each country, as per the Record Retailer and Billboard charts, but there were flaws with the song decision process. And the "1" CD basically combined the 2 LPs together, plus adding 1 more track "Something."

Problems with the UK "20 Greatest Hits" : On the back cover of the LP, the chart position info is quoted for each song as "Attained Number 1 in the UK Chart" on such-and-such date, except for "Love Me Do" which attained #17. They are using the inferior Record Retailer chart, but they don't say that, nor do they say "industry chart", or "official chart." Just "the UK Chart." But Record Retailer was neither of these, there was no such thing prior to Feb 1969. What Record Retailer was, was the least accurate and least representative chart of the 5 major independent UK charts of the 60s. 3 of the 4 UK chart books series that began publishing 1972 to 1977 (including Guinness 1977) did not claim Record Retailer to be 'the UK Chart', they only informed readers as to which charts they were using for their books. The other book (Tony Jasper's Record Mirror Top Twenty) claimed to be 'official' as used by Radio 1 and Top of the Pops, but this was completely false prior to Feb 1969. I guess you can say to EMI/Apple's credit they didn't claim this LP "contains all The Beatles #1 records" (even though that was the implication), so they can't be accused of a falsehood here.

That aside, they included a #17 Record Retailer (RR) hit "Love Me Do", but not these other RR #2 hits: Please Please Me, Penny Lane, and Strawberry Fields Forever; which attained #1 on other UK charts, PPM on ALL the other charts NME, Melody Maker, & Disc, and PL/SFF only on Melody Maker. In principle, a noble goal to release an album of all #1 records, but a failure in its execution. And while every song is a winner, you can't help but feel cheated with what was left out. The LP peaked at only #10 on the UK album chart.

So even though "Please Please Me" had been a high majority consensus #1 record from 1963 to 1972, its status began dimming among the misinformed public beginning in the 70s with the publications of these chart books. And EMI/Apple continued the deception in 1982 with this "20 GH" LP. And repeated it in 2000 with the "1" CD. Such a shame...

The problems with the US "20 Greatest Hits" : the blurb on the back cover of the LP says "All 20 songs reached the #1 position on the pop singles charts as compiled by Billboard magazine." This is a true statement. However, it does not include all their BB #1's. To their credit, they don't say this either. The left off BB #1's were "Something" and "For You Blue", which achieved #1 on BB as b-sides, with "Something" attaining #3 on its own prior to the BB change to combine both sides into 1 chart position. "Something" was an a-side and a b-side #1 on Record World, for 2 and 3 weeks respectively, #2 on Cashbox. "For You Blue" was a b-side #1 on Record World as well, #71 on Cashbox. Then there were the other left off #1's, "Twist and Shout" #1 on both Cashbox and Music Vendor/Record World, #2 on BB; and "Nowhere Man" #1 on Record World, #2 CB, #3 BB. So again, a noble attempt, but a failure. Although every song is a winner, important stuff was left off. This LP in the US only reached #50 on the Billboard chart.

Sorry for the long posting, just wanted to document when EMI/Apple first demoted "Please Please Me" as a #1. And there you have it, in 1982 with the UK "20 GH" LP. Ugh... Maybe this "20 GH" LP should have been a double LP on both sides of the Atlantic, but that might have been a stretch as well, getting all 32 US & UK #1's onto 2 LPs, somewhere around 95 minutes, but doable.

But it's not about chart positions, it's about the music! Carry on...

 

The original plan in 1982 was to release The Beatles Greatest Hits, which collected the 26 A-sides (22 singles with 4 double A-sides). This would have been much better. Collections based on sales charts are misguided.

 

Which begs the question.... why wasn't Something on the UK 20 Greatest Hits? Was it less of a hit than From Me To You?

 

George vetoed it.

 

Yes it was, here in the UK. From Me To You was 7 weeks at No 1. Something didn't get to No 1.

 

Alas "Something" was only a #4 UK hit on Record Retailer/BMRB, and Melody Maker. #5 on NME. "From Me To You" was #1 on all 4 UK charts of the day.

 

Because it wasn't a #1 hit

 

This would've been a better album but they decided on a single disc instead of a double LP.

They should have revisited this idea and released it instead of 1

 

The Beatles A

 

a box of assorted flavored finger pies

 

Who are you, Jack the Ripper?

 

I seem to recall there being a suggestion that the proposed 26-tracker might have appeared too similar to the 1962-66 and 1967-70 comps. It was a long time ago, so I might have misremembered, but I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

 

I've also read that it was to tie in to the US version of '20 Greatest Hits' which may be true but doesn't make much sense, as the 'hits' were different for each country.