1962–1966

Infobox Album
Name = 1962–1966
Type = compilation
Artist = The Beatles


Released = 19 April 1973
Recorded = Abbey Road and Pathé Marconi Studios 1962–1966
Genre = Rock and roll
Length = 63:00
Label = Apple
Producer = George Martin
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:et8uak6k5m3z link]
Last album = "The Beatles' Christmas Album"
(1970)
This album = "1962–1966"
(1973)
Next album = "1967–1970"
(1973)

"1962–1966" (widely known as "The Red Album") is a compilation of The Beatles' greatest hits from 1962 to 1966. It was released with "1967–1970" ("The Blue Album"), a compilation of their greatest hits from 1967 to 1970. "1962–1966" made #3 on both the U.K. Album Chart and U.S. Billboard chart.

The Beatles themselves participated in selecting the songs for inclusion, as well as the colours and pictures. [cite book
last=Russell
first=Jeff
title= The Beatles Album File and Discography
origyear=1982
url=
edition=Second
year=1989
publisher=Blandford Press
location=Artillery Row, London
isbn=0713720654
pages=138
quote=
ref=] Even though the group had had success with cover versions of songs, most notably with "Twist and Shout", which made #2 on the Billboard charts, only songs composed by the Beatles themselves were included.

Photos

The album covers of both "1962-1966" and "1967-1970" showed the Beatles, looking down from a stairwell in the EMI building in London. The earlier photo was taken from the same session that produced the one used on their first album, "Please Please Me" (1963). The later photo was taken in early 1969, with Harrison, McCartney, Starr and Lennon replicating their exact poses in the earlier photo. The internal gatefold photo was taken in July 1968, during the "Mad Day Out" photo sessions around London.

Release variations

*Original 1973 release: Apple SKBO-3403 (Whole and sliced apples in red background)
*Second pressings: Capitol SKBO-3403 (Capitol target logo on back of album cover, red labels with "Capitol" in light red at bottom. There are also copies erroneously pressed with the BLUE labels for the 1967-1970 pressings)
*First red vinyl issue: Capitol SEBX-11842 (Capitol dome logo on back of album cover, large dome logo at top of labels)

Track listing

*The British and American versions of the vinyl album contain notable differences. "Help!" on the American edition includes the "James Bond-intro," while the same song on the British edition does not. In addition, the British version of the vinyl album contains mysterious whispering leading into the song, "I Feel Fine," which does not appear on the American edition of the vinyl album. Finally, in a number of instances, the American and British versions of the vinyl album utilized different mixes of the same song.
*The CD version was released on two discs for the price of two albums, though it could have fit on to a single disc. EMI stated that this was done to match the release of "1967–1970".
*The CD version used new digital masters. The first four tracks on the CD release are in mono. The rest of the tracks are in stereo and the following tracks made their CD stereo debut with this release: "All My Loving", "Can't Buy Me Love", "A Hard Day's Night", "And I Love Her" and "Eight Days a Week". See Mix Variations below.

*This is the first appearance of "From Me to You" and "A Hard Day's Night" on a U.S. Capitol/Apple album
*All tracks written by Lennon-McCartney.

ide one

#"Love Me Do" – 2:23
#"Please Please Me" – 2:03
#"From Me to You" – 1:57
#"She Loves You" – 2:22
#"I Want to Hold Your Hand" – 2:26
#"All My Loving" – 2:08
#"Can't Buy Me Love" – 2:13

ide two

#"A Hard Day's Night" – 2:34
#"And I Love Her" – 2:31
#"Eight Days a Week" – 2:45
#"I Feel Fine" – 2:19
#"Ticket to Ride" – 3:10
#"Yesterday" – 2:05

ide three

#"Help!" – 2:19
#"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" – 2:11
#"We Can Work It Out" – 2:16
#"Day Tripper" – 2:49
#"Drive My Car" – 2:27
#"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" – 2:05

ide four

#"Nowhere Man" – 2:44
#"Michelle" – 2:42
#"In My Life" – 2:27
#"Girl" – 2:31
#"Paperback Writer" – 2:31
#"Eleanor Rigby" – 2:08
#"Yellow Submarine" – 2:37

Mix variations

References

External links

* [http://www.norwegianwood.org/beatles/disko/uklp/red.htm Notes on released versions]