The Beatles 1962-1966 (PCSP 717)

If you are not a die-hard Beatles vinyl collector and are wondering which of their albums you should own, the answer is simple: this one. Actually, these two, because we are really talking about a pair of compilations: The Beatles 1962-1966 and The Beatles 1967-1970, more commonly known as the Red Album and the Blue Album. They appeared on 2 April 1973 in the United States and, depending on the source, either 19 April (Beatles Bible, Wikipedia) or 20 April 1973 (TheBeatles-Collection) in the United Kingdom. These were the first official Beatles compilations to follow the band’s dissolution and came about as a direct response to an illegal bootleg set called Alpha Omega, which had been marketed on US television and radio from December 1972 by Audio Tape Inc. of New Jersey. The print advertising for both official compilations declared them „the only authorized collection of the Beatles”.

Allen Klein selected the tracks for both compilations, though some precision is needed here because the shorthand „Beatles manager” is misleading. Klein ran Apple Records and represented John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, but never Paul McCartney. He drew up the song lists for both LPs, borrowing the template he had used for the Rolling Stones’ Hot Rocks 1964-1971 in 1971, and decided the Red Album would feature no cover versions (despite „Twist and Shout” reaching number 2 in the US) and no George Harrison compositions. Instead it gathered all the UK single A-sides from the Parlophone era up to the end of 1966, plus a handful of album tracks: „All My Loving” from With The Beatles, „Eight Days A Week” from Beatles For Sale, „Yesterday” from Help!, plus „Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” and „Michelle” from Rubber Soul. A genuine collector virtue of the compilation was that several major hits appeared on LP for the first time here, led by „From Me To You”.

Each former Beatle was given the right to veto. Lennon later commented in Melody Maker: „They sent me lists and asked for my opinion but I was busy at the time.” McCartney was even less interested, telling Rolling Stone in 1974: „I didn’t take an awful lot of interest in them, actually. I still haven’t heard them.” His disdain had another motive: the Red and Blue Albums hit shops exactly as his Red Rose Speedway did, creating the awkward situation of Paul competing on the charts with his own old band.

The Red Album reached number 3 in the UK, number 3 on the Billboard 200 in the US (and number 1 on Cash Box). It sold 1,215,338 copies in the US by the end of 1973, and 5,475,942 by the end of the decade.

UK vs. US: the two most important differences

The UK and US pressings are not identical, something that often escapes European collectors because UK copies dominate the continental market. Two crucial differences:

First, „Help!” on the US version (Capitol SKBO-3403) opens with a short James Bond-style instrumental fragment composed by Ken Thorne for the US soundtrack of the Help! film. This intro also appeared on the US Help! soundtrack LP but is absent from the UK Red Album. It is probably the single most talked-about difference between the two editions.

Second, „I Feel Fine” on the UK edition is the stereo „whispering intro” mix (with the faintly audible engineer whisper and the sound of a tape being started), while the US edition uses the duophonic mono mix from Beatles ’65, which is drenched in additional reverb. Five tracks on the US edition are in mono: „Love Me Do”, „I Want To Hold Your Hand”, „A Hard Day’s Night”, „I Feel Fine” and „Ticket To Ride”.

The UK first pressing is mostly stereo, but with two exceptions. Two tracks appear in fake stereo (no true multitrack existed for them): the Andy White version of „Love Me Do” (with Ringo on tambourine) and „She Loves You”. On the 2014 180g reissue, both were replaced with the true mono mixes, which is a meaningful difference.

The George Martin giveaway

On the inside gatefold of the UK first pressing, George Martin is not credited as producer. The omission was corrected on subsequent pressings, which added the line „All titles produced by George Martin” on the inside right gatefold, at the height of the „Yellow Submarine” title. If the line is missing, you are looking at a first pressing.

The Beatles 1962-1966 has a front and back laminated cover with two photos of the Beatles taken in the same pose and place eight years apart. Both were taken by Angus McBean, but the 1963 photo comes from the session for the debut Please Please Me and was taken at the stair railing inside EMI House in Manchester Square (the building was demolished in 1995). The photo from 1969 is a reconstruction of the same item, originally made for the unreleased Get Back album. The cover design for both albums was done by Tom Wilkes, and the cover was produced by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd., a company responsible for, among others, for the covers of many Apple albums and the original pressing of Sgt. Pepper’s.

The definitive first-pressing identifier is the matrix numbers stamped in the dead wax:

Side 1: YEX 905-1
Side 2: YEX 906-1
Side 3: YEX 907-1
Side 4: YEX 908-1

Alternative first-pressing matrix combinations include -1/-1/-3/-1, -3/-1/-1/-1, -1/-3/-3/-1, and -2/-2/-4/-2. Stampers were replaced during the pressing run as they wore down, though I have yet to find a definitive source on the exact sequencing.

The second pressing (December 1978 to 1980) can be identified by matrix sets lacking -1 (typically -3/-4/-3/-3, -4/-4/-5/-3, or -5/-5/-5/-5), together with the added George Martin credit on the inside gatefold. The third pressing (1980 to 1983) has an unlaminated Garrod & Lofthouse sleeve and higher matrix numbers (-5/-5/-5/-5 or -6/-5/-5/-6).

Pye contract pressing: the hidden variant

A detail rarely mentioned in European guides: within the UK 1973 first-pressing run, there is a contract pressing produced by Pye Records (EMI needed extra capacity to meet demand). These copies, which appear black under ordinary light, reveal a dark translucent red when held up to strong light. The labels are matte Apple, identical to standard EMI copies, but the matrix numbers carry -2 or -4 suffixes rather than -1. It is a genuine collector’s find, because most Discogs and eBay listings do not distinguish the Pye variant.

Inner sleeves and completeness

A complete first pressing includes two red printed inner sleeves with lyrics and two cut corners at the top (die-cut sleeves). The second pressing inner sleeves have four rounded corners. A clean NM first UK copy with complete inners currently trades at £60 to £120 (approx. 80 - 160 USD). A play-grade copy without complete inners can be had for £25 to £40 (approx. 33 - 53 USD).

Later editions: a guide for the careful collector

The American Capitol SKBO-3403 (1973) is interesting because it was mastered at Sterling Sound by Lee Hulko (sides A and B) and at Capitol Mastering (sides C and D), which audiophiles can hear in the Sterling sides. Plus the aforementioned James Bond intro. In 1978, Capitol issued a limited red vinyl edition (SEBX-11842, Winchester pressing). In 1993 came the first CD edition (20 September 1993, digital remasters) plus a red vinyl UK reissue (PCSPP 717, with poster). In 2010, the Allan Rouse Abbey Road team remastered the album for the 2009 Beatles programme, issued on CD in a digipak with a 32-page booklet. A 2014 180g reissue followed, cut from the original 1973 compilation master, with the fake stereo „Love Me Do” and „She Loves You” replaced by true mono.

Most recently, on 10 November 2023, Apple Corps released the 50th Anniversary 3LP edition, half-speed mastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell in Room 30 (etched MILES. ABBEY ROAD ½SPEED. ROOM 30 in the dead wax). This edition expanded to 38 tracks, with 12 new additions on the third LP, including „Twist and Shout”, „I Saw Her Standing There”, „Taxman”, „Tomorrow Never Knows” and „Here, There and Everywhere”. Thirty of the 38 tracks received new 2023 stereo mixes by Giles Martin, the remaining eight using mixes from Revolver: Special Edition (2022). For the first time on LP since the 1962 single, the „Love Me Do” on this reissue features Ringo Starr on drums (not Andy White).