The Beatles CD singles Collection

On or about November 06 1989, EMI released a box set to the world containing CD versions of the 22 original Brtish singles. The catalogue number for this set is EMI CDBSC 1.

The actual box is black in colour with "The Beatles" in gold and "CD Singles Collection" also in gold although in smaller print. There are gold coloured lines: one above the artist's name and one below the title. The sides of the box contain the same logo as the front (smaller of course) with the Capitol records logo, the Apple logo and Parlophone logo. Below the logos is the box number: C2 077 7 15901 2 2.

All of the singles have the newer photo picture sleeves made of cardboard ad the discs themselves also have the silk screen photo corresponding to the picture covers. The following singles are included:

"Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You", "Please Please Me/Ask Me Why", "From Me To You/Thank You Girl", "She Loves You/ I'll Get You", "I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy", "Can't Buy Me Love/ You Can't Do That", "A Hard Day's Night/ Things We Said Today", "I Feel Fine/She's A Woman", "Ticket To Ride/Yes It Is", "Help!/I'm Down", "We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper", "Paperback Writer/Rain", "Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby", "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane", "All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're a Rich Man", "Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus", "Lady Madonna/The Inner Light", "Hey Jude/Revolution", "Get Back/Don't Let Me Down", "The Ballad of John and Yoko/Old Brown Shoe", "Something/Come Together" and "Let It Be/ You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)".

The back of the box has a black sticker on it promoting the set and lists it's content. The songs are out of order and the sequence is back and forth. The singles are mono up until "The Ballad of John and Yoko".

Another Cool Beatles Box Set.

In late 1988 (and in time for the Christmas market), EMI and Capitol released a Beatles Box set containing all 13 remastered albums plus the "Past Masters" release(s) in various forms: this could be purchased in the LP format, the CD format or the cassette format. The EMI version was released on October 31 1988 and the Capitol version on November 16 1988. The catalogue number for the set is: EMI LP: BBX 1; TC BBX 1 (for cassettes); CD BBX 1 (for compact discs).

All sets came in an oak style black box with a roll-up opening. All the sets also contained a 60-page booklet with recording information written by our buddy Mark Lewisohn.

Included in the set are: "Please Please Me" "With The Beatles" "A Hard Day's Night" "Beatles For Sale" which were all originally re-issued on the remastered vinyl on July 21 1987 on the CLJ series for LP. "Help!" "Rubber Soul" "Revolver" were also originally released on the remastered vinyl on July 21 1987 and also on the CLJ series for LP. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was remastered sometime in 1988 and also included in the box set using the C1 series for LP. "The Beatles (White Album)" and "Yellow Submarine" were originally released as remastered vinyl in 1988. Both LPs have the C1 catalogue prefix for LP. The last three LPs "Magical Mystery Tour" "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be" were originally released as remastered vinyl on July 01 1988 all on the C1 series for LP. "Past Masters Volume 1 and 2" are discussed in the previous post.

Early pressing of the box set are sequentially numbered.

Past Masters Volume One and Past Masters Volume Two

During the year of 1987, the Beatles UK LP catalogue as well as "Magical Mystery Tour" (Capitol LP configuration) had been released on compact disc and it was now available to the public. EMI had left-over tracks from the catalogue not yet released on CD due to the fact that singles, B-sides, an LP and various versions of tunes had not been released in the original LP formats.

This prompted a compilation of the left over tracks to be released. This situation was rectified when two compact discs were released with long boxes on or around March 08 1988.

The first compact disc is entitled :"Past Masters Volume One" (very original !!). The catalogue number for this release is C2 90043 2. The front cover of the long box has the artist name in gray and black. There is no mono/stereo designation at the bottom of the box. The artist and title appear white print with a black background on the side of the box. the back of the box has the tracklisting, UPC code and three black and white photos of the group from 1963 to 1965. "Produced by George Martin" is at the bottom as well as having the three "Capitol", "compact disc" and "Parlophone" logos.

The 12 - page booklet within the jewel case has the front cover with white print on a black background, the individual tracks and liner notes explaining their origin, four photos of the Fabs (same three as the long box with one added from 1962). The last page has the tracklisting, the production credit and the compilation by Mark Lewisohn credit.

The tracks for this volume are: "Love Me Do" (Ringo version), "From Me To You" (single), "Thank You Girl" (B-side), "She Loves You" (single), "I'll Get You" (B-side), "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (single), "This Boy" (B-side), "Komm, Gib Mi Deine Hand" (German single), "Sie Liebt Dich" (German single), "Long Tall Sally" (EP track), "I Call Your Name" (EP track), "Slow Down" (EP track), "Matchbox" (EP track), "I Feel Fine" (single), "She's A Woman" (B-side), "Bad Boy" (LP compilation track), "Yes It Is" (B-side) and "I'm Down" (B-side). The first four tracks and the two German tracks are mono and the rest are stereo.

Also released on the same day was "Past Masters Volume Two", the second part in this series of tracks not released on the original UK LP formats. The catalogue number for Volume Two is C2 90044 2. The longbox has the same design as volume one with black print on white rather than the other way around. The back of the box has the tracklisting at the bottom rather than the top and the box includes four black and white photos of the Fabs from 1966, 68 and 69.

The 12 - page booklet for Volume Two contains the same format as Volume one with the exception of black print on a white background. The middle of the book contains four photos of the Beatles (the same black and white photos as the back of the long box) and photo credits for only two of the four photos. The second to last page promotes Volume One (the booklet in Volume One promotes Volume Two).

The tracks for this volume are: "Day Tripper" (single), "We Can Work It Out" (single), "Paperback Writer" (single), "Rain" (B side), "Lady Madonna" (single), "The Inner Light" (B side), "Hey Jude" (the greatest single of all time), "Revolution" (the greatest B side of all time), "Get Back" (single version), "Don't Let Me Down" (B side), "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (single), "Old Brown Shoe" (B side), "Across The Universe" (Our World version), "Let it Be" (single version), "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" (B side). All tracks are stereo with the exception of the last track.

A double LP was released almost seven months later on or about October 26 1988. This LP was manufactured by Capitol Records and entitled "Past Masters Volume One and Two". The catalogue number for this double LP is C1-91135. The gatefold cover has the Beatles logo and title with white print on a black backgroud on the front and the same logo and title with black print on a white background along with the tracklisting. The left inside cover has the Beatles logo and title at the top, the tracklisting on the left and right, the introduction (same as the CD) on the bottom of the logo, the same four black and white photos and the liner notes underneath the photos. The right inside cover has the same thing except it is black print on a white background. Both the Capitol and the Parlophone labels are at the bottom of the back cover. The labels for these LPs are the Capitol purple labels. All 33 tracks are remastered as per the mid 1980s.

This made the entire standard/commercial Beatles catalogue available on compact disc for the first time (with the exception of various mixes and oddities that would be released in the future).

The Beatles On Compact Disc (Part Six)

The final two CDs released from the original UK LP catalogue were "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be". These were released on or about October 19 1987. The complete LP catalogue of the Beatles' music was now available and all had been released within the year. It was also a marketing campaign to get all the CDs released in time for the Christmas season. The compilation of non-LP tracks would follow shortly (see next post).

"Abbey Road" is one of the best sounding Beatles albums but the original 1987 CD had a lot of hiss in spots on tracks such as "Something" and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and in the quieter passages. "Let It Be" sounds fab.

"Abbey Road" came with a long box and it features the artist name above the front cover reproduction in a light brown. The sides of the box also have the artist and title in light brown. The back of the box has the UPC code the tracklisting split in two with the brick wall background from the original LP back cover and the artist and title. The woman in the blue dress walking by is not present. The bottom of the back of the box has the three logos: Capitol, Compact Disc and Parlophone.

The four page booklet features the reproduction of the front cover, the inner left has the tracklisting, the inner right has the compact disc blurb and the back of the book is split in two with the tracklisting (again) on a black background for the top half and the lower half has a partial reproduction of the back cover (artist/title/blue dress). No liner notes. No Apple logos anywhere on the original release.

"Let It Be" was issued with similar traits to it's predessessor, with the long box featuring the artist's name in a purple colour which also appears on the side of the box, the back featuring the tracklisting split with a reproduction of the front cover photographs on a white background. The three logos are at the bottom of the box.

The measly four page booklet contains a reproduction of the front cover on the front page, artist/title and tracklisting on page two; the same front cover photos on a white background with Compact Disc blurb on page three and the tracklisting (again) on a black background with the back cover "Let it Be" short blurb and the four photos taken from the back cover of the LP. Very boring indeed. Absolutely no liner notes. No Apple logos to be found on the original pressings.

The catalogue number for the "Abbey Road" CD is CCT 7 46446 2 and the catalogue numberfor the "Let It Be" CD is CCT 7 46447 2.

Roll Up !! Roll Up !! The Beatles On Compact Disc (Part Five)

The release of the Beatles on Compact disc in the late 1980s were basically released in a chronological order with the exception of one disc: "Magical Mystery Tour". This CD was originally released on or about September 21 1987 in the latest of the series. The version of this CD was based on the Capitol version of the LP with the "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields", "All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "Hello Goodbye/ I Am The Walrus" singles thrown into the mix along with the "MMT" television special soundtrack. The catalogue number for "Magical Mystery Tour" is CCT 7 48062 2.

The CD was released in a long box that features the artist's name in multi-colours "red, yellow, green, blue" respectively. The bottom of the front box graphics feature the word "stereo" in red. The artist and title on the side of the long box are also written in red. On the back of the box are the UPC code, the tracklisting split in two with the back cover of the Capitol LP in the middle. The Capitol, Compact Disc and Parlophone labels are on the bottom of the back of the long box.

The reproduction of the front cover LP artwork (Capitol version) does not include the words: "Includes 24-page full color picture book" as on the original LP front cover sleeve. With good reason. The CD booklet within the jewel case has only 8 pages and contains the front cover reproduction, a reproduction of the left inner LP sleeve (without the Capitol/EMI logo), lyrics, the middle section photograph of the Beatles miming to "I Am the Walrus", more lyrics and finally the back cover photo of the back LP cover (halfed) shared with the tracklisting. There is a Parlophone logo at the bottom right hand side.

When this CD was first released, it was a joy to hear the tracks in true stereo and nicely cleaned up. The original Capitol LP had done an amazing bad job on the whole sound of the second side including having some of tracks in duo-phonic and the EQ job was terrible. This made the release of the music on Compact Disc a nice reprieve from the earlier, dismal listening experience (unless, of course...you had the German Apple version which is a whole other subject coming soon...).

The Beatles on Compact Disc (Part Four)

On or around August 24, 1987; EMI released two more compact disc versions of UK titles: "The Beatles (White Album)" and "Yellow Submarine". It should also be noted that the "Yellow Submarine" movie was released on VHS four days after the CD release. This version did not contain the "Hey Bulldog" segment. The 1987 VHS version was eventually discontinued and replaced with the 1999 version that included the "Hey Bulldog" segment and additional extras.

Anyway, back to the 1987 CDs. The white album was originally released in a long box that was totally white and the had a grey coloured "The Beatles" logo (similar to the LP) on a bit of an angle at the front of the box. There is nothing else written on the front of the box except for the word "stereo" in light grey. The sides of the box have the title and the catalogue number and "Capitol Compact disc". The back has the tracklisting for the 2 discs, the UPC code and the usual Capitol/Compact Disc/Parlophone logos on the bottom.

The long box for the white album contain two CDs in separate CD jewel cases. First issues have the booklets numbered. The first CD contains a 24 page booklet that features the four portraits shown on the inside cover of the LP version (in colour) and parts of the poster included in the LP verson (although only parts of it on various pages) and contains the lyrics to the songs. There are no individual mini portraits nor poster (these goodies would only be reproduced in 1998 on the 30th anniversary version). The second CD contains a 4 page booklet showing the name of the band the four individual portrait photos in black and white. Both booklets have the tracklisting on the last page. The CDs themselves have a white background with black print. The catalogue number for this release is CCB 46443.

The "Yellow Submarine" CD release was also originally housed in a long box. The design for this particular long box was a little more conventional with the earlier releases in the sense that it has the artist title half white/yellow/gold and a reproduction of the front LP cover with the word "stereo" in orange at the bottom. The sides of the box have the artist/title in orange along with the catalogue number (in white) and the "Capitol Compact Disc" designation (also in white). The back of the box has the track listing in white split in two with a drawing of the yellow submarine surrounded by the cartoon Beatles. The UPC code and usualy logos are also present. The eight page booklet contain within the jewel case has the front cover, the tracklisting, the Derek Taylor liner notes from the original LP as well as the entire "White Album" review by Tony Palmer of the London Observer which was part of the original LP as well. The disc itself is silver with black print. The catalogue number for this release is CCT 7 46445 2.