The Beatles on Compact Disc (Part 1)

In the 1980s, the popularity of the Compact disc format was growing rapidly across the world. It was decided to release the Beatles catalogue on this format in the mid 1980s and the CDs would be released in batches starting with the first four UK LP configuration. The Capitol LPs were abandoned (for the time being) and the EMI versions from the United Kingdom were used instead. The first four CDs released contained the material from the following LPs: "Please Please Me", "With The Beatles", "A Hard Day's Night" and "Beatles For Sale". All four were release simultaneously on or around February 26 1987.

The "Please Please Me" CD was originally packaged in a long box. The front of the box has "The Beatles" with the lower half in yellow and "compact disc" writtin in white underneath. A photo of the front LP cover is shown in the middle of the box. The spine on each side has the CD catalogue number, the artist and title in yellow and "Capitol compact disc" at the bottom. The back of the box has a UPC code, the tracklisting separated by a photo of the last page of the booklet contained within the jewel case of the CD; the Capitol logo is at the bottom left, the Parlophone logo is at the bottom right. The compact disc logo is in the middle and the US address is printed along the bottom. Some copies have a sticker at the top stating that the disc was made in West Germany as some CD factories (at the time) were still being prepped for manufacture and distribution.
The "Please Please Me" jewel case features an eight page booklet with the front cover, tracklisting, liner notes from the back of the original UK LP, compact disc information and four photos of the Beatles cropped from the front cover. There are no outtake photos nor are there any bonus tracks. All tracklisting follows the UK LP. The silver disc has the title and artist at the top, the ADD designation, Parlophone logo and patent on the left, the compact disc logo, catalogue number and manufacturer on the tight. The tracklisting and all rights perimeter print at the bottom. The CD catalogue number for the "Please Please Me" CD is CDP 7 46435 2.

The "With The Beatles" CD was also issued in a long box. The box has the sam design as the "Please Please Me" CD with the following exceptions. The front of the box has "The Beatles" in red, the spines have the artist and title in red.

The booklet inside in the jewel case features a twelve page booklet with the front cover, tracklisting, liner notes from the back of the original UK LP,CD information and individual half shadow photos of the Beatles cropped from the front cover. The catalogue number for "With The Beatles" is CDP 7 46436 2.

The third disc is "A Hard Day's Night". The long box has the same design but the Beatles and spine title/artist print are in blue. The back of the box contains the individual photos taken from the back cover of the UK LP "A Hard Day's Night".

Inside the jewel case, the eight page booklet features the front cover, the title/artist, the tracklising, liner notes from the original LP and CD information. The catalogue number for "A Hard Day's Night" is CDP 7 46437 2.

The fourth and final CD released in February 1987 was a copy of "Beatles For Sale". The long box appeared in the same style as the previous three with the exception of the artist/title in green this time on the front and at the spine. The back of the box contains the tracklisting and the back cover of the original UK LP.

Inside the jewel case, the eight page boolet features the front cover, the original Derek Taylor liner notes from the LP, the inside, the two group photos from the inside of the original gatefold cover (the Washington concert photo and the photo of the group at Twickenham), plus compact disc information and the back cover of the original UK LP. The catalogue number for "Beatles For Sale" is CDP 7 46438 2.

When all four discs were originally released in 1987, many Beatles fans were upset because these discs were available only in mono. I could understand the first two being mono due to the fact that these were basically recorded on twin track, but the latter two were four-track and have decent stereo separation on the UK records. Stereo mixes for the first four releases (selected) would not be available commercially until the release of a compilation in 1993 (more on this later).