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A Collection of Beatles Oldies (subtitled But Goldies!) is a compilation album by the English rock band the Beatles. Issued in the United Kingdom in December 1966, it features hit singles and other songs released by the group between 1963 and 1966. The compilation served as a stopgap release to satisfy EMI's demand for product during the Christmas period, since the Beatles had only begun the recording for their new studio album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, late the previous month. The album was the band's first official greatest hits collection.

A Collection of Beatles Oldies peaked at number 7 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also released in some other European countries and in Australia. The album was deleted from the Beatles' catalogue following the reissue of their albums on compact disc in 1987.

Background

After completing their 1966 world tour in San Francisco on 29 August, the four members of the Beatles took a break from group activities for the next three months. John Lennon went to Almería in Spain to film a role in the comedy How I Won the War, while George Harrison travelled to India to further his sitar studies under the Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar. Ringo Starr spent time at home with his wife and child before briefly joining Lennon in Spain. Paul McCartney attended cultural events in London, worked on the film score to The Family Way with producer George Martin, and then holidayed in Europe and Kenya with Mal Evans, one of the Beatles' assistants. By early November, rumours in the press claimed that the group were breaking up, and alternatively, that they were to sever ties with their longtime manager, Brian Epstein, and instead be represented by Allen Klein. Fans of the band were disappointed by the announcement that the Beatles were not playing any UK shows over the Christmas period, and demonstrated in front of Epstein's home in central London.

The Beatles returned to work on 24 November, when they began the recording sessions for their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In late October, Epstein had informed EMI that, unlike in the previous three years, no new Beatles material would be ready in time for a Christmas release. As a result, the record company planned a compilation album, titled A Collection of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies!), for release in Britain and other territories overseen by EMI. Writing in 1977, author Nicholas Schaffner noted that it was surprising that EMI's US counterpart, Capitol Records, did not also issue the album, given the company's policy of maximising the amount of Beatles releases in North America.

Although an article in Melody Maker stated that the band would issue a new single in December, the only other scheduled release was the Beatles' annual fan-club Christmas record. A Collection of Beatles Oldies was the band's first official greatest-hits set and their eighth official album release in Britain.

Song selection and artwork

A cover version of Larry Williams' "Bad Boy" was the sole new track for the UK market. It had already been released in the United States, on the Capitol album Beatles VI in June 1965. Most of the other songs had been issued as singles, and several tracks, including "Paperback Writer", were remixed in stereo for the new release. The compilation provided the debut UK album release for the following songs: "From Me to You", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "I Feel Fine", "Day Tripper", "We Can Work It Out" and "Paperback Writer". The stereo mixing was carried out by Martin, with none of the Beatles present, between 31 October and 10 November 1966.

The album cover is a painting by artist David Christian, who captured the vibrant colours then popular in London's Carnaby Street fashion boutiques. The back of the LP sleeve featured a photograph of the Beatles taken by Robert Whitaker. The photo was taken in the Tokyo Hilton, where the band members were confined for much of their 1966 concert tour of Japan due to security concerns. The Beatles are shown inspecting objets d'art that the Japanese promoter had arranged to have brought to the group's hotel suite, on 1 and 2 July, to help fill the time before their shows at the Budokan Hall.

The album's cover is a clue to the Paul is dead conspiracy theory: Next to the person's head, there is a car in the background. If you look closely enough, you can see that the car is driving straight towards the head, a reference to Paul's supposed "demise" in the car accident, the car having hit Paul in the head, killing him.

Release and reception

EMI's Parlophone label released A Collection of Beatles Oldies on 10 December 1966. The compilation reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart, where all of the Beatles' previous albums had held the top position for a minimum of seven weeks. On the national chart published by Melody Maker, it peaked at number 4. Australia's retrospectively compiled Kent Music Report recorded a chart peak there of number 7.

The relatively poor commercial performance was perhaps because most fans already owned most of the tracks on other releases. Author Robert Rodriguez cites the blatant commercial motivation on EMI's part, since: "It must have been obvious to anyone paying attention that, given the low-rent design and their own oft-stated aversion to compilations, the Beatles had nothing to do with this project." Writing for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham describes it as a "fair, if safe, mid-career compendium". In his review for AllMusic, Richard Ginell contends that EMI were attempting to give fans value for their money, by offering sixteen songs instead of the usual quota of fourteen for a British LP release, one of which was the previously unissued track. Ginell rates the album three stars out of five and says that in retrospect, it stands as "a decent summing up of the Beatles' achievement just before the plunge into 'Strawberry Fields' and Sgt. Pepper".

For many years, A Collection of Beatles Oldies remained the only British album to contain the Beatles' version of "Bad Boy". Although briefly available on the Music for Pleasure budget label, it was superseded by subsequent compilations: the band's 1962–1966 greatest hits set, released in 1973, contained fifteen of the songs; the remaining track, "Bad Boy", was then included on the 1976 compilation Rock 'n' Roll Music. A Collection of Beatles Oldies was deleted from the Beatles' catalogue following the reissue of their albums on compact disc in 1987.

Track listing

All songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney except where noted.

Charts

Notes

1. Pressure from the band's record company led to two songs that were intended for Sgt. Pepper, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", being released instead as a double A-side single in February 1967.

References

1. ^ Lewisohn 2005, p. 87.
2. Julien 2008, pp. 1–3.
3. MacDonald 1998, pp. 386, 388.
4. ^ Julien 2008, p. 2.
5. Miles 2001, p. 245.
6. Turner 2016, p. 526.
7. Rodriguez 2012, pp. 189–90.
8. MacDonald 1998, p. 388.
9. Turner 2016, pp. 566–67, 569–70.
10. ^ Rodriguez 2012, p. 190.
11. Turner 2016, pp. 567–68.
12. Miles 2001, p. 247.
13. Julien 2008, p. 3.
14. ^ Lewisohn 2005, p. 86.
15. ^ Everett 1999, p. 74.
16. Rodriguez 2012, pp. 181, 190.
17. Schaffner 1978, p. 68.
18. Clayson 2003, p. 143.
19. Ingham 2006, pp. 42, 194.
20. ^ Womack 2014, p. 99.
21. Turner 2016, p. 573.
22. Schaffner 1978, p. 206.
23. Lewisohn 2005, p. 90.
24. MacDonald 1998, p. 137.
25. Womack 2014, p. 74.
26. Lewisohn 2005, pp. 90, 201.
27. Everett 1999, pp. 74, 326.
28. ^ Hunt, Chris. "Here, There & Everywhere". In: Mojo Special Limited Edition 2002, p. 70.
29. The Beatles 2000, p. 215.
30. Turner 2016, pp. 346, 356.
31. Irvin, Jim. "Different Strokes". In: Mojo Special Limited Edition 2002, p. 53.
32. Miles 2001, p. 235.
33. Castleman & Podrazik 1976, p. 57.
34. Miles 2001, p. 248.
35. ^ "The Beatles – Full Official Chart History". Official Charts. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
36. Castleman & Podrazik 1976, p. 338.
37. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
38. Rodriguez 2012, p. 181.
39. ^ Ingham 2006, p. 41.
40. Ginell, Richard S. "The Beatles A Collection of Beatles Oldies". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
41. Ingham 2006, pp. 41, 69.
42. Womack 2014, p. 34.
43. "The Beatles – A Collection Of Beatles Oldies". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 8 January 2017.

Sources

• The Beatles (2000). The Beatles Anthology. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-2684-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Castleman, Harry; Podrazik, Walter J. (1976). All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975. New York, NY: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-25680-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Clayson, Alan (2003). John Lennon. London: Sanctuary. ISBN 1-86074-487-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512941-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Ingham, Chris (2006). The Rough Guide to the Beatles (2nd edn). London: Rough Guides/Penguin. ISBN 978-1-84836-525-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Julien, Oliver (ed.) (2008). Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles: It Was Forty Years Ago Today. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-6708-7. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lewisohn, Mark (2005) . The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962–1970. London: Bounty Books. ISBN 978-0-7537-2545-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• MacDonald, Ian (1998). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-6697-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Miles, Barry (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-8308-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mojo Special Limited Edition: 1000 Days That Shook the World (The Psychedelic Beatles – April 1, 1965 to December 26, 1967). London: Emap. 2002.
• Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-1-61713-009-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Schaffner, Nicholas (1978). The Beatles Forever. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-055087-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Turner, Steve (2016). Beatles '66: The Revolutionary Year. New York, NY: HarperLuxe. ISBN 978-0-06-249713-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Winn, John C. (2009). That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966–1970. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-307-45239-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Womack, Kenneth (2014). The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-39171-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Recording data and notes on mono/stereo mixes and remixes

• Pages with empty short description
• 1966 greatest hits albums
• The Beatles compilation albums
• Albums produced by George Martin
• Albums recorded at Abbey Road Studios
• Parlophone compilation albums
• English-language compilation albums