Album · Compilation · 60 years old this year
A Collection of Beatles Oldies
A Collection of Beatles Oldies, subtitled But Goldies!, is a compilation released by Parlophone on 9 December 1966. It gathers hit singles and other songs the band put out between 1963 and 1966, and it was the Beatles' first official greatest hits collection. EMI wanted something for the Christmas market, and the group had only just begun work on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, so this filled the gap. The band had no hand in putting it together.
For British listeners, it brought many of the singles onto an album for the first time, having previously been available on EPs, and gave those recordings their first stereo release. It reached number 7 in the UK, the only Beatles album of that era not to top the chart. The psychedelic, op art cover was commissioned by Brian Epstein, and it later caught the eye of "Paul is dead" followers hunting for clues.
A Collection of Beatles Oldies: tracklist and credits
16 tracks · 39:13Tracklist
- 1She Loves YouJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:26
- 2From Me to YouJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:00
- 3We Can Work It OutJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:15
- 4Help!John Lennon and Paul McCartney2:21
- 5MichelleJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:39
- 6YesterdayJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:08
- 7I Feel FineJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:24
- 8Yellow SubmarineJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:43
- 9Can’t Buy Me LoveJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:16
- 10Bad BoyLarry Williams2:22
- 11Day TripperJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:54
- 12A Hard Day’s NightJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:32
- 13Ticket to RideJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney3:07
- 14Paperback WriterJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:29
- 15Eleanor RigbyJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:10
- 16I Want to Hold Your HandJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney2:27
- Produced by
- George Martin
- Recorded at
- Abbey Road Studios: Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios: Studio 3, Studios Pathé-Marconi EMI, EMI, London, Pathé Marconi, Paris, Abbey Road Studios
- Recorded
- 1963–1966
- Mixed by
- Peter Bown
- Mixed at
- Abbey Road Studios: Studio 2, Abbey Road Studios: Room 65, Abbey Road Studios: Studio 3, Abbey Road Studios: Studio 1, Abbey Road Studios
- Engineered by
- Norman Smith, Ken Scott, Phil McDonald, Jerry Boys, Geoff Emerick, Graham Kirkby, Ron Pender, Malcolm Davies
- Label
- Parlophone
- Length
- 39:13
Line-up
- George Harrison · electric guitar, background vocals, tambourine, acoustic guitar, vocals, 12 string guitar, handclaps
- John Lennon · acoustic guitar, lead vocals, electric guitar, harmonica, harmonium, background vocals, 12 string guitar, spoken vocals, Hammond organ, tambourine, handclaps
- Paul McCartney · electric bass guitar, lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar, vocals, bass guitar, spoken vocals, electric piano, electric guitar, handclaps
- Ringo Starr · drums (drum set), tambourine, lead vocals, spoken vocals, cymbal, cowbell, handclaps
- Kenneth Essex · viola · guest
- Francisco Gabarro · cello · guest
- Tony Gilbert · violin · guest
- Sidney Sax · violin · guest
- Mal Evans · bass drum, background vocals · guest
- Brian Jones · ocarina, background vocals · guest
- Neil Aspinall · background vocals · guest
- Alf Bicknell · background vocals · guest
- Pattie Boyd · background vocals · guest
- Terry Condon · background vocals · guest
- Geoff Emerick · background vocals · guest
- Marianne Faithfull · background vocals · guest
- George Martin · background vocals, piano · guest
- John Skinner · background vocals · guest
- Norman Smith · hi-hat, bongos · guest
- Jurgen Hess · violin · guest
- Norman Jones · cello · guest
- John Sharpe · violin · guest
- Stephen Shingles · viola · guest
- Derek Simpson · cello · guest
- John Underwood · viola · guest
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
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Released the same week
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1964
Extracts From the Film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’
1964
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Nowhere Man
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Revolver
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Strawberry Fields Forever
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Norwegian Wood
1967
Magical Mystery Tour
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Yellow Submarine
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Hey Jude
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In the Beginning
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Let It Be
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1962–1966
1973
1967–1970
1973
Rock ’n’ Roll Music
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The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
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1962 Live at Star Club in Hamburg
1977
Love Songs
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The Beatles Collection
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The Beatles Ballads
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The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1
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The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2
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Anthology 4
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Norwegian Wood
The Beatles · 1967
The Bends
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1966-12-09; musicbrainz + wikidata 1966-12-10 (1 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 10 December 1966 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 9 December 1966 | |
| Wikidata | 10 December 1966 | United Kingdom |
| UK / Europe release | 10 December 1966 | earliest UK or European date |
8 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | GB | Parlophone | other | |
| 10 December 1966 | GB | Parlophone | original | |
| 10 December 1966 | GB | Parlophone | original | |
| 1973 | JP | Apple Records | other | |
| 1974 | XG | AMIGA | other | |
| 1974 | XG | AMIGA | other | |
| 1976 | JP | Apple Records | other | |
| 1979 | GB | Parlophone | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3600x3600, downscaled to 3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3600×3600 | native: native 3600x3600, downscaled to 3000 |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |