The Beatles "Hey Jude" album - what's the story? (1 Viewer)

[Jon_Are]

What were the circumstances surrounding this album's 1970 release?

It seems sorta mysterious; the album is not even mentioned in many references and is not available on CD. Most of the songs had already appeared on other Beatles albums. Was this a contractual obligation deal?

Jon

 

[pitchman]

So far, none of the U.S. Capitol versions of the original Beatles albums have been released on CD. That's why there is no Meet The Beatles, Beatles Second Album, Something New, etc.

 

[Grant B]

Capital released the Beatles in the US. At 1st they did not want to and they were released on smaller labels like Vee Jay and Atco. When they did release them, they generally cut 2 songs off the English release and gathered up B sides and got another LP - Yesterday & Today being an early one.
Many later singles were never on albums and so Capital got another LP.

 

[Marvin]

Actually I believe none of those songs had, at the time, been released on any albums, British or American. I don't have the song list handy but I think they were all singles. It was just a way to wring another album out of the Beatles; maybe Allen Klein had something to do with that.

As for releasing it on CD, there's no need now to since the non-album tracks were released on the Past Masters CDs, not to mention various greatest hits compilations (on CD and LP).

 

[Jason Guardiano]

http://www.stevesbeatles.com/vinyl/a...n/hey_jude.asp

there's the tracklist

they were all previously released (looks like as singles)

just another compilation album

 

[Rick_Brown]

Just for the record, they usually cut off 3 songs from every 14-song English release, not 2.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I fondly remember listening to this record on the green Apple label as a child. This was a compliation of US singles that had not appeared on US albums. As such, at the time, it was most welcome to Beatles fans who did not feel like rummaging through old singles bins.

 

[LarryDavenport]

AMG REVIEW: Kind of a catch-all record, Hey Jude was released very late in the Beatles career, and it collects several singles and B-sides that never made it onto "official" albums. As a record though, it works quite well, and given the Beatles genius, especially in the area of creating exquisite and ultra-progressive singles, it comes as no suprise. "Paperback Writer" works particularly well, not having aged at all in the three years after its release. The bass guitar sound on this record is especially revolutionary. A couple of recent tracks, "Old Brown Shoe" and "The Ballad of John And Yoko," make their vinyl debut here, and as usual give the consumer excellent value for the money. "Old Brown Shoe" (originally slated for Joe Cocker to record) is one of George Harrison's great lost classics, and the Beatles ensemble playing on this track belies the tension that was prevalent during the group's final days.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Bear in mind, as is being indicated here, that this album was yet another Capitol Records concoction -- made in order to get more Beatles "product" out there than could be done if relying solely on the genuine Parlophone releases. And Capitol knew that The Beatles were close to disbanding officially.

Incidentally, when the record was originally released, it was called The Beatles Again. It was not a part of the official Beatles album canon (except for Sgt. Pepper and The Beatles, none of the U.S. "albums" were), and so Capitol retitled it after so many radio announcers and the public kept referring to it as the "Hey Jude album."

 

[Colin Jacobson]

And Abbey Road and Let It Be - they didn't differ between the US and UK...

 

[Larry Geller]

This is NOT true. Back in late 1969, when Apple was readying The Beatles Again for release, and taking orders for it, it came out that they planned to release it at a $6.98 list price (all LPs were $5.98 list at the time). When word of this got out, many retailers began a boycott of the title, due to it's rip-off factor (and since it was just a compilation, with no new production costs except for stereo remixing, it should have cost less, not more). Capitol backed down, lowered the price, and , due to the attending bad publicity (and the fact that the new title hyped The Beatles' greatest hit up to that time) they changed the title to Hey Jude. This was all documented in Rolling Stone at the time. NO copies ever were released with The Beatles Again on the cover, but MANY pre-printed The Beatles Again labels were allowed to escape when the LP was released (I think that the Beatles Again labels were more common than the Hey Jude ones).
Radio announcers had nothing to do with the change--the LP was titled Hey Jude from day of release (when I bought my copy). None of the tracks had ever appeared on a US Capitol LP up to that point. Can't Buy Me Love & I Should Have Known Better had only been released as a 45 here, as both tracks were left off of Something New (where they would have been expected to have been located). It also was the first place world-wide to find Lady Madonna, Rain, Hey Jude, & Revolution in stereo. For that reason alone, it was a worthwhile release. Only the omission of The Inner Light and the 45 version of Get Back (which, to be fair, was still slated to be the last track on side 1 of the forthcoming Get Back LP), stopped this from being a perfect release.

 

[Grant B]

I believe all the official releases starting with SPLHCB are identical. Mind out MMT was a double EP with booklet; Capital didn't believe in EPs and turned it into an album. The only thing I hate about the EP is that it is a tiny bit larger than 45s (with the booklet) and does not fit into my 45 holder..... Damn Them!
I also believe the 45s are 33 1/3 and my B&O turntable always plays them at 45
I remember the Hey Jude album being in the cut out bins for years ....the only other Beatles record besides Introducing the Beatles on Vee Jay

 

[Larry Geller]

It wasn't Hey Jude, it was Let It Be, and they were all counterfiets (as were all of the Introducing The Beatles'). I have copies of both & neither one is real.

 

[LarryDavenport]

Be that as it may, it has a great cover!

 

[Brian L]

I need to dig out the vinyl, but I would have sworn that the spine of the LP said the Beatles Again, while the record label on the LP says Hey Jude (or vis-a-versa).

I was about 10 at the time, so I surely have no clue in terms of what it was supposed to be called, but I seem to recall that it was labeled both ways on my copy.

Then again, I offer no guaranty on the accuracy of 33 years old memories!

BGL

 

[Larry Geller]

No spine ever said The Beatles Again. They all say Hey Jude.

 

[Brian L]

Fair enough, Larry...33 year old memories, right?

Did it say The Beatles Again anywhere on the LP? I am asking so as to avoid having to did my LPs out of the closet to look!

BGL

 

[Larry Geller]

To quote myself:

 

[Brian L]

Thanks LArry...I didn't grasp that you meant the actual labels on the LP itself.

BTW, I did dig through the closet, and while I did have an original Hey Jude, its AWOL at the moment. I could only find a newer copy I bought in the late 70's/early 80's through a friend that worked at a Radio Station. It is a cut out (a round hole punched through the jacket) and is on Capital.

It does say Hey Jude.

Happy New Year and thanks for the info!

BGL

 

[Larry Geller]

That's not a cut-out. It's a radio ststion promo copy. Hey Jude was never a cut-out.