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1973 compilation album by the Beatles From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1967–1970, also known as the Blue Album, is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. A double LP, it was released with 1962–1966 (the "Red Album") in April 1973. 1967–1970 topped the Billboard albums chart in the United States and peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It was re-released in September 1993 on CD, charting at number 4 in the United Kingdom.
| 1967–1970 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 2 April 1973[1] | |||
| Recorded | 28 November 1966 – 1 April 1970 | |||
| Studio | EMI, Olympic, Apple and Trident, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 99:40 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Producer | George Martin, Phil Spector | |||
| Compiler | Allen Klein | |||
| The Beatles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Blender |  [3] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [5] |
The album was instigated by Apple Records manager Allen Klein during his final months before being dismissed from that position.[6] As with 1962–1966, the compilation was created by Apple and EMI/Capitol Records in response to a bootleg collection titled Alpha Omega, which had been sold on television the previous year. Print advertising for the two records made a point of declaring them "the only authorized collection of the Beatles".[7] The success of the two official double LP compilations inspired Capitol's repackaging of the Beach Boys' 1960s hits, starting with the 1974 album Endless Summer.[8]
A deluxe expanded version of the album was released on 10 November 2023, featuring the previously unreleased song "Now and Then", the final original single by the group. The deluxe edition features the album anniversary remix versions of the songs.[9]
For the group's 1963 debut LP Please Please Me, photographer Angus McBean took the distinctive colour photograph of the group looking down over the stairwell inside EMI House (EMI's London headquarters in Manchester Square, demolished in 1995).[10]
In 1969, the Beatles asked McBean to recreate this shot. Although a photograph from the 1969 photo shoot was originally intended for the then-planned Get Back album, it was not used when that project saw eventual release in 1970 as Let It Be. Instead, another photograph from the 1969 shoot, along with an unused photograph from the 1963 photo shoot, was used for both this LP and 1962–1966.
The inner gatefold photo for both LPs has been attributed to both Stephen Goldblatt and Don McCullin,[11] and is from the "Mad Day Out" photo session in London on Sunday 28 July 1968.[12][13]
The album cover was designed by Tom Wilkes.[14]
Unlike the 1962–1966 collection, the Blue Album was largely the same in the U.S. and the UK, although there were some variations.
The U.S. edition had "Strawberry Fields Forever" in its original 1966 stereo mix, while "Penny Lane" and "Hello, Goodbye" were presented in mono, and "I Am the Walrus" with a four-beat electric piano introduction; the UK version had the more common six-beat beginning.
The albums had several other variants and anomalies. "Get Back" was described as the album version in the U.S. liner notes, although it was in fact the single version. In both countries, "Hey Jude" was around nine seconds shorter than it had been on the original single, although the full length was restored for the 1993 compact disc edition.
The original vinyl version faded in during the crowd noise at the beginning of "A Day in the Life". The fade in was different on both the UK and U.S. versions. The original compact disc edition, meanwhile, featured a clean version previously heard on the Imagine: John Lennon soundtrack album in 1988.[15]
On the Spanish edition, "One After 909" replaced "The Ballad of John and Yoko", a song that had been banned from the airwaves shortly after being released as a single in 1969, for its allusions to "Christ" and "Gibraltar" in the lyrics.
The compilation, along with its counterpart, was rereleased with an expanded track listing on 10 November 2023.
The nine additional tracks are: "Within You Without You", "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Blackbird", "Hey Bulldog", "Oh! Darling", "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", "I Me Mine", and "Now and Then".
Six tracks ("I Am the Walrus", "The Fool on the Hill", "Magical Mystery Tour", "Revolution", "Hey Bulldog", and "Old Brown Shoe") received new stereo mixes for this release. The stereo mixes for the remaining tracks were sourced from those created for the following previously released album reissues: 1 (2015), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition (2017), The Beatles: 50th Anniversary Edition (2018), Abbey Road: 50th Anniversary Edition (2019), and Let It Be: Special Edition (2021). The album is also available in Dolby Atmos surround sound. On the CD and digital editions, the additional tracks are inserted into the track list in chronological order of each track's original issue, while on the vinyl edition, the first two LPs retain the track list of the 1973 release, with the additional tracks placed on a third LP.[16] The vinyl edition come in both standard and coloured vinyl with each compilation's respective colours.
Of note, both "A Day in the Life" and "Dear Prudence" feature clean openings on the 2023 release, as opposed to their album counterparts, which are crossfaded with their respective preceding tracks.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Strawberry Fields Forever" (non-album single, 1967 (UK); later included on Magical Mystery Tour LP, 1967 (U.S.)) | 4:08 |
| 2. | "Penny Lane" (non-album single, 1967 (UK); later included on Magical Mystery Tour LP, 1967 (U.S.)) | 3:01 |
| 3. | "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) | 2:02 |
| 4. | "With a Little Help from My Friends" (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) | 2:44 |
| 5. | "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) | 3:29 |
| 6. | "A Day in the Life" (from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967) | 5:07 |
| 7. | "All You Need Is Love" (non-album single, 1967 (UK); later included on Magical Mystery Tour LP, 1967 (U.S.)) | 3:48 |
| Total length: | 24:19 | |
All tracks are written by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Am the Walrus" (B-side, 1967; included on Magical Mystery Tour EP and LP, 1967) | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Hello, Goodbye" (non-album single, 1967 (UK); later included on Magical Mystery Tour LP, 1967 (U.S.)) | 3:29 |
| 3. | "The Fool on the Hill" (from Magical Mystery Tour EP and LP, 1967) | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Magical Mystery Tour" (from Magical Mystery Tour EP and LP, 1967) | 2:49 |
| 5. | "Lady Madonna" (non-album single, 1968) | 2:18 |
| 6. | "Hey Jude" (non-album single, 1968) | 7:11 |
| 7. | "Revolution" (non-album B-side, 1968) | 3:25 |
| Total length: | 26:47 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Back in the U.S.S.R." (from The Beatles, 1968) | 2:46 |
| 2. | "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (George Harrison; from The Beatles, 1968) | 4:46 |
| 3. | "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (from The Beatles, 1968) | 3:11 |
| 4. | "Get Back" (non-album single, 1969) | 3:12 |
| 5. | "Don't Let Me Down" (non-album B-side, 1969) | 3:35 |
| 6. | "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (non-album single, 1969) | 3:01 |
| 7. | "Old Brown Shoe" (Harrison; non-album B-side, 1969) | 3:21 |
| Total length: | 23:52 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison; from Abbey Road, 1969) | 3:07 |
| 2. | "Come Together" (from Abbey Road, 1969) | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Something" (Harrison; from Abbey Road, 1969) | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Octopus's Garden" (Richard Starkey; from Abbey Road, 1969) | 2:52 |
| 5. | "Let It Be" (non-album single, 1970) | 3:52 |
| 6. | "Across the Universe" (from Let It Be, 1970) | 3:50 |
| 7. | "The Long and Winding Road" (from Let It Be, 1970) | 3:40 |
| Total length: | 24:42 | |
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All tracks are written by Lennon-McCartney, except where noted.
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Original release
1993 reissue
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2010 reissue
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| Chart | Year | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart[62] | 1973 | 3 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[63] | 10 | |
| German Albums Chart[64] | 28 | |
| Japanese Albums Chart[65] | 6 | |
| US Billboard Pop Albums[66] | 24 | |
| Austrian Albums Chart[67] | 1974 | 4 |
| German Albums Chart[68] | 2 | |
| UK Albums Chart[69] | 23 | |
| US Billboard Pop Albums[70] | 70 | |
| German Albums Chart[71] | 1975 | 2 |
| German Albums Chart[72] | 1976 | 4 |
| German Albums Chart[73] | 1977 | 21 |
| German Albums Chart[74] | 1978 | 23 |
| Canadian Albums Chart[75] | 1993 | 82 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[76] | 54 | |
| Italian Albums Chart[77] | 106 | |
| Japanese Albums Chart[78] | 94 | |
| Spanish Albums Chart[79] | 12 | |
| UK Albums Chart[80] | 76 | |
| UK Albums (OCC)[81] | 2023 | 89 |
In the US, the album sold 1,294,896 LPs by 31 December 1973 and 5,850,026 LPs by the end of the decade.[82]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF)[83] | Platinum | 60,000^ |
| Australia (ARIA)[84] | 5× Platinum | 350,000^ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[85] | 3× Platinum | 150,000* |
| Belgium (BEA)[86] | Platinum | 50,000* |
| Canada (Music Canada)[87] | Diamond | 1,000,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[88] | 3× Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| France (SNEP)[89] | Platinum | 400,000* |
| France (SNEP)[89] 1993 release |
2× Platinum | 600,000* |
| France (SNEP)[90] 2010 remaster |
Gold | 50,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[91] | 3× Platinum | 1,500,000^ |
| Greece | — | 25,000[92] |
| Italy (FIMI)[93] | Gold | 25,000* |
| Japan (RIAJ)[94][95] | 2× Platinum+Gold | 807,000[23] |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[96] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[97] | 4× Platinum | 60,000^ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[98] | Gold | 25,000* |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[99] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
| Sweden (GLF)[100] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[101] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[102] sales since 2010 |
3× Platinum | 900,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[103] | 17× Platinum | 8,500,000^ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
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