The Beatles 1962-66 and 1967-70... and inserts

Many of you have probably seen the Beatles' "red" (1962-1966) and "blue" (1967-1970) greatest hits compilations, which feature cleverly taken photos -- seven years apart -- of the band looking down in a stairwell.  But since those photos were on the front and back of the album, there was no way to know at the time what the actual songs inside were.  So a two-sided, black and white insert was sandwiched on the back, inside the shrink wrap.  Some people saved it; most did not.  One side had the tracks, the other was "For Your Information," with all of the band's material (together and solo) listed.  It was impossible to find a nice copy of this online, so here it is (below), with some interesting things I've noticed...

-Let It Be is not listed as being available on 8-track (this is due to a whole weird contract clause with United Artists, who released the film itself)

-George's Wonderwall LP is available on vinyl and 8-track, but not cassette?

-The Beatles Story (2LP audio documentary) is only available on vinyl... it hit #7 when released in 1964, and is the only original Capitol Records Beatle release of the '60s NOT to make #1 or #2 on the charts.

-John's Two Virgins LP is not listed anywhere, because it was actually released in the US via Bill Cosby's Tetragrammaton Records, due to the front cover (a nude John and Yoko)... by the time of this insert (March 1973), it was likely out of print anyway

-George's second single is incorrectly listed as "What Is Live" (instead of "What Is Life")

-John's first two singles (Give Peace a Chance; Cold Turkey) seem to be out of print at this time

-Paul's Hi Hi Hi single IS included, the newest release at the time

-The first single in the Beatles list is "Yellow Submarine/Thingumybob" (cat. # 1800)... which is actually the John Foster & Sons cover of this tune on Apple (with The Black Dyke Mills Band on the b-side)

-John's Live Peace In Toronto LP is credited to the Plastic "One" Band on 8T (as opposed to Plastic Ono Band)

-The Bangladesh cassette and 8T have Columbia records catalog numbers, since that company got the rights to non-vinyl issues in exchange for allowing Bob Dylan to appear on the set

-no 4-tracks or reels listed, since they seem to have gone out of print in autumn, 1970 and Dec. '71, respectively

Coincidentally, these albums came out as a response to "Alpha Omega," a cheaply made box of Beatle hits released in 1972 (allegedly) with the backing of organized crime figures in Northeast Ohio.  That quasi-legit album was supposedly an attempt to test then-new copyright laws.  It did not work.  "Alpha Omega" (and its TWO sequels) contained both group and solo material -- an idea that was dropped for the official red and blue LPs.

HOWEVER, when these albums were reissued on CD in 1993, they could have easily fit on 2 CDs instead of 4.  But since they were required to maintain the 4CDs, they had a lot of extra space.  I would have liked to have seen the following tunes added...

-Twist & Shout; Long Tall Sally (left off because they wanted only original compositions on the set)
-I Saw Her Standing There (left off since it wasn't actually the A-side of a single, perhaps?)
-Taxman, Tomorrow Never Knows, Got to Get You Into My Life (all left off for time on the original album; the Revolver LP is woefully under-represented)
-Birthday; Happiness Is a Warm Gun (again, THREE songs from the White Album?!)
-Oh! Darling
-Two of Us; I Me Mine