The Beatles never meant to release one of their albums

The Beatles released a now-rare album just as their popularity had hit new heights in the 1960s, but if they’d had their way at the time, it would’ve been shelved.

Even though the Fab Four — Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr — had secured their place as one of the most successful rock ‘n’ roll groups by selling millions of records and tickets to countless arenas and even movie theaters across the globe, all while spearheading the British Invasion, they were still controlled by their label, EMI.

As The Beatles’ popularity grew throughout the early 1960s, they began to want greater control over what was being released that had their names attached to it. They didn’t always get their way.

On top of their records being rearranged for the American market, countless compilation albums were also released without their permission, both while they were still together and split up.

The Beatles’ record label released a compilation album that the group didn’t wantIn 1966, The Beatles decided to ditch touring because they’d grown tired of constantly performing around the world. They also wanted to experiment more in the recording studio. The result was the highly creative Rubber Soul and Revolver.

However, their label wanted to keep cashing on their earlier Beatlemania hits now that they’d forgone touring. The only solution was to release a compilation album. A Collection of Beatles Oldies pretty much sold itself as fans were also craving the band’s tunes in the wake of their final tour.

The compilation album, released in the United Kingdom in December 1966, features hit singles and other songs issued by the group between 1963 and 1966. It was the band’s first official greatest hits collection, although they had no involvement in it.

Songs included on it were: She Loves You, From Me To You. We Can Work It Out, Help!, Michelle, Yesterday, I Feel Fine, Yellow Submarine, Can’t Buy Me Love, Bad Boy, Day Tripper, A Hard Day’s Night, Ticket To Ride, Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby, and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

The album essentially served as a stopgap release to satisfy EMI’s demand for more Beatles products during Christmastime since the group had only begun recording 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the follow-up to their Revolver album. The album was also an effort to maintain public interest in the group.

There had been speculation in the press that the band was breaking up, bolstered by John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s solo projects (the filming of How I Won The War and the film soundtrack The Family Way, respectively).

However, before the record even had time to settle, The Beatles disowned it from their discography, with Tony Barrow noting (per Beatles Bible), “All four Beatles were considerably angered when these first two album tracks [Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane] were snatched from under their noses to be released as a single.

The Beatles’ record label wanted to boost their popularity and sales by releasing a compilation album“Lennon and McCartney considered these to be particularly powerful numbers, which they saw as sturdy cornerstones of their yet-to-be-named album. On EMI’s behalf George Martin had to push The Beatles for a new single.

“He argued that the record company was already most upset that a fresh album had not been delivered in time for Christmas, forcing the issue of a compilation entitled A Collection of Beatles Oldies, including She Loves You, From Me To You, A Hard Day’s Night and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

“The Beatles disliked the timing of this oldies-but-goldies bundle. They would have preferred to get Sgt Pepper out first to show off their latest stuff before re-warming these early tracks.”

Regardless of what the Fab Four thought, the compilation album did boost interest. A Collection of Beatles Oldies offered the debut album release in Britain for many of the band’s singles, although these songs had been available on compilation EPs since their first release.

It was also the debut release in stereo for these recordings since The Beatles liked mono mixes for their singles until 1969. The compilation peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart, where all the band’s previous albums had held the top spot. However, the album was deleted from The Beatles’ catalog following the reissue of their albums on compact disc in 1987.

The album’s artwork also offered the first clues in the “Paul is dead” hoax, relating to the alleged death of Paul McCartney and his replacement in the Beatles by a lookalike, which is said to have taken place in November 1966 and facilitated by the group’s retirement from touring.