On April 2, 1973, music lovers discovered two Beatles albums on record store shelves: the famous compilations “Red” and “Blue”, on which we can find all their great songs.
On that day 50 years ago, when entering the record stores, music lovers discovered the famous compilations “Red” and “Blue”, which refer to the period from 1962 to 1966, in the window displays. and that, more exploratory and psychedelic, from 1967 to 1970.
On these two double works we find a total of 54 songs in chronological order. From Love Me Do released in 1963 to The Long and Winding Road on the Let It Be album. There are 26 on the Red Album and 28 on the Blue Album; they comprise a total of 160 minutes of music.
The Red sold 1,360,000 copies and Blue was more successful worldwide with 1,490,000 copies.
Each of these albums cost $9.98. The price for a single album was $5.98 at the time.
The Red Album, consisting of original compositions, was number 1 in Austria, Spain, France, Japan and Norway. It was #3 in the United States and #4 in Canada and the United Kingdom. Blue topped the charts in Austria, Spain, France and the United States, and peaked at number three in Canada.
A chase
The Red Album was an idea by manager Allen Klein. Its purpose was originally to fulfill a contractual obligation and also to prepare a documentary about the Beatles.
The film, which would be called The Long and Winding Road, never saw the light of day, and the release of these compilation albums was later postponed until Klein’s contract expired.
These two albums were also a response to an unauthorized compilation of 60 songs, spread over two sets of four vinyls, released by the American company Audiotape in 1972. A $15 million lawsuit was filed by George Harrison submitted via Allen Klein.
This lawsuit was directed against the manufacturer Audiotape and the American Broadcasting Company, which had promoted the unauthorized albums. The outcome of this lawsuit is still unknown.
Interesting anecdote: the photo of these albums is a reproduction of the photo taken in 1963 on the floors of the EMI record company premises. This new photograph, taken in 1969, was to be used on the forthcoming opus Get Back, which became the Let It Be album.
These two compilation albums were released in CD format in September 1993. A remastered version followed in 2010.