# Hey Jude/Revolution Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907 "2002-08-14T21:50:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Candlemas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Candlemas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candlemas)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/1 "2002-08-14T21:50:53Z")
I know that “Hey Jude” was released as a single and that “Revolution” was on its B side and that they reached the #1 and #2 spot respectively on the charts at the same time. (A pretty cool feat in its own right!) But did they appear on any Beatles studio album with other songs or were they just released independently as a single and a B side? I think I remember that “Hey Jude” was recorded as part of the “White Album” sessions but didn’t appear on that album. I also seem to remember “Hey Jude” being on some album with the Fab 4 standing against a wall on the cover and John has a great, big beard. I haven’t seen that album since my childhood. If it didn’t appear on a studio album, how many other number one songs were released as independent singles and never appeared on an actual album of a band or artist? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/2 "2002-08-14T22:04:56Z")
I believe the album with the wall and John’s beard was called “Hey Jude”, although I can’t find it on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). It was the only album, IIRC, that has Hey Jude and the single version of Revolution (there’s the alternative semi-acoustic version on the White Album). “Paperback Writer” was on the British version of Revolver, but not on the US version. So there’s a hit single that wasn’t released on an album. (“Lady Madonna,” too, I think). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/3 "2002-08-14T22:07:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > \*\*“Paperback Writer” was on the British version of Revolver, but not on the US \*\* No, it wasn’t on either. It was released only as a single. The B side was “Rain.” ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/4 "2002-08-14T22:45:07Z")
Great question - if you’re a Beatles fan that is. Yes, “Revolution” was written during the White Album sessions circa mid '68. They made two versions of the song, one the famous version we hear quite often, and the other, the Beach Boys esque version which is on The White Album. At the time, the boys knew they needed to keep the singles cranking out while they worked on The White Album (which was quite long in gestation by Beatles standards) so they released both Lady Madonna as a single (with Old Brown Shoe as a B side) and then, at the end of the White Album they also cut Hey Jude and released it with the rock version of “Revolution” as the double A side. The Beatles also did a similar thing between “Revolver” and Sgt Peppers when they released “Strawberry Fields / Penny Lane” as a double A side, and then after Sgt Peppers at the end of '67 they released an EP called “Magical Mystery Tour” between Sgt Peppers and The White Album. After The White Album, at thend of '68 and then into early '69 they went into the BBC studios to record and film the making of “Let it Be”. Of course, they were getting pretty sick of each other by that stage but they still had more talent dripping from their fingertips than most of the current musical world combined has nowadays. By mid '69 it was obvious that “Let it Be” was getting severely behind schedule due to Phil Spector being a total fucking NUTCASE, so they rang George Martin again, and ate some severe humble pie, and recorded Abbey Road over a 3 month period and then it was over sadly. What does it all say? Those guys were incredibly blessed with drive and prolifacy to be sure. Every six months they were going from strength totally redefining the world’s musical landscape. To give you an idea how much we should be missing those guys, I regularly visit band websites now coz I’m still a rabid music fan, and you often hear young folk waxing lyrical about modern bands who supposedly “shit” on The Beatles. And yet, these artists are lucky if they release new work once every 2 or 3 years! Imagine the shock some youngsters would be in nowadays if a band was able to make Revolver, Sgt Peppers, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, Hey Jude, Let it Be, and THEN Abbey Road all within just 3 years? The youngsters of today would have a heart attack! And yet, because it’s the nature of all youngsters everywhere to want to take “cheap shots” at oldies, I often hear them saying “The Beatles” were crap! They were bubble gum music etc etc. _insert band name here_ rules!!!11!!111!1!! But the facts speak for themselves you know. About 2 years ago I had the pleasure of seeing Sting perform live and do you know who he had as an opening act? Nobody! He just played all of Abbey Road on his exquisite sound system and displayed huge gorgeous slide shots of The Beatles in the studios at Abbey Road doing their stuff during the making of the album. The audience actually clapped after “The End” finished. Thankfully Sting didn’t play “Her Majesty” which I always felt was a rather tacky thing of Paul to have done after “The End” had finished and it seems Sting agrees. The supremem tribute if you ask me. The audience applauded a 30 year old album. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/5 "2002-08-14T23:20:23Z")
For the hardcore Beatlemaniac, there’s these books by [Bruce Spizer](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Spizer%2C%20Bruce/002-4758882-7023246). A bit pricey, but well worth it. There’s a volume covering the Apple years coming out soon. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/6 "2002-08-14T23:37:30Z")
The “Hey Jude” album was a compilation of Beatles hits that weren’t previously released on album. IIRC, the Beatles didn’t allow a greatest hits album, so when they hadn’t put anything out in awhile, the record company gathered their singles and released them. The All Music Guide doesn’t even mention it. The Beatles often released singles in Britain that did not appear on any British version of the albums. It was considered bad form to have songs on both a single and an album (or an EP – four-song singles that were common at the time in England). British fans didn’t want to spend money to get songs they already had. Whereas in the U.S., the singles were often used to promote the album. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/7 "2002-08-15T02:13:32Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Boo Boo Foo \* \*\*Great question - if you’re a Beatles fan that is. Yes, “Revolution” was written during the White Album sessions circa mid '68. They made two versions of the song, one the famous version we hear quite often, and the other, the Beach Boys esque version which is on The White Album. The youngsters of today would have a heart attack! And yet, because it’s the nature of all youngsters everywhere to want to take “cheap shots” at oldies, I often hear them saying “The Beatles” were crap! They were bubble gum music etc etc. _insert band name here_ rules!!!11!!111!1!! But the facts speak for themselves you know. The Beatles actually recorded 3 versions of Revoution. According to Paul McCartney Revolution No. 9 came out of the recording sessions for Revolution and it ended up on the album. Yeah, I hear you on the kids today saying “The Beatles suck dick, man. Eminem rules.” Fine. Has any other artist had a #1 album that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Album charts that consisted entirely of previously released material and the youngest of the songs had been recored/released 30 years ago? No. ---
**Author:** ![waits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@waits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waits)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/8 "2002-08-15T02:17:40Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by **Boo Boo Foo** :_ > … they released both Lady Madonna as a single (with Old Brown Shoe as a B side)… “The Inner Light” was the B-side of “Lady Madonna.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/9 "2002-08-15T02:40:39Z")
“Old Brown Shoe” was the B-side of “The Ballad of John and Yoko.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/10 "2002-08-15T02:45:54Z")
**CLUE NUMBER SIXTY-FOUR!** [sub] Paul’s been slain in a bloody car crash![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/11 "2002-08-15T05:24:05Z")
I stand corrected! It is so easy to overlook “The Ballad of John and Yoko” - those guys were amazingly prolific and productive during that 3 year period. Thanks for the correction “Ukelele” and “Waits”. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/12 "2002-08-15T07:56:21Z")
Capital Records frequently butchered, made up and mixed and matched the original British albums. They even made a few singles of their own too. The **Hey Jude** album was an American compilation and was not released on cd. Only the original British albums were released on cd (with the exception of **Magical Mystery Tour** which was a double EP in Britain, and a single LP in America with four extra songs). Songs that were released as singles only were put on the **Past Masters Vols. 1 & 2**. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/13 "2002-08-15T10:35:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*The “Hey Jude” album was a compilation of Beatles hits that weren’t previously released on album. IIRC, the Beatles didn’t allow a greatest hits album, so when they hadn’t put anything out in awhile, the record company gathered their singles and released them. The All Music Guide doesn’t even mention it. > \*\* Not true on both counts. The Beatles had released a “Greatest Hits” album of sorts. In 1966, Parlophone released [_A Collection of Beatles Oldies_](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Acxom96ho3ep6) in Europe while the band was between albums. And the All Music listing for _Hey Jude_ is [here](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=A6s320r4ac48p). ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/14 "2002-08-15T10:37:11Z")
When I first bought the Beatles CD’s as a teenager–yes, I’m kind of a “youngster” myself–my parents freaked out on the layout of the songs, because they’d grown up with the American LP’s. “That song isn’t supposed to come next!” What baffles me is how Capitol could possibly figure out which songs to put on which American album…the Brit LP’s were so seamlessly laid out–so obviously part of a plan–that it seems a shame that so many American fans had to hear the butchered Capitol versions. I can’t imagine any of their albums in any other order, or with any other songs. And I wish modern bands had the integrity–and the massive talent–to put out a single that has nothing to do with the album that follows it. Most bands these days are lucky if there’s two other songs _besides_ the single that are any good, on the whole damn album. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-jude-revolution-question/123907/15 "2002-08-15T12:59:31Z")
Audrey, I had the same experience. My dad had a bunch of the US albums on Capitol when I was growing up: _Something New_, _Beatles '65, Beatles VI_, and when I was a teen I had the butchered US versions of _Rubber Soul_ and _Revolver_. Buying the CDs, with the proper sequencing, was a revelation! Think about that – in an 8 year recording career in the UK (1962-1970), the band released 13 albums (including one double album), 23 singles, and at least one EP of non-album material. That kind of output would be unthinkable for a major-label band today. Finally, a neat little bit of trivia about the “White Album” version of _Revolution 1_. I learned about this from [What Goes On](http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/wgo.htm), the list of Beatles recording anamolies. In the first verse, just before the “But when you talk about destruction” lyrics and after John sings the word “world,” you can hear the overdubbed brass band being counted in by George Martin with a sharp “One, two, three, four!”