That’s an American release and supposedly the butcher image was because Capitol records would ‘butcher’ the UK releases. They UK releases were mainly 14 songs and didn’t usually have songs that were singles or released on EP. The American versions were 11 or 12 songs.
Perhaps I’ll start an American releases thread after this one has run the course.
Why? We charged more for the album over here than in England?
A sealed copy sold for $125,000 in 2016.
Choosing the weakest Beatles record is indeed picking out the diamond with the least shine. Yellow Submarine was originally planned as an EP and somehow (I’m no Beatles expert) was turned into a full length with only one side a Beatles album and the other George Martin instrumentals. It’s gonna be the easy winner here.
I chose “For Sale”. It had a comparatively creative infertility to it that found them at a plateau. Then all hell breaks loose with Help onward.
As others have noted, Yellow Submarine isn’t really an album. It’s more helpful to think of the Beatles as engaging in “recording projects.” Each produced several singles, and an album (sometimes with a significantly different US version, or – as with Beatles for Sale – songs scattered among several US albums). Each album in this poll corresponds to a project, except Yellow Submarine. (Probably best to call the Let It Be one Get Back).
So, I chose the least developed (and worst) of the projects, Magical Mystery Tour – although, as others have noted, even this contains some fine creative work.
… For Sale would be second-worst for me (though the full project of the time includes some goodies, like Eight Days a Week and I Feel Fine). I’m surprised there are several votes for With… – depending on my mood, that’s sometimes one of my favorite three Beatles albums! (I just ignore the covers).
ETA: Let It Be (Get Back) would be my vote for third-worst (again, ignoring Yellow Submarine, though sometimes I love it.
IMO, “Not a Second Time” is pretty great, and “All I’ve Got to Do” and (less so) “Don’t Bother Me” are worthwhile songs, too.
I Feel Fine was released as a single in the UK and isn’t on Beatles For Sale.
I believe it was the B-side of Day Tripper. What a combo!
Oops! My bad. I Feel Fine was the A-side, She’s a Woman was the B-side. Still a killer combo though.
I accidentally voted for Magical Mystery Tour but I meant to choose Yellow Submarine — even though Hey Bulldog is my favorite Beatles song.
But it was part of the Beatles for Sale “recording project.” YMMV, but I find this a convenient way to conceive of the Beatles musical history. “Rain” was recorded along with the Revolver tracks; Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane initiated the Sgt. Pepper sessions; etc.
I realize this isn’t how this particular poll was set up.
I bought a box set when doing the Beatles phase, I don’t think I ever bothered taking any of the first four albums out the sleeve.
You’re in for a treat! A Hard Day’s Night (UK version) is just one awesome song after another.
I envy how you’ll get to enjoy some of these songs as fresh and new as if it were 1964.
A little off-topic, but probably of interest to thread participants…I just saw a thread in another forum about an annual Beatles Marathon where all 215 songs from the core albums are played in chronological order. It sounds like a lot of fun.
Absolutely. That one’s always somewhere in my Top 3 Beatles album (usually along with Revolver and Rubber Soul.) It may very well be because that’s the first Beatles album I really heard as an album, but, even today, knowing all their albums, gotta be one of the best.
I used to the love listening to The Beatles a to z on rock radio stations when I was growing up, especially for someone like me who had a mishmash of albums of American releases, UK releases, and the compilations that were churned out in the 1970s.
Here’s a youtube playlist of some of the performances from last year:
Sgt. Peppercorn’s Marathon 2017
They toss in some solo material as well. The whole thing takes over 12 hours, probably too long to take in from beginning to end unless you’re really hard core.
Back in the 70s, my friend and I were going through his collection of albums that he was getting back to after his return to civilian life. When he came to “Y&T”, he mentioned having heard that some copies had the bowdlerized cover art pasted atop the “gross” one, and started carefully peeling off the “safe” one. Sure enough, the abbatoir cover was there.