The album that brings together the Beatles’ 27 number 1 singles

On November 13, 2000, thirty years after their dissolution, i Beatles they returned to the honor of the record press by publishing the collection entitled “1”which included 27 of their songs that reached number one in the United States and Great Britain. Below you can read the considerations of Franco Zanetti on the album.

Business is business: yet another revival of Beatlemania, fomented by the release of the “official autobiography” of the Fab Four, finds its culmination – for this year – with the publication, set for Monday 13 November, of “1”: a superanthology of hits of the Beatles “which brings together their 27 number one singles in the charts”, as stated in the EMI press release. Rockol had already informed on August 22nd of the preparation of this recording project. For the convenience of our readers, we report the news published at the time: A new Beatles Christmas album is being prepared. The release date of the album should be next November. At the top of Parlophone, the label for which the album will be released, they are convinced that the album could win the title of best-selling album of all time (a record which is still held by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, with 40 million copies). “The label’s leaders are doing everything they can to keep the project secret” said a source within the record company. “At the moment they still talk about it as “Project X”. Nothing is known about the contents of this album and no official confirmation has yet followed the indiscretion.”

But Rockol already wrote in May: “Yet another Beatles anthology is being prepared, just to take a little more money out of collectors’ pockets. Apparently, the two very famous Beatles collections “1962/1966” and “1967/1970”, generally identified with the color that distinguishes their covers (“the red one” and “the blue one”) need a more adequate to the times, to be launched with a massive promotional campaign, and above all in a single volume. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Yoko Ono are dealing with it.” The meaning of the clarification of the last sentence was in the fact that other anthological operations on the Beatles’ repertoire (“Love songs”, “Rock’n’roll”, “Reel music”, the same “Past masters vol. 1” and “Past masters vol. 2”) published by EMI in the Seventies and Eighties were made without the authorization of the Beatles.

Instead, “1” – like the live one on the BBC and the three double “Anthology” releases in the nineties – is a project approved and signed by Paul, George, Ringo and Yoko.

The unifying element of this sort of “superbest” would therefore be the first position in the rankings achieved by the 45s containing the songs included in the CD (which lasts 79 minutes). Oh God, there’s no shortage of forcing. Having said that the “official” rankings referred to are that of “Billboard” for the United States – and so far nothing to say – and that, much less prestigious, of “Record Retailer” for the United Kingdom (“the the only independent British chart of the Sixties” says the press release), one cannot help but notice that at least two songs are missing from the list of titles included in “1”: “Rain” and “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Songs that rightfully should be on the album, because they constituted the “second side A” of the 45 in which they were included.

“1” includes both “Day tripper” and “We can work it out”, and we understand why: the single with the two songs was at number 1 in Great Britain, while “We can work it out” – being considered side A of Capitol’s American single – figure as number 1 in the States; and includes both “Yellow submarine” and “Eleanor Rigby”, motivating it with the fact that the single “two-sided A” was number 1 in Great Britain. The same reasoning should then be done for the other two “double A sided” singles of those years, namely “Paperback writer” / “Rain” and “Penny Lane” / “Strawberry Fields Forever”. Why, then, are “Rain” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” not included in “1”? Very simple.

EMI’s marketing strategists have decided to go straight for the possibility of “1” becoming the best-selling album ever, surpassing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.

If the album had been a double album, the chances of achieving this result would have been greatly reduced, despite an estimated promotional investment of one and a half million pounds: Therefore, the technicians were pushed to work miracles by wringing out 79 minutes of music in a single CD; but two more songs – 3 minutes and two seconds of “Rain” plus 4 minutes and 10 seconds of “Strawberry Fields Forever” – just wouldn’t have been possible to squeeze in. Which betrays the unified spirit of the compilation a bit, but that’s it. If you look closely, then, “1” is in turn the compilation of two compilations: “Love me do”, “From me to you”, “She loves you”, “I want to hold your hand”, “Can’ t buy me love”, “A hard day’s night”, “I feel fine”, “Eight days a week”, “Ticket to ride”, “Help!”, “Yesterday”, “Day tripper”, “We can work it out”, “Paperback writer”, “Yellow submarine” and “Eleanor Rigby” are already included in the “red” compilation 1962-1966; “Penny Lane”, “All you need is love”, “Hello goodbye”, “Lady Madonna”, “Hey Jude”, “Get back”, “The ballad of John and Yoko”, “Something”, “Come together” , “Let it be” and “The long and winding road” are already included in the “blue” compilation 1967-1970.

So what does this new anthology offer? Musically, nothing. Of course, collectors will appreciate the packaging, which includes Richard Avedon’s famous photographs of the four members of the group (many of whom still retain the posters, which were widespread in the Seventies); but essentially, despite what Ken Berry, CEO of EMI Recorded Music claims (“It’s an album that all music fans should have”), and Chris Windle, Senior Vice President of Marketing EMI Recorded Music (“This long CD -playing lasting over 79 minutes represents a purchase of great value for the public”), Rockol’s opinion is that “1” is just a well-studied marketing operation. The fact that this operation is also supported by the launch of the “first official Beatles website” (www.thebeatles.com, also online from 13 November) makes it clear how the record industry continues to consider the Internet a vehicle for promotion and not a means of information. Let them do it.