1967-1970

1967–1970 (widely known as The Blue Album) is a compilation of many of The Beatles' most popular tracks from 1967 to 1970. It was released with 1962-1966 (The Red Album), which covered their earlier period. 1967-1970 made #1 on the U.S. Billboard chart and #2 on the U.K. Album Chart. This album was re-released in September 1993 charting at #4 in the UK, this album was re-released again but this time, it was in remastered form, on the 19th of October, 2010, (in some locations, for example, Nottingham, it took till the 22nd of October, for it to hit the shelves) at the same time as the 1962-1966 Album.

The cover art shows the band once again looking down the stairwell of EMI's Manchester Square headquarters in London; the same pose, camera angle, setting and photographer (Angus McBean) as used for the cover on the Please Please Me and 1962–1966 albums, which used different photos from the same photo session. The image was originally shot for the Get Back album, which later became Let It Be, but in the end the photograph was not used for that project.

The album was compiled by Beatles manager Allen Klein, with his selections approved by the Beatles themselves. Songs performed by the Beatles as solo artists were also considered for inclusion, but like the cover songs on 1962–1966, limited space resulted in this idea having to be abandoned.

As with 1962–1966, this compilation was produced by Apple/EMI at least partially in response to a bootleg collection titled Alpha Omega, which had been sold on television the previous year.

Album covers

For the group's 1963 debut LP Please Please Me, photographer Angus McBean was asked to take the distinctive colour photograph of the group looking down over the stairwell inside EMI House (EMI's London headquarters in Manchester Square, now demolished).

In 1969, The Beatles asked McBean to recreate this shot. Although the 1969 photograph was originally intended for the then-planned Get Back album, it was not used when that project saw eventual release in 1970 as Let It Be. Instead, the 1969 photograph, along with an unused photograph from the 1963 photo shoot, was used for both this LP and 1962–1966.

The inner gatefold photo for both LPs is from the "Mad Day Out" photo session, London, 28 July 1968.

Release variations

• Original 1973 release: Apple SKBO-3404 (Whole and sliced apples in blue background)
• Second pressing: Capitol SKBO-3404 (Capitol target label on back of album cover, blue label with "Capitol" in light blue letters at bottom)
• First blue vinyl release: Capitol SEBX-11843 (Capitol dome label on back of album cover, large dome logo at top of light blue labels)

Track listing

All tracks written by Lennon/McCartney, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Strawberry Fields Forever" – 4:10
2. "Penny Lane" – 3:03
3. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – 2:02
4. "With a Little Help from My Friends" – 2:44
5. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – 3:28
6. "A Day in the Life" – 5:06
7. "All You Need Is Love" – 3:48

Side two

1. "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison) – 3:05
2. "Come Together" – 4:20
3. "Something" (Harrison) – 3:03
4. "Octopus's Garden" (Starkey) – 2:51
5. "Let It Be" – 3:52
6. "Across the Universe" – 3:48
7. "The Long and Winding Road" – 3:38

Notes

• On the original LP, "A Day in the Life" faded up out of its original cross-fade with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)". The original vinyl version faded out seven seconds earlier, due to time constraints. The CD version uses the same clean intro version from the 1988 Imagine: John Lennon soundtrack LP.
• The single versions of "Get Back" and "Let It Be" made their album debut with the original LP release. In the U.S., "Get Back" was erroneously listed as the album version on an insert sheet.
• The US version has "Penny Lane" and "Hello, Goodbye" in mono and "I Am The Walrus" with the four-beat intro. The 1993 CD release finds all three tracks in stereo, with "I Am The Walrus" having the same six-beat intro as the Magical Mystery Tour CD.
• "Hey Jude" fades out about 9 seconds earlier on the vinyl version, due to time constraints.