Beatles The-Rarities
Beatles The-Rarities
Cover and record are graded VG +. Includes insert and OIS.
Rarities is the name of two separate and unrelated compilation albums by the English rock band the Beatles. The first was released in the United Kingdom in December 1978, while the second album was issued in the United States in March 1980.
Rarities is a British compilation album featuring a selection of songs by the Beatles. The album was originally released as part of The Beatles Collection, a boxed set featuring the twelve original Beatles studio albums, but was later issued individually. The album has never been issued on CD, but all of the tracks are available on the double CD compilation album Past Masters.
Rarities was conceived to include lesser-known songs that were not included on any other original Beatles album. These included B-sides of singles, two German-language recordings, the tracks from an EP with exclusive material, a song recorded for the American market and a version of "Across the Universe" that had previously appeared on a World Wildlife Fund charity record.
The selections chosen are tracks which have not appeared on any of the original British Beatles albums (that is, the albums included in The Beatles Collection). The career-spanning compilations 1962–1966 and 1967–1970, and the Magical Mystery Tour LP (which was originally only released in the US), would all be necessary for the collector wishing to acquire every song in the entire Beatles official catalogue; however, still missing would be the original single version of "Love Me Do". This track, which went out of print in late 1963, was not available anywhere until its inclusion on the 1980 Capitol Records compilation album Rarities. In 1982, the original recording of "Love Me Do" was finally reissued in Britain on a 12" single.
Rarities was released on 2 November 1978 in the United Kingdom, as part of The Beatles Collection boxed set. Due to popular demand, the Rarities album was issued separately on 12 October 1979, in the UK.