1962–1966


1962–1966 is a compilation album by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. Released with its counterpart 1967–1970 in 1973, it reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom and No. 1 in the United States Cash Box album chart. However, in Billboard, 1962–1966 peaked at No. 3, while 1967–1970 reached the top spot. The album was re-released in September 1993 on compact disc, charting at No. 3 in the UK.
The album was compiled by Beatles manager Allen Klein. Even though the group had success with cover versions of songs, most notably with "Twist and Shout", which made No. 2 on the Billboard charts, only songs composed by the Beatles were included. Also noteworthy is the exclusion of any George Harrison compositions from the era, with the result that all the included tracks are Lennon-McCartney originals. In contrast, the companion 1967–1970 compilation includes several Harrison-penned songs, and one written by Ringo Starr.
As with 1967–1970, 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. Print advertising for the two records made a point of declaring them "the only collection of the Beatles".

Album covers

For the group's 1963 debut LP Please Please Me, photographer Angus McBean took the distinctive colour photograph of the group looking down over the stairwell inside EMI House. The cover for the 1963 EP The Beatles used a picture from the same shoot.
In 1969, the Beatles asked McBean to recreate this shot. Although one of the 1969 photographs was originally intended for the planned Get Back album, it was not used when that project saw eventual release in 1970 as Let It Be. Instead, another 1969 photograph, along with an unused one from the 1963 photo shoot, were used for both this LP and the cover of 1967–1970.
The inner gatefold photo for both LPs is from the "Mad Day Out" photo session in London on Sunday 28 July 1968.
The album cover was designed by Tom Wilkes.

Release variations

The British and American versions of the vinyl album contain notable differences; for example, "Help!" on the American edition includes the same pseudo-James Bond intro as the mix found on the American Help! soundtrack LP, while the same song on the British edition does not. Also, the British LP uses the stereo "whispering intro" mix of "I Feel Fine", while the US LP uses the mono mix from Beatles '65, which is drenched in additional reverb. In the liner notes associating the songs with their original albums, the US editions referenced the Capitol albums while UK printings used the British albums.
The first compact disc version was released on 20 September 1993. It was released on two discs for the price of two albums, though it could have fit on to a single disc; EMI stated that this was done to match the release of 1967–1970. The CD version used new digital masters. The first four tracks on the CD release are in mono; the rest of the tracks are in stereo. The tracks "All My Loving", "Can't Buy Me Love", "A Hard Day's Night", "And I Love Her" and "Eight Days a Week" made their CD stereo debut with this release.
The 1993 versions were also issued on vinyl in the UK.

2010 remastered version

EMI announced on 10 August 2010, that the album had been remastered for a second time and, once again, would be released as a two-CD package. The album was released worldwide on 18 October 2010, and 19 October 2010 in North America.

2014 mastered vinyl

The album was reissued on 180g vinyl in 2014, prepared from the original UK 1973 compilation master. The fake stereo mixes of "Love Me Do" and "She Loves You" were replaced by the true mono versions.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

;Original release
Chart Position
Australian Kent Music Report Chart18
Austrian Albums Chart1
Canadian RPM Albums Chart4
Dutch Mega Albums Chart2
French Albums Chart1
Italian Albums Chart21
Japanese Oricon LPs Chart1
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart1
Spanish Albums Chart1
UK Albums Chart3
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape3
West German Media Control Albums Chart2

;1993 reissue
Chart Position
Australian Albums Chart9
Austrian Albums Chart3
Canadian RPM Albums Chart15
Danish Albums Chart26
Dutch Albums Chart4
Italian Albums Chart21
Japanese Albums Chart3
New Zealand Albums Chart5
Norwegian Albums Chart7
Spanish Albums Chart33
Swedish Albums Chart22
Swiss Albums Chart4
UK Albums Chart4
US Billboard Top Pop Catalog2

;2010 reissue
Chart Position
Austrian Albums Chart64
Belgian Albums Chart 37
Belgian Albums Chart 55
Dutch Mega Albums Chart62
German Albums Chart91
Irish Albums Chart45
Japanese Albums Chart4
Spanish Albums Chart58
Swedish Albums Chart22
Swiss Albums Chart57
UK Albums Chart6
US Billboard 20032
US Billboard Catalog Albums Chart2

Year-end charts

Certifications

In the US, the album sold 1,215,338 LPs by 31 December 1973 and 5,475,942 LPs by the end of the decade.