First released: 2000, November 13

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1. Love Me Do (2:22)
   Recorded: September 11, 1962 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
   Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
   George Harrison - acoustic guitar, harmony vocal
   Ringo Starr - tambourine
   Andy White - drums
2. From Me to You (1:58)
   Recorded: March 5, 1963 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
   Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
   George Harrison - lead guitar, harmony vocal
   Ringo Starr - drums
3. She Loves You (2:21)
   Recorded: July 1, 1963 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar
   Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
   George Harrison - lead guitar
   Ringo Starr - drums
4. I Want to Hold Your Hand (2:27)
   Recorded: October 17, 1963 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar
   Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
   George Harrison - lead guitar, harmony vocal
   Ringo Starr - drums
5. Can't Buy Me Love (2:15)
   Recorded: January 29, 1964 at Pathй Marconi Studios, Paris, France
   John Lennon - rhythm guitar
   Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
   George Harrison - 12-string lead guitar
   Ringo Starr - drums
6. A Hard Day's Night (2:32)
   Recorded: April 16, 1964 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - double-tracked lead vocal, rhythm guitar
   Paul McCartney - bass guitar, harmony vocal
   George Harrison - 12-string lead guitar
   Ringo Starr - drums
   George Martin - piano
7. I Feel Fine (2:20)
   Recorded: October 18, 1964 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, lead guitar
   Paul McCartney - bass guitar, background vocal
   George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
   Ringo Starr - drums
8. Eight Days a Week (2:46)
   Recorded: October 6, 1964 at Abbey Road, London, England with an outro edit piece recorded October 18, 1964
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
   Paul McCartney - bass guitar, harmony vocal
   George Harrison - lead guitar
   Ringo Starr - drums
9. Ticket to Ride (3:13)
   Recorded: February 15, 1965 at Abbey Road, London, England
   John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, tambourine
   Paul McCartney - bass guitar, lead guitar, harmony vocal
   George Harrison - lead guitar
   Ringo Starr - drums
10. Help! (2:30)
    Recorded: April 13, 1965 at Abbey Road, London, England
    John Lennon - lead vocal, acoustic guitar
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, background vocal
    George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine
11. Yesterday (2:08)
    Recorded: June 14, 1965 at Abbey Road, London, England
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, Epiphone acoustic guitar
    Session musicians - string quartet
12. Day Tripper (2:50)
    Recorded: October 16, 1965 at Abbey Road, London, England
    John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, tambourine
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
    George Harrison - lead guitar
    Ringo Starr - drums
13. We Can Work It out (2:15)
    Recorded: October 20, 1965 at Abbey Road, London, England
    John Lennon - acoustic guitar, harmonium, harmony vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
    George Harrison - tambourine
    Ringo Starr - drums
14. Paperback Writer (2:19)
    Recorded: April 13, 1966 at Abbey Road, London, England with an overdub added April 14, 1966
    John Lennon - rhythm guitar, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
    George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
15. Yellow Submarine (2:41)
    Recorded: May 26, 1966 at Abbey Road, London, England with special effects overdubbed June 1, 1966
    John Lennon - acoustic guitar, background vocal, blowing bubbles through a straw
    Paul McCartney - acoustic guitar, background vocal
    George Harrison - tambourine, background vocal, swirling water in a bucket
    Ringo Starr - lead vocal, drums
    Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, George Martin, Alf, Geoff Emerick, Patti Harrison and studio staff - chorus on fadeout
    Session musicians - brass band
16. Eleanor Rigby (2:08)
    Recorded: April 28, 1966 at Abbey Road, London, England with vocals overdubbed April 29, 1966 and another McCartney vocal added June 6, 1966
    John Lennon - harmony vocal
    Paul McCartney - double-tracked lead vocal
    George Harrison - harmony vocal
    Session musicians - four violins, two violas, two cellos
17. Penny Lane (3:04)
    Recorded: December 29, 1966 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added December 30, 1966 and January, 1967
    John Lennon - piano, harmony vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, Arco string bass, flute
    George Harrison - conga drum, firebell
    Ringo Starr - drums
    George Martin - piano
    David Mason - piccolo trumpet
    Philip Jones - trumpet
18. All You Need Is Love (3:48)
    Recorded: June 14, 1967 at Olympic Sound Studios, London, England (backing track), overdubbed and shortened at an Abbey Road session, then overdubbed live on the "Our World" TV broadcast
    ::Backing track::
    John Lennon - harpsichord
    Paul McCartney - string bass played with a bow
    George Harrison - violin
    Ringo Starr - drums
    ::Abbey Road Track::
    John Lennon - lead vocal
    Paul McCartney - electric bass guitar
    George Harrison - guitar
    Ringo Starr - drums
    ::Live "Our World" track::
    John Lennon - lead vocal
    Paul McCartney - background vocal
    George Harrison - background vocal
    Session musicians - studio orchestra
    Mick Jagger, Gary Leeds, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull,
    Jane Asher, Patti Harrison, Keith Moon, Graham Nash - chorus
19. Hello Goodbye (3:32)
    Recorded: October 2, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added October 19, 20, 25 and November 2, 1967
    John Lennon - lead guitar, organ, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, piano, bongos, conga drum,
    background vocal
    George Harrison - lead guitar, tambourine, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums, maracas
    Session musicians - two violas
20. Lady Madonna (2:19)
    Recorded: February 3, 1968 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added February 6, 1968
    John Lennon - background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, piano
    George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
    Ronnie Scott - saxophone
    Harry Klein - saxophone
    Bill Povey - saxophone
    Bill Jackman - saxophone
21. Hey Jude (7:08)
    Recorded: July 31, 1968 at Trident Studios, London, England with the forty-piece orchestra overdubbed August 1, 1968
    John Lennon - acoustic guitar, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, piano
    George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine
    Forty-piece orchestra - sustained notes, clapping, "na-na-na" chorus
22. Get Back (3:07)
    Recorded: January 27, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England
    John Lennon - lead guitar
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
    George Harrison - rhythm guitar
    Ringo Starr - drums
    Billy Preston - electric piano
23. The Ballad of John and Yoko (2:59)
    Recorded: April 14, 1969 at Abbey Road, London, England
    John Lennon - lead vocal, acoustic guitar, lead guitar
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, drums, piano, maracas, harmony vocal
24. Something (3:03)
    Recorded: April 16, 1969 at Abbey Road, London, England and remade May 2, 1969 with overdubs added May 5, 1969, July 11, 1969, July 16, 1969 and August 15, 1969
    John Lennon - lead guitar
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, handclaps, background vocal
    George Harrison - double-tracked lead vocal, lead guitar, organ
    Ringo Starr - drums, handclaps, background vocal
    Session musicians - strings
25. Come Together (4:21)
    Recorded: July 21, 1969 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added July 22, 23, 25, 29, and 30, 1969
    John Lennon - lead vocal, lead guitar, electric piano
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, harmony vocal
    George Harrison - lead guitar
    Ringo Starr - drums, maracas
26. Let It Be (4:03)
    Recorded: January 31, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England with overdubs added April 30, 1969 and January 4, 1970
    Re-produced and remixed by Phil Spector in March, 1970
    John Lennon - bass guitar, harmony vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
    George Harrison - lead guitar, harmony vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
    Billy Preston - organ
    Session musicians - orchestra (overdubbed by Phil Spector)
    Linda McCartney - backing vocals (on single release only)
27. The Long and Winding Road (3:38)
    Recorded: January 31, 1969 at Apple Studios, London, England.
    Re-produced and remixed by Phil Spector on April 1, 1970
    John Lennon - bass guitar
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano
    Session musicians - choir, strings, harp, drums (overdubbed by Phil Spector)

I agree that this is a masterpiece. Arguably it is an impossible task to put the best Beatles songs on a single CD, but the idea was to put those numbers on it that were a number one hit on either the US or the UK hit lists. Then they only miss one song, namely For You Blue which was the double A side on The Long And Winding Road - so I read somewhere. I think this collection is super. The music sounds fresh, like it was just released. I am anxiously waiting for the complete catalogue to be made available remastered.

This album is clearly a masterpiece; its content is the blue print to the next 35 yrs worth of music. That much we all know. However, what I object to on this site is someone called Stephen Thomas Erlewine and his blatent plagiarism of other people's reviews. I think they ALL come from Revolution In the Head by the late, great Ian McDonald. Be careful of passing other people's work off as your own - some people may have read the same books as you. Especially Beatle titles. Silly boy.

My reaction to this album was, "Is that it?". I found it hard to believe that they could fit a "Greatest Hits" type of record of the Beatles into 1 CD, and I guess I was right. Maybe they should have gone the route that McCartney did with his Wingspan set (although it was released later, after the success of "1"), and made a 2-disk set, one for the hits, the other for the more memorable songs, such as "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "I Am The Walrus", "Revolution", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and so on. Seeing all of the songs from both Sgt. Pepper's and The White Album excluded made me shake my head. As a Beatles fan, I can say that there's no such thing as a "bad" Beatles album, but those albums were two of the most widely known albums. Maybe if there was a follow-up compilation, it wouldn't have been so bad, but because of the lack of two whole albums, I had to give "1" a 4 out of 5.

Apparently, there was a gap in the Beatles' catalog, after all — all the big hits weren't on one tidy, single-disc compilation. It's not the kind of gap you'd necessarily notice — it's kind of like realizing you don't have a pair of navy blue dress socks — but it was a gap all the same, so the group released Beatles 1 late in 2000, coinciding with the publication of their official autobiography, the puzzlingly titled Anthology. The idea behind this compilation is to have all the number one singles the Beatles had, either in the U.K. or U.S., on one disc, and that's pretty much what this generous 27-track collection is. It's easy, nay necessary, to quibble with a couple of the judgment calls — look, "Please Please Me" should be here instead of "From Me to You," and it's unforgivable to bypass "Strawberry Fields Forever" (kick out "Yellow Submarine" or "Eleanor Rigby") — but there's still no question that this is all great music, and there is a bit of a rush hearing all these dazzling songs follow one after another. If there's any complaint, it's that even if it's nice to have something like this, it's not really essential. There's really no reason for anyone that owns all the records to get this too — if you've lived happily without the red or blue albums, you'll live without this. But, if you give this to any six- or seven-year-old, they'll be pop fans, even fanatics, for life. And that's reason enough for it to exist. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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