The Beatles 1962-1966

THE BEATLES 1962–1966

Apple PCSO 7171/2

Released 5 July 1973
Original recommended retail price:

Released in Australia on 5 July 1973, the “Red Album” closely followed the UK edition and, together with 1967–1970, was among the last new Beatles LPs locally pressed using UK-supplied metal parts.

Pressing & Mastering

First Issued	Side 1	Side 2	Side 3	Side 4	Parts
Jul-73	YEX 905-1	YEX 906-1	YEX 907-3	YEX 908-1	UK
87	✎PCSO 7171 YEX 905-2 DB	✎YEX 906-2 DB	✎YEX 907-2	YEX 908-1	AU/UK

Sleeve Information

Code	Circulated	Comments
AU1	Jul-73	Front and rear laminated

Overview
Released in Australia on 5 July 1973, The Beatles 1962–1966 brought the group’s early career together in the internationally familiar “Red Album”. Unlike the locally devised compilations that preceded it, the Australian edition closely followed its British counterpart, with the principal changes confined to the catalogue number and local label details. Click the sleeve image above to view the inner gatefold.

Its manufacture also marked a turning point. EMI (Australia) received both UK mothers and production master tapes, the latter filed as PARLO 283–286. Together with 1967–1970, it was among the last new Beatles albums manufactured locally from UK-supplied metal parts; subsequent new releases would instead be mastered in Australia from tape.

The album spent ten weeks on the Australian charts, reaching No. 18. It later found another audience through the World Record Club, which offered it to members in November 1980 under catalogue number R 90967; an example is illustrated below.

A less certain chapter concerns a possible late-1980s remaster. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Leon Zervos transferred the analogue tapes to digital in September 1988 and cut both the Red and Blue albums directly to copper. This would have resembled Allan Parsons’ work on The Beatles and Yellow Submarine the previous year, discussed on The Beatles Production Master Tape page. No commercial vinyl pressing using these reported cuts has yet been identified, and anyone who believes they own an example is invited to contact the webmaster.

Both compilations were reissued on cassette on 24 October 1988. For the Red Album cassette, EMI (Australia) used CD sources, including the version of “Love Me Do” featuring Ringo Starr on drums. Despite the coloured-vinyl editions issued in countries such as Britain and the United States, the Australian LP was never released locally on coloured vinyl.