- Love Me Do (version one) {McCartney/Lennon} (2:22)
- When the Beatles began recording for EMI, Ringo
hadn't been with the group very long so producer George Martin hired
backup drummer Andy White "just in case". During one of their first
sessions they cut this tune twice, once with Ringo drumming and again
with the other drummer and Ringo relegated to tambourine. The first
version was released on the British single originally (and surfaced
occasionally such as on the Canadian single), but when the album came
out it contained the take with the tambourine which has become the
common version around the world. Over the years the master tapes
containing the first version disappeared so this track was taken from a
record and cleaned up as much as possible although a few "pops" remain.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
George Harrison - acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr - drums
- Misery {Lennon/McCartney} (1:46)
- In the early Sixties when The Beatles were
becoming stars around the world, their singles and albums were released
by several different labels. Albums from one country seldom resembled
those from another. This led to several mix-ups over the years. This
song, first released in England in March, 1963, was only released by
Capitol in the U.S. once - on the very short-lived Starline single (and
that was mono).
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
George Harrison - lead guitar
Ringo Starr - drums
George Martin - piano
- There's A Place {Lennon} (1:47)
- This song has the same history as "Misery". This
is the first time it has appeared on a Capitol album in the U.S. and it
is believed to be the first time it has appeared in stereo in the U.S.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul McCartney - bass guitar, harmony vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar
Ringo Starr - drums
- Sie Liebt Dich {Lennon/McCartney/Nicolas/Montague} (2:16)
- The Beatles honed their musicianship and became a
real group in the opening years of the Sixties by playing in the raunchy
clubs of Hamburg, West Germany. They learned to speak the language, met
longtime cohorts such as Klaus Voormann and felt a certain affinity with
the country. A few years later their career skyrocketed and EMI easily
persuaded them to re-cut the vocal tracks of two of their first big hits
- "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" - in German for release
specifically in that country. Although the first tune has been on the
Something New album for years, until Rarities "She Loves
You" sung in German had never been released by Capitol in the U.S. The
song, once released here as a low-quality single on a small label, has
been out of print for years and has never been released in the U.S. in
stereo until now.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
George Harrison - lead guitar, harmony vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
- And I Love Her {McCartney/Lennon}
(2:36)
- There are two common versions of this song - one
with Paul's voice mostly by itself and the other with Paul's voice
overdubbed. However, on the German Something New album the song
appeared (with the overdubbing) unedited since the guitar riff at the
end of the song is repeated six times rather than four times. That
extremely rare version is offered here.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney - double-tracked lead vocal, acoustic bass guitar
George Harrison - acoustic lead guitar, claves
Ringo Starr - bongos
- Help! {Lennon/McCartney} (2:16)
- There are two versions, each with a different lead
vocal. The single version is more rare than the album version so it has
been included here. In addition, a "cleaner" British version was used.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, 12-string acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney - bass guitar, background vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine
- I'm Only Sleeping {Lennon} (2:59)
- There are two different stereo mixes of this song.
The version that has been on the English Revolver album since
1966 is considerably different than the American version. The British
version was chosen for Rarities because verses were rearranged
and strange guitar sounds inserted.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, acoustic guitar
Paul McCartney - bass guitar, background vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
- I Am The Walrus {Lennon} (4:32)
- Capitol has recreated a new version of this song
by combining the two rarest versions. Previously there were at least
three versions. The shortest one is the most common in the U.S. because
it appears on the stereo album. The other two versions both have
something extra in them. The Capitol U.S. single has a few extra beats
in the middle of the song right after the words "I'm crying" but before
the words "Yellow matter custard". The stereo version from England has
the intro riff repeated six times instead of four. Now these two
oddities have been edited together for the first time. It is interesting
to note that on every stereo version of this song ever released the song
becomes "fake stereo" almost exactly two minutes into the tune with the
bass predominantly on one channel and the highs on the other.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, mellotron (at the beginning), piano
Paul McCartney - bass guitar, background vocal
George Harrison - tambourine, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
session musicians - eight violins, four cellos, three horns
choir - six boys singing "Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper",
six girls singing "Everybody's got one"
- Penny Lane {McCartney/Lennon}
(3:00)
- One of the rarest versions of any Beatles song was
only released in mono to radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. It was
"Penny Lane" with an extra horn riff at the very end of the song which
was later trimmed off every version ever offered for sale. In addition,
"Penny Lane" has never been released in the U.S. in true stereo (believe
it or not). Capitol has taken a stereo version of the song and tagged on
the rare final notes which, collectors might argue, actually creates yet
another version of this classic tune.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - harmony vocal, conga drum
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, flute, piano
George Harrison - conga drum, firebell
Ringo Starr - drums
George Martin - piano
David Mason - sped-up piccolo B-flat trumpet
Philip Jones - trumpet
Frank Clarke - string bass
- Helter Skelter {McCartney} (3:58)
- Strange as it may seem, The Beatles and George
Martin remixed many of their albums for mono rather than simply
combining the stereo mix onto one track. Some of the songs have
noticeable differences, but the later records such as the "White Album"
were released in the U.S. in stereo only. One of the songs from that
album, "Helter Skelter", is changed considerably on the mono version
included here. The vocals are much louder, laughing is heard at the
beginning, "beeping" sounds are scattered through the song and the
drumming at the end is different. When the song fades out at the end, it
doesn't come back like on the stereo version so you don't hear the
classic Lennon statement: "I've got blisters on my fingers".
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - 6-string bass guitar, lead guitar, saxophone,
background vocal
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, lead guitar, background
vocal
George Harrison - rhythm guitar, background vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
Mal Evans - trumpet
- Don't Pass Me By {Starkey} (3:45)
- Another strange mono mix from the "White Album",
this version is especially different than the stereo towards the end.
Note the changes in the violin and vocal sounds. Ringo's voice also
seems to be at a higher pitch than on the stereo version. Although there
wasn't room for them as part of this package, there are other songs off
the same mono album with differences, notably "Piggies" and "Blackbird"
which both contain "animal" sounds that are somewhat changed.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - acoustic guitar, tambourine
Paul McCartney - bass guitar
Jack Fallon - violin
Ringo Starr - lead vocal, drums, electric piano
- The Inner Light {Harrison} (2:32)
- This song has only been released as the flip side
of the "Lady Madonna" single and has never been on any U.S. album. There
is no known stereo version of this obscure India-influenced George
Harrison tune featuring sitar. The lyrics were "inspired" by a Japanese
poem.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - background vocal
Paul McCartney - background vocal
George Harrison - lead vocal
Indian session musicians - bansri, esraj, sitar, tamboura,
tabla-tarang, finger cymbals
- Across The Universe (version one) {Lennon} (3:44)
- This version has never been released in the U.S.
before. This is the original version that was almost released as a
single in 1968 ("Lady Madonna" was chosen instead), but ended up being
given to an all-star charity album called No One's Gonna Change Our
World which benefited the World Wildlife Fund. Later, when Phil
Spector fiddled with hours of rough tapes that became the Let It Be
album, he took this song, removed the bird sound effects, added strings
and generally changed the sound and feel of it.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, acoustic guitar, wah-wah guitar, organ
through a Leslie speaker
Paul McCartney - piano
George Harrison - sitar
Ringo Starr - maracas
George Martin - organ through a Leslie speaker (with Lennon)
Lizzie Bravo and Gayleen Pease - falsetto background vocals (on
"Nothing's going to change my world")
- You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) {Lennon} (4:17)
- This lengthy obscure track has never before been
released on a U.S. album; it only appeared as the flip side of the "Let
It Be" single. There is no known stereo version of this of-the-wall
ditty which is full of The Beatles own special brand of humor. Unlike
most of their recordings, this tune resembles the crazy ramblings on
their Christmas records which were only released to members of their fan
club during the Sixties.
- Instrumentation:
John Lennon - lead vocal, guitar, maracas, sound effects
Paul McCartney - lead vocal, piano, double bass, sound effects
George Harrison - xylophone, background vocal
Ringo Starr - lead vocal, drums, bongos
Brain Jones - saxophone
Mal Evans - background vocal
- Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove (0:02)
- Not actually a song, this is merely several
seconds of a high-frequency note at about 18 kilocycles per second
(inaudible to humans but dogs can hear it), along with some laughing and
gibberish that appeared as the tail end of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band album in other countries, but was never released
before in the U.S. Paul suggested it for the benefit of people who had a
turntable that didn't shut off. The needle would go around and around in
the groove without shutting off, and some gibberish in that groove was
deemed better than hiss. Recording these two seconds of gibberish took a
full night, from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., more than half the time it took to
record the Beatles entire first album.
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