We love you Beatles. Oh, yes we do. The release of the 50th anniversary editions of The Beatles‘ Abbey Road instantly evoked memories of the early days of Beatlemania. New versions of the 1969 album, released on September 27 in a variety of formats, immediately rose to the top of the sales charts in the U.S. and U.K.
After the first week of sales, Abbey Road was #1 in both countries. The album’s return to the top of the U.K. chart set a new record for the longest gap for the same album at #1: 49 years and 252 days. (That broke the Beatles’ record set just two years ago when their Sgt. Pepper’s again topped the sales chart after 49 years and 125 days.)
In the U.S., the Super Deluxe edition was on top of the Amazon chart as well as the Street Pulse Top 50 albums chart. (The company surveys actual retail sales across the country.)
In the U.K., the album has debuted at #1 on the Official Charts, the nation’s official source for over 60 years. As the company notes, “during its original run, the album spent 17 weeks at #1 [in the U.K.], 11 of which were consecutive.”
The Super Deluxe edition comes with all the extras that fans have come to expect in recent years, thanks to the painstaking work led by producer Giles Martin, mix engineer Sam Okell and Apple Records Ltd., to produce elaborate new packages for Sgt. Pepper’s (in 2017), The Beatles (in 2018), and now for Abbey Road.
In the case of the new Super Deluxe set, that means four discs (3-CDs and a Blu-ray) are housed in a handsome slip-sleeved 12” x 12” 100-page hardbound book with Paul McCartney’s foreword; Martin’s introduction; previously unpublished photos; insightful, in-depth chapters written by Beatles historian, author and radio producer Kevin Howlett covering the months preceding the Beatles’ Abbey Road sessions, track-by-track details and session notes, the cover art and photo shoot, and more; plus an essay by music journalist and author David Hepworth looking at the album’s influence through 50 years.
And then, of course, there’s the music. 40 tracks featuring session and demo recordings – with studio banter – of the album’s familiar tracks as well as songs that, for a variety of reasons, didn’t make the original LP’s final cut.
When the new editions were announced by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe on August 8, the various versions went immediately to the top of the Amazon sales charts. The same thing happened on their release date.
It was all reminiscent of the fan support that the Beatles enjoyed when they were active. Do you remember this novelty pop hit by the Carefrees from 1964?
Related: Our review of the Super Deluxe edition
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