The Beatles Greatest Hits Volume 2
AUS Parlophone Stereo LP, PCSO 7534
First released February 1967
01 - A Hard Day's Night
02 - Boys
03 - I Should Have Known Better
04 - I Feel Fine
05 - She's A Woman
06 - Till There Was You
07 - Rock And Roll Music
08 - Anna
09 - Ticket To Ride
10 - Eight Days A Week
11 - Help!
12 - Yesterday
13 - We Can Work It Out *
14 - Day Tripper *
* = Mix not available on official CD
==About the album==
Both "Greatest Hits" volumes were conceived in early 1966, with EMI (Australia) requesting stereo tapes from EMI UK for the tracks not already in its vaults. This means that both volumes, despite not being released locally in stereo until February 1967 (Volume 2) and February 1968 (Volume 1), contain the 1965 stereo mixes of "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" rather than the new mixes that were created by EMI UK in November 1966 for "A Collection Of Beatles Oldies". This also explains why the two volumes contain no post-1965 "greatest hits".
Volume 2’s claim to fame was being the only album worldwide, until the 1980 eight-LP The Beatles Box release, to contain the stereo mix of "She’s A Woman".
The mono masters of both volumes were folddowns of the stereo tapes, with only "She Loves You" and "I’ll Get You" appearing in true mono, due to the unavailability of stereo mixes at the time of compilation. Both mono volumes were mastered together in 1966. Mysteriously, the stereo version of Volume 1 would not be released until twenty months after the mono release, and twelve months after the release of Volume 2! This is why the Volume 2 sleeve refers only to the mono release of Volume 1. For the stereo release of Volume 1, EMI (Australia) replaced the mono mix of "She Loves You" with the fake stereo mix created by EMI UK in November 1966.
The covers for both volumes borrowed heavily from overseas releases. Volume 1 used elements from the US "Beatles VI" and German "The Beatles Beat" and Volume 2 used elements from the (surprisingly even earlier) US "Beatles ‘65" as well as what was left of "Beatles VI". Use of these 1965-period photos emphasises the genesis of these albums.
By mid-1973, Volume 1 had sold over 100,000 copies. What is intriguing about both volumes is that, despite the myriad "greatest hits" and themed packages released over the years, the popularity of the two Australian "Greatest Hits" volumes was such that neither was ever out of print between their release and the cessation of vinyl production in 1991.
EMI (Australia) exported (at least) Volume 1 mono mothers to HMV (New Zealand) and stereo mothers for both volumes to EMI (South East Asia). HMV (New Zealand) pressed domestic copies of Volume 1 (PMCM-7533) and copies for export to Australia. EMI (South East Asia) pressed both volumes in stereo (S-LPEA 1001/1002) for distribution in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
The above is an extract from the book "An Overview of Australian Beatles Records", © 2011/12 by Jaesen Jones, as posted on www.beatlesaustralia.com.
==About this transfer==
Unlike Greatest Hits Volume 1, this is not one of my fave Beatles albums. However, for completeness, I decided to share (my recreation of) it.
Like Volume 1, Volume 2 is no sonic masterpiece. However, it is an improvement over the earlier volume. The 1982 -2/-2 recut, by renown engineer Otto Ruiter, takes it even further. In fact, I was tempted to share my needledrop of the recut because the sound is nearly on par with original UK pressings (seriously, if you are looking for a copy of this album, look for later 1980s pressings on the silver/black "one box" label as these have Otto's superior recut).
But alas, nearly is not good enough when it comes to Beatles pressings. ;) It's still apparent on some tracks that we're listening to tape dupes of tape dupes.
Again, it's not feasible to recreate the album using official CD sources, as that would mean forgoing the original 1965 mixes of "We Can Work It Out" (dancing Harmonium) and "Day Tripper" (guitar intro in the left channel only).
So, like with Volume 1, here's what I did. I used the latest Dr Ebbetts "Archive Series" transfers, going to the same (original) album sources as EMI Australia did (albeit they used tapes and I used vinyl) and painstakingly recreated the album, right down to the gaps between tracks. The result is faithful to the original album, but with far superior sound quality. This is the way the album should have been released!
I should stress that even though I have used renown Dr Ebbetts sources, this release is not meant for audiophiles. I created this for others who may have a nostalgic attachment to this album.
==Vinyl transfers by Dr Ebbetts==
Artwork included