When the Beatles' entire UK catalogue was released on CD in 1987, the powers that be were left with a dilemma: many of the Beatles' biggest hits were singles and b-sides that weren't included on any of their proper albums (a common practice in the '60s). Where would those songs fit on the new CDs?

Their solution was Past Masters Volume One and Past Masters Volume Two, two essential additions to the Beatles' catalogue. Both compilations were released on March 7, 1988. The albums included every officially-released Beatles track that didn't have a home on any of the original thirteen UK albums.

Past Masters Volume Two included fifteen "stray" tracks from 1965-1970, in chronological order of release:

1. Day Tripper (Lennon/McCartney)
2. We Can Work It Out (Lennon/McCartney)
3. Paperback Writer (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Rain (Lennon/McCartney)
5. Lady Madonna (Lennon/McCartney)
6. The Inner Light (Harrison)
7. Hey Jude (Lennon/McCartney)
8. Revolution (Lennon/McCartney)
9. Get Back (Lennon/McCartney)
10. Don't Let Me Down (Lennon/McCartney)
11. The Ballad Of John And Yoko (Lennon/McCartney)
12. Old Brown Shoe (Harrison)
13. Across The Universe (Lennon/McCartney)
14. Let It Be (Lennon/McCartney)
15. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (Lennon/McCartney)

Steven Thomas Erlewine of the All Music Guide says:

Picking up in 1965 where Past Masters Volume One left off, Past Masters Volume Two collects the 15 non-LP tracks that the Beatles released in the last five years of their career (not counting the singles that were released on Magical Mystery Tour). If Vol. 2 is more eclectic than its predecessor, it isn't quite as thematically consistent, but it does hit greater highs with a greater frequency. Indeed, some of the greatest singles in pop history are here: "Day Tripper," "We Can Work It Out," "Paperback Writer," "Rain," "Lady Madonna," "Hey Jude," "Revolution," "Don't Let Me Down," and "The Ballad of John and Yoko." All of the aforementioned are staples in the Lennon/McCartney canon and while George Harrison's two contributions aren't as familiar, "The Inner Light" is arguably his best Indian excursion and "Old Brown Shoe" is a charmingly jaunty tune that points toward his solo career. In the middle of all this, single versions of "Get Back" and "Let It Be" appear (the former is stiffer than the LP version, the latter is better than its counterpart), along with the alternate (and superior) "Across the Universe" and the silly yet strangely irresistible "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)." Overall, the compilation feels a little disjointed, mainly because it covers so much ground so quickly, but that takes nothing away from the quality of the music, since many of these songs rank among the best, most inventive recordings of the pop-rock era.

Previous albums:
Please Please Me (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=100547) (1963)
With The Beatles (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=101481) (1963)
A Hard Day's Night (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?threadid=102404) (1964)
Beatles For Sale (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102919) (1964)
Help! (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=103610) (1965)
Past Masters Volume One (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104326) (1988)
Rubber Soul (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105066) (1965)
Revolver (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&postid=1635910) (1966)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&postid=1659529) (1967)
Magical Mystery Tour (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&postid=1670602) (1967)
Yellow Submarine (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107978) (1969)
The Beatles (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108635) (1968)
Let It Be (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=109387) (1970)

See also:
Abbey Road (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=110655) (1969)

Beatle Facts (http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&postid=1686371)

Alternate versions of songs from Past Masters Volume Two:

Beatles:
"Lady Madonna"
-Edit of takes 3 and 4, 1968 - The Beatles Anthology 2

"Hey Jude"
-Take 2, 1968 - The Beatles Anthology 2

"Revolution"
-Original, slower album version (billed as "Revolution 1"), 1968 - The Beatles

"Get Back"
-Album version (same recording as version presented here, but without added coda at the end and with added rooftop chatter), 1969 - Let It Be
-January 30, 1969 (on the rooftop) - The Beatles Anthology 3
-2003 remix (same recording as version presented here, but without coda at the end), 1969 - Let It Be... Naked

"Don't Let Me Down"
-Edit of two rooftop takes, 1969 - Let It Be... Naked

"Old Brown Shoe"
-Edit of takes 1 and 2, 1969 - The Beatles Anthology 3

"Across The Universe"
-Same recording as version presented here, but slowed down slightly and with added Phil Spector overdubs and without bird sound effects, 1968 - Let It Be
-Take 2, 1968 - The Beatles Anthology 2
-Same recording as version presented here, but presented at correct speed and without bird sound effects, 1968 - Let It Be... Naked

"Let It Be"
-Album version with Spector tinkering on hi-hat and with different guitar solo, 1969 - Let It Be
-January 25, 1969 (G.B.No. 25.44) - The Beatles Anthology 3
-2003 remix - Let It Be... Naked

"You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"
-Extended stereo remix, 1967; 1969 - The Beatles Anthology 3

Solo:
"We Can Work It Out"
-Live; Limehouse Studios in London, 1991 - Paul McCartney - Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)
-Live; New York City, 1993 - Paul McCartney - Paul Is Live
-Live; venue unknown, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S., Back In The World

"Paperback Writer"
-Live; Charlotte, NC, 1993 - Paul McCartney - Paul Is Live

"Lady Madonna"
-Live; venue unknown, 1976 - Paul McCartney & Wings - Wings Over America
-Live; Atlanta, 1993 - Paul McCartney - Paul Is Live
-Live; venue unknown, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S., Back In The World

"Hey Jude"
-Live; Cincinnati, 1990 - Paul McCartney - Tripping The Live Fantastic
-Live; London, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Party at the Palace: The Queen's Jubilee Concert
-Live; venue unknown, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S., Back In The World

"Get Back"
-Live; Tokyo, 1990 - Paul McCartney - Tripping The Live Fantastic

"Old Brown Shoe"
-Live; Japan, 1991 - George Harrison - Live In Japan

"Let It Be"
-Live; Miami, 1989 - Paul McCartney - Tripping The Live Fantastic
-Live; New York City, 2001 - Paul McCartney - The Concert For New York City
-Live; venue unknown, 2002 - Paul McCartney - Back In The U.S., Back In The World

I actually do not own this album, because I have all of the songs from Past Masters Volume Two on other Beatles albums. Of the songs here though, my favorite is "Hey Jude".

"Revolution!" :) It rocks! :rock: :guitar:

Various Past Masters, Volume Two covers:

Day Tripper - Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66

We Can Work It Out - Stevie Wonder

Lady Madonna - Fats Domino

Hey Jude - Wilson Pickett

Revolution - the Thompson Twins, the Stone Temple Pilots

Down Let Me Down - Phoebe Snow

Across the Universe - David Bowie

Let It Be - Aretha Franklin

Oh yeah, Dan Fogelberg - I think it was him - quoted "Rain" in his cover of the Cascades's "Listen To the Rhythm of the Falling Rain." UGGGHHH! :barf:

Originally posted by Steve M.
Hey Jude - Wilson Pickett

This is one of my favorite Beatle covers of all time. :thumbsup:

I love Stevie Wonder's cover of "We Can Work It Out." :)

Originally posted by Steve M.
I love Stevie Wonder's cover of "We Can Work It Out." :)

That's a good one, too. But I love just about everything he did through the mid-'70s.

But yeah, I love his arrangement of "We Can Work It Out."

Don't miss our final installment. That's coming next week.

Hey, don't be sad! The threads will stay intact and fully votable/repliable until the world ends, or until TJ pulls the plug on this place (whichever comes first).

"It's only a rock group that's splitting up, you have all the old records there if you want to reminisce."—John Lennon

"Revolution"

Day Tripper
JOHN: “Day Tripper” was [written] under complete pressure, based on an old folk song I wrote about a month previous. It was very hard going, that, and it sounds it. 1969 It wasn’t a serious message song. It was a drug song. In a way, it was a day tripper – I just liked the word. 1970

We Can Work It Out
JOHN: Paul wrote that chorus, I wrote the middle bit. You’ve got Paul writing “we can work it out,” real optimistic and me, impatient: “Life is very short and there’s no time or fussing…” 1980

Paperback Writer
PAUL: I remember showing up at [John’s] house with the idea for “Paperback Writer.” Because I had a long drive to get there, I would often start thinking and writing on my way out, and I developed the whole idea in the car. I came in, had my bowl of cornflakes, and said, “How’s about if we write a letter: ‘Dear Sir or Madam,’ next line, next paragraph, etc?” I wrote it all out and John said, “Yeah, that’s good.” It flowed.

JOHN: “Peperback Writer” is son of “Day Tripper” – meaning a rock ‘n’ roll song with a guitar lick on a fuzzy, loud guitar – but it is Paul’s song. 1980

GEORGE MARTIN: “Paperback Writer” had a heavier sound than some earlier work – and very good vocal work, too. I think that was just the way it worked out, that the rhythm was the most important part of their make-up by this time.

Rain
PAUL: I don’t think “Rain” was just John’s. We sat down and wrote it together. It was John’s vocal and John’s feel on the song, but what gave it its character was the collaboration. I think it’s all too easily said: “It’s a John song. It’s a Paul song. Paul does ballads – John does rockers. John’s the hard one – Paul’s the soft one.” That’s a fallacy.

There were certain songs that were very much mine and others that were definite collaborations with John, where we’d actually sit down and spend three hours. Then there were the ones that were very much John’s. I think it roughly splits somewhere down the middle.

On “Rain,” I remember we couldn’t get a backing track and we decided to play it fast and slow it down, which is why it’s so “goo goo goo” and ploddy. We had to play it fast and accurately, but I don’t think that was John’s idea. I don’t remember whose it was, but it was very collaborative.

I suppose the way things did go was that each of us would say, “Mine’s ‘Strawberry Fields,’ yours is ‘Penny Lane.’” That did start to happen, but before then, on things like “Rain,” it was that we all wanted to do it. It wasn’t only John who wanted to make that kind of record. It was probably just that we’d all get an excuse to do it on his track.

RINGO: The drumming on “Rain” stands out for me because I feel as though that was someone else playing – I was possessed!

.sdaeh reiht edih dna nur yeht ,semoc nair eht fI

Past Masters Volume One and Past Masters Volume Two were issued as separate albums both on CD and vinyl. They were issued as a double album on cassette, with two cassettes packaged together.

Side one of Past Masters Volume Two ended with "Revolution" and side two began with "Get Back."

Where's the link for the first past masters collection on this thread, AKA? :)

Originally posted by Steve M.
Where's the link for the first past masters collection on this thread, AKA? :)

Good eye. Fixed.

"Day Tripper" dropout!

Listen closely toward the end of the song for two audio dropouts!

The first one occurs between the lines "Tried to please her" and "She only played one night stand." The second can be heard during the fadeout.

So what caused these dropouts? Obviously, they weren't a planned part of the recording. Sources who have heard the original four track tapes say that there was an ugly, scratchy "pop" in those parts of the recording. During mixing, they just "faded" these spots out, causing the dropouts.

Unfortunately, the dropouts were artificially "fixed" on 2000's 1 compilation by flying in other portions of the song.

So if 1 is the only album on which you have "Day Tripper," you're missing out on a very endearing part of the stereo mix.

Why wasn't "The Long And Winding Road" included in this collection? Not only is it a great song, but it was a number one hit as well.

Originally posted by dukey
Why wasn't "The Long And Winding Road" included in this collection? Not only is it a great song, but it was a number one hit as well.

Because the Past Masters compliations only feature Beatles songs not originally on albums from the 1962 - 1970 British catalog (excluding the 1966 U.K. compliation A Collection of Beatles Oldies - But Goldies!)). "The Long and Winding Road" was originally included on the Let It Be album, and it was only released as a single in the United States. For a collection of chart-topping Beatles singles from the U.S. and the U.K., try 1.

Hey Jude
GEORGE: “Hey Jude” was actually about Julian Lennon. It was written by Paul at the time John was splitting up with Cynthia. Julian was just a little boy – probably five years old – and Paul had gone out to John’s house and had been affected by seeing Julian, the innocent bystander in a divorce situation.

PAUL: When John and Cynthia got married it didn’t really work. There was a beautiful kid, and they were quite happy for a while, but my estimation of it was that Cynthia wanted to tie John down to the pipe-and-slippers nice life. Of course, John was never ready for that.

So John and Cynthia were splitting up and I felt particularly sorry for Julian. I had known them for so long. We had hung out since John’s art school days when I had a girlfriend called Dot and John had Cynthia. Since then, I’d seen them get married and seen them have Julian.

I thought, as a friend of the family, I would motor out to Weybridge and tell them that everything was all right: to try and cheer them up, basically, and see how they were. I had about an hour’s drive. I would always turn the radio off and try and make up songs, just in case… I started singing: “Hey Jools – don’t make it bad, take a sad song, and make it better…” It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian: “Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you’re not happy, but you’ll be okay.”

I eventually changed “Jools” to “Jude.” One of the characters in Oklahoma is called Jud, and I like the name. I played the song to John when I’d finished it – although I thought there might be a little more to do because there was one passage which went “the movement you need is on your shoulder.” As I was playing it I looked at John and said, “I’ll fix that bit.” – “What?” – “I’ve used the word ‘shoulder’ once already, and anyway, it’s a stupid expression; it sounds like a parrot. I’ll change it.” John said, “You won’t, you know. That’s the best line in the song. I know what it means – it’s great.” That was the good thing about John: whereas I’d definitely have knocked that line out, he would say it was great. Then I could see it through his eyes. So when I play the song, that’s the line when I think of John, and sometimes I get a little emotional during that moment.

JOHN: “Hey Jude” is one of his masterpieces. He said it was written about Julian, my child. He knew I was splitting up with Cyn and leaving Julian. He was driving over to say “hi” to Julian. He’d been like an uncle to him. Paul was always good with kids. And so he came up with “Hey Jude.”1980

GEORGE MARTIN: We recorded “Hey Jude” in Trident Studios. It was a long song. In fact, after I timed it, I actually said, “You can’t make a single that long.” I was shouted down by the boys – not for the first time in my life – and John asked: “Why not?” I couldn’t think of a good answer, really – except the pathetic one that disc jockeys wouldn’t play it. He said, “They will if it’s us.” And, of course, he was absolutely right.

Revolution
JOHN: We recorded the song twice. The Beatles were getting really tense with one another. I did the slow version and I wanted it out as a single as a statement of the Beatles’ position on Vietnam and the Beatles’ position on revolution. For years, on the Beatle tours, Epstein had stopped us from saying anything about Vietnam or the war. And he wouldn’t allow questions about it. But on one tour, I said, “I am going to answer about the war. We can’t ignore it.” I absolutely wanted the Beatles to say something. The first take of “Revolution” – well, George and Paul were resentful and said it wasn’t fast enough. Now, if you go into details of what a hit record is and isn’t, maybe. But the Beatles could have afforded to put out the slow, understandable version of "Revolution" as a single. Whether it was a gold record or a wooden record. But because they were so upset about the Yoko period and the fact that I was again becoming as creative and dominating as I had been in the early days, after lying fallow for a couple of years, it upset the apple cart. I was awake again and they couldn’t stand it?

[Yoko] inspired all this creation in me. It wasn’t that she inspired the songs; she inspired me. The statement in "Revolution" was mine. The lyrics stand today. It’s still my feeling about politics. I want to see the plan. That is what I used to say to Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. Count me out if it is for violence. Don’t expect me to be on the barricades unless it is with flowers.1980

Lady Madonna
(Lennon/McCartney)

Lady Madonna, children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet
Who find the money when you pay the rent
Did you think that money was heaven-sent

Friday night arrives without a suitcase
Sunday morning creeping like a nun
Monday's child has learned to tie his bootlegs
See how they run

Lady Madonna, baby at your breast
Wonders how you manage to feed the rest

See how they run

Lady Madonna lying on the bed
Listen to the music playing in your head

Tuesday afternoon is never-ending
Wednesday morning papers didn't come
Thursday night your stocking needed mending
See how they run

Lady Madonna, children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet

The Ballad Of John And Yoko
RINGO: “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” only had Paul (of the other Beatles) on it but that was okay. “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” was just Paul and me, and it went out as a Beatle track too. We had no problems with that. There’s good drums on “The Ballad Of John And Yoko,” too.

JOHN: The follow-up to “Get Back” is “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” It’s something I wrote, and it’s like an old-time ballad. It’s just the story of us getting married, going to Paris, going to Amsterdam, all that. It’s “Johnny B. Paperback Writer!”

I don’t regard it as a separate record scene – it’s The Beatles’ next single, simple as that. The story came out that only Paul and I were on the record, but I wouldn’t have bothered publicising that. It doesn’t mean anything; it just so happened that there were only two there. George was abroad, and Ringo was on the film and he couldn’t come that night. Because of that, it was a choice of either remixing or doing a new one – and you always go for doing a new one instead of fiddling about with an old one. So we did, and it turned out well. 1969

GEORGE: I didn’t mind not being invited to the wedding, and I didn’t mind not being on the record, because it was none of my business, “The Ballad Of John And Yoko.” If it had been “The Ballad Of John, George And Yoko,” then I would have been on it.

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" was the Beatles's last number one single in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it only got up to number eight, breaking their string of top-five hits. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" didn't do as well because many radio stations wouldn't play a song with a lyric that went, "Christ! You know it ain't easy." (Also, some radio stations thought they detected an unsavory pun in the line "We're only trying to get us some peace.")

Originally posted by Steve M.
"The Ballad of John and Yoko" was the Beatles's last number one single in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it only got up to number eight, breaking their string of top-five hits. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" didn't do as well because many radio stations wouldn't play a song with a lyric that went, "Christ! You know it ain't easy." (Also, some radio stations thought they detected an unsavory pun in the line "We're only trying to get us some peace.")

"The Ballad Of John And Yoko" is a great song, but I like it's b-side, "Old Brown Shoe" a lot better.

Across The Universe
JOHN: The Beatles didn’t make a good record of “Across the Universe.” I think subconsciously we – I thought Paul subconsciously tried to destroy my great songs. We would play experimental games with my great pieces, like “Strawberry Fields,” which I always felt was badly recorded. It worked, but it wasn’t what it could have been. I allowed it, though. We would spend hours doing little, detailed cleaning up on Paul’s songs, but when it came to mine – especially a great song like “Strawberry Fields” or “Across the Universe” – somehow an atmosphere of looseness and experimentation would come up.

The song was never done properly. The words stand, luckily.1980

I like the second Past Masters album. "Across the Universe" was released back in 1969 as a single and later recorded the Phil Spector version from the "Let It Be" album the following year. "The Ballad of John & Yoko" was the last #1 single in the UK, while the single was released in the US, a half of many radio stations in the states banned the song in which John used a statement "Christ, you know it ain't easy". This was the first and only single without Ringo Starr on drums in which he filled in with another drummer. While the single was recorded, Ringo was doing a British movie called "The Magic Christian". "You Know My Name?" was the B-side of "Let It Be". The long version was heard on the "Anthology 2" was recorded back in 1967 before it was released as the B-side 3 years later. "Hey Jude" was a standard by the Beatles. It was voted as the #1 song on Allen Sniffen's Musicradio77.com's Top 77 Songs of the Year. "Lady Madonna" was the last single for Capitol in 1968 (after their last #1 single "Hello, Goodbye" on the same label) before launching Apple Records the same year.

I love the songs: Paperback Writer, Lady Madonna, Revolution, Get Back and Let It Be.

I chose "Day Tripper."

You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

This time I chose "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)."