This is the first Beatles single on their new record label Apple records. Under their contract with EMI, all Beatles singles and albums would be released on Apple records. In England, Parlophone Records distributed Apple records releases, while in America, Capitol Records distributed the Beatles Apple output.

For this first single, the Beatles released what turned out to be their all-time biggest hit single. Hey Jude, the Paul McCartney song about John Lennon's son Julian, became a monster sized success, not to mention clocking in at seven-plus minutes in length, unheard of at the time on AM radio.

Backing up Hey Jude (and probably responsible for very many of the sales), was the B-side Revolution. Hey Jude became a number one across the board on all three charts, and the B-side Revolution went as high as number twelve on Billboard and number two on both Record World and Cash Box.