The Beatles: Rarities

In December 1978, EMI Records released a box set of The Beatles original British albums titled The Beatles Collection. Included in this box set was a bonus album of Beatles songs never before released on any album. Mostly B sides of U.K singles, EP leftovers, and other assorted tracks made up this British Beatles Rarities album. In the U.S., this Beatles Collection box set was introduced with an American version of the Rarities bonus album , except that for the American version, She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand were replaced with their rarer German counterparts Sie Liebt Dich and Komm, Gib Mire Deine Hand respectively. In addition, this "bonus" album was not to be released as a separate album making it only available as part of the boxed set.

In the fall of 1979, EMI decided that it would be a good idea to release the Rarites album from the box set as an actual album release. In the U.S. Capitol records decided to release Rarities on their budget label with the catalog number being SN-12009. The album's content would be identical to that of the Beatles boxed set bonus album.

However, something interesting popped up during the summer of 1979. An alleged Capitol records promotional album titled Collectors Items (SPRO-9462) appeared at a Beatlefest fan convention in Chicago. It contained a track list of rare Beatles songs that seemed more sutiable to the American record buyers. By October of that year, Capitol had begun pressing copies of their Rarities album when they came across this Collectors Items album. Capitol decided to reevaluate their Rarities plans, and scrapped the budget line Rarities album and replaced it with another Rarities album in which most of the Collectors Items tracks were used.

Capitol Records version of The Beatles Rarities does contain material not available in the U.S at the time. Included here were the songs Misery and There's A Place, which were never issued on any Capitol album or single. Also, for the first time was the Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove which was an endless loop of gobbledygook and nonsense added to the British Sgt. Pepper's runout groove at the end of the album. It never appeared on the U.S. album until Rarities (and has since been corrected with the CD version of Sgt. Pepper). Other songs include slightly different versions than their album counterparts. Penny Lane with the extended horn solo at the end; And I Love Her, with an extended ending; Help! with lead vocal sung by Paul McCartney; and Love Me Do, with Ringo on drums.