Beatles for Christmas: iTunes, Amazon sales
December 11, 2010
For the original wave of Beatles fans, Christmas meant something new from the Fab Four.
Albums released for holiday buying in the ’60s included “With the Beatles,” “Beatles for Sale,” “Rubber Soul,” “The Beatles (White Album),” “Let It Be” and “Magical Mystery Tour.” Imagine finding those platters under the tree one golden morning.
The tradition continues in 2010 with the iTunes debut of Beatles songs and albums. The long-awaited downloads came to e-market after EMI’s rerelease of the group’s catalog on CD. iTunes gift cards featuring the Fabs became instant collectors items (pictured). Meanwhile, John Lennon
And so the Beatles once again loom large over music sales as we enter the final stretch of holiday gift shopping.
Here’s at how the Beatles
On iTunes’ rock album chart, the Beatles took half of the top 10, led by “Abbey Road” (#2), followed closely by the “1967-1970 (Blue)” compilation (#5), “The Beatles” aka White album (#6), “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (#7) and the “1962-1966″ (Red) compilation (#9).
The new downloadable “Beatles Box Set” came in at #13, followed by “Rubber Soul” (#14) and “Revolver” (#17). Also charting high were “Let It Be” (#25), “Magical Mystery Tour” (#28) and “Help!” (#32). “Yellow Submarine” sailed in last, at #178.
On Amazon’s rock CD chart, “The Beatles Stereo Box Set”
By comparison, the “Elvis 30 #1 Hits” was the only charter for the King, while the Stones could only muster two spots — for the “Hot Rocks” collection and the new version of “Exile on Main Street.”
On iTunes’ overall album sales chart, “Abbey Road” was the best performer at #47. The Stereo box set ranked best on Amazon’s overall sales chart, at #37, tailed by the Blue and Red sets.
As for the singles, the iTunes rock chart was topped by John and Yoko’s holiday classic “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” Lennon’s “Imagine” held #7 and “Let It Be” abided at #8.
Other Beatles singles in the top 25 of the iTunes rock chart: “Here Comes the Sun” (#11), “Yesterday” (#14), “Hey Jude” (#18), “In My Life” (#20), “Come Together” (#23) and “Twist and Shout” (#25).
“I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes,” Ringo Starr said Nov. 16, when news of the Apple-Apple deal broke.
Amazon does not have rights to the Beatles’ singles as MP3s. The music on iTunes is all in stereo, while Amazon stocks the Mono box set.
Psychedelic albums of note on the iTunes rock chart:
- 19. The Wall (Pink Floyd)
- 46. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
- 111. Animals (Pink Floyd)
- 129. Experience Hendrix collection
- 143. Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd)
- 194. The Doors
* Online sales charts are updated all day long, so these rankings are always in flux.
Abbey Rd. for sale: home to Beatles, Floyd
February 16, 2010
Abbey Road, the London recording studio where the Beatles and Pink Floyd crafted their classic psychedelic albums, reportedly has gone on the block.
EMI built the studio in 1929 and has owned and operated it since. Numerous sources told the Financial Times that the famed studio was being sold to help lower the debt from the 2007 leveraged buyout of EMI.
Update: EMI denied the FT report a week later: “We believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI’s ownership,” the company said. EMI said it was in talks with third-parties about revitalizing the studio.
The Beatles
Pink Floyd — Abbey Road’s other “house band” — tripped out in the venerable studios with “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” “A Saucerful of Secrets,” “Ummagumma,” “Atom Heart Mother” and “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
While previously known as a classical studio, Abbey Road briefly ruled the pop charts. In 1963, 15 out of the year’s 19 No. 1 singles were recorded there. The Beatles and George Martin worked most of their magic in Studio 2.
The Abbey Road brand is considered as valuable as the studio facilities. The zebra-striped traffic crosswalk featured on the cover of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” still draws tourists from across the world to that corner of St. John’s Wood.
The studio, which can accommodate full orchestras, evolved into a film-recording destination, where scores for movies such as the “Star Wars,” “The Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” series were recorded.
The mutitracking technical innovations inspired by the Beatles now can be found on laptop computer software, making Abbey Road an expensive destination for rock musicians. “If an artist goes to a label and asks to record at Abbey Road they will be met with maniacal laughter,” a media lawyer told the Financial Times in its story on Abbey Road being sold.
Both the Beatles and Pink Floyd worked with the legendary house engineer and producer Norman Smith. The later rock star Alan Parsons was a staff engineer at Abbey Road who worked on “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
The Beatles’ satellite performance of “All You Need Is Love” (from the 1967 “Our World” linkup) was captured at 3 Abbey Road.
The Zombies recorded most of the baroque psychedelic classic “Odessey and Oracle” at Abbey Road while the Pretty Things created the rock opera “S.F. Sorrow” (produced by Smith). George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” triple album also came to life there.
Syd Barrett made several solo albums at Abbey Road. Later, the Alan Parsons Project recorded “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” and “I Robot.” Procol Harum’s “A Salty Dog” found the space for its orchestrations in the studio complex.
Other progressive artists making albums at Abbey Road included Kate Bush, Radiohead, Mike Oldfield, XTC and Camel.
The rereleased Beatles CDs
