To my knowledge, there has not been a Beatles 'Greatest Hits' album spanning their entire career. There was the 'No.1' CD, but IMHO this does not do justice to their work. There is also a Beatles 1962-65 and 66-70 CD but no official greatest hits compilation. Just wondering, if you were working for the record company and had to select two discs...no, make it one...which 20 tracks would you include? I know its near impossible to do them justice,  but if you were trying to convince someone of the Beatles' greatness, which songs would do if for you? (not your 'top 20 beatles' song list)

I know I'm going to miss some out, but my list would be as follows...

1. I Saw Her Standing There
2. She Loves You
3. A Hard Day's Night
4. I Should Have Known Better
5. And I Love Her
6. Help!
7. Norweigen Wood
8. Nowhere Man
9. Eleanor Rigby
10. Strawberry Fields
11. Penny Lane
12. She's Leaving Home
13. A Day In The Life
14. Hello, Goodbye
15. Helter Skelter
16. And My Guitar Gently Weeps
17. Here Comes The Sun
18. Something
19. Let It Be
20. Long And Winding Road

1. Something
2. The Long And Winding Road
3. Yesterday
4. Do You Want To Know A Secret
5. If I Fell
6. Strawberry Fields Forever
7. I Wanna Hold Your Hand
8. Eight Days A Week
9. Ticket To Ride
10. Birthday
11. We Can Work It Out
12. I Saw Her Standing There
13. Can't Buy Me Love
14. Here Comes The Sun
15. All You Need Is Love
16. Hey Jude
17. Let It Be
18. Michelle
19. Penny Lane
20. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

In actual fact, a single-LP 'greatest hits' had been around long before the release of '1'...

This passage first appeared in Record Collector magazine #283...

'(In 1982) the 20th anniversary of 'Love Me Do' was looming, and there was money waiting to be made. So EMI took the entirely logical step of scheduling a double-LP which would include 26 tracks: the A-sides of all the group's UK singles, plus the flips of those marketed as double-A sides (with the strange exception of 'Come Together').

A few sets of white labels were circulated around the EMI office in Manchester Square, consisting of four one-sided test pressings.* The set was alloted a catalogue number (EMI EMTVS 34) and the album was earmarked for the kind of television marketing campaign that had already sent a similar compilation by The Beach Boys to #1.

Then, a matter of a week or two before the anniversary, the release was cancelled. In its place, EMI literally threw together the appallingly shoddy 20 Greatest Hits.

Unlike the '1' album, which broke sales records around the world, this was a damp squib, reaching only #10 in the UK and a miserable #50 in the US.

The reason for the abrupt change was, according to an indiscreet EMI executive at the time, "our bastard American cousins at Capitol", who apparently told the UK office there would be no interest Stateside in a 2-LP package. So the track listing was sliced, the gatefold packaging was scrapped and the TV advertising was cancelled.'

To my mind (as has been proven), you cannot even have a half-definitive Beatles compilation on two discs...you'd need at least four or five...

* Heaven knows what sort of price one of these would fetch on the collecting market...!!

Beatles are the best band ever

here are there 20 best ( Random Order) :
1- Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End
2- A Day In The Life
3- Somthing
4- Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
5- Across the Unvierse
6- Help!
7- Let It Be
8- Long and Winding Road
9- Get Back
10- I am The Walrus
11- Strawberry fields forever
12- Hey Jude
13- I wanna hold your hand
14- From Me to You
15- Yesterday
16- We can work it out
17- Here Comes the sun
18- I Need You
19- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
20- Ticket to Ride

Tell Me what You think  :)

In about 1966 I purchased an album by Odeon Records out of Germany I believe that had about 20 of the beatles hits up to 1965 and it was called Beatles Greatest (Hits).  The cover had about twelve pictures of the beatls.  I lost the album along the way.  Do you know anything about this album?

In about 1966 I purchased an album by Odeon Records out of Germany I believe that had about 20 of the beatles hits up to 1965 and it was called Beatles Greatest (Hits).  The cover had about twelve pictures of the beatls.  I lost the album along the way.  Do you know anything about this album?


Well, I can only count the usual four Beatles but is this it...?

In common with a lot of overseas territories, some Beatles albums were conjoured out of thin air and bore little resemblance to the British release pattern...

We had no official 'Greatest Hits' until 'A Collection Of Beatles Oldies' was unleashed as a Christmas 1966 cash-in...

Here's another 'Greatest Hits' (if a bit premature) that got binned...(Record Collector, again...)

'EMI's American subsidiary, Capitol Records, took more than a year to wake up to the Beatles' sales potential - with the result that several rival companies, notably Vee-Jay, landed the rights to different portions of the group's catalogue during 1963/64.

By early summer 1964, a court settlement had been reached whereby Capitol would regain their power over all the Beatles' recordings. On 2nd June, Capitol engineers prepared acetates for a 2-LP, 24-track 'Greatest Hits' compilation. One album began with 'Twist And Shout', the other with 'All My Loving'. Capitol were so keen to flaunt their recapturing of the Vee-Jay masters that they planned to combine 12 of those songs with 12 they'd already issued themselves. Even though it was pure recycling, the album would have been a guaranteed million-seller.

Then Capitol's lawyers reminded the A&R team that altough Vee-Jay were losing all the Beatles rights, their licence didn't expire until 15th October 1964. The project was therefore scrapped, and nothing resembling a Beatles hits album appeared in the States for almost another decade.'

I would hardly consider the aforementioned album a 'greatest hits' compilation, and it is amazing to think that merely two years after worldwide Beatlemania in 1964 there was already a 'Greatest Hits' in one form of another. Even today, it is easy to forget the Beatles' were only around (in terms of recording) for 8 years, and in the US were only really popular for 6. Bands like R.E.M and U2 have been around for over 25 years but somehow their lack of variety in comparison to the Beatles' makes it seem much shorter.

BUMP

Putting something like this is hard (even moreso 'cause I don't know which songs are hits versus just album tracks or fan favorites). But as with any band, I think you gotta include every Top 40 hit as well as popular album tracks and a couple misc (i.e. non album) songs.

Of course, I'm gonna be biased on their 1967+ work, but some songs that I think could qualify as a Greatest Hits:

Love Me Do
She Loves You
I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Can't Buy me Love
Hard Day's Night
8 Days a Week
Bad Boy
Help
We Can Work it Out
Paperback Writer
Taxman
Eleanor Rigby

**Now, for the 1967-70 material!**

Sgt Peppers/A Little Help from my Friends
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
When I'm 64
A Day in the Life
Magical Mystery Tour
Hello Goodbye
All You Need is Love
Back in the USSR
Obladi Oblada
Blackbird
Rocky Raccoon
Don't Pass me By
Birthday
Helter Skelter
Come Together
Something
Hey Jude
Let it Be
Get Back
Long & Winding Road

Gee, and that was just my 'short' list, LOL! ;)

It wasn't a greatest hit, but I have great respect for the song I am the Walrus.... I think it's an AWESOME song!

Please add to the list:

No Reply
Baby's in Black
You're gonna lose that girl
Yes It is
You've got to hide your love away
For no one
Norweigen Wood
Please Please Me
From me to you
Day Tripper
It's only love
Tell me what you see
A day in the life
Happiness is a warm gun
Blackbird
Things we said today
I'll be back
Here there and everywhere
Help
I wanna hold your hand

The Beatles had so many great songs.  How about the 1982 Beatles Movie Medley?  It reached the U.S. top 20 and contains many of their classics :)

Here's my list....although EVERY hit was great for me.....

1. I Should Have Known Better  ;)
2. I'll Follow the Sun  8)
3. Day Tripper  ???
4. If I Fell  :-\\
5. Ticket to Ride  :-*
6. Please Please Me  :)
7. Love Me Do  :o
8. From Me To You  :D
9. Here Comes the Sun  8)
10. Do You Want to Know a Secret  ???
11. All You Need Is Love  ;)
12. Nowhere Man  :(
13. Eleanor Rigby  :\'(
14. Strawberry Fields  ;)
15. Penny Lane  :-*
16. The Long and Winding Road  :\'(
17. Let It Be  ::)
18. Sgt Pepper/Get By With A Little Help From My Friends  :D
19. Hey Jude  :\'(
20. A Day In A Life  ;)