What was it?
Capitol’s tenth Beatles album, featuring left-over tracks - mostly from the UK versions of Help! and Rubber Soul - and three from the yet to be released Revolver.
Yesterday... and Today was #1 on the Billboard album charts, and certified 2x platinum.
Why is it forgotten?
When Capitol re-issued the American Beatles catalog on CD, they released two volumes of four albums each - stopping at Rubber Soul. There are currently no plans to release a third volume - which would have presumably included "Yesterday... and Today".
All of the album’s contents are currently available on CD on the albums (Help!, Rubber Soul and Revolver) from which they were originally taken. "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" were released on the Past Masters CD.
Fun Facts:
Originally issued with the infamous "Butcher" cover photo. 750,000 copies were printed before public outcry forced a massive recall (and re-printing). As a result, Yesterday... and Today (if Wikipedia is to be believed) was the only album to lose money for Capitol.
The three tracks pulled from Revolver ("I’m Only Sleeping", "And Your Bird Can Sing", and "Doctor Robert") were all John Lennon compositions. The mixes for these are slightly different from what eventually appeared on the UK (and now official CD version of) Revolver.
Always my favorite "Capitol-original" Beatles album. The tracks on this record really click together. For an American record buyer who didn’t know anything about the UK track listings, Yesterday... and Today seemed just as good as Rubber Soul or Revolver.
One of only two vinyl records I still own.
Tomorrow: An "Apple-original" for America (and elsewhere) - and it's a classic.
