Sessions (album)

Sessions
One of the proposed covers for the album.
Compilation album by the Beatles
Released	Unreleased
Recorded	1962–1969
Genre	Rock
Label	Apple
Producer	George Martin
Singles from Sessions
""Leave My Kitten Alone"/"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (Take 5)" Released: Unreleased

Sessions was a compilation album by The Beatles planned for release by EMI in 1985, but never issued due to objections by the surviving Beatles.^[1] The album consisted of thirteen finished, but unreleased, Beatles songs. A single—"Leave My Kitten Alone", with an alternative version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which was not to appear on the album, as its B-side—was also planned, but it too was left unissued.

Background

When The Beatles' contract with EMI had expired in 1976, the record company began to take stock of the band's back catalogue and look at the hundreds of hours of unreleased recordings stored in the Abbey Road Studio vaults. Over the next couple of years several compilation albums of previously released material would be issued (Rock 'n' Roll Music, Love Songs, The Beatles Ballads) and a live album of their Hollywood Bowl performances. An album of unreleased studio recordings was also considered with a few attempts being abandoned.^[1]

In the early 1980's, while needing a task to distract him from his cancer treatment, Abbey Road Studios house engineer John Barrett was assigned the task of listening and logging the studio's collection of multi-tracks and master tapes of the group. This research unearthed more previously unknown recordings. Some of these recordings would be remixed for the first official public airing at a multi-media tour of Abbey Road Studios titled The Beatles Live At Abbey Road.^[1]

After the Abbey Road show, in the summer of 1984, EMI began work on a compilation album of previously unreleased material. Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick was hired to remix and reedit the material to a commercial standard. At the time, the album went under the in-house code name "Mary Jane" and the working titles Boots and One-Two-Three-Four before Sessions was settled upon.^[1]

The original release date of Sessions was to be November 1984, however EMI did not want to clash with Paul McCartney's Give My Regards To Broad Street soundtrack so the compilation was canceled. According to reports, McCartney later objected to the release of Sessions in its then current form while the other surviving members and John Lennon's estate objected to the album completely. As a result, the album was canceled indefinitely and the tracks would not appear until the Beatles Anthology project.^[2]

Cover art

There were three proposed artworks for the cover including one colour collage cover and one with a black and white photo of the group in the courtyard of Abbey Road Studios. In 2014 a complete slick set for the black and white cover was auctioned on eBay by Beatles collector Perry Cox, the bidding stopped at US $2,910.00, which failed to meet the reserve. This was the complete artwork including the front cover, the back cover, and the inner sleeve.

This was as far as production ever reached before the entire project was cancelled by EMI Records and no album was pressed for it.^[3]

Final proposed track listing

Side One

All songs written and composed by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.

Side Two

An early version of the album had "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" edited in two parts and cross-fading at the beginning of the album into "Come And Get It" and the end of the album from "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which was cut from the album and later planned to be released as a B-side.^[1]

Notes