4: John Paul George Ringo
| 4: John Paul George Ringo | |
|---|---|
 |
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| EP / Compilation album by Various artists | |
| Released | 23 September 2014 |
| Recorded | Various |
| Studio | Various |
| Genre | Rock |
| Length | 18:05 |
| Label | Universal Music |
| Producer | Various |
4: John Paul George Ringo is a digital extended play compilation released on 23 September 2014, as a free download by the iTunes Store. It features one solo song by each former member of the Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. It is the first official release to bring together their solo material (though two Starr solo albums, Ringo and Ringo's Rotogravure, and the 1996 Carl Perkins album Go Cat Go! featured contributions from each of the four).
The EP was released to promote the iTunes remastering of several solo albums by each former Beatle. It is no longer available for purchase.
As early as 1971, the year after the Beatles broke up, Lennon suggested that disappointed fans could compile the former members’ solo material themselves to create new "Beatles" records:
"If people need the Beatles so much, all they have to do is to buy each album and … put it on tape, track by track, one of me, one of Paul, one of George, one of Ringo, if they really need it that much. Because otherwise the music is the same, only on separate albums."
The compilers of the 1972 bootleg Alpha Omega came close to achieving that, by adding Lennon's "Imagine", Harrison's "Bangla Desh" and McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed", along with other songs by the three former bandmates, to the Beatles hits that made up the bulk of the compilation. Alpha Omega appears to be the first commercial release of any sort to include solo material from different ex-Beatles.
But when Apple responded to Alpha Omega with the 1973 compilations 1962–1966 and 1967–1970, it did not follow the bootleggers' example. Although there was no contractual barrier to including solo material – the former Beatles remained committed to EMI as individuals until January 1976 – those compilations and every subsequent authorised Beatles collection were limited to Beatles material. Over time, EMI released separate solo compilations for each of the four former Beatles. Some of these included the artist's Beatles songs, but none included solo material by other former Beatles.
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