The Beatles’ Red & Blue Albums Make Billboard Chart Return After Reissue
Written by djfrosty on November 22, 2023
The Beatles’ compilation albums 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 (also known as the Red and Blue Albums, owed to the distinctive cover art), re-enter Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Nov. 25) at Nos. 6 and 5, respectively, following their expanded reissue on Nov. 10.
The titles sold 22,000 and 24,000 in the week ending Nov. 16 in the U.S., according to Luminate. Each told sold less than 500 copies in the previous week. For both titles, it is their largest sales week since the week ending Dec. 24, 1994, when they sold 37,000 and 40,000, respectively.
Upon their original release in 1973, the 1962-1966 album contained 26 songs, while 1967-1970 held 28 tunes. (On the Billboard 200 chart, 1967-1970 reached No. 1, while 1962-1966 peaked at No. 3.) For the 2023 reissue, 21 songs were added to the two albums — 12 songs on 1962-1966 and nine on 1967-1970. The latter’s additional cuts include the recently released new single “Now and Then,” which debuted in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 – marking the Fab Four’s 35th top 10-charting hit.
The two albums were available to purchase as a digital download, a double-CD or three-vinyl LP set. They were also combined into a singular boxed set – 1962-1970 – that contained all of the material, and available only as a four-CD or six-vinyl LP box. (The box debuts at No. 24 on Top Album Sales with 7,000 sold.)
The trio of releases dot a number of other Billboard album charts, let’s take a look:
1962-1966:
Billboard 200 – No. 20 (Re-entry)
Top Rock & Alternative Albums – No. 6 (Debut)
Top Rock Albums – No. 4 (Debut)
Catalog Albums – No. 3 (Re-entry)
Vinyl Albums – No. 17 (Debut)
Tastemaker Albums – No. 5 (Debut)
1967-1970:
Billboard 200 – No. 15 (Re-entry)
Top Rock & Alternative Albums – No. 3 (Debut)
Top Rock Albums – No. 3 (Debut)
Catalog Albums – No. 2 (Re-entry)
Vinyl Albums – No. 11 (Debut)
Tastemaker Albums – No. 4 (Debut)
1962-1970:
Vinyl Albums – No. 13 (Debut)
Tastemaker Albums – No. 15 (Debut)
Top Current Album Sales – No. 17 (Debut)
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums and Catalog Albums rank the week’s most popular rock and alternative, rock, and catalog (older) albums across all genres, by equivalent album units. Vinyl Album tallies the week’s top-selling vinyl releases. Tastemaker Albums measures the top-selling titles at independent and small chain record stores. Top Current Album Sales ranks the week’s top-selling new/current albums (non-catalog/older titles).
Elsewhere in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, Stray Kids’ ROCK-STAR debuts at No. 1 with 213,000 copies sold, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is a non-mover at No. 2 with 69,000 sold (down 43%), while Chris Stapleton’s Higher launches at No. 3 with 57,000.
After debuting at No. 1 a week ago, Jung Kook’s Golden falls to No. 4 with 34,000 sold (down 79%). Aespa’s Drama: The 4th Mini Album starts at No. 7 with 18,000 sold. Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life re-enters at No. 8 with 14,000 sold (up from less than 500 sold the week previous) following a new color vinyl pressing. Rounding out the top 10 is the debut of AJR’s The Maybe Man at No. 9 with 13,000 and Jimmy Buffett’s Equal Strain On all Parts, falling 3-10 in its second week with nearly 13,000 sold (down 75%).
In the week ending Nov. 16, there were 2.302 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 11% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.93 million (up 16.9%) and digital albums comprised 372,000 (down 11.9%).
There were 956,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Nov. 16 (up 20.2% week-over-week) and 964,000 vinyl albums sold (up 14.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 30.998 million (up 2.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 40.395 million (up 18.1%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 88.134 million (up 6.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 71.877 million (up 10.6%) and digital album sales total 16.257 million (down 9.5%).