20 Greatest Hits

Twenty years after the Beatles released their first single in the UK (Love Me Do), Capitol and Parlophone commemorated the event with the compilation called 20 Greatest Hits. Three different track lists were produced: for the UK and US markets, and a third for "Europe." The reasoning was that the selection of the twenty greatest Beatles hits varied from market to market, as not all singles were released in all countries. This would be the last LP in the discography of the Beatles to have different versions for the US and the UK. The release dates were October 11, 1982 in the US and October 18, 1982 in Britain.

This compilation sold reasonably well, but did not pass number 50 in the US or number 10 in the UK. Beatles historians took this as an indication that this British rock-band phenomenon of the 1960's had finally been supplanted by newer trend setters in popular music. They had joined the nostalgic, "Oldies" category for good.

The US and European versions of the LP include a trimmed-down version of Hey, Jude (to 5:05). The version in the UK and the releases on cassette in all markets kept the original, 7:11 track. The US version also was distributed in Canada, in spite of the fact that Can't Buy Me Love only went to number 3 there, and two number one hits, All My Loving and This Boy, are not on the record.
Ten of the twenty greatest hits appear on all three versions of the record. In comparison with the UK track listing, the US/Canada version has 14 songs in common. Six from the UK release were omitted: The Ballad of John and Yoko, Day Tripper, Don't Let Me Down, Eleanor Rigby, From Me to You, and Yellow Submarine. In their place appears: Hello–Goodbye, I Feel Fine, Ticket to Ride, Penny Lane, Come Together and Get Back. The European track list has 15 tracks in common with the UK version, and omits the following six: Don't Let Me Down, Eight Days a Week, Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road and Yesterday. In their place the European LP inserted: Get Back, Hello–Goodbye, I Feel Fine, Lady Madonna, and Ticket to Ride.