Reel Music is a compilation album featuring a selection of songs by the Beatles that were featured in their films, as the title suggests. The album was released on 22 March 1982 in the United States and the following day in the United Kingdom – almost simultaneously with the theatrical re-release of the film, A Hard Day's Night, which had been "cleaned" and re-edited with stereo Dolby sound. In the US, Reel Music peaked at number 19 on Billboard's albums chart.[4]
The album was released by Capitol Records in the United States (catalogue number SV 12199) and Parlophone in the United Kingdom (PCS 7218). In the US and Canada, the album was issued simultaneously in limited edition gold vinyl pressings. In New Zealand, the LP was released on the Parlophone label (PCS 7218), and the inner sleeve and booklet were imported from the US. Aside from box-set collections, it was the first Beatles album released after John Lennon's death. Reel Music was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.[5]
The album cover illustrations are a painting by David McMacken.
The album features stereo mixes that were rare to the US or previously unavailable at the time:
The first US release of the British stereo mix of "I Am the Walrus". Previous American releases of the song had the intro edited like the mono mix, although an edit of the British version appeared on Rarities two years before;
A unique stereo edit of "I Should Have Known Better", with the harmonica error in the intro fixed. This version was issued only on the Capitol pressing and has never appeared on any other record.
Originally, the single's B-side was to be an interview with the group dubbed "Fab Four on Film", which was recorded during the filming of A Hard Day's Night in 1964. Capitol/EMI Records, however, could not obtain the necessary permission to utilise the interview on the single, and "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" (which appeared in the A Hard Day's Night film but which was not included on the Reel Music album) was substituted as the B-side shortly before the single was released, although promotional copies of the single featured the interview.
