The Beatles made the decision to retire from live performance in 1966, dissatisfied at playing to audiences of screaming fans,[2] and following a series of controversies that had tarnished the band's image throughout the year.

[3][4] Those controversies included the unfavourable reaction to the butcher cover originally used for the band's American album Yesterday and Today,[5] death threats and political incidents during their visits to Japan and the Philippines,[4][6] and condemnation from some religious groups in America in response to John Lennon's comment that the Beatles had become more popular than Christ.

[26] Although Epstein voiced support for the Beatles' continuing evolution as artists, highlighting the advances they had made with their August 1966 album Revolver,[27] this period was one of doubt and anxiety for him.

[33] In the Beatles' absence, The Monkees – a television show starring four California-based musician-actors, brought together as a Beatles-like act[34][35] – had first aired in September and soon won over the teenybopper audience that the band had sought to lose.

[44][45] Although an article in Melody Maker stated that the band would issue a new single in December,[20] the only other scheduled release, aside from the new compilation, was the Beatles' annual fan-club Christmas record.

[41][46][nb 3] Writing in 1977, author Nicholas Schaffner commented that it was surprising that EMI's US counterpart, Capitol Records, did not also issue the compilation album, given the company's policy of maximising the number of Beatles releases in North America.

[39] A cover version of Larry Williams' "Bad Boy" was the sole new track for the UK market, [54] although it had already been released in the United States, on the Capitol album Beatles VI in June 1965.

[59] The compilation provided the debut UK album release for the following singles tracks: "From Me to You", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "I Feel Fine", "Day Tripper", "We Can Work It Out" and "Paperback Writer".

[40] Several tracks, including "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Day Tripper", "We Can Work It Out"[69] and "Paperback Writer",[70] were remixed in stereo for the album,[71] since the majority of the Beatles' singles had only been mixed for mono release previously.

[73] In the case of "She Loves You", the 1963 two-track recording tape had since been reused, forcing EMI engineer Geoff Emerick to return to the mono master and create a "mock stereo" mix.

[50] In the description of music journalist Martin O'Gorman, the cover image partly reflects the popularity of retro boutiques such as I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet; it also includes a man with a mop-top haircut reclining on a chair and "clad in Day-Glo striped trousers and a garishly patterned tie".

O'Gorman adds that, except for the moustaches that the four Beatles had recently grown, the artist had captured the band's new psychedelic image, which would be unveiled in the film clips for the two songs on their next single, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane".

[84] The Beatles are shown inspecting objets d'art that the Japanese promoter had arranged to have brought to the group's hotel suite,[81] on 1 and 2 July,[85] to help fill the time before their shows at the Budokan Hall.

[87] From Revolver onwards, the Beatles' more dedicated fans began analysing the band's song lyrics for hidden meaning,[90] and, in the description of American academic Camille Paglia, their album covers were also "feverishly scrutinized for clues and coded messages".

[92][93] This theory, which escalated in late 1969, contended that Paul McCartney had been decapitated in a car crash in November 1966[94] and replaced in the band by a lookalike[95][96] – a subterfuge that was facilitated by their retirement from live performance and change of image for Sgt.

[104][nb 9] The back-cover photo is also cited as evidence in the "Paul is dead" hoax, because of McCartney's atypical black attire, his distance from Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison,[108] and the appearance of smoke around him.

[121][123][nb 11] According to author Jonathan Gould, Epstein's concern was the Monkees, whose rise influenced his decision to cede to EMI's demands and release "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" as a single in February 1967.

"[133] They also commented on the record company's propensity, starting in 1963, for releasing the Beatles' hits and other previously issued songs on EPs – an approach they describe as an "Old Ukrainian saying: if it moves, sell it".

[134] Author Robert Rodriguez criticises EMI's commercial motivation, adding: "It must have been obvious to anyone paying attention that, given the low-rent design and their own oft-stated aversion to compilations, the Beatles had nothing to do with this project.

[136] In his review for AllMusic, Richard Ginell says that EMI did give fans value for their money, by offering sixteen songs instead of the usual quota of fourteen for a British LP release, one of which was the previously unissued track.

[59] According to a December 1971 report in Billboard on the preference for UK-pressed LPs among Los Angeles record-buyers, A Collection of Beatles Oldies was one of the most popular imported titles, and recognised as good value for its generous number of songs relative to the US industry standard.