I find it strange that anyone on the site should be arguing about the content of a compilation album. If you want more White Album songs, listen to the White Album. Theses albums came out before the Past Masters series, so there was a need to include some b-sides that some people hadn't heard before.

Compilations are for the casual listener, not for the serious fan. If you want a compilation that has everything you want on it, make your own, it's simple enough.

Quoted from ShesCominDownFastYesSheIs

well of course I think you're crazy to say While My Guitar Gently Weeps is "drivel" when it's one of the greatest rock songs ever but I myself have also been critical of the Blue Album. Disc 1 is pretty perfect. but disc 2 is a joke. Don't Let Me Down and Old Brown Shoe included? b-sides? only three White album songs?? (USSR, While My Guitar, Ob La Di) that's a travesty. I'm sure they could have replaced Don't Let Me Down and Old Brown Shoe with better songs (Helter Skelter, Dear Prudence) or more popular songs (Blackbird, Birthday, Rocky Raccoon) from the White album.

Again, the point of including b-sides was to encourage people who already had beatle Albums to buy this one. It was 1973, only 3 years after the breakup, so merely repeating so many album tracks barely five years old would have been silly.

Quoted from Kevin

Again, the point of including b-sides was to encourage people who already had beatle Albums to buy this one. It was 1973, only 3 years after the breakup, so merely repeating so many album tracks barely five years old would have been silly.

You're right! I've never saw it that way.

You're right about including the B-sides, to make people want to buy the compilations.  Makes perfect sense, and it puts to rest my question about why.  

I actually think that "1967-1970" has the better track selection of the two.  Sure, it skips out on some of my all-time favourite (the "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" medley, "Blackbird"), and skips over some of the more critically-acclaimed songs ("Helter Skelter," "Happiness Is a Warm Gun"), but really, when you think about it, this covers most of their most commercial songs from the 1967-1970 timeframe.  The only strange inclusion I always found was "Old Brown Shoe."  I can completely understand its value in 1973, but it certainly hasn't stood the test of time as much as other B-sides like "I Am the Walrus" or "Revolution."

I think the problem lies with the Red Album.  It skips out on "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There" (as well as their top ten hits "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and "P.S. I Love You," but I'm not at all disappointed that these two were left off).  The fact that six songs from Rubber Soul compared to the two from Revolver is quite a head-scratcher.  Perhaps Knocking off "Girl" in favour of "Here, There and Everywhere," plus "Got to Get You Into My Life," to balance things out a bit:

Disc 1
1. Love Me Do
2. Please Please Me
3. I Saw Her Standing There
4. Twist and Shout
5. From Me to You
6. She Loves You
7. I Want to Hold Your Hand
8. All My Loving
9. Can't Buy Me Love
10. A Hard Day's Night
11. And I Love Her
12. Eight Days a Week
13. I Feel Fine
14. Ticket to Ride
15. Yesterday

Disc 2
1. Help!
2. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
3. We Can Work It Out
4. Day Tripper
5. Drive My Car
6. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
7. Nowhere Man
8. Michelle
9. In My Life
10. Paperback Writer
11. Eleanor Rigby
12. Got to Get You Into My Life
13. Here, There and Everywhere
14. Yellow Submarine

But when it's all said and done, I can't complain too much about the Red and Blue albums, as they were  my introduction to the band.  And I probably listened to the set every single day for a year straight, until I had to stop listening to it! Then I got into their studio albums, then their solo music, etc.  So overall, I would say they are a very successful compilation series.

Don't Let Me Down is one of their best songs, it feels and looks when you watch the film, that its the Beatles of '63 for those few minutes and all the BS is put to one side.