The Beatles' tenth album was released in January 1969. Unusual for a soundtrack album, this was exactly six months after the 'Yellow Submarine' movie's premiere in London. One side of the original LP was devoted to six Beatles tracks and the other featured a new recording of the film's orchestral score composed by The Beatles' producer George Martin. Clearly, the title song had to be included so "Yellow Submarine", a number one from 1966, opens the album. It also featured "All You Need Is Love" from 1967, which was, as Paul McCartney saw it, "basically the message of the movie."
The remaining tracks were previously unreleased songs first heard in the film. Three came from 1967. George Harrison's "It's Only A Northern Song" dated from the sessions for 'St. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', but was replaced on that album by his composition "Within You Without You". Another of his songs, "It's All Too Much," was recorded on 25 May 1967 - a week before 'Sgt. Pepper' was released. It was around this time that The Beatles signed up to provide some new as well as old songs for the movie. The sing-a-long catchiness of "All Together Now" proved perfect for the finale of 'Yellow Submarine'. As John recalled, during the latter part of the film's production, "they wanted another song so I knocked off 'Hey Bulldog'. It's a good-sounding record that means nothing". Typical Lennon understatement. This outstanding example of how hard The Beatles could rock together was recorded, overdubbed and mixed in a single ten-hour session on 11 February 1968.
Directed by George Dunning, the innovative animation of Yellow Submarine evoked the psychedelic spirit of 'Sgt. Pepper' to show the triumph of Love over Evil. As George Harrison observed: "That film works for every generation - every baby, three or four years old, goes through 'Yellow Submarine'." It is an illustration of how easily children fall under the spell of The Beatles' music - a melodic force more powerful than all the sour Blue Meanies of the world. — Kevin Howlett