On this day in 1968, the Beatles released their first single on their own Apple Records label

After spending their early years signed with EMI, The Beatles decided to go it alone, increasing their ability to try differing methods of promotion and more experimental works. They began with “Hey Jude”, written by Paul McCartney while driving to visit Cynthia Lennon and her son after her separation from John.

McCartney continued to rehearse and refine the song, before bringing it to the rest of the band for recording during the sessions for their self-titled double album, more commonly known as “The White Album”. The song became the first Beatles composition to be recorded on eight-track recording equipment and it was quickly marked for release as a single, backed with “Revolution”, written by Lennon.

The song was bundled with three other singles from new Apple signees, Mary Hopkins, Jackie Lomax and the Black Dyke Mills Band in a pack named “Our First Four” and sent gift-wrapped boxes of the singles to members of the royal family and the UK Prime Minister, an example of the more unorthodox methods of promotion they were now able to utilise.