Rarities was conceived to include lesser known songs that were not included on any other original Beatles album — these included B-sides of singles, two German language recordings, the tracks from an EP with exclusive material, a song recorded for the American market and a version of "Across the Universe" that had previously appeared on a World Wildlife Fund charity record. The album was released on 2 November 1978 in Britain, as part of the British edition of The Beatles Collection boxed set. It was also issued in 12 October 1979 in the United Kingdom as a stand-alone album.