The box set “The Beatles: 1964 US Albums In Mono” is out

Originally compiled for release in the United States between January 1964 and March 1965 by Capitol Records and United Artists, the seven Beatles albums were made using analogue cuts from the original master tapes to produce audiophile-grade 180g vinyl. Out today, via Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe, out of print on vinyl since 1995, the seven mono albums are now available combined in a new eight-LP box set entitled “The Beatles: 1964 US Albums In Mono”, with six of titles also available individually.

All seven albums – “Meet The Beatles!”, “The Beatles’ Second Album”, “A Hard Day’s Night” (Original Soundtrack), “Something New”, “The Beatles’ Story (2LP)”, “Beatles ’65” and “The Early Beatles” – have faithfully replicated graphics and new inserts with lyrics written by the American Beatles historian and author, Bruce Spizer. The album lacquer cuttings were made by Kevin Reeves at East Iris Studios in Nashville. The box set collects the seven albums and all, except “The Beatles’ Story”, are also available individually.

On February 7, 1964, scores of screaming fans gathered at John F. International Airport.

Kennedy in New York to catch a glimpse of John, Paul, George and Ringo as the Beatles first set foot on American soil. Two nights later, on February 9, 73 million viewers in the United States and millions more in Canada tuned into CBS to see the Beatles make their American television debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” At this moment in American cultural history, the Beatles performed five songs during the live broadcast. “Beatlemania”, already feverishly flourishing in the United Kingdom, homeland of the Beatles, and developing in the United States, exploded throughout America and the world. THE British Invasion had begun!.

Shortly before the Beatles’ US visit, Capitol Records obtained exclusive rights to release the group’s recordings in the United States in a deal with EMI. on January 20, 1964 the record label released “Meet The Beatles” with 12 songs taken mainly from the album “With The Beatles” (released in the UK on November 22, 1963).

To showcase the band’s original songwriting ability, Capitol replaced five cover songs from the UK album with three original songs: both sides of Capitol’s first single (“I Want To Hold Your Hand”/“I Saw Her Standing There”) and the B-side of the latest single released in the UK (“This Boy”). The album reached number 1 on the charts and remained at the top for 11 weeks, kicking off a series of successful Beatles albums compiled, titled and packaged by Capitol for the American market.

Already at the beginning of April, more than 3.6 million copies of the album “Meet The Beatles!” and with the singles, the Beatles conquered the top 5 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 4, a chart record that still stands today.

On April 10, Capitol released “The Beatles’ Second Album.” Its 11 tracks include the five covers not featured on “Meet The Beatles!”, three songs previously released in the United States on the Swan and Vee-Jay labels, as well as the B-side of the single “Can’t Buy Me Love” (“You Can’t Do That”), and two new songs recorded in March during the sessions for the band’s film debut, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (“I Call Your Name” and a cover of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally” ). Upon release, “The Beatles’ Second Album” replaced “Meet The Beatles!” topped the Billboard album charts for five weeks.

On June 26, United Artists released the US soundtrack album for ‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ which the studio would release in theaters nationwide in August. Along with its title track, the album includes “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her” and five other original Beatles songs, as well as four orchestral instrumentals arranged by George Martin. The soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard album chart and remained there for 14 consecutive weeks, totaling 51 weeks on the chart. Capitol decided to release “A Hard Day’s Night” as a single, reaching the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and selling more than a million copies in a very short time.

Released by Capitol on July 20, the Beatles’ “Something New” album includes five songs featured in the film “A Hard Day’s Night” and six songs new to America, including “Things We Said Today” and “Any Time At All”. Something New remained at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart for nine weeks, ranking just below the soundtrack.

Released in US cinemas in August, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ was a major box office success highly praised by critics, earning two nominations for the Academy Awards. Within days of the film’s release, the Beatles returned to North America for a month of performances, playing 32 concerts across Canada and the United States from August 19 to September 20.

Capitol’s next Beatles release was November 23: “The Beatles’ Story,” described on its cover as “A 2-disc narrative and musical biography of Beatlemania.”

An audio collection of interviews and jokes from the band members; song fragments; instrumental versions of Beatles songs performed by the Hollyridge Strings; anecdotes and stories about the band by John Babcock and others. The gatefold double album has a relatively short total running time of 50 minutes spread over four sides.

Capitol closed out 1964 with the album “Beatles ’65,” released Dec. 15 that promised “Great New Hits by John * Paul * George * Ringo” on its cover. The album brings together eight tracks from the UK No. 1 Beatles For Sale album (released December 4), plus three previously unreleased songs in America, including “I’ll Be Back” and both sides of the group’s latest English single (“I Feel Fine”https://www.rockol.it/”She’s A Woman”). Released in time for the holidays, “Beatles ’65” sold nearly two million copies in the first two weeks of its release and held the top spot for nine of its 71 weeks on the Billboard charts.

1964 was a banner year for the Beatles in the United States (and around the world), even by their own “toppermost of the poppermost” standards. The Beatles went on to have 17 Top 40 singles in the US, including six No. 1s, six Top 10 albums, including four No. 1, and one hit film. By the end of the year, Capitol had sold more than 15 million Beatles records.

Capitol released “The Early Beatles” on March 22, 1965. The album’s 11 tracks were first pressed in the United States by Vee-Jay Records, starting in February 1963 with the single “Please Please Me”https:/ /www.rockol.it/”Ask Me Why”, while the rest was released in January 1964 on the Vee-Jay album “Introducing The Beatles”. Vee-Jay released three songs from that album as hit singles in the United States in early 1964 (“Twist And Shout,” “Do You Want To Know A Secret,” and “Love Me Do”). Capitol’s exclusive American distribution rights to the songs came into effect in October 1964 following an agreement with Vee-Jay, and they were assembled into “The Early Beatles” album for their Capitol debut. .