Introducing... The Beatles
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| Introducing... The Beatles | ||
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| Studio album by the Beatles | ||
| Released | 6 January 1964 (one) 27 January 1964 (two) |
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| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 1963 | |
| Genre | Rock and roll | |
| Length | ??:?? | |
| Label | Vee-Jay VJLP 1062 (mono) VJSR 1062 (stereo) |
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| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| the Beatles chronology | ||
| Introducing... The Beatles (1964) |
Meet the Beatles! (1964) |
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Introducing... The Beatles was the first Beatles album released in the United States after Parlophone Records' U.S. affiliate, Capitol Records, passed on Please Please Me. It was first planned for release by Vee-Jay Records in July 1963, but because of a financial crisis caused by embezzlement by label chief Ewart Abner, all Vee-Jay releases for the second half of that year were cancelled; after a reorganisation by Vee-Jay ownership, the album was finally officially released on 10 January 1964. Essentially, this album was Please Please Me minus two tracks. Original pressings of Introducing...The Beatles did not include "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why". Capitol Records, through its subsidiary, Beechwood Music, controlled the publishing rights to "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You," Capitol threatened legal action against Vee Jay if Vee Jay did not cease distributing the album. Vee Jay responded by replacing the two tracks in question with "Ask Me Why" and "Please Please Me" on subsequent pressings. Introducing... The Beatles peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, spending nine straight weeks in that position, not quite able to knock Meet the Beatles! out of first place.
By the fall of 1964, with little other Beatles material to offer, Vee Jay attempted maintain its sales by issuing other variations of the album. On 1 October 1964, Vee Jay released The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons (Vee Jay VJDX-30), a two-record boxed set containing both Introducing...The Beatles and Golden Hits of the Four Seasons, a greatest hits album by Vee Jay's other major artist. On 12 October, Vee Jay reissued Introducing...The Beatles under the title, Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles (Vee Jay VJLP 1092). Although the re-titled album featured a newly-designed record jacket, the actual record label still bore the original title of the album. Oddly, Introducing... The Beatles was still available under its original title when Songs, Pictures and Stories was released, and Billboard charted both titles simultaneously, even though the contents were identical.
By early 1965, Vee Jay's rights to the album had expired, and, on 22 March 1965, Capitol issued The Early Beatles, which contained eleven tracks that had previously been issued on Introducing... The Beatles.
Contents |
[edit] Track Listing
- All tracks written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney except where noted. See also: Lennon-McCartney
[edit] Side one
- "I Saw Her Standing There" (Paul McCartney counting "one, two, three, four" is omitted)
- "Misery"
- "Anna (Go to Him)" (Alexander)
- "Chains" (Goffin-King)
- "Boys" (Dixon-Farrell)
- "Love Me Do" ("Ask Me Why" on Version 2)
[edit] Side two
- "P.S. I Love You" ("Please Please Me" on Version 2)
- "Baby It's You" (Bacharach-David-Williams)
- "Do You Want to Know a Secret"
- "A Taste of Honey" (Marlow-Scott)
- "There's a Place"
- "Twist and Shout" (Medley-Russell)
[edit] Credits
- John Lennon — guitar; vocals
- Paul McCartney — bass; vocals
- George Harrison — guitar; vocals
- Ringo Starr — drums; vocals
- George Martin — producer
[edit] External links
- Bruce Spizer's Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles Records on Vee-Jay website
- The Beatles on Vee-Jay Records
