A favorable review of the box set which quotes from Bruce’s liner notes.

by Greg Brodsky

EXCERPT:

Shortly before the Beatles’ history-making Stateside visit, Capitol Records secured exclusive U.S. rights to release the band’s recordings in a deal with EMI. The storied, already iconic record label rush released Meet The Beatles! on January 20, 1964. The album features 12 tracks drawn largely from the band’s U.K. album With The Beatles (released November 22, 1963). Showcasing the band’s original songwriting, Capitol replaced five cover songs from the U.K. album with three originals: both sides of the Beatles’ first Capitol single (“I Want To Hold Your Hand”/“I Saw Her Standing There”) and the latest U.K. single’s B-side (“This Boy”). (And don’t overlook the great LP cut, “Hold Me Tight.”)

Spizer’s notes for the album underscore Capitol’s decisions. “The company believed that the title With The Beatles lacked energy,” he writes. “As the album would be introducing the band to this country, Capitol came up with Meet The Beatles! An exclamation point was added to emphasize the excitement generated by the group. Capitol added text to describe the record as ‘The First Album by England’s Phenomenal Pop Combo.’” 

By early April, more than 3.6 million Meet The Beatles! albums had been sold, and on the singles front, the Beatles swept the Billboard Hot 100’s top 5 positions on April 4, a stunning chart record that still stands. On April 10, Capitol released The Beatles’ Second Album. Its 11 tracks include the five covers not included on Meet The Beatles!, three songs previously released in the U.S. by the Swan and Vee-Jay labels, plus the B-side to the band’s U.S. “Can’t Buy Me Love” single (“You Can’t Do That”), and two new songs recorded in March during sessions for the band’s soon to be released debut film, A Hard Day’s Night (“I Call Your Name” and a cover of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”). Their great cover of Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” potently leads off the album. [It’s available separately in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.] Spizer notes, “The eye-catching front cover contains a series of sepia-tinted photographs, informs shoppers that the LP features ‘She Loves You’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ and accurately proclaims: ‘Electrifying Big-Beat Performances by England’s Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.’” Upon release, The Beatles’ Second Album replaced Meet The Beatles! atop Billboard’s album chart for five weeks.

n June 26, United Artists rush-released the U.S. soundtrack album for A Hard Day’s Night, which the studio would release to theaters nationwide in August. Along with its buoyant title track, the album features “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her” and five more Beatles originals. As Spizer notes, “As United Artists only had eight Beatles recordings for its soundtrack album, it had to turn to another source for the needed additional tracks—George Martin, who the company had recently signed as a recording artist. Martin provided four orchestral arrangements of Beatles songs for the LP.”

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Released by Capitol on July 20, The Beatles’ Something New album includes five songs featured in the band’s A Hard Day’s Night film and six tracks new for America, including “Things We Said Today” and “Any Time At All.” “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You” offers a superb lead vocal from George. Spizer notes, “The Capitol album was set for release in early August to coincide with the American debut of the film. But when United Artists issued its soundtrack LP in late June, Capitol decided to alter the content of its LP and push up its release. Ads appearing in the July 25 issues of Billboard, Cash Box and Record World informed distributors and stores that ‘Millions of Beatlemaniacs are waiting for Something New right now!’” 

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Capitol capped 1964 with the forward-looking Beatles ’65 album, rush released on December 15—”nearly two weeks ahead of its originally scheduled date of December 28,” notes Spizer, thanks to the label subcontracting pressing plants from other labels—and promising “Great New Hits by John ∗ Paul ∗ George ∗ Ringo” on its cover. The album plucks eight tracks from the U.K. #1 Beatles For Sale album (released December 4), plus three more songs new for America, including “I’ll Be Back” and both sides of the band’s latest U.K. single (“I Feel Fine”/“She’s A Woman”). (And don’t overlook “I’ll Follow the Sun,” with Paul’s beautiful vocal.) Out in time for the holidays, Beatles ’65 sold nearly two million copies within its first two weeks of release and held #1 for nine of its 71 weeks on Billboard’s album chart.

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All seven albums—iMeet The Beatles!, The Beatles’ Second Album, A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track), Something New, The Beatles’ Story (2-LPs), Beatles ’65, and The Early Beatles—feature faithfully replicated artwork—including the inner sleeves—and new four-panel inserts with essays written by American Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer. 

…

Shortly before the Beatles’ history-making Stateside visit, Capitol Records secured exclusive U.S. rights to release the band’s recordings in a deal with EMI. The storied, already iconic record label rush released Meet The Beatles! on January 20, 1964. The album features 12 tracks drawn largely from the band’s U.K. album With The Beatles (released November 22, 1963). Showcasing the band’s original songwriting, Capitol replaced five cover songs from the U.K. album with three originals: both sides of the Beatles’ first Capitol single (“I Want To Hold Your Hand”/“I Saw Her Standing There”) and the latest U.K. single’s B-side (“This Boy”). (And don’t overlook the great LP cut, “Hold Me Tight.”)

Spizer’s notes for the album underscore Capitol’s decisions. “The company believed that the title With The Beatles lacked energy,” he writes. “As the album would be introducing the band to this country, Capitol came up with Meet The Beatles! An exclamation point was added to emphasize the excitement generated by the group. Capitol added text to describe the record as ‘The First Album by England’s Phenomenal Pop Combo.’” The album hit #1 and held the top spot for 11 weeks, launching a hit-making string of Beatles albums compiled, titled and packaged by Capitol for the American market. 

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Read the full article here: It’s Beatlemania! Beatles ’64 U.S. Albums Return To Vinyl in Mono | Best Classic Bands