Beatles

I’m in love with The Beatles, and I feel fine — and I bet you’ll feel that way too after I tell you that a new 180g 8LP box set titled The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono is officially slated for release on November 22, 2024, via Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe.

Originally compiled for U.S. release between January 1964 and March 1965 by Capitol Records and United Artists, the seven Beatles albums in this forthcoming collection have been “analog cut” (their words) from their original mono master tapes. To be more specific about that process, The Beatles team have confirmed with us directly that all the albums in this collection were cut for vinyl from the original master tapes using a “completely analog signal path and with constant reference to first generation pressings of the original albums.” Said albums were made using a Studer A80 master recorder with analog preview and program paths, and a Neumann VMS70 cutting lathe originally installed in Capitol Studios in 1971. In their words, “This specific all-analog cutting technique allows faithful representation of the full musical range and dynamics present on the original tapes.” Additionally, the albums’ new vinyl lacquers were cut by Kevin Reeves at Nashville’s East Iris Studios.

The YouTube clip below shares a brief sneak peek of what’s what in the 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono box.

Out of print on vinyl since 1995, the seven mono albums included in this new Beatles box set — 1) Meet The Beatles!, 2) The Beatles’ Second Album, 3) A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track), 4) Something New, 5) The Beatles’ Story (2LP), 6) Beatles ’65, and 7) The Early Beatles — all feature faithfully replicated artwork and new four-panel inserts with essays written by American Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer. Full tracklistings for each album in the 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono box set, along with the respective cover art and a look at the inserts, can all be found at the end of this story.

Except for the The Beatles’ Story 2LP set, each of the albums in this box are also available individually. The SRPs are as follows. The 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono box set is $299.98, while the six individual LPs go for $29.98 apiece. All of them can be preordered directly from The Beatles official U.S. store via this link. (If you’re overseas, go to the end of the second line of the menu at the top of that page and click on the British flag for the international store link.)

The following informational paragraphs come directly from the official 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono press release (albeit with a few AP-style edits).

On February 7, 1964, scores of screaming, swooning fans gathered at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to catch a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr as The Beatles took their first steps on American soil. Two nights later, on February 9, 1964, 73 million viewers in the U.S. and millions more in Canada tuned in to CBS to watch The Beatles make their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. In this cultural watershed moment in American history, The Beatles performed five songs on the live broadcast. Beatlemania was already in full, feverish bloom in The Beatles’ native U.K. and, following this key TV appearance, it exploded with blissful fervor across America and around the world. The British Invasion had begun.

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, and hence, the 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, which had been 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” b/w “I Saw Her Standing There”) and the latest U.K. single’s B-side (“This Boy”). The album hit No. 1 and held the top spot for 11 weeks, launching a hitmaking string of Beatles albums compiled, titled, and packaged by Capitol for the American market.

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, 1964, a stunning chart record that still stands.

On April 10, 1964, Capitol released The Beatles’ Second Album. Its 11 tracks include the five covers not included on Meet The Beatles! and 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 1964 during sessions for the band’s soon-to-be-released debut film, A Hard Day’s Night (i.e., “I Call Your Name” and a cover of Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”). Upon release, The Beatles’ Second Album replaced Meet The Beatles! atop Billboard’s albums chart, spending 5 weeks at No. 1.

On June 26, 1964, United Artists rush released the U.S. soundtrack album for A Hard Day's Night, which the studio would release to theaters nationwide that 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 well as four George Martin-arranged orchestral instrumentals of Beatles songs. The soundtrack topped Billboard’s albums chart at No. 1 for 14 consecutive weeks, in turn tallying a whopping 51 weeks on the chart in total. Capitol quickly released “A Hard Day’s Night” as a single, which topped Billboard’s Hot 100 and sold more than a million copies in short order.

Released by Capitol on July 20, 1964, The Beatles’ Something New album includes five songs featured in the film A Hard Day’s Night along with six tracks new for America, including “Things We Said Today” and “Any Time at All.” Something New held at No. 2 on Billboard’s albums chart for 9 weeks, just below the soundtrack for A Hard Day’s Night.

Released in U.S. theaters in August 1964, A Hard Day’s Night was a box office smash and a critics pick, earning two Academy Award nominations. Within days of the film’s release, The Beatles returned to North America for a monthlong mad dash of 32 concerts across the U.S. and Canada from August 19 to September 20, 1964.

Capitol’s next Beatles release was on November 23, 1964 — The Beatles’ Story, described on its cover as “A Narrative and Music Biography of Beatlemania on 2 Long-Play Records.” A charming audio grab-bag comprised of bandmember interview clips and quips, Beatles song snips, instrumental versions of Beatles songs performed by the Hollyridge Strings, and narration and Beatles storytelling by John Babcock and others plus various other bits and bobs, the gatefold-packaged double album has a relatively short total runtime of 50 minutes across its four sides.

Capitol capped The Fab Four’s breakout year with the forward-looking Beatles ’65 album, which was rush-released on December 15, 1964, and promised “Great New Hits by John * Paul * George * Ringo” on its cover. The album plucked eight tracks from the U.K. No. 1 Beatles for Sale album (which was released December 4, 1964), 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” b/w “She’s a Woman”). Out in time for the holidays, Beatles ’65 sold nearly 2 million copies within its first 2 weeks of release, and it held No. 1 for 9 of its 71 weeks on Billboard’s albums chart.

Without a doubt, 1964 was a banner year for The Beatles in the U.S. — and all around the world, for that matter — even by the band’s own “toppermost of the poppermost” standards. During those 12 heady months, The Beatles racked up 17 U.S. Top 40 singles including six No. 1s, six Top 10 albums including four No. 1s, and a blockbuster film to boot. By year’s end, Capitol had sold more than 15 million Beatles records.

Finally, Capitol released The Early Beatles on March 22, 1965. The album’s 11 tracks were initially released in the U.S. by Vee-Jay Records, starting in February 1963 with the “Please Please Me” b/w “Ask Me Why” single, and the rest issued in January 1964 on Vee-Jay’s Introducing The Beatles album. Vee-Jay also released three songs from that album as hitmaking U.S. singles in early 1964 (“Twist and Shout,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” and “Love Me Do”). Capitol’s exclusive American release rights for these tracks took effect in October 1964 upon settlement with Vee-Jay, and The Early Beatles collected them for their Capitol debut.

THE BEATLES
1964 U.S. ALBUMS IN MONO
180g 8LP box set (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe)

Meet The Beatles!

Side One
1. I Want To Hold Your Hand
2. I Saw Her Standing There
3. This Boy
4. It Won’t Be Long
5. All I’ve Got To Do
6. All My Loving

Side Two
1. Don’t Bother Me
2. Little Child
3. Till There Was You
4. Hold Me Tight
5. I Wanna Be Your Man
6. Not A Second Time

The Beatles’ Second Album

Side One
1. Roll Over Beethoven
2. Thank You Girl
3. You Really Got A Hold On Me
4. Devil In Her Heart
5. Money (That’s What I Want)
6. You Can’t Do That

Side Two
1. Long Tall Sally
2. I Call Your Name
3. Please Mister Postman
4. I’ll Get You
5. She Loves You

A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track)

Side One
1. A Hard Day’s Night
2. Tell Me Why
3. I’ll Cry Instead
4. I Should Have Known Better (Orchestral Instrumental)
5. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
6. And I Love Her (Orchestral Instrumental)

Side Two
1. I Should Have Known Better
2. If I Fell
3. And I Love Her
4. Ringo’s Theme (This Boy) (Orchestral Instrumental)
5. Can’t Buy Me Love
6. A Hard Day’s Night (Orchestral Instrumental)

Something New

Side One
1. I’ll Cry Instead
2. Things We Said Today
3. Any Time At All
4. When I Get Home
5. Slow Down
6. Matchbox

Side Two
1. Tell Me Why
2. And I Love Her
3. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
4. If I Fell
5. Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand

The Beatles’ Story

LP1, Side One
1. On Stage With The Beatles
2. How Beatlemania Began
3. Beatlemania In Action
4. Man Behind The Beatles – Brian Epstein
5. John Lennon
6. Who’s A Millionaire?

LP1, Side Two
1. Beatles Will Be Beatles
2. Man Behind The Music – George Martin
3. George Harrison

LP2, Side One
1. A Hard Day’s Night – Their First Movie
2. Paul McCartney
3. Sneaky Haircuts And More About Paul

LP2, Side Two
1. The Beatles Look At Life
2. “Victims” Of Beatlemania
3. Beatle Medley
4. Ringo Starr
5. Liverpool And All The World!

Beatles ’65

Side One
1. No Reply
2. I’m A Loser
3. Baby’s In Black
4. Rock And Roll Music
5. I’ll Follow The Sun
6. Mr. Moonlight

Side Two
1. Honey Don’t
2. I’ll Be Back
3. She’s A Woman
4. I Feel Fine
5. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby

The Early Beatles

Side One
1. Love Me Do
2. Twist And Shout
3. Anna (Go To Him)
4. Chains
5. Boys
6. Ask Me Why

Side Two
1. Please Please Me
2. P.S. I Love You
3. Baby It’s You
4. A Taste Of Honey
5. Do You Want To Know A Secret