The Beatles’ 1964 US albums have been collected for a mono vinyl boxset celebrating 60 years of global Beatlemania.
Originally compiled for US release between January 1964 and March 1965 by Capitol Records and United Artists, seven Beatles albums have been analog cut for 180g audiophile vinyl from their original mono master tapes for global release on 22 November 22 by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe.
Out of print on vinyl since 1995, the seven mono albums are available now for preorder in a new eight-LP box set titled The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono, with six of the titles also available individually.
All seven albums – Meet The Beatles!, The Beatles’ Second Album, A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track), Something New, The Beatles’ Story (2LP),Beatles ’65 and The Early Beatles – feature faithfully replicated artwork and new four-panel inserts with essays written by American Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer.
The albums’ new vinyl lacquers were cut by Kevin Reeves at Nashville’s East Iris Studios. The box set collects the seven albums, and all except The Beatles’ Story are also available individually.
The British Invasion
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, Paul, George and Ringo as The Beatles took their first steps on American soil.
Two nights later, on 9 February, 73 million viewers in the US 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”, already in full, feverish bloom in the UK and developing in the US, exploded with blissful fervour across America and around the world. The British Invasion had begun.
1964 was a banner year for The Beatles in the US (and all around the world), even by the band’s own ‘toppermost of the poppermost’ standards. The Beatles racked up 17 US Top 40 singles including six No.1s, six Top 10 albums including four No.1s, and a blockbuster film. By year’s end, Capitol had sold more than 15 million Beatles records.
Sixty years on, Beatlemania is timeless. The Beatles’ beacon is alight evermore, renewed with the wonder of each generation’s joyful discovery and in creative exploration of the band’s music and cultural eminence by musicians, filmmakers, writers, and other fans of all stripes.
‘Toppermost Of The Poppermost’
The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono (8LP 180g vinyl box set)
[all albums except The Beatles’ Story also available individually]
Meet The Beatles!
[Capitol Records: released January 20, 1964; 11 weeks at No. 1]
The Beatles’ Second Album
[Capitol Records: released April 10, 1964; five weeks at No. 1]
A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
[United Artists: released June 26, 1964; 14 weeks at No. 1]
Something New
[Capitol Records: released July 20, 1964; nine weeks at No. 2]
The Beatles’ Story [2LP]
[Capitol Records: released November 23, 1964; peaked at No. 7]
Beatles ’65
[Capitol Records: released December 15, 1964; nine weeks at No. 1]
The Early Beatles
[Capitol Records: released March 22, 1965; peaked at No. 43]
Preorder The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono boxset & individual LPs click here
Order Vintage Rock Presents The Beatles: The Early Years
Dan Biggane
Dan Biggane is a writer for Vintage Rock and Classic Pop magazines. A former entertainment editor at the Bath Chronicle newspaper, he’s interviewed numerous big names from the world of rock’n’roll, including Dion, Jerry Allison, and Slim Jim Phantom. He has also contributed a number of cover features for Vintage Rock including Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Billy Fury and Bo Diddley.
