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9.27pm
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17 December 2012
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I was thinking, over the next few months (years), there’s bound to be many threads started saying this, that, or the other, happened 50 years ago today… So I thought I would pre-empt and try creating a thread for all…
So, here is the first entry, it was 50 years ago today that The Beatles first American album was released. No, not Meet The Beatles, which would not be released until 20 January, but the first version Vee-Jay’s Introducing The Beatles.
It wasn’t a totally legal album, as Vee-Jay had had their license to release Beatles material withdrawn over non-payment of royalties due to cash-flow problems in August 1963. They looked at what was happening, saw some much needed income coming their way, and thought, “Feck it! We’ll deal with the legal problems later! We need the money!”
It was basically the Please Please Me album with Please Please Me and Ask Me Why removed (as well as the count-in to I Saw Her Standing There apart from the “four”). Six days after release, Vee-Jay would receive their first stop order. Capitol’s publishing subsidiary Beechwood Music Inc. owned the rights to Love Me Do and PS I Love You , and declared Vee-Jay had no right to issue them.
On the 10 February Introducing The Beatles would be re-released, with Please Please Me and Ask Me Why replacing Love Me Do and PS I Love You . Vee-Jay would eventually reach an agreement that allowed them six months to capitalise on the material – which saw album after album released using the same twelve tracks.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
12.18am
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Online Question. Where does the 6th January 1964 release date come from, i’ve seen it in a number of places (haven’t read Spizer’s book)? Do a google search for “introducing the beatles release date”and it says both – with the 6th the most prominent.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
12.48am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline The 6th is a date that crops up, and it is possible that some copies reached stores on that date, while the official release date was the 10th. There is much mystery surrounding the first version of Introducing The Beatles. For many years, the majority of Beatles books referenced it as coming out sometime in the summer of 1963. That was disproved. Vee-Jay’s documentation give it a 10 January release date, so the 6th is just one of those confusing dates around release dates and when things reached the shops in among those early US months.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
12.56am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Nice thread mja – I look forward to the barrage of dates.
Man, I was just a little kid attending a tiny primary school in Llandegfan (Anglesey – North Wales) back then – still liked the Beatles though – Mum was a great one for listening to the latest songs on the radio (when they played them). We also used to wait for Radio Luxembourg to phase in and out – and loved the pirate stations when they set up shop offshore.
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
12.58am
22 December 2013
Offline This was actually the first Beatles album that I ever bought (JCPenney, Buffalo, NY), but it was the Stereo (well, it said ‘Stereo'
version which actually looked a little different, it had a dark brown border around all four sides instead of the white ‘Stereophonic’ banner across the top. One thing about it I remember was that the “count in” for ‘I Saw Her Standing There ‘ just said “4!” before the song kicked in…:-)
1.26am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline This would be the version you had, Billy Rhythm, the 10 February re-release.
Ironically, as I type this, BBC News are doing a report on its release! Now that’s a Beatley Moment!
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
1.37am
22 December 2013
Offline mja6758 said
This would be the version you had, Billy Rhythm, the 10 February re-release.
Ironically, as I type this, BBC News are doing a report on its release! Now that’s a Beatley Moment!
Yeah, that would be the one, but mine still had ‘Love Me Do ‘ & ‘P.S. I Love You’ instead of ‘Please Please Me ‘ & ‘Ask Me Why ‘, or the same listing as the ‘Stereophonic’ version…:-)
1.44am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Some early versions of the 10 February re-release came with the 10 January disc because Vee-Jay didn’t want to waste stock, but wanted it to look like they were doing what they were meant to be doing to avoid getting sued. Not that it held off the lawyers for long!
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
1.49am
22 December 2013
Offline mja6758 said
Some early versions of the 10 February re-release came with the 10 January disc because Vee-Jay didn’t want to waste stock, but wanted it to look like they were doing what they were meant to be doing to avoid getting sued. Not that it held off the lawyers for long!
Man, if only I’d hung on to it, I kept it in pretty good shape too. The fidelity sounded much better than Capitol’s albums, very much the same as the UK releases, good thicker vinyl too with the plain black ‘VeeJay’ label…:-)
3.25pm
8 November 2012
Offline4.29pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline It was 50 years ago today, while staying at Georges V hotel in Paris, and appearing at the Olympia in support of Trini Lopez, that The Beatles learned I Want To Hold Your Hand had reached #1 on the US Billboard chart. They were “the toppermost of the poppermost”. They were lucky enough (despite Paul’s constant claim about not doing America until they had a #1) to have a long-standing booking on Ed Sullivan within a month to consolidate their position and introduce themselves properly. Which, boy!, did they do!
On this day they reached the top of the hill, despite all the achievements and wonders that followed, this was the moment! There is a wonderful picture, that sadly I couldn’t find via Google, of Brian sat in a chair, with the stunned Beatles all sitting around his feet. He had said they would be bigger than Elvis, but they all knew it was nothing without America, and now they had America!
The “British Invasion” had begun, a cultural earthquake that would change America forever.
Here are some Paris photos.
John Lennon , a few weeks later, after they had turned left at Greenland and were approaching New York, John would show a moment of nervousness and ask, paraphrase, “They have everything! Why do they need us?”
The world needed The Beatles, and is still in their debt.
Thank you, John. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, George. Thank you, Ringo.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
9.03pm
8 November 2012
Offline In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Meet the Beatles!, Consequence of Sound article on how the album changed rock ‘n roll.
parlance
12.45am
9 August 2011
Offline mja6758 said (regarding Introducing the Beatles), “It was basically the Please Please Me album with Please Please Me and Ask Me Why removed.”
Interestingly, my copy – looking exactly like the one posted by mja6758 does have these two songs.
“Please Please Me ” is the first song on the second side.
Mind you, I bought it after buying Meet the Beatles. It was a tough choice. Was I going to spend ALL my saved up allowance again on an album with such an unattractive cover. They all looked very jaundiced.
The following people thank Into the Sky with Diamonds for this post:
Beatlebug"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)
1.06am
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Into the Sky with Diamonds said
mja6758 said (regarding Introducing the Beatles), “It was basically the Please Please Me album with Please Please Me and Ask Me Why removed.”Interestingly, my copy – looking exactly like the one posted by mja6758 does have these two songs.
“Please Please Me ” is the first song on the second side.
Mind you, I bought it after buying Meet the Beatles. It was a tough choice. Was I going to spend ALL my saved up allowance again on an album with such an unattractive cover. They all looked very jaundiced.
OOO! You’ve peaked my interest! Do you mean it looked like the first sleeve or the brown-bordered second sleeve? If the first sleeve, does it have the correct tracklisting? Does it have a pasted on tracklisting/back? Just I know they slipped version one records into version two sleeves, did they slip version two records into unused version one sleeves with a “butcher sleeve” cover up? Was there a third version that combined the two covers?
Ooo! So much to know! So little time!
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
5.07pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Online 
CBS have a number of cool clips and articles on the Beatles 50 Years Later, Alley Cats In Agony featuring archival clips with the fans (one female expressing her love for Ringo’s nose
) being one of the highlights.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
8.34pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Here’s an oddity that some of you may not know. 50 years ago today, to cash in on the success of I Want To Hold Your Hand , their first US release was re-released. What was it? It’s below the spoiler tab.
Decca 31382, released 23 April 1962!
The rarest of rare US singles (other than promos, etc.).
It was re-released on this day by MGM, as K-13213, with slight alterations (!) to its description, and reached #26 on the Billboard chart.
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
9.14pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Online mja6758 said
Here’s an oddity that some of you may not know. 50 years ago today, to cash in on the success of I Want To Hold Your Hand , their first US release was re-released. What was it? It’s below the spoiler tab.
Decca 31382, released 23 April 1962!
The rarest of rare US singles (other than promos, etc.).
It was re-released on this day by MGM, as K-13213, with slight alterations (!) to its description, and reached #26 on the Billboard chart.
Will that be the same release of that some that George read out on Saturday Club when reciting which songs of theirs where in the US charts in February 1964 (“which is a laugh!”).
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
9.20pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline Yes, it is, and thank you for editing your post. I was about to go 
but now I can 
"I only said we were bigger than Rod... and now there's all this!" Ron Nasty
To @ Ron Nasty it's @ mja6758
The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
9.33pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Online I realised that it was a spoiler you posted so amended. Generally i balls up a post and have to go and edit it 45 times before its done, and even then its still got an error in it. I don’t edit my posts after someone posts after it, regardless of if its quoted or not.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
9.41pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline mja6758 said
Here’s an oddity that some of you may not know. 50 years ago today, to cash in on the success of I Want To Hold Your Hand , their first US release was re-released. What was it? It’s below the spoiler tab.Decca 31382, released 23 April 1962!
The rarest of rare US singles (other than promos, etc.).
It was re-released on this day by MGM, as K-13213, with slight alterations (!) to its description, and reached #26 on the Billboard chart.
What a difference 2 years makes when it comes to top billing!! Great post.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
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