60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
1/10/64 - Vee-Jay Records releases "Introducing the Beatles," the first Beatles album to be released in the US, beating Capitol to the punch by about ten days.
For the most part, this album resembles The Beatles' first British album "Please Please Me," released in March of 1963. (Oddly enough, they used a completely different cover photograph ... and we wouldn't see the British album cover here in The States until Apple released the Red and Blue compilation LP's in 1973. Then, we got to see the same staged balcony shot, showing the 1963 Beatles and the 1969 Beatles, a VERY cool concept, especially within the context of the 1969 proposed album title at the time, "Get Back" ... kinda like when The Fabs donned their old collarless suit jackets for the "Hello Goodbye" video in '67.)
Once Capitol Records claimed full control of The Beatles' Parlophone catalog, it would release "The Early Beatles" as their FIFTH US LP, featuring most of the tunes included on this Vee Jay album, minus the track "Misery," which never appeared on an American Capitol album release. (Oddly enough, neither did "From Me To You," a #1 Hit in Great Britain ... their first "official" #1, in fact ... and yet this track never graced a Capitol LP.)
For their part, Vee Jay milked the Beatles cash cow for as long as they could, before the lawsuits and debt collectors finally shut them down. Between Vee Jay and its subsidiary label, Tollie, no less than six of these LP tracks were also released as singles: "Please Please Me," "Twist And Shout," "There's A Place," "Do You Want To Know A Secret," "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" (plus "From Me To You" and "Thank You Girl.") A highly collectible EP was also released, offering "A Souvenir of The Beatles First Visit To America," featuring "Misery," "Anna," "A Taste Of Honey" and "Ask Me Why," bringing the total of LP tracks also available at 45 rpm to TEN!) The only tracks missing were "Boys" and "Chains," which probably would have made for a great two-sided hit all of its own!
Even the album itself was repackaged in various ways, including the version that I bought ("Songs, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles") and as one half of a two-record set, sharing space with Vee Jay's other big act, The Four Seasons, who by now had jumped ship to Phillips Records. (Never underestimate the buying power of a rabid teenage fan!)
Also on 1/10, The Rolling Stones record what will turn out to be their first American single, "Not Fade Away," a Buddy Holly tune that won't make much of a mark on the US charts, ultimately peaking at #48 in Billboard and #44 in Cash Box.
