Beatle LP’s and Remembrances Part 1
Last week I posted a number of collectibles and started to think about how I could do something a bit different regarding the Beatles. I have decided to take the American LP’s, all 19 of them until 1970,and break them up into 5 parts with recollections of the years involved. I have also included links to my favourite songs from those recordings
I think the first time I really was aware of something other than myself and how the world revolved around me was when JFK was assassinated. November 22, 1963. I had not as yet moved into Manhattan. I was in school, the Principal came on the PA system, and sent us home. I still wasn’t quite sure what was going on. Oddly enough, it was also the day Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) died. All I can remember was there were a lot of people at my house crying and that all television programs had been pre-empted! Two days later Lee Harvey Oswald was shot.
In retrospect, it really was a moment in time when the future had opened its’ door and from there we starting moving at an accelerated pace! The Warren Commision, Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped, Kenya and Zanzibar gain independence, and on the 26th of December, I Want to Hold Your Hand is released!
I was 10 years old when Introducing the Beatles was released on January 10, 1964, delayed for release from the previous summer. AM Radio. WABC, WMCA Good Guys, Herb Oscar Anderson, Ron Lundy, Harry Harrison, Dan Ingram, Jack Spector, Dandy Dan Daniel, and Gary Spector. That’s how we learned about the new thing coming out of England.
As early as I can remember, let’s say right around the time of Elvis, I was already conscious of music more than would be “normal” for a 3 year old! When I heard this music on the radio, I immediately, like so many other kids, gravitated to it. It had something more than the teen idols could offer. It certainly sounded both novel and familiar at the same time! Who new that within 30 days, everything would change!
It would be years before I understood all of the legal shenanigans the people who owned Vee Jay Records were forced to endure with Capitol Records and United Artists.
Just 10 days later on January 20, 1964 out came Meet the Beatles Things were certainly moving fast. I didn’t know it at the time, but the Beatles were what I was waiting for. I guess I was one of the fortunate ones to know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Music was and is my whole life. Not only a professional musician I am a professional fan! I believe there is no other art form that can transport you the way music does. When you listen to a song, you can visualize the first time you heard it. Where you were, what you were wearing, who you were with etc. When this record came out, I studied the album cover,
The back cover, I read the liner notes over and over. I studied their outfits down to the Beatle boots with the Cuban heels!
A couple of interesting facts, the “Hit heard round the world” I Want to Hold Your Hand and This Boy were in duophonic [fake] stereo, due to the lack of a proper stereo mix that was supposed to be given to Capitol Records. In addition, I Saw Her Standing There has a special mono remix done specifically for the American single and album release. Let’s also not forget
All My Loving. One of my favorites! In 2003, the album was ranked number 59 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
3 months later on April 10, 1964 The Beatles Second Album was released. It went to number one on the album charts in the US, knocking off Meet the Beatles!, the first time an artist replaced itself at number one on the US album charts. Capitol Records, 
sensing the momemtum, compiled this recording from four different UK releases and some B-sides. Many Beatle fans consider this to be the Beatles most pure Rock and Roll LP. To add to the sound of the recording, the Capitol engineers added a lot of echo and reverb.
A lot of covers from their early days graced this LP. But the three tunes that I wore out were:
Worth noting is the inclusion of the stereo version of “Thank You Girl,” as The Beatles’ Second Album featured the only “true” stereo version of the song released on any US or UK album for over 40 years, until another stereo version of the song was released on the 2009 remastered edition of Past Masters
A Hard Day’s Night hit store on June 26, 1964. The movie actually premiered on the eve of Ringo’s Birthday July 6th, 1964 at the Pavilion Theatre in London and the UK LP release was July 10, 1964.
is the third studio album by The Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 as thesoundtrack to their film A Hard Day’s Night The American version of the album was released on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records with a different track listing. It was eventually replaced by the original UK version with its first release on CD, 26 February 1987.
Before A Hard Day’s Night was released in America, a United Artists executive asked Lester to dub the voices of the group with mid-Atlantic accents. McCartney angrily replied, “Look, if we can understand a fuckin’ cowboy talking Texan, they can understand us talking Liverpool.”
The title of the album was the accidental creation of drummer Ringo Starr. According to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: “I was going home in the car and Dick Lester [director of the movie] suggested the title, ‘Hard Day’s Night’ from something Ringo had said. I had used it in ‘In His Own Write’, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny… just said it. So Dick Lester said, ‘We are going to use that title.”
I was 11 years old when my sister took me to the Bay Terrace Theater in Bayside, NY and my life forever changed! Not only did I see a great movie but I figured out with all of those girls screaming, I should be a musician too! I had never experienced something that so radically transformed me! This blog, my performing and recording career, my businesses all, are a direct result of the Beatles and the sheer optimism they exuded.
A wonderful time was had by all!
Although I prefer the clean British versions of these early recordings, the extra echo and reverb added by Capitol Records for the US market added a bit of excitement and power to these songs that made them pop out of the AM radio speakers. Hearing those versions today reminds me of Beatlemania and driving in my Dad’s car listening to them for the first time. They really got carried away though with too much enhancement on I Feel Fine and She’s A Woman. Those are almost inaudible. The new stereo and mono re-masters (no added echo and reverb) are the best sounding versions to listen to today but those Capitol mixes really give the feeling of Beatlemania as I remember it.
Thanks Ray! I wanted to stick with what we all new bqck in the early 60′s so I played it as close to the vest as possible.
Great stuff, David! Congrats! I think this is where I get my passion for vintage clothing from, right around that time. Every look was a statement. I was young but very aware of all the clothing the older teens wore. We really were trying to overturn our parents stiff 1950′s look (even though I love that too) and become a new and different generation. One that wasn’t afraid of expressing our feelings.
Thanks Mercedes! I think we need to revisit this decade and model what I believe was a cultural Renaissance
We could learn a lot once again!
Hey david,
love it all. i must however give a mention to a couple of DJ’s who should always be remembered for what they brought to music and even more to the very fabric of life in NYC as defined by AM radio and later FM.First i’ll start with Murray the K,( Murray Kaufman)in you article you left out 1010Wins which i believe, because of Murray, was a more influential station.Murray was a force unto himself and also branched out into tv on channel 5 in NYC with great acts for his specials.He really pushed the Beatles and promoted them non stop.Murray new a winner when he heard one.
i would then move over to someone else who was omitted from the list the late great “Professor” Scott (Scottso) Muni. a true giant in NYC radio, AM and FM.
a little story,when FM was taking over there was a station perhaps NYC first”Progrssive”rock station WOR-FM they had Murray the K,Scott Muni and Rosko.The other station was WNEW-FM but when it first started WNEW -FM had all women DJ’s. Anyway one day something happened between Murray and WOR-fm management,i seem to recall it was over control of programming,Murray wanted to play what he wanted with no interference from the “suits”.Murray either quit or was fired,they called in Scott Muni who followed Murrays show(the line up was Murray,Scott and then Rosko)Scott was unaware of what had gone down and he famously said that Murray had always been good to mhim and mentored him and if Murray didn’t like what was going on and he left well Scott was going as well and he quit on air,just like that.Rosko was called in and he followed suit by also resigning,a nite to remember.the next day or maybe a day or 2 later WNEW-FM fired all its women DJ’s except Alison Steele,”the Nightbird” and hired Scott and Rosko.Murray the K was not hired because of legal disputes he was having with WNEW-TV from his old TV shows.
As we know WNEW -FM went on to become a radio legend.
Thanks for your comments John
I appreciate your input
I am planning a few segments on NY radio so please stay tuned!
I am always tuned in,i love the blog wouldn’t miss it
Thank you