By 1964 The Beatles had conquered the UK, Europe and other parts of the world, but the US was still uncharted territory. History shows that on February 9th 1964 they appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and suddenly the world changed. Watched by over 73 million people, the show was to launch Beatlemania in the USA and led to their first record-breaking tour in August of the same year.
Thus started one of the greatest stories in music history and a run of albums that has never been rivalled: 5 albums released between January and December 1964. Because they were so far behind the rest of the world, Capitol execs decided to release their own versions of albums that changed track lists, added singles, left some out, etc and for which they often created different mono mixes to those supplied by Abbey Road.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of this incredible year, the original US albums are to be reissued, all released in 1964 and early 1965, using the original master tapes, cutting them on the original lathe used by Capitol Studios at the time (now housed in Nashville).
This is the first time since the 1980’s that these albums have been released on vinyl using the US masters as cut for the original albums in 1964/65.
To celebrate the momentous year when Beatlemania exploded across the U.S., seven Beatles albums are collected for a spectacular new 8LP vinyl box set. 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 all 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 with constant reference to the original vinyl first pressings to ensure they are faithful to the original release, while also enabling more musical information to be heard than was possible before. 180 gram audiophile pressing. The Beatles’ Story 2LP is exclusive to the box set.
