| Meet the Beatles! | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 20 January 1964 | |||
| Recorded | 11 February – 23 October 1963 | |||
| Studio | EMI, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 26:43 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| The BeatlesNorth American chronology | ||||
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| The Beatles United States chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Meet the Beatles! | ||||
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Meet the Beatles! is a studio album by the English rock bandthe Beatles, released as their second album in the United States. It was the group's first American album to be issued byCapitol Records, on 20 January 1964 in bothmono andstereo formats. It topped thepopular album chart on 15 February 1964 and remained at number one for eleven weeks before being replaced byThe Beatles' Second Album. The cover featuredRobert Freeman's iconic portrait of the Beatles used in the United Kingdom forWith the Beatles, with a blue tint added to the original stark black-and-white photograph.[4]
After EMI's subsidiary Capitol Records repeatedly rejected requests by bothBrian Epstein andGeorge Martin to release Beatles records in the United States,EMI label headSir Joseph Lockwood sent a deputy toLos Angeles in November 1963 ordering Capitol Records to commence promoting and releasing Beatles records in the United States.[5] Despite the "first album" claim on theMeet the Beatles! cover, ten days prior to its release,Vee-Jay Records ofChicago beat Capitol to the punch with the release on 10 January 1964 of the Beatles' American debut albumIntroducing... The Beatles, which had been delayed for release for various reasons since the previous summer. Perhaps as a result of the Vee-Jay release, Liberty Music Shops advertised in theNew York Times of 12 January 1964 thatMeet the Beatles! was available for purchase, an ad not authorised by Capitol.[6]
In 2004, the album was released for the first time oncompact disc in both stereo and mono as part ofThe Capitol Albums, Volume 1box set, containing the original US stereo and mono mixes. In 2014,Meet the Beatles! was reissued on CD, individually and included in the Beatles boxed setThe U.S. Albums. Although following the running order forMeet the Beatles!, the mixes featured in this reissue are the UK mono and stereo mixes.[4][7]
By November 1963, the Beatles had already recorded over 35 songs for EMI's UKParlophone label, while Capitol Records in the US planned to release an album and a single, and more at a later date. The US rights to the Beatles' first 14 tracks were held by Vee Jay Records along with a few others. "She Loves You" had been issued in America on theSwan label and also sold poorly. In Britain, Parlophone was already releasing its second Beatles albumWith the Beatles and had issued several singles which were not included on any UK albums with the exception of the first two ("Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" and "Love Me Do"/"PS I Love You"). While the Beatles' first two British albums each contained 14 tracks, in the American market albums were typically limited to 12 tracks and it was expected that albums would include the current hit single.[citation needed]
The first three tracks on the album include the December 1963 Capitolsingle "I Want to Hold Your Hand" along with the record's USB-side, "I Saw Her Standing There," and its UK B-side, "This Boy," from the original November 1963 release.[citation needed] Neither "I Want to Hold Your Hand" nor "This Boy" had appeared on an album at the time in the UK, while "I Saw Her Standing There" had been the lead-off track tothe band's debut album. The other nine tracks onMeet the Beatles! were duplicated from its nearest UK counterpart album,With the Beatles. Those were original Beatles songs and not cover versions of songs by other artists with the exception of "Till There Was You". The remaining five tracks fromWith the Beatles were songs originally recorded by other artists. Capitol determined that for their first album they would only include original and fresh material. Capitol executives worried that the covers would turn Americans off the Beatles. The other five songs would appear on Capitol's next American LP,The Beatles' Second Album, released in April 1964.[8] The songs "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy" are in a duophonic [fake] stereo, because Capitol had not been provided proper stereo mixes.[citation needed]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [9] |
| The Rolling Stone Record Guide | [10] |
The album was included inRobert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[11] In 2001, the album was inducted intoGrammy Hall of Fame.[12] In 2003, the album was ranked at number 59 onRolling Stone's500 Greatest Albums of All Time list,[13] re-ranked at number 53 on the 2012 list,[14] and re-ranked at number 197 in 2020.[15]
In the U.S., the album debuted at No. 92 on thealbum chart for the week ending 1 February 1964. Two weeks later, it peaked at #1 where it remained for eleven consecutive weeks, eventually to be replaced byThe Beatles' Second Album. It sold 4,045,174 copies by 31 December 1964, and 4,699,348 copies by the end of the decade.[16] It was certified Gold by theRIAA on 3 February 1964, and 5× Platinum on 26 December 1991.[17]
All tracks written byJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Want to Hold Your Hand" | Lennon and McCartney | 2:24 |
| 2. | "I Saw Her Standing There" | McCartney | 2:50 |
| 3. | "This Boy" | Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison | 2:11 |
| 4. | "It Won't Be Long" | Lennon with McCartney | 2:11 |
| 5. | "All I've Got to Do" | Lennon | 2:05 |
| 6. | "All My Loving" | McCartney | 2:04 |
| Total length: | 13:45 | ||
| No. | Title | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Bother Me" (George Harrison) | Harrison | 2:28 |
| 2. | "Little Child" | Lennon | 1:46 |
| 3. | "Till There Was You" (Meredith Willson) | McCartney | 2:12 |
| 4. | "Hold Me Tight" | McCartney | 2:30 |
| 5. | "I Wanna Be Your Man" | Starr | 1:59 |
| 6. | "Not a Second Time" | Lennon | 2:03 |
| Total length: | 12:58 | ||
According toIan MacDonald:[18]
The Beatles
Additional musician and production
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