Wednesday, June 10, 2015

BEATLES VI

Following the somewhat uneventful release of the Capitol Records album The Early Beatles on March 22nd, 1965, there was a great deal of anticipation for the next worldwide single featuring the latest new material from the band.  This time, British fans were treated first on April 9th and we poor Americans had to wait a full ten days before Ticket to Ride b/w Yes It Is appeared in the US.  As you can see above, first pressings of the American single incorrectly used the working title of the group's second feature film on the A-side, and copies of this are now valuable collectors' items.

Around this time, Capitol had several tracks stockpiled, yet not quite enough for another compilation album, so the label made a direct request for more recordings in order to assemble a new collection.  This resulted in a unique event - the Beatles went into the studio on May 10th to record two rockers by Larry Williams specifically for release in the American market, though Dizzy Miss Lizzie would soon find its way onto the British version of the album Help!
The album, unimaginatively titled Beatles VI, was issued on June 14th with this running order:

SIDE ONE

Kansas City
Eight Days a Week
You Like Me Too Much
Bad Boy
I Don't Want to Spoil the Party
Words of Love

SIDE TWO

What You're Doing
Yes It Is
Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Tell Me What You See
Every Little Thing

Kansas City should have been listed as Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey! but it was not printed that way on either the front or back cover or the label, nor was Little Richard Penniman given credit on the label as co-composer of this medley along with Leiber and Stoller.

In addition to the remaining tracks from Beatles for Sale and the debut of the Larry Williams covers, both sides of the February single plus the B-side of the most recent single were included.  You Like Me Too Much and Tell Me What You See, both of which were not chosen for the soundtrack of the upcoming film, were being given their world premieres.