REVOLVER

On August 8th, 1966, only a month and a half after the arrival of the Capitol Records compilation album "Yesterday"...and Today, two new worldwide releases by the Beatles hit the stores in the USA.  First up was the group's second double A-sided single Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine.  It was the track sung by Ringo that proved more popular with American fans, though it stopped just short of topping the charts, peaking at number two.  The unusual thing about this single is that both sides appeared on the album released on the same day (this was also true of the UK versions issued on August 5th) - not the typical value-for-your-money attitude previously associated with the group's manager Brian Epstein, who made this decision.

Despite the redundancy of those two tracks, the album itself was a stunner, featuring the following line-up:

SIDE ONE

Taxman
Eleanor Rigby
Love You To
Here, There and Everywhere
Yellow Submarine
She Said She Said

SIDE TWO

Good Day Sunshine
For No One
I Want To Tell You
Got To Get You into My Life
Tomorrow Never Knows

This was the closest yet that Capitol had come to giving us an album that was akin to its UK counterpart.  (Vee Jay Records had come closest of all with its two versions of Introducing the Beatles.)  None of these tracks are leftovers from a past album - all are from the British version of Revolver and, for once, Capitol did not keep any in reserve for a future compilation.

The major difference was the lack of three tracks by Lennon which, as you may recall from my last entry, had premiered on "Yesterday"...and Today.  While those songs tilted that album heavily in Lennon's direction, their omission here shifted the emphasis strongly toward McCartney (heck, even Harrison has three tunes to Lennon's two).  And, though it is once again a pure coincidence, this happened just as McCartney was hitting his creative peak as a composer, making this release a career high point for the future Sir Paul.

Instead of the backwards guitars on the fade out of I'm Only Sleeping anticipating the sitar on Love You To, here we have the abrupt ending of Eleanor Rigby in front of Harrison's first Indian excursion.  McCartney's two piano-based numbers, Good Day Sunshine and For No One, have a different feel when separated by Lennon's guitar-driven And Your Bird Can Sing on the British album.  The UK release also features the fade out of Doctor Robert cleverly leading into the fade in of I Want To Tell You.  These variations demonstrate how a few seemingly minor adjustments can significantly alter the experience of listening to a sequence of songs.

Yet, for me, a huge fan of Mr. Lennon, his overall absence is not at all detrimental to the American record, in part because of the incredible strength of the album as a whole, and also due to the fact that each side ends with his songs, leaving his contributions etched in my mind.  Nevertheless, producer George Martin and the Beatles were tired of being frustrated by Capitol's liberty to tamper with the layout of their albums...but that was about to change.

"YESTERDAY"...AND TODAY

The first half of 1966 had been uncharacteristically quiet as far as Beatles releases go, with only the singles Nowhere Man b/w What Goes On and Paperback Writer b/w Rain appearing in the US.  Capitol Records had even resisted the urge to issue yet another compilation album - until June 20th, that is, when the most wide-ranging collection to date arrived in stores.

"Yesterday"...and Today made news even before its release due to the infamous butcher cover, showing the group with raw meat and baby dolls in pieces.  Complaints from disc jockeys and reviewers who had received promotional copies of the album resulted in the recall of 750,000 units, which were either destroyed or had the new steamer trunk cover pasted over them for resale.  The Wikipedia article for this album contains extensive information about the price that collectors have been willing to pay over the years for original copies in various conditions.

As to the record itself, the line-up was as follows:

SIDE ONE

Drive My Car
I'm Only Sleeping
Nowhere Man
Doctor Robert
Yesterday
Act Naturally

SIDE TWO

And Your Bird Can Sing
If I Needed Someone
We Can Work it Out
What Goes On
Day Tripper

First of all, note that Capitol had reverted to its standard practice of giving us eleven tracks, after magnanimously treating us to twelve on Rubber Soul.  Furthermore, only five songs were new to American fans, as the other six had all appeared on singles over the previous nine months.

But the new tracks were glorious, starting with Drive My Car and If I Needed Someone, the last two leftovers from Rubber Soul.  Even better were the three world premieres from the current album-in-the-works, by coincidence all Lennon compositions.  When the request for material to fill out this album had come from America, producer George Martin had quickly prepared mono and stereo mixes of these songs for Capitol, but he would later submit them to further mixing before their release on the UK version of Revolver.  The most obvious difference is on the track I'm Only Sleeping, with the US mix lacking some of George Harrison's backwards guitar part.

The resulting album spanned almost a full year in the recording history of the Beatles, with a heavy emphasis on songs by John Lennon.  This could have been balanced somewhat if McCartney's great B-side I'm Down (recorded on the same day as Yesterday) had been included.  Instead, that track became one of only a few to somehow never appear on a US album during the group's career.     

Nowhere Man b/w What Goes On

On February 21st, 1966, Capitol Records continued its policy of issuing a single created from two tracks it had held in reserve from the most recent British album.  Rubber Soul had presented the American label with a number of superior songs from which to choose a suitable A-side including Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Michelle, Girl and In My Life, but it was Nowhere Man that was ultimately selected.  And, banking once again on Ringo's popularity among Stateside fans, What Goes On was chosen for the B-side.

After Eight Days a Week b/w I Don't Want to Spoil the Party and Yesterday b/w Act Naturally, Capitol was hoping to continue its string of self-created number one singles, but this one stalled at number three.  (The number one spot for the entire month of March was occupied by The Ballad of the Green Berets, which held on to become the number one single of the year.)  In retrospect, perhaps McCartney's love ballad Michelle would have been preferable to Lennon's introspective mid-tempo number - the first non-love song produced by the Beatles.

The picture sleeve recycled a photograph from the back cover of the 1964 UK album Beatles for Sale, which Capitol had already used as the front cover for The Early Beatles in early '65.

The next single, both sides of which were recorded early on during the sessions for the group's upcoming album, not only featured two songs that were not about love, it also introduced a richer, bass-heavy sound uncharacteristic of anything else in the Fab Four's previous catalog.  Paperback Writer b/w Rain gave fans a tantalizing glimpse of the work-in-progress that would transform the band from live performers to full time studio musicians.

This worldwide single was issued here in the US on May 30th, eleven days ahead of its British release.  As it hit number one on the charts, work continued on the accompanying groundbreaking album so, in the meantime, Capitol prepared yet another compilation album.

RUBBER SOUL

Promotional poster

On December 6th, 1965, two new releases appeared in the US, three days after similar releases in England and barely in time for the Christmas market.  First up was a worldwide single, the brilliant double A-sided Day Tripper/We Can Work it Out.  As I mentioned in my 2011 entry for this single, it is interesting to note that while We Can Work it Out was the number one hit here in the States, Day Tripper appealed more to the UK audience.

The accompanying album was remarkably similar to its British counterpart, yet substantially different, as well, due to the selection of the four tracks excluded by Capitol and the two substituted in place of those left off.  The American lineup was as follows:

SIDE ONE

I've Just Seen a Face
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
You Won't See Me
Think for Yourself
The Word
Michelle

SIDE TWO

It's Only Love
Girl
I'm Looking Through You
In My Life
Wait
Run for Your Life

For the first time since Meet the Beatles! we were given more bang for our buck - twelve new songs instead of the usual eleven.  It was also the first time where it was not even necessary to put the group's name on the front cover - they were the most famous act in the world, after all.

I have stated before that it has often been suggested over the years that the American label was attempting to capitalize on the current folk/rock craze by opening the album with I've Just Seen a Face, a song left over from the UK version of Help!  If this is true, then Capitol had remarkable foresight in withholding that song (along with It's Only Love) from release months earlier.  The more likely explanation is that it was purely a case of sheer, dumb luck on the part of the label.  Omitting the electric-guitar tracks Drive My Car and If I Needed Someone does give the US album more of an overall acoustic sensibility, however.

I was still unaware of the differences between the US and UK releases as late as the early 80's until an acquaintance played an imported album for me.  I was stunned to hear Drive My Car open side one and to discover that there were fourteen tracks on the record.  It was only with the 1987 release of the group's catalog on CD and the appearance of Tim Riley's book Tell Me Why a few years later that I actually began to appreciate the importance of those differences.

Yet, for someone who grew up with the American releases, this version of Rubber Soul will always hold a warm spot in my heart.  In particular, I love the opening of side two with It's Only Love serving as a much better lead-in to Girl than What Goes On in my opinion.

Yesterday b/w Act Naturally

By the summer of 1965, Capitol Records had become very good at selecting just the right tracks to withhold from the latest UK albums in order to begin creating the next US compilation, as well as any future single.  In September, two songs were chosen from the four held in reserve from the non-soundtrack side of the British version of Help! for release as one such single.

The fact that Yesterday was one of those songs should come as no surprise, especially considering that there had been much discussion about issuing it as a single in England by the Beatles, their producer George Martin and manager Brian Epstein back in June when it was recorded.  The merits of the tune were obvious but, since Paul was the only Beatle performing on it, it was problematic.  Ultimately, it was decided that the record was not representative of the Beatles as a group, nor should it be released as a solo piece credited to Paul McCartney.

Capitol was not bound by such artistic constraints and, as the song was already gaining considerable attention despite being buried as the thirteenth track on the current British album, the label was free to issue it as a single attributed to the Beatles in the US market.  The surprise here is that it was not originally supposed to be the A-side.

That's right.  Ringo's popularity among American fans was still so strong that his country and western cover song Act Naturally was initially chosen to be the A-side of the single.  Fortunately, the powers that be at Capitol came to their senses in time and flipped the two songs before the single was issued.  According to Wikipedia, this decision was made so late that Capitol never corrected it in the company files.  I can confirm that the Capitol version of both the Red and Blue Albums in 1973 contained a cardboard insert listing all albums and singles issued on the label to date, and this single was still listed at that time as Act Naturally/Yesterday.

Released on September 13th, the record became the second Capitol-created Beatles' single (after Eight Days a Week earlier in the year) to hit the number one spot. 

HELP!

In April of 1965, Eight Arms to Hold You became Help! and the group duly recorded a Lennon composition of that name.  It was America's turn to get the initial release of the next record (this flip-flopping seems to have been the early pattern) so, on July 19th, four days ahead of the UK issue, we got the single Help! b/w I'm Down, the B-side being an insane McCartney rocker that unusually was not available on any album during the group's career, even in the US.

But, as great as it was, the single merely served to whet our appetites for the soundtrack album and the film itself.  This time, continuing the alternating trend, British fans were offered the album first, on August 6th, followed a week later by the American version.

Now, Capitol Records has taken a lot of heat over the years for this release, but the truth is that it was pretty much using the same model that United Artists had with its soundtrack album for A Hard Day's Night.  Only the seven new songs by the Beatles used in the film appeared on the record, as well as six pieces of incidental music (the opening one not even listed) from a fellow by the name of Ken Thorne.

SIDE ONE

Help!
The Night Before
From Me to You Fantasy
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
I Need You
In the Tyrol

SIDE TWO

Another Girl
Another Hard Day's Night
Ticket to Ride
The Bitter End
You're Going to Lose That Girl
The Chase

Of course, if any fans had bought the most recent singles, they already had the songs Ticket to Ride and Help! in their possession, so they really got only five new tunes for their hard-earned cash.  And the gatefold cover, which contained photos and hype about the film inside, made the cost of the album an additional dollar to boot.

Unlike George Martin's score for A Hard Day's Night, Ken Thorne's music for this film is often downright wacky, matching the tone of the movie.  His brief variation on the James Bond theme opens the album before the title song (Capitol even kept this in front of Help! on original pressings of the Red Album in 1973) and, of course, we should never lose sight of the fact that Thorne's medley of tunes from A Hard Day's Night played on instruments from India helped to introduce a young George Harrison to a lifelong fascination with the music, culture and religion of that Far Eastern country.

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.