Introducing The Beatles (United States, 1964)
Introducing The Beatles was an American release of their first UK album Please Please Me featuring the same track list and scheduled for release in July 1963, but due to internal financial issues and legal conflicts with Capitol over rights to the album was not released until January 10, 1964.
The American Please Please Me
At least briefly, Vee-Jay considered releasing the album as Please Please Me with the same track list as the UK release. However, American LPs usually contained 12 songs instead of the U.K.’s 14, so Please Please Me and Ask Me Why were removed. Also, Paul’s famous “1, 2, 3, 4!” count-in at the beginning of I Saw Her Standing There was cut down to just “4!” by an engineer who thought the count-in was unnecessary.
A chaotic release
The release of Introducing The Beatles (and several other releases) was cancelled following the resignation of Vee-Jay president Ewart Abner after he was found company funds to cover gambling debts, combine with the company’s inability to pay royalties on existing releases. After Capitol announced their promotional campaign for the U.S., Vee-Jay executives met and decided to release Introducing The Beatles, worrying about the legal ramifications later. The release was a rush job; no back sleeve cover had been prepared so the first version contained what is known as the “ad back” version – a full-color reproduction of Vee-Jay’s standard inner sleeve showcasing 25 “other fine albums of significant interest.” After these were gone they used a completely white back, known as the “blank back,” and for the third version they finally came up with the familiar black and white title and track list cover.
A week after its release, after publishing around 80,000 copies, Vee-Jay was served a restraining order by Capitol’s publishing subsidiary Beechwood Music, Inc., who owned the American publishing rights to Love Me Do and P. S. I Love You. Those songs had not yet been released and Beechwood would not grant a license to Vee-Jay, so Vee-Jay reinstated Please Please Me and Ask Me Why in their place without initially even changing the track list on the back cover. But Capitol/Beechwood served numerous injunctions causing Vee-Jay to create over two dozen variations before the sides settled and Vee-Jay was allowed to sell the album until October 15, 1964. At that point the rights reverted back to Capitol, who promptly issued The Early Beatles.
First version track list
Side A
Side B
- P. S. I Love You
- Baby It’s You
- Do You Want To Know A Secret
- A Taste Of Honey
- There’s A Place
- Twist And Shout
Second version track list
Side A
Side B
- Please Please Me
- Baby It’s You
- Do You Want To Know A Secret
- A Taste Of Honey
- There’s A Place
- Twist And Shout
Release history
- Vee-Jay VJLP 1062 (mono), released January 10, 1964
- Vee-Jay SR 1062 (stereo), released January 10, 1964
Back cover, “ad back” variation
Third version back cover
