LP “INTRODUCING …THE BEATLES” TURNS 60 YEARS OLD

ByBeatles Magazine

Jan 11, 2024 #The Beatles

Introducing… The Beatles is the first studio album released by the Beatles in the United States. Originally scheduled for a July 1963 release, the LP came out on 10 January 1964, on Vee-Jay Records, ten days before Capitol issued Meet the Beatles!

The latter album, however, entered the U.S. album chart one week before the former. Consequently, when Meet The Beatles! peaked at No. 1 for eleven consecutive weeks, Introducing…The Beatles stalled at No. 2 where it remained for nine consecutive weeks. It was the subject of much legal wrangling, but ultimately, Vee-Jay was permitted to sell the album until late 1964, by which time it had sold more than 1.3 million copies.

EMI, the parent company of label Parlophone, offered “Please Please Me” to its U.S. label Capitol after releasing the single in the U.K. Capitol turned it down, so another EMI property called Transglobal was brought in to find an American home. The record was eventually picked up by Vee-Jay, a Chicago R&B label that had hits with Betty Everett, the Impressions, Jerry Reed and the Staple Singers. The company released “Please Please Me” on Feb. 7, 1963.

While it didn’t become a national hit, “Please Please Me” performed respectably in a few major markets, and plans were made to release the Beatles’ debut album of the same name in the U.S., albeit with a modification. At the time, American LPs didn’t usually have more than 12 songs, two fewer than Please Please Me. So the title track was removed along with the single’s B-side, “Ask Me Why” and the album was renamed Introducing … the Beatles.
Vee-Jay intended to have the record in stores by the end of July, but a major financial crisis at the label which saw the resignation of its president would postpone the release date. Citing nonpayment of royalties from the single, Transglobal voided its contract with Vee-Jay.

By late fall, word about the group started to spread nationwide, and Capitol agreed to release the Beatles’ new single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. As it climbed the charts, Vee-Jay still had the earlier masters and most of the artwork ready to go. So they decided to put out Introducing … the Beatles, beating Capitol to the punch and figuring that the much-needed cash was worth any legal troubles.

The label quickly discovered a different legal issue. A week after the record’s release, Vee-Jay was slapped with a restraining order by Beechwood Music, which owned the rights to “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You” . So Vee-Jay replaced the two songs with the pair they initially removed, and reissued the LP in early February. It rose to No. 2 on the Billboard 200, where it was kept from the top spot by Capitol’s Meet the Beatles!

Then came the matter of the Transglobal issue. Over the next two months, Vee-Jay and Capitol fought in the courts, with Vee-Jay releasing a new version of Introducing … the Beatles every time one of Capitol’s injunctions was lifted. In April, an agreement was reached whereby Vee-Jay had six months to market the songs it controlled, at which point the rights would revert to Capitol.

By the time the changeover took place in October, 1.3 million copies of Introducing … the Beatles had been sold.

Introducing … The Beatles

John Lennon – rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals
Paul McCartney – bass guitar, vocals
George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Chains” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
Ringo Starr – drums, lead vocals on “Boys”, tambourine on “Love Me Do”, maracas on “P.S. I Love You”