The Early Beatles (Mono)

By The BeatlesOfficial album • Part of the collection “The Beatles • The original US LPs

US release date:
Mar 22, 1965
Publisher:
Capitol

Master release


Related sessions

This album has been recorded during the following studio sessions







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Track list

Disc 1


1.

Love Me Do

Written by Lennon - McCartney

2:22 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B1] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Tambourine
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
George Harrison :
Acoustic rhythm guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
Andy White :
Drums
Ron Richards :
Producer

Session Recording:
Sep 11, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Sep 11, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


2.

Twist and Shout

Written by Phil Medley, Bert Russell

2:36 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Backing vocals, Bass
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Rhythm guitar, Vocals
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
A.B. Lincoln :
Second engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


3.

Anna (Go to Him)

Written by Arthur Alexander

2:58 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Backing vocals, Bass
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Vocals
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
A.B. Lincoln :
Second engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


4.

Chains

Written by Gerry Goffin, Carole King

2:27 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B]

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Harmonica, Rhythm guitar, Vocals
George Harrison :
Lead guitar, Vocals
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
A.B. Lincoln :
Second engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


5.

Boys

Written by Luther Dixon, Wes Farrell

2:27 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B]

Paul McCartney :
Backing vocals, Bass
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Vocals
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Rhythm guitar
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
A.B. Lincoln :
Second engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


6.

Ask Me Why

Written by Lennon - McCartney

2:28 • Studio versionC2 • Mono • Mono made from [C] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Backing vocals, Bass
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Rhythm guitar, Vocals
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Nov 26, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Nov 30, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


7.

Please Please Me

Written by Lennon - McCartney

2:04 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Harmony vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Harmonica, Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
George Harrison :
Harmony vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Nov 26, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


8.

P.S. I Love You

Written by Lennon - McCartney

2:05 • Studio versionA2 • Mono • Mono made from [A1] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Lead vocals
Ringo Starr :
Maracas
John Lennon :
Acoustic rhythm guitar, Backing vocals
George Harrison :
Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
Andy White :
Percussion
Ron Richards :
Producer

Session Recording:
Sep 11, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Sep 11, 1962
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road


9.

Baby It's You

Written by Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Barney Williams

2:42 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Backing vocals, Bass
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Rhythm guitar, Vocals
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Celesta, Producer
Geoff Emerick :
Second engineer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
Stuart Eltham :
Recording engineer
A.B. Lincoln :
Second engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Recording:
Feb 20, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


10.

A Taste of Honey

Written by Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow

2:06 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Vocals
Ringo Starr :
Drums
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Rhythm guitar
George Harrison :
Backing vocals, Lead guitar
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer
A.B. Lincoln :
Second engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road


11.

Do You Want to Know a Secret

Written by Lennon - McCartney

2:01 • Studio versionB2 • Mono • Mono made from [B] by Capitol

Paul McCartney :
Backing vocals, Bass
Ringo Starr :
Drums, Percussion
John Lennon :
Backing vocals, Rhythm guitar
George Harrison :
Lead guitar, Vocals
George Martin :
Producer
Norman Smith :
Recording engineer

Session Recording:
Feb 11, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing:
Feb 25, 1963
Studio :
EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

About

From Wikipedia:

The Early Beatles is the Beatles’ sixth release on Capitol Records, and their eighth album for the American market. All of the tracks on this album had previously been issued on the early 1964 Vee-Jay release Introducing… The Beatles. The front cover photo for this album features the same back cover photo for the British LP Beatles for Sale.

Vee-Jay had gained American distribution rights to the tracks before the group became popular in America (because Capitol, the US subsidiary of EMI which owns the Beatles’ record label Parlophone, had declined to release the group’s records in America), and their releases had initially failed to chart. But after the group became famous, Vee-Jay, still holding the rights to the early material, was able to reissue them in America and this time the records sold in the millions. Capitol filed a lawsuit to stop Vee Jay from distributing the tracks, but was not successful. In October 1964, Vee-Jay’s license to distribute the Beatles recordings they possessed expired, so Capitol finally got the American distribution rights for the album.

Though Vee-Jay had compiled four Beatles albums, ten singles and one EP in the space of just fifteen months from these tracks, when issued on Capitol, the album sold well, but its highest chart position was only number 43, making it the only original Capitol or United Artists released Beatles album not to reach numbers 1 or 2 in America (with the exception of the Capitol documentary album, The Beatles’ Story, which peaked at number 7). Capitol did little to promote the album since the label merely viewed it as a replacement for the Vee-Jay LP, rather than a “new” Beatles album. The Early Beatles sold one million copies by late 1973 and was certified gold on 8 January 1974 and platinum on 10 January 1997 by the RIAA. It was released in both mono and stereo versions. As no stereo masters of “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You” exist, Capitol used EMI’s duophonic mixes of both songs. The mono pressing of the album was made with a two-to-one fold-down of the stereo tapes, as evidenced by John and Paul’s vocal collision and chuckle heard in the third verse of “Please Please Me“. The original mix on the UK mono issue of the Please Please Me LP uses an edit to correct the mistake, while the stereo version of the same LP does not. So the existence of the vocal error in a mono mix is unique to The Early Beatles.

The Early Beatles is available on compact disc as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 boxed set (catalogue number CDP 0946 3 57498 2 3), in both mono and stereo. A second CD version of The Early Beatles with the songs in both stereo and true mono was issued in 2014 individually and part of the Beatles The U.S. Albums boxed set. […]

Last updated on January 24, 2016

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Ray Walker 3 years ago

Interesting. I had a copy of this album that I purchased in 1966. And it had "Misery" instead of "Ask Me Why" as the last track of the 1st side. While I don't have the album anymore, I know with great certainty that it was "Misery" that followed "Boys". "Misery" was my favorite song from the album and this was my first Beatles record as well as my only Beatles album until around 1969. Yet, I cannot find anything that shows this album released with that song. I'm absolutely certain of my memory.

Could there have been a later release of this album, after March 1965, that included "Misery" that I might have picked up?


The PaulMcCartney Project 3 years ago

Hi Ray, thanks for your message. Discogs has all the various releases of "The Early Beatles" listed - https://www.discogs.com/master/81055-The-Beatles-The-Early-Beatles - I browsed through only few of them and have not seen any version with "Misery" listed. Hope this helps.


Ray Walker 3 years ago

Thank you for checking.


Ray Walker 3 years ago

Funny thing is, I know full well that song, "Misery", was on my copy of "The Early Beatles" since it was the only one of theirs I had at that time and one of my favorite tracks. I will just keep looking for how that could be. Somehow that anomalous print wound up on my hi-fi. Again, thank you for your response. Much appreciated.


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