The Beatles: ‘When I’m ’64’

A new box set celebrates the Fabs’ biggest year

December 2, 2024December 3, 2024 David Bash 0 Comments Apple Records, Beatlemania, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono, The Beatles, UMe

Poster for the acclaimed Beatles ’64 documentary on Disney+ (Image: Disney+)

When voting for which act has had the best year in rock ‘n roll, many people would agree that it would be The Beatles in 1964.

The Fab Four spearheaded the British Invasion to the U.S., and in April of that year had a week in which they occupied all of the Top 5 positions in the Billboard singles chart (this record has been broken recently by Taylor Swift, but only because chart criteria has changed), and had massive album sales, reaching number one on the Billboard album charts four times, number two twice, and number seven once. Although revisionist history had all but wiped out the existence of The Beatles’ U.S. albums, if you lived in the U.S. during that time, and for that matter anytime into the late ‘70s, it was these albums on Capitol Records that you purchased, loved and from which you learned about The Beatles’ oeuvre. UMe, in conjunction with Apple Corps Ltd., has done a fine job bringing back those cherished memories with this box set, The 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono!

The first thing you notice when opening this box is the physical records themselves, and they are an absolute treat, 180g vinyl housed in very sturdy outer sleeves, with sharp artwork, and featuring nice reproductions of the original inner sleeves. Each record also contains four-panel liner notes, with nifty photos of the original tape boxes, etc…Yes, in many ways the U.S. albums are “bastardizations” of the way The Beatles had originally recorded them for release in the UK, but in some cases it can be argued that the U.S. versions were better, such as their Capitol debut, Meet The Beatles, which is essentially the UK counterpart, With The Beatles, minus most of the cover versions on the latter, and opening with one of The Fabs’ biggest singles, “I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There”. The slightly misnamed The Beatles Second Album does contain those covers, along with another huge hit, arguably their most memorable tune, “She Loves You.”

The Beatles The 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono unboxed (Image: UMe)

Next on Capitol is Something New, featuring many tracks from The UK’s A Hard Days Night, and then Beatles ’65, taking tracks from the the UK release The Beatles For Sale, along with the hit single, “I Feel Fine”. As a bonus, The 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono also contains the A Hard Days Night soundtrack album, originally released on the United Artists label but now owned by Universal, The Beatles Story (more on that later), and The Early Beatles, which although actually released in early 1965, contained tracks from the Beatles first UK album, Please Please Me, and was issued in part to combat a similar release early in 1964, Introducing The Beatles, on Vee Jay Records.

The sound quality on these albums is really good, remastered from the original mono tapes with new lacquers cut by noted engineer, Kevin Reeves. As most Beatles fans didn’t have a stereo phonograph in 1964, the bulk of the album sales was from the mono issues, which makes it more fitting that this box contains the mono recordings. Some minor carping: it would have probably been better that the box come with a book, rather than individual four panel notes in each record, but as it already carries a hefty price tag, this was probably a cost cutting move. Then there’s The Beatles Story, which, although it managed to reach number 7 on the Billboard album charts, is really nothing more than a narrator talking about the band, with snippets of disembodied interview answers thrown in to make it all seem more organic. Capitol had originally wanted to release a live album, but when John Lennon and Paul McCartney heard it, they immediately rejected it because the crowd noise overwhelmed the music to a massive degree (it wasn’t until the late ‘70s that technology improved enough to greatly reduce this problem, allowing for the release of The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl).

The Beatles The 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono, Apple Records/UMe 2024

The albums in this box have also been released individually, save The Beatles Story, which can only be had with the purchase of the box. It certainly would have been better if UMe could have included some previously unreleased live or BBC tracks as a box set exclusive, which would have been a much greater incentive to spend the extra $50 for the box, but the box is definitely worth it as it’s a beautiful piece in itself, and a fine companion to The Beatles Singles Box, which many readers already own.

But the main reason to buy this box is that, if you grew up in the U.S., these Capitol albums are a major part of the soundtrack of your life, and despite the fact that many readers having “converted” to the UK albums, they can never bring back the coming of age memories you’ve associated with the U.S. albums.

The 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono is a grand testament to the first resurgence of rock ‘n roll in U.S. history, and no Beatles fan should be without it.