Maps of Music

Beatles VI (1965)

Where the lyrics of Beatles VI take you, and where it was really made.

This Capitol album for the US market holds two John Lennon covers recorded for North America alone, perhaps the only such recordings the Beatles made.

Key places

Recording location (1965)

Recording site Abbey Road Studios — Listed as a recording location for this album. The point marks the Studio 2 building, and no session dates tied to this place are given. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Jubilee line to St John's Wood station, then about a 5-minute walk.

Album story

Overview

• Beatles VI: seventh Capitol Records studio album by the Beatles in the United States and Canada, including The Beatles' Story
• Released in both mono and stereo versions
• Ninth album released into that market in less than one and a half years
• Vee-Jay Records and United Artists Records each released one album into that market in the same period
• Release date: 14 June 1965

Background

• Collects the remaining six tracks from Beatles for Sale, the ones left off Beatles '65
• Two of those songs had already come out on a single in February 1965
• Includes Yes It Is, the B-side of the single Ticket to Ride, here as a duophonic stereo remix made from the original mono track with additional echo and reverb
• Adds two tracks from the forthcoming UK release of Help!: You Like Me Too Much and Tell Me What You See

Recording

• Bad Boy and Dizzy Miss Lizzy feature searing John Lennon vocals and were recorded specifically for the North American market
• Both are covers of Larry Williams songs, recorded on Williams' birthday, 10 May 1965
• Perhaps the only time the Beatles recorded material especially for North America
• Dizzy Miss Lizzy was part of the set of their 1965 US concerts and soon appeared on the British release of Help!
• Bad Boy was not released in the United Kingdom or anywhere else until 1966, on the compilation A Collection of Beatles Oldies
• Act Naturally followed the next month; these songs were the last covers recorded and released by the Beatles until Maggie Mae appeared on Let It Be in 1970

Cover

• The Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! medley was first listed only as Kansas City, as on Beatles for Sale
• Attorneys for Venice Music notified Capitol of the error; the record label was soon corrected, but the album cover never was
• The record label erroneously reads Beatles IV; catalogue number PCSM 6042

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960
• Grew out of Lennon's earlier band the Quarrymen
• Built its reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg
• Starr officially joined in 1962

Members

• John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr

Career

• Manager Brian Epstein shaped them into a professional act
• Producer George Martin developed their recordings after they signed with EMI
• First hit Love Me Do came in late 1962
• By early 1964 they were international stars
• Part of the British Invasion of the US pop market
• Retired from live performance in 1966
• Turned to more sophisticated studio albums: Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the White Album and Abbey Road
• Founded Apple Corps in 1968
• Broke up in 1970

Around this album

• Abbey Road was the last album the group recorded together
• On 20 September 1969, six days before release, Lennon told McCartney, Starr and manager Allen Klein that he wanted a divorce from the group
• No public announcement of the split came until McCartney announced he was leaving in April 1970

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Beatles VI reached number one on the Billboard chart for six weeks, beginning 10 July 1965
• Released in New Zealand in stereo in time for Christmas 1966
• Pressing plates were obtained from EMI UK and are identical to their export release

Records

• In the US, the album sold 899,025 copies by 31 December 1965
• By the end of the decade, US sales reached 1,094,707 copies
• Released on CD as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 box set, in both stereo and mono mixes
• Reissued on CD in 2014, both individually and as part of The U.S. Albums boxed set

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Both Lennon-sung covers were recorded on Larry Williams' birthday, 10 May 1965.
• Attorneys for Venice Music flagged the medley credit error, and Capitol corrected the record label but never the album cover.
• Bad Boy was not released anywhere until 1966, when it appeared on A Collection of Beatles Oldies.
• Dizzy Miss Lizzy was part of the 1965 US concert set before it was soon included on the British release of Help!.
• Yes It Is is a duophonic stereo remix of the original mono track, with additional echo and reverb.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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