Jan. 20, 1964 - On sale today is “Meet the Beatles,” the English rock group’s second album released in the United States and the first to be issued by Capitol Records. The cover features Robert Freeman’s portrait of the Beatles used in the U.K. for “With the Beatles,” with a blue tint added to the original black-and-white photograph. Despite the “first album” claim on the “Meet the Beatles” cover, ten days prior to its release, Vee-Jay Records of Chicago beat Capitol to the punch with the release on January 10 of the Beatles’ American debut album “Introducing…The Beatles,” which had been delayed for release for various reasons since last summer. The first three tracks on “Meet the Beatles” include the December 1963 Capitol single “I Want To Hold Your Hand” along with the record’s B-sides, both in the United States — “I Saw Her Standing There” — and in the U.K. — “This Boy.” The other nine tracks on “Meet the Beatles” are duplicated from its nearest U.K. counterpart album, “With the Beatles,” which was released November 22.
