On Sale Today: “The Early Beatles”

Mar. 22, 1965 - On sale today is “The Early Beatles,” the Beatles’ sixth album released on Capitol Records and their eighth album overall for the American market. All 11 tracks on this album were previously issued on the Vee-Jay Records release “Introducing...The Beatles,” released in January of last year. The front cover photo for “The Early Beatles” features the same back cover photo as the British LP, “Beatles for Sale.”

Vee-Jay Records had gained American distribution rights to the tracks on “The Early Beatles” before the group became popular in America — because Capitol Records, the U.S. subsidiary of EMI, which owned the Beatles’ record label Parlophone, had declined to release the group’s records in America and because 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 attempting to stop Vee Jay from distributing the tracks but was unsuccessful. 

In October of last year, Vee-Jay’s license to distribute the Beatles recordings it possessed expired, thus giving Capitol the distribution rights for the tracks on the album, which include “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me,” “P.S. I Love You,” “Twist and Shout,” and “Do You Want to Know a Secret.”

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