Less than six months after the release of their third album and first soundtrack from their first movie,the Beatles were yet working again on their follow up album.Not really wanting to top the previous one but rather getting the job done with their creative instincts piling up like hard bounds on a local library.The Beatles never wanted to stop. They maintained their average of two albums per year release dates,a feat that was never equalled by any other band or artist in the past fifty years. Not at least in the sixties where rock music evolved at a fast and speedy rate.
Just like their sixth album,Rubber Soul which was released in late 1965,Beatles For Sale was released simultaneously with singles that was neither on the album."I Feel Fine" and its B side "She's A Woman" didn't appear on the album but did reached the christmas number one on the UK charts.
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| Back cover of the vinyl album,1964 |
Most of the cover versions done by the fab four here were songs from fifties rock legends whom the band had referred to as their prime influences.These songs were from Chuck Berry(Rock And Roll Music),Buddy Holly(Words Of Love),Carl Perkins(Honey Don't and Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby),and the Lieber and Stoller classic "Kansas City" merged with the Little Richard original "Hey Hey Hey Hey".
Unfortunately,the album was among the first seven that Capitol-the band's US distributor,failed to recognize its significance thus, failed to release the album and failed to follow with its original worldwide release in 1964.Instead,a butchered album with songs from this release combined with the side two of their previous album A Hard Day's Night was released under the name Beatles '65(though ironically released in 1964!).Some other leftovers from this album was compiled with other singles the band never issued and was released the following year as Beatles VI.Capitol has long been lambasted for butchering the band's first seven albums in the sixties without any clear explanation on the label's part.The Beatles were known for their disapproval of such album butchering and later released the butchered LP Yesterday And Today with its first cover photo highlighting the band on butcher suits,decapitated dolls and chunks of meat hence having the nickname "Butcher Cover".The said album itself is butchered as well,with songs coming from Help!,Rubber Soul and Revolver.
Beatles For Sale was officially released in the US as a real album in 1987 through the unification effort made by EMI,to avoid further confusions especially with the American fans.Having released worldwide in the sixties(except in the United States where it was considered as an import),the time has come that the albums were arranged by EMI by unifying the albums and hereby deleting the US versions as to avoid dubiety on which were the real albums made by the band themselves.The US versions,however were later released on box sets and individually as bootlegs.
Fifty years have passed and the Beatles remains a strong force in rock music,continues to influence younger musicians alike and made them form their own bands.The band's timeless appeal continues to soar with every classic album discovered by aspiring young musicians or simply a young individual who loves real music.
Beatles For Sale track listing
1.No Reply (Lennon-McCartney)
2.I'm A Loser (Lennon-McCartney)
3.Baby's In Black (Lennon-McCartney)
4.Rock And Roll Music (Berry)
5.I'll Follow The Sun (Lennon-McCartney)
6.Mr Moonlight (Johnson)
7.Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey (Llieber-Stoller-Penniman)
8.Eight Days A Week (Lennon-McCartney)
9.Words Of Love (Holly)
10.Honey Don't (Perkins)
11.Every Little Thing (Lennon-McCartney)
12. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party (Lennon-McCartney)
13.What You're Doing (Lennon-McCartney)
14. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (Perkins)
*front and back cover photo by Robert Freeman
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| Beatles For Sale inner sleeve |
(c) Keith Vernon Adagio
RELATED LINKS:
The Beatles Chronology