Meet the Beatles!
| Meet the Beatles! | |||||
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| Studio album by The Beatles | |||||
| Released | 20 January 1964 | ||||
| Recorded | 11 February – 23 October 1963, EMI Studios, London | ||||
| Genre | Rock and roll | ||||
| Length | 26:43 | ||||
| Language | English | ||||
| Label | Capitol | ||||
| Producer | George Martin | ||||
| The Beatles North American chronology | |||||
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| The Beatles United States chronology | |||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| The Rolling Stone Record Guide | |
Meet the Beatles! is the second Beatles album released in the United States. It was the first US Beatles album to be issued by Capitol Records, on 20 January 1964 in both mono and stereo formats. It topped the popular album chart on 15 February 1964 and remained at number one for eleven weeks before being replaced by The Beatles' Second Album. The cover featured Robert Freeman's portrait used in the United Kingdom for With the Beatles, with a blue tint added to the original stark black-and-white photograph.
After constantly rejecting requests by both Brian Epstein and George Martin to release Beatles records in the United States, in November 1963 EMI label head Sir Joseph Lockwood sent a deputy to Los Angeles ordering Capitol Records to commence releasing and promoting Beatles product in the United States. Despite the "first album" claim on its cover, ten days prior to its release Vee-Jay Records of Chicago beat Capitol to the punch with the release of the Beatles' American debut album Introducing... The Beatles, which had been delayed for release for various reasons since the previous summer. Perhaps as a result of the Vee-Jay release, Liberty Music Shops advertised in the New York Times of 12 January 1964 that Meet the Beatles! was available for purchase, an ad not authorised by Capitol.
In 2003, Meet the Beatles! was ranked number 59 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2004, the album was released for the first time on compact disc in both stereo and mono as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 box set. In 2014, Meet the Beatles was issued on CD again, individually and included in the Beatles boxed set The U.S. Albums.
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