The Beatles' Second Album
| The Beatles' Second Album | |||||
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| Studio album by The Beatles | |||||
| Released | 10 April 1964 | ||||
| Recorded | 5 and 13 March; 1, 18 and 30 July and 17 October 1963; 25 February and 1 March 1964 | ||||
| Studio | EMI Studios, London | ||||
| Genre | |||||
| Length | 26:56 | ||||
| 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 |   |
| The Rolling Stone Record Guide | |
The Beatles' Second Album is the Beatles' second Capitol Records album, and their third album released in the United States including Introducing... The Beatles released three months earlier on Vee-Jay Records. The Beatles' Second Album replaced Meet the Beatles! at number one on the album charts in the US.
In 2004 The Beatles' Second Album was issued for the first time on compact disc (catalogue number CDP 7243 8 66877 2 2), (CDP 7243 8 66878 2 1) as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 boxed set and was issued in a miniature cardboard replica of the original album sleeve. In 2014, the album was released on CD again, individually and included in the Beatles boxed set The U.S. Albums.
The album was also issued on the EMI subsidiary label Odeon in 1964 for the Japanese market. That version had the same title and similar cover art but contained different songs than the US release.
With the massive popularity of Meet the Beatles! and a desire for additional Beatles product as well as an available backlog of some 25 songs yet to be released by Capitol Records, it was decided to compile a follow-up album as soon as possible. The Beatles' Second Album was the first album of the group's work to be assembled by Capitol Records exclusively for the US market — Meet the Beatles! was a reconfigured, abridged version of With the Beatles. Second Album was a poutpourri collection that did not represent the Beatles' output at the time; the end result was an assembly of material from nearly a half-dozen sessions and sources. Capitol compiled the album using additional songs from four different UK releases. Included were the five remaining tracks from With the Beatles. Also included were "Thank You Girl" (the B-side to the single "From Me to You"), the single "She Loves You"/"I'll Get You", "You Can't Do That" (the B-side to the single "Can't Buy Me Love") from the upcoming A Hard Day's Night UK soundtrack, and two new songs, "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name", both released two months later in the UK on the Long Tall Sally EP. Capitol Records engineers, headed by record executive Dave Dexter, Jr., drenched the stereo versions with echo and reverb to give the songs the sound of a live performance. The effect is more noticeable on the tracks culled from With the Beatles, as those were recorded in two-track stereo. Allmusic said that "The Beatles' Second Album stands as probably the best pure rock & roll album ever issued of the group's music" because the album "avoid[s] any trace of the pop ballads favored by Paul McCartney that usually slowed down the group's other early albums, and the result was the longest uninterrupted body of then-hard rock & roll and R&B in their entire output."
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