Maps of Music

Beatles for Sale (1964)

Where the lyrics of Beatles for Sale take you, and where it was really made.

The cover was shot in Hyde Park, and the album was not widely available in the US until 1987.

Key places

Recording at EMI Studios (1964)

Recording site Abbey Road Studios — Sessions for the album began at EMI Studios on 11 August 1964, a month after A Hard Day's Night came out. Most of the recording happened over three weeks from 29 September. The site is listed as Abbey Road Studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Jubilee line to St John's Wood station, then about a 5-minute walk.

Cover shot in Hyde Park (1964)

Album cover Hyde Park — The album cover shows the Beatles in an autumn scene in Hyde Park, London. The photo has a downbeat, unsmiling look. The cover carries no band logo or artist credit. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Beatles for Sale: fourth studio album by the Beatles
• Released 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label
• Marked a departure from the upbeat tone of the band's earlier work
• Band was exhausted after a series of tours that made them a worldwide phenomenon in 1964
• Not widely available in the US until 1987, when the catalogue was standardised for CD
• Eight of the fourteen tracks, plus 'I'll Be Back' and both sides of 'I Feel Fine' / 'She's a Woman', appeared on Capitol's Beatles '65 in North America
• The remaining six tracks, including both sides of 'Eight Days a Week' / 'I Don't Want to Spoil the Party', appeared on Beatles VI

Background

• Recorded when Beatlemania was at its peak
• Fourth album release in the space of 21 months
• Reflects the twin influences of country music and Bob Dylan, whom the Beatles met in New York in August 1964
• Only eight tracks are original compositions, partly because of the hectic schedule
• Cover versions of Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard complete the album
• Original songs introduced darker moods and more introspective lyrics, with Lennon taking an autobiographical view in 'I'm a Loser' and 'No Reply'
• Road manager Neil Aspinall later reflected on the pace of the year, noting the band made the album in five weeks while still touring

Recording

• Sessions began at EMI Studios on 11 August, one month after A Hard Day's Night
• Most of the recording took place over three weeks from 29 September
• Band used four-track recording, which EMI had introduced in 1963
• The sessions gave the first use of a fade-in on a pop song, at the start of 'Eight Days a Week'
• The first use of guitar feedback in a pop recording came on 'I Feel Fine'
• Percussion included the band's first timpani, African hand drums and chocalho
• Recording was completed on 26 October, and the project was finished on 4 November

Cover

• Shows the unsmiling, weary-looking Beatles in an autumn scene in London's Hyde Park
• Photograph taken by Robert Freeman
• No band logo or artist credit appears on the cover
• Album title set in minuscule type compared with standard LP artwork of the time
• Issued in a gatefold sleeve, a rare design feature for a contemporary pop LP

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960
• Grew out of Lennon's earlier band the Quarrymen
• Built its reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg
• Starr officially joined in 1962

Members

• John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr

Career

• Manager Brian Epstein shaped them into a professional act
• Producer George Martin developed their recordings after they signed with EMI
• First hit Love Me Do came in late 1962
• By early 1964 they were international stars
• Part of the British Invasion of the US pop market
• Retired from live performance in 1966
• Turned to more sophisticated studio albums: Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the White Album and Abbey Road
• Founded Apple Corps in 1968
• Broke up in 1970

Around this album

• Abbey Road was the last album the group recorded together
• On 20 September 1969, six days before release, Lennon told McCartney, Starr and manager Allen Klein that he wanted a divorce from the group
• No public announcement of the split came until McCartney announced he was leaving in April 1970

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Received favourable reviews in the UK musical press
• NME's Derek Johnson said it was 'worth every penny asked' and full of rip-roaring, infectious stuff
• Melody Maker's Chris Welch found the music 'honest' and inventive
• Held the UK number one spot for 11 of the 46 weeks it spent in the top 20
• Was the top-selling UK album of 1964

Reappraisal

• Q found the album title to hold a 'hint of cynicism' in depicting the Beatles as a product
• AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it the group's most uneven album, while noting its best moments
• Tom Ewing of Pitchfork said Lennon's anger and the band's rediscovery of rock 'n' roll made it the group's meanest album
• The Rolling Stone Album Guide's Rob Sheffield said some cover versions were poor, yet 'I'm a Loser' and 'What You're Doing' showed the band still progressing
• BBC Music's David Quantick called it 'joyous, inventive and exciting' and a transitional work

Records

• UK number one for 11 of 46 weeks in the top 20
• Second-highest selling UK album of 1965
• Re-entered the UK albums chart in March 1987 after the CD release, peaking at number 45
• Ranked 71st-best album in the 1987 edition of Paul Gambaccini's Critic's Choice
• Voted number 204 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums in 2000

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The US version Beatles '65 was released eleven days after this album and became the fastest-selling album of the year in the United States.
• The first CD version in 1987 was mono only, though the band recorded on four-track tape; the stereo CD came on 9 September 2009.
• The inner gatefold showed the band in front of a photo montage of celebrities, including Victor Mature, Jayne Mansfield and Ian Carmichael.
• That inner gatefold image anticipated Peter Blake's cover design for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
• The sleeve notes were written by Derek Taylor, the band's press officer until a recent falling out with Epstein.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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