Maps of Music

Something New (1964)

Where the lyrics of Something New take you, and where it was really made.

Rushed out ten days after the British release of A Hard Day's Night, this Beatles album was made only for the North American market.

Key places

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios (1964)

Recording site Abbey Road Studios — The album's studio is listed as Abbey Road Studios in London, EMI. George Martin produced the album and Norman Smith handled engineering. Google Maps · Apple Maps

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

Album story

Overview

• Something New is an album by the Beatles, released in 1964 for the North American market only
• Third Capitol LP release and fifth American album release overall by the band
• Follows the United Artists release of A Hard Day's Night
• Includes eight songs from the original British release of A Hard Day's Night
• Adds 'Slow Down' and 'Matchbox' from the Long Tall Sally EP
• Adds the German-language version of 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'
• Mono version also features the extended single mix of 'I'll Cry Instead'
• Stereo editions include a shorter edit from the UK release of A Hard Day's Night

Background

• Originally scheduled for 1 August 1964
• Rush-released on 20 July 1964, ten days after the British release of A Hard Day's Night
• Released in both mono and stereo versions
• First released on CD in 2004 as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 box set, containing the US mixes
• Released on CD again in 2014, both individually and in the boxed set The U.S. Albums
• The U.S. Albums set kept the running order but used UK mixes remastered in 2009

Recording

• Produced by George Martin; engineering by Norman Smith
• Only early Capitol Beatles album to contain all tracks in true stereo
• Mono release contains alternative versions of several songs, including 'Any Time At All', 'I'll Cry Instead', 'When I Get Home', 'If I Fell' and 'And I Love Her'

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

• Spent nine weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in 1964
• Placed behind the United Artists A Hard Day's Night album on that chart
• Originally scheduled for 1 August 1964 but rush-released on 20 July 1964

Reappraisal

• Included in Robert Christgau's 'Basic Record Library' of 1950s and 1960s recordings
• That list was published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)

Records

• Charted at No. 2 on the Billboard Top LPs chart for nine weeks in 1964
• US sales reached 1,049,243 copies by 31 December 1964
• US sales reached 1,443,735 copies by the end of the decade
• First CD release came in 2004 with the Capitol Albums, Volume 1 box set

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Something New was the only early Capitol Beatles album to contain all tracks in true stereo.
• The album was also released on Parlophone for sale only on American Armed Forces bases in Europe, and these copies have great collector value.
• The German stereo version on Odeon has a reprocessed stereo 'Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand' and an extended 'And I Love Her' that repeats the closing riff six times instead of four.
• That German mix was later released on the US version of Rarities.
• Ringo Starr sings lead on 'Matchbox' and plays tambourine on 'I'll Cry Instead'.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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