Beatles '65

Beatles '65 is an album by the English rock band the Beatles that was issued in the United States and Canada in December 1964. Released as the North American alternative to Beatles for Sale, it was the band's fifth studio album culled by Capitol Records in the US from the Beatles' EMI releases. The LP was also issued in West Germany on the Odeon label.

Beatles '65
Studio album by the Beatles
Released	15 December 1964 (1964-12-15)
Recorded	1 June 1964 ("I'll Be Back") 11 August – 26 October 1964
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Pop[1]
Length	26:10
Label	Capitol
Producer	George Martin
The Beatles North American chronology
The Beatles' Story (1964) Beatles '65 (1964) The Early Beatles (1965)
Singles from Beatles '65
"I Feel Fine" / "She's a Woman" Released: 23 November 1964

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide	[4]

In 2004, Beatles '65 was released on CD for the first time as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 box set. In 2014, the album was reissued on CD, both individually and as part of the box set The U.S. Albums, using the UK mixes as remastered in 2009.

Music

Beatles '65 includes eight of the fourteen songs from Beatles for Sale. It also includes "I'll Be Back", which was cut from the US version of the Hard Day's Night album, and both sides of the single "I Feel Fine" / "She's a Woman". The latter two songs were issued in "duophonic" stereo and included added reverb by Capitol Records' executive Dave Dexter, Jr. to cover up the use of the mono mixes sent from the UK.^[5] Other than "I'll Be Back", which was recorded on 1 June 1964, the Beatles recorded all of its songs between 11 August and 26 October 1964 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London.^[6]

Two of the three songs written by Carl Perkins and recorded by the Beatles appear on this album. The six Beatles for Sale tracks omitted from the album were issued by Capitol on Beatles VI in June 1965.

Reception

In the United States, Beatles '65 jumped from number 98 straight to number 1, making the biggest jump to the top position in the history of the Billboard album charts up to that time. It remained at number 1 for nine straight weeks from 9 January 1965. The album was the top selling non-soundtrack LP based on Billboard's year-end chart for 1965.^[7] By 31 December 1964, the album had sold 1,967,261 copies in the US; by the end of the 1960s, sales there were up to 2,327,186.^[8]

Writing in The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1983), John Swenson described Beatles '65 as the first of the band's "classic 'concept' albums". He said that the LP "worked as a musical whole" rather than merely serving as a collection of "the latest bunch of songs that could be assembled into a record in any order".^[9] Several albums were released and promoted in America during 1965 sporting a similar title to Beatles '65. These included Sinatra '65 by Frank Sinatra and Ellington '65 by Duke Ellington on Reprise Records, and Brasil '65 by Sérgio Mendes on the Beatles' own Capitol label.^[10]

Track listing

All tracks written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"No Reply"	Lennon with McCartney	2:15
2.	"I'm a Loser"	Lennon	2:31
3.	"Baby's in Black"	Lennon and McCartney	2:02
4.	"Rock and Roll Music" (Chuck Berry)	Lennon	2:32
5.	"I'll Follow the Sun"	McCartney	1:46
6.	"Mr. Moonlight" (Roy Lee Johnson)	Lennon	2:35
Total length:			13:41

Side two

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Honey Don't" (Carl Perkins)	Starr	2:56
2.	"I'll Be Back"	Lennon	2:22
3.	"She's a Woman"	McCartney	2:57
4.	"I Feel Fine"	Lennon	2:20
5.	"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" (Carl Perkins)	Harrison	2:24
Total length:			12:59

Personnel

The Beatles

• John Lennon – rhythm guitar, harmonica (on "I'm a Loser"), vocals, lead guitar (on "I Feel Fine"), tambourine (on "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby")
• Paul McCartney – bass guitar, vocals, piano (on "She's a Woman"), Hammond organ (on "Mr. Moonlight")
• George Harrison – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (on "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby"), African drum (on "Mr. Moonlight")
• Ringo Starr – drums, percussion, lead vocals (on "Honey Don't")

Production

• George Martin – producer, piano (on "No Reply" and "Rock and Roll Music")

Charts

Weekly chart performance Chart (1964–66) Peak position Canadian CHUM's Album Index[11] 1 US Billboard Top LPs[12] 1 US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[13] 1 US Record World 100 Top LPs[13] 1 West German Musikmarkt LP Hit-Parade[14] 9

Year-end chart performance Chart (1965) Ranking US Billboard[15] 2 US Cash Box[16] 8

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17]	Platinum	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[18]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• Outline of the Beatles
• The Beatles timeline

References

1. Anon. (26 December 1964). "Album Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 50 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
2. Eder, Bruce. "Beatles '65 – The Beatles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
4. Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John, eds. (1983). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. New York, NY: Random House/Rolling Stone Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
5. "USATODAY.com – Box set sparks war among Beatles fans". USA Today.
6. MacDonald 2007, pp. 119, 122–141.
7. "Billboard.com – Year End Charts – Year-end Albums – The Billboard 200". Billboard. 11 December 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007.
8. "How Many Records did the Beatles actually sell?". Deconstructing Pop Culture by David Kronemyer. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
9. Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John, eds. (1983). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. New York, NY: Random House/Rolling Stone Press. p. 32. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
10. "Boomers' First 'Must Have' Christmas Gift: Beatles '65". HuffPost. 23 December 2014.
11. "Chum Hit Parade (week of December 28, 1964)". CHUM. Retrieved 21 February 2023 – via ChumTribute.com.
12. "The Beatles Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
13. Lewisohn 2000, p. 351.
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Beatles – Beatles '65" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
15. "Top LP's of 1965 (Based on total sales at retail)" (PDF). Billboard. 25 December 1965. p. 24 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
16. "Best Albums of 1965" (PDF). Cash Box. 25 December 1965. p. 30 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
17. "Canadian album certifications – The Beatles – Beatles '65". Music Canada. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
18. "American album certifications – The Beatles – Beatles '65". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

Sources

• Lewisohn, Mark (2000) [1992]. The Complete Beatles Chronicle: The Only Definitive Guide to the Beatles' Entire Career. London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-60033-5.
• MacDonald, Ian (2007). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Third ed.). Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-733-3.

External links

• Beatles '65 at Discogs (list of releases)