Albums and Singles

After the success of the first album, the Beatles and their management decided to keep singles and albums separate. The rationale was that if fans have purchased a single (a 45-rpm disk), why should they have to purchase it again on the album? Thus their singles — for example, "From Me to You," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Can't Buy Me Love" — did not appear on LPs in the United Kingdom until much later. Meanwhile, they continued turning out albums with workmanlike regularity between touring and filming (with the film soundtracks filling in the gaps). The pattern was to have a recording available for parents to buy their children as Christmas purchases, and a release for the children to buy themselves with money earned in summer jobs.

EMI's American subsidiary, Capitol Records saw an opportunity to cash in on the relative separation of the American market from the British market. For the first few years, Capitol "unbundled" the British LPs and repackaged them for American distribution. In the process, eight British LPs became twelve American albums. Sometimes, the American recordings included material from EPs (Extended Plays) released in UK but not in the States (e.g., Twist and Shout). But more often, they were different albums.

For example, when Parlophone and Capitol released the albums supporting the films A Hard Day's Night (10 July 1964 in the UK and 26 June 1964 in the US) and Help! (6 August 1965 in the UK and 13 August 1965 in the US), the British albums had six or seven songs per side, while their American namesakes had three or four songs per side with orchestral movie music by George Martin replacing the other songs.

United Kingdom Album Releases	American Album Releases
1963
22 March. Please, Please Me
	22 July. Introducing the Beatles.
22 November. With the Beatles

1964
	20 January. Meet the Beatles!
	27 January. Introducing the Beatles (reissue)
	10 April. The Beatles Second Album.
	26 June. A Hard Day's Night.
10 July. A Hard Day's Night.	20 July. Something New.
	23 November. The Beatles' Story.
4 December. Beatles for Sale.	15 December. Beatles '65.

1965
	22 March. The Early Beatles.
	14 June. Beatles VI.
6 August. Help!	13 August. Help!
3 December. Rubber Soul.	6 December. Rubber Soul.

1966
	20 June. "Yesterday" . . . and Today.
5 August. Revolver.	8 August. Revolver.
9 December. A Collection of Beatles Oldies.	Beatles Discography
Beatles Singles	Beatles Albums

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	7-feb-12