Beatles for Sale and
The Beatles First American Tour

The Beatles’ fourth album, Beatles for Sale, was released on December 4, 1964. It featured 8 original songs, including “Eight Days A Week” and 6 cover songs (written by other artists) including “Rock and Roll Music”.

Track Listing

1) No Reply (Lennon/McCartney)
2) I’m a Loser (Lennon/McCartney)
3) Baby’s in Black (Lennon/McCartney)
4) Rock and Roll Music (Berry)
5) I’ll Follow the Sun (Lennon/McCartney)
6) Mr. Moonlight (Johnson)
7) Medley:
a. Kansas City (Lieber/Stoller)
b. Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Penniman)
8) Eight Days a Week (Lennon/McCartney)
9) Words of Love (Holly)
10) Honey Don’t (Perkins)
11) Every Little Thing (Lennon/McCartney)
12) I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party (Lennon/McCartney)
13) What You’re Doing (Lennon/McCartney)
14) Everybody’s Trying to be My Baby (Perkins)

The Beatles were so busy all year, and by the end of 1964, they only had two weeks in their schedule to complete their fourth album, Beatles for Sale.

On this album, John was starting to write more introspective songs that hinted at his dislike of the Beatles fame, such as “I’m a Loser” and “Baby’s in Black.”

Singles:

I Feel Fine/She’s A Woman (released November 27, 1964)
(available on The Beatles Past Masters, Volume One)

EPs:

Beatles for Sale No. 1: No Reply/I’m a Loser/Rock and Roll Music/Eight Days A Week (released April 6, 1965)

Beatles for Sale No. 2: I’ll Follow the Sun/Baby’s in Black/Words of Love/I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party (released June 4, 1965)

Beatles Million Sellers: She Loves You/I Want to Hold Your Hand/Can’t Buy Me Love/I Feel Fine (released December 5, 1965)

(available on The Beatles Compact Disc EP Collection)

Remastered:

Beatles for Sale (Remastered)
(released September 2009)

Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set

Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set

Beatles for Sale: iTunes Digital Download (released November 2010)

Beatles iTunes Digital Box Set

 

The Beatles Tour America

Before the Beatles returned to England from their first official U.S. visit in February 1964, they played two concerts at Carnegie Hall in New York City and one show at the Washington Coliseum in Washington DC.

In the summer of 1964, the Beatles embarked on a world tour never before attempted by a rock band, playing in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the U.S. and Canada.

In the U.S. alone, they played 30 shows in 24 cities in 32 days all to sell-out crowds in huge venues.

Read Larry Kane’s book, Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles’ 1964 and 1965 Tours That Changed the World, for an eyewitness account of the Beatles American tours

On August 23, 1964, the Beatles perform live at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. In August 1965, The Beatles return to the Hollywood Bowl again.

Both these concerts are recorded by EMI, and later released as a live album by the Beatles in 1977 called “The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl.”

John Lennon, the Author

John Lennon had been a creative writer, poet and illustrator since boyhood. He loved to experiment in creating his own brand of literature, exploring double meanings and making a play on words.

John met Bill Harry at Liverpool Art College. Bill Harry started a newspaper covering all the local bands in Liverpool. He named it “Mersey Beat.”

In the first issue dated July 5, 1961, Bill asked John to write a brief history on the Beatles. John was so thrilled to see his writing in print that he subsequently gave Bill over 250 of his poems, illustrations and other pieces.

Bill then created a regular column just for John’s work and called it “Beatcomber.”

Many of these writings were then compiled into a book called “John Lennon: In His Own Write” which was published at the height of The Beatles’ fame in 1964. The following year, Lennon would publish his second book called “A Spaniard in the Works.”

Read more about Bill Harry’s involvement with The Beatles on his website

 

Bob Dylan and The Beatles

The Beatles first met Bob Dylan in August 1964 in New York City at the Delmonico Hotel. This meeting was significant for many reasons.

One significant event that occurred was that Dylan introduced the Beatles to marijuana. Of course, the Beatles had heard of pot before, but it was regarded as a drug for junkies.

Bob Dylan erased that stereotype for the Beatles, which, as a result, led them to become heavy pot smokers in the coming years. Their inside joke was that “let’s have a laugh” meant “let’s get stoned.”

Read more about the relationship between Bob Dylan and The Beatles

 

The Beatles’ Image

The Beatles music was not the only element to their success. The Beatles made such a strong impact not only because of their unique sound, but also because of their unique look.

Their moptop haircuts were groundbreaking in Western culture. Up until 1964, American males had very short hair (crewcuts) or hair that was combed back, or greased back similar to Elvis Presley’s hairstyle.

When the Beatles invaded America, Beatle wigs were all the rage, and every teenage boy began growing his hair long and combing it forward.

Read Time Magazine’s article on The Beatles’ impact on hair called “The Short and the Long of It” (October 1, 1965)

The clothing the Beatles wore also had a huge impact. They always wore matching suits when performing which emphasized their unity as a group. Their collarless suits and Spanish-style boots presented a sophisticated European look to American culture.

The primary vehicle in presenting their image to the public was on their album covers. Whether done consciously or not, each album cover was an artistic statement conceived by the collaboration between the Beatles and their photographer.

During the first half of their career, Robert Freeman was the main photographer for the Beatles. Freeman shot the covers for: With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles For Sale, Help! and Rubber Soul.

 

DAYTRIPPIN’ MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE: Read an exclusive interview with Beatles photographer, Robert Freeman, in Issue #26 of Daytrippin’ Magazine (available in PDF format or hard copy)

Visit Daytrippin’ Back Issues page for more information

 

Continue to the fifth Beatles album, Help!