When was Meet the Beatles! released in the United States?
Capitol Records released Meet the Beatles! on the 20th of January 1964. The album became available in both mono and stereo formats at that time.
Questions about Meet the Beatles!
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why did Capitol Records remove five cover songs from Meet the Beatles? instead of including them?
Capitol executives removed Roll Over Beethoven, You Really Got a Hold on Me, Devil in Her Heart, Money That's What I Want, and Please Mr. Postman because they believed covers would turn Americans off the new band. These tracks originally appeared on the UK version called With the Beatles but were replaced with three hit singles for the American debut release.
How many copies of Meet the Beatles! sold by the end of 1964?
The album sold 4,045,174 copies by the 31st of December 1964 alone. Total sales reached 4,699,348 copies by the end of that decade.
What visual design change did Capitol Records apply to the Meet the Beatles! cover photo?
Capitol Records applied a specific blue tint to Robert Freeman's stark black-and-white photograph for the American market. This blue filter transformed the original monochrome into something cooler and more modern than the United Kingdom version of With the Beatles.
When was Meet the Beatles! inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame?
In 2001 the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It also received Gold certification from the RIAA on the 3rd of February 1964 and later earned 5× Platinum status on the 26th of December 1991.