With The Beatles

This album, *With The Beatles*, arrived at a key moment for the band, just a few months after their first work. The idea was to maintain the release pace expected of groups in 1963, with two albums and four singles per year. For this, producer George Martin and manager Brian Epstein planned intense recording sessions. Unlike their debut, which was done almost in one go, this album was recorded in several takes over three months, between July and October 1963, at EMI studios in London. The result is a mix of eight original tracks, including George Harrison's first credited composition, "Don't Bother Me", and six covers of songs already heard on the radio, mainly from Motown rock and roll and R&B. From the recording sessions emerged tracks that would become cornerstones. For example, "All My Loving", described by historians as a particularly complex compositional piece for Paul McCartney at the time. Covers of classics like "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong and "You Really Got a Hold on Me" by Smokey Robinson were also recorded. Interestingly, the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which was recorded during these sessions, became a massive hit and was one of the first to sell a million copies in the UK alone. The cover photo, by fashion photographer Robert Freeman, became so recognizable that many other groups have imitated it. The distribution of this material had its peculiarities. In the United States, the songs were split between the first two albums released under the Capitol Records label: *Meet the Beatles!* and *The Beatles' Second Album*. In Canada, the album was known as *Beatlemania! With The Beatles*, being the band's first release in North America. The album was very well received, with pre-orders of half a million copies and sales reaching one million in the UK by 1965, becoming the second record to achieve this there. It remained at the top of the British charts for 21 weeks, a period that, added to that of its predecessor, meant that The Beatles occupied the number one spot uninterruptedly for 51 weeks. Subsequent accolades included it in lists such as Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003 and the compilation 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in 2010.

Year

1963

Songs

14

Duration

31 min 37 seg