Beatles For Sale Album: Introduction

Here we highlight the 1964 album “Beatles For Sale” in brief. This was The Beatles’ fourth LP, but what amazing sounds it gives us, even today. In fact, click the button further down to hear clips from all the tracks and see for yourself. However, first, let’s have a look at more information about the LP.

In Detail

• Release Date: December 6, 1964
• Recorded: August 11–October 26, 1964
• Record Label: Parlophone
• Studio: EMI Studios, London
• Album Duration: 33:42
• Genre: Pop rock, folk rock, rock and roll, and country
• Producer: George Martin
• Engineer: Norman Smith

Performers And Instruments

• John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic 12-string guitar, harmonica, handclaps, and tambourine
• Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar, Hammond organ, handclaps, as well as the piano
• George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, handclaps, also the African drum
• Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, tambourine, timpani, percussion, suitcase, as well as some handclaps
• George Martin: piano

Beatles For Sale: Album Tracks

Side One

Side Two

Recording

To begin with, the Fab Four recorded this “Beatles For Sale” album over a seven-day period between August 11 and October 26, 1964. Of course, the studio recordings had to come to a halt due to their tour of America and Canada during this period. Indeed, in those days, they could create a masterpiece in no time, and this they did!

Beatles For Sale (Album) Cover

Obviously, George Harrison’s hair was out of place in this image.

This LP’s artwork is Rob Freeman’s third cover, but this time it is a colour image. The image came from a collection of pictures taken at Hyde Park in London one late autumn afternoon.

The gate-folded sleeve was also unusual in that you had to open it to access the pocket containing the disc. Paul McCartney says, “The shoot was a doddle; it was easy; we did a session lasting a couple of hours and had some reasonable pictures to use.”

The Sounds

It’s back to basics for this LP; in other words, the “Beatles For Sale” album sees the lads singing six cover songs. Despite John Lennon and Paul McCartney being prolific songwriters, they simply couldn’t keep up with the demand for new songs. Of course, they sang many cover songs on their first two LP’s, “Please Please Me” and “With The Beatles.”

There are some classic songs on the “Beatles For Sale” album, but many don’t consider it to be their best album. For example, those with just a passing interest in The Beatles would struggle to know half of the album’s songs.

However, with tracks like “No Reply,” “I’m A Loser,” “Baby’s In Black,” and “Eight Days A Week,” the album was and still is a “must-have.” In fact, some prefer the early recordings of The Beatles. Of course, Beatlemaniacs don’t discriminate and just collect the lot!

Beatles For Sale Album: Chart Success

In short, Beatlemania was sweeping the world in 1964, and people couldn’t get enough of the Fab Four. So, the release of a new album was always going to be a success.

Indeed, “Beatles For Sale” topped the charts after replacing their own “A Hard Days Night” album. However, this time around, the album only topped the charts for 11 weeks. But this was not for consecutive weeks. In fact, it was at the top of the charts three times. Be that as it may, the “Beatles For Sale” album was in the charts for a total of 46 weeks!

No tracks from the “Beatles For Sale” album became singles, however, they did have other singles that were topping the charts in this period. For example, “I Feel Fine” and its B-side “She’s A Woman.”

Have Your Say

Obviously, you may comment below about this “Beatles For Sale” album. However, we also have a massive Fab Four Forum that has a dedicated forum post for it too. So, pop over today and have your say after you listen to the tunes below!

Take A Listen

Listen to the song snippets, then leave us your opinions below.