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The Beatles US LPs:
Where They Came From & How They Charted

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Book Reviews:
  Goldmine
  Library Journal
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rev: 2009Apr29

Notice
The publisher is sold out of The Beatles US LPs. Copyright issues currently prevent the printing of a new 2nd edition until these issues can be resolved.

Can you name the Beatles first LP?
(Maybe you're even asking "What's an LP?")

To clearly answer such confusing questions comes:

The Beatles US LPs: Where They Came From & How They Charted

Did you know that all the Beatle LPs released in the US until the "White Album" weren't really Beatles LPs at all? Even LPs with the same title (like Help!, Rubber Soul, even Sgt. Pepper) were different from the UK originals!

The Beatles US LPs shows each US LP, and connects every song to its source UK LP (now CD) with exclusive Fan-In drawings. Each LP also has two graphs showing its Billboard and Cash Box chart performance.

What LP or CD is your favorite Beatle song on? What Grammy Awards did they win? Gold Records? It's all easy easy to find in The Beatles US LPs.

This is a Reference Work

This book is definitely a reference work that reads almost like a technical manual - it is not light reading for the casual Beatle listener. This book was written for serious students of the Beatles, including collectors, and those who need to know the history of the US LPs. This specifically includes radio stations, who always seem to be getting the American albums mixed up.

So:

Could you name the Beatles first LP?
(For you real BeatleManiacs, I mean the Beatles with Ringo.)

Possible Answers

Introducing The Beatles
The Beatles first American LP.
(If you answered Introducing the Beatles - the 'Love Me Do' release - you really know your BeatleStuff.)

Meet The Beatles
The Beatles' first LP released on the Capitol label, but not the first in America.

Please Please Me
This was the Beatles' first British LP.

Real Answer...

"What do you mean by 'first'?"

Bonus Question!
Can you name the Beatles last album?
(Hint - see Real Answer above.)
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Book Reviews

(reviews are complete, not excerpts)

Goldmine

An alternate title for this book could have been The Beatles: An Illustrated Guide To The U.S. LP's, not because this book contains photographs of the group's album jackets (in fact, there is not even one actual photograph featured herein), but rather because this volume relies upon a vast assortment of tables, charts, graphs and other visual displays tracing the evolution of The Beatles' American albums back to their British origins.

In all, more than 40 individual U.S. and U.K. Beatles albums are dissected, transformed and reassembled before the reader's eyes. To achieve this, the author has employed a variety of visual layouts in which to present this material. For every LP there is an Album Contents Table, consisting of CD track number, LP side and cut number, song title, running time and composer credit. Cover versions also list the original year of copyright to indicate how recent the influence was on The Beatles. Each album also includes a special Comments section, containing or more paragraphs of information relative to the LP and its contents. Also featured is the Label And Sales Table, indicating original record label, catalog number (for mono and stereo, where applicable) and gold and platinum record award data.

Without question, the main attraction of this work centers around the transformation of the group's original British records into their American counterparts (largely at the hands of Capitol Records). To successfully illustrate the paths taken by these recordings, the author has devised a clever set of display tables (coined "fan-ins" and "fan-outs" since each resembles a hand-held fan), in which the reader can literally follow the arrows from table to table, tracing the route of these songs as they made their way from EMI Records in England across the Atlantic to Capitol Records in the United States. These "fan-ins" and "fan-outs" should prove very helpful, especially for younger fans who may be less familiar with the original U.S. vinyl albums. Even the more serious Beatles scholar or first-generation fan will be pleasantly surprised how useful and even entertaining many of these displays can actually be.

Somewhat less successful is the Chart Performance Graph accompanying every LP. This is essentially a line graph, tracing the rise and fall of the album on the Billboard album chart. Not surprisingly, almost every album rises to (or near) the top of the chart in the earliest weeks and then begins its gradual downward descent, until it eventually drops off the chart many weeks later. Entry date and position is listed for each release, along with the peak position attained. However, the remainder of the chart positions are visual approximations, since it is impossible to ascertain the individual weekly rankings utilizing a line graph. Nevertheless, this is the first Beatles book to employ such a visual technique for tracking a record's chart run.

Several appendices and additional information tables are also included, among them: U.K. and U.S. releases and timelines, compact discs, U.K. and U.S. singles, U.K. EPs, Vee-Jay Records releases, Vee-Jay Records company relationships and lawsuits, Top U.S. chart positions, RIAA and Grammy awards, Cash Box album chart graphs, Billboard and Cash Box chart performance tables, Song-to-LP and CD list (a total of 214 Beatles songs), and a glossary of useful terms.

Although much of the material featured in The Beatles U.S. LPs has been presented elsewhere before, having all of this cross-referenced record data available in one single volume is certainly a helpful plus, and the numerous displays, charts, graphs and tables certainly makes for one of the more interesting and unique Beatles books to appear in quite some time.

(by Mark Wallgren in Goldmine #497, August 13, 1999. This is a review of the first edition, 1st printing)

Library Journal

Musician and Beatles fan Westover has compiled a clever assortment of charts and graphs to show how Capitol Records in the United States routinely dismantled the Beatles's original U.K. albums in order to create more product. Westover has created "fan-in" and "fan-out" charts that visually identify the U.K. sources for the songs on each of the Beatles's U.S. albums and vice versa. Also included are graphs that track each U.S. album's chart performance in Billboard. Unfortunately, because of their large scale, these graphs are difficult to read and Westover makes no attempt to analyze an album's drastic fluctuations in chart position. Additional charts and tables include a list of the Beatles's Grammy nominations and awards, an overview of the various U.S. record companies that released Beatles product, and even a chart that sorts all Beatles songs by playing times. Despite its drawbacks, this unique book compiles information not easily found elsewhere.

(by Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L. CA in Library Journal, October 1, 1999 p.82. This is a review of the first edition, 2nd printing.)

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Table of Contents

Topic Page
Introduction
How to use this book
UK vs US LP Release Comparison
13
15
21
US Albums: Fan-In and Contents 27
Introducing The Beatles (Version One)
Meet The Beatles!
Introducing The Beatles (Version Two)
The Beatles' Second Album
A Hard Day's Night
Something New
Songs, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles
The Beatles' Story
Beatles '65
The Early Beatles
Beatles VI
Help!
Rubber Soul
Yesterday... And Today
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Hey Jude
Let It Be
29
31
33
35
37
39
41
43
45
47
49
51
53
55
57
59
61
63
67
69
71
73
Compilation & Other LPs 75
A Collection Of Beatles Oldies
The Beatles 1962-1966
The Beatles 1967-1970
Rock 'N' Roll Music
The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl
Love Songs
The Beatles Ballads
Rarities (UK version)
Rarities (US version)
Reel Music
20 Greatest Hits
Past Masters: Volume One
Past Masters: Volume Two
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
UK Album Fan-Out 91
Please Please Me to Vee-Jay
Please Please Me to Capitol
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
 
Topic Page
Appendix 101
Compact Discs
UK LPs
UK LPs, in order recorded
US LPs
UK Singles
US Singles
UK EPs
Top US Chart Positions
UK Releases
US Releases
RIAA Awards
Gold Records
Grammy Awards
Billboard Performance
Cash Box Performance
Cash Box Graphs
The Companies
Song Names, Times, and Tallies
Song-to-US LP & CD-Track
Song Playing Times (CD)
103
104
104
105
106
107
109
111
112
113
116
117
118
121
122
123
132
140
142
147
Glossary 149
References 151
Index 153

List of Tables Page
UK LPs
US LPs
UK & US LP Timeline
Compact Discs
UK LPs
UK LPs, in order recorded
US LPs
UK Singles
US Singles
Vee-Jay Records Releases
UK EPs
Top US Chart Positions
UK Releases
US Releases
RIAA Awards
Billboard Performance
Cash Box Performance
Song-to-US LP & CD-Track
Song Playing Times (CD)
22
23
24
103
104
104
105
106
107
108
109
111
112
113
116
121
122
142
147
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photo of book cover
(cover concept and artwork by Ken Westover)

Copyright ©1999-2000, 2005, 2009 by Ken Westover at Cliff CanyonTM Publishing Co. All rights reserved.
This material may not be distributed without the written permission of the author.
E-mail questions or comments to cliffcan@indra.com.

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