Time Machine Records & More

On this date in 1989:

The "Damaged Justice" tour brought Metallica and their special guests The Cult to the Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska.

THE CAPITOL RECORDS CREATION THAT CONQUERED AMERICA

Released at the height of Beatlemania, Beatles VI was assembled specifically for the American market and became yet another chart-topping success during one of the most remarkable runs in popular music history.

ON THIS DATE (60 YEARS AGO)
June 14, 1965 – The Beatles: Beatles VI is released.

ALL THINGS MUSIC PLUS+ 5/5
RECORD WORLD (see original PICK HITS review below)

Beatles VI is an album by The Beatles, released in the US on June 14, 1965. It topped the Billboard 200 Top LP's chart for six weeks during the summer of 1965.

Unlike the Beatles' British albums, Beatles VI was created exclusively for the American market by Capitol Records. As Capitol's merchandising vice president Brown Meggs explained in Billboard magazine, the material was gathered from recording sessions that stretched over nine and a half months, from September 29, 1964 through May 10, 1965.

The earliest session produced "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party," while the final session yielded both "Bad Boy" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy." In all, only nine recording sessions contributed material to the album.

While Beatles VI contained some undeniable highlights—including the recent #1 single "Eight Days A Week"—it has often been viewed as one of the weaker American Beatles albums. Most of the strongest tracks from the British album Beatles for Sale had already appeared on Beatles '65, leaving Capitol to assemble a collection from remaining songs, recent recordings, and tracks intended for the upcoming Help! album.

Producer George Martin later reflected on the period:

"They were rather war weary... One must remember that they'd been battered like mad throughout 1964, and much of 1963. Success is a wonderful thing but it is very, very tiring. They were always on the go. (The album) doesn't appeal to me very much now; it's not one of their most memorable ones. They perked up again after that..."

Regardless of its origins, America embraced the album immediately. Released on June 14, 1965, Beatles VI shot up the Billboard charts, climbing from #149 to #48 to #1 in just three weeks. It remained at the top for six consecutive weeks and stayed in the Top Ten for thirteen weeks. Remarkably, the final four weeks of its Top Ten run coincided with the first four weeks that Help! occupied the #1 position, giving America an uninterrupted summer soundtrack supplied entirely by The Beatles.
____________

RECORD WORLD, June 12, 1965 – PICK HITS

BEATLES VI Capitol (S)T 2358. Change of pace from song to song and, of course, fans won't be able to grab fast enough. Capitol has provided an added service on the liner notes. The lead singer or singers for each song is indicated. This will take the guesswork out of it for the young-uns. "Eight Days a Week," "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," "Words of Love" and eight more.

TRACKS:
All songs by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.

Side one
"Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" (Leiber, Stoller, Penniman) – 2:30
"Eight Days a Week" – 2:43
"You Like M Too Much" (George Harrison) – 2:34
"Bad Boy" (Larry Williams) – 2:17
"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" – 2:33
"Words of Love" (Buddy Holly) – 2:10

Side two
"What You're Doing" – 2:30
"Yes It Is" – 2:40
"Dizzy Miss Lizzie" (Williams) – 2:51
"Tell Me What You See" – 2:35
"Every Little Thing" – 2:01

On June 14-15, 1968, Ten Years After, Mint Tattoo, and Gross National Product performed at The Cheetah on Lick Pier in Venice Beach, CA. Here is THE LOS ANGELES FREE PRESS ad for that concert.

Also on June 15, 1966: On this day, Yesterday and Today was released in the US.

https://tinyurl.com/ya2geo3r

While the siphoning off of three Revolver tracks was an abomination, and the fact was that Capitol could easily have made the album work by simply adding “I’m Down,” “Paperback Writer” and “Rain” instead, one can make the case that what resulted - while a clear violation of artistic integrity - still managed to hold together well as a listening experience. Surprisingly so.

For all the fuss over the original design, it was still a strong seller, sitting atop the US album charts for five weeks.