Like me, you probably think you know the story arc of The Beatles pretty well. As we’ve worked on this new publication, the latest edition in our Ultimate Record Collection series, out tomorrow, it’s been a delight to find that the Beatles narrative can still offer up some delightful surprises.
And the story here? This magazine presents insightful new writing on every Beatles record in order of its appearance, forming a definitive timeline of the first and most thrillingly intense part of the group’s career. What emerges as you listen to the music and read the following pages isn’t only a renewed pleasure in the songs, but also a respect for the Beatles’ composure as the storm of their new fame grew around them.
New fantastic self-penned music followed quickly on the heels of their initial hits. No group had done anything quite like this before, and neither had the record industry, which now had to meet the phenomenal demand for new music. Here you’ll be able to get an idea of how that worked in real time. Alongside the albums you likely know and love already, you’ll see the profusion of new singles, and also the less-familiar formats like the EPs, in their incentivising picture sleeves. Then there’s the overseas editions.
You could spend a happy lifetime immersing yourself into the worldwide Beatles, but here we’ve confined ourselves, with a few exceptions, to the UK and North American records. For sure, there’s a wry remark or two to be made at the expense of the way the United States handled the album releases – slicing and dicing “superfluous” tracks here, assembling new albums from the cuts, adding the singles (or taking them away). But observing their label’s initial lack of interest, and their haste to try and catch up, you feel not only the size of a less-connected world – and also just how manic Beatlemania must have felt to those involved with servicing its demands. You could even find yourself making the case that Meet The Beatles is a superior document of the era because it starts with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. We’ve aired our thoughts, and reviewed every record.
We have punctuated the quickfire succession of these releases with other noteworthy events on the timeline. The momentous television broadcasts. The radio appearances. The key business meetings, personnel changes and live shows. What else? From Uncut’s features archive, we’ve pulled deep insights and eyewitness accounts on the formative appearances in Hamburg, on A Hard Day’s Night and the group’s pivotal 1962 (“Not a bad 12 months, was it?”)
As you’ll read here, The Beatles were working collectively like a dog – so hard in fact, we’ve had to expand their story into a second volume, which you can pre-order from us now. We’ll see you here next month with more fab gear!