Did The Beatles release an illegal album?

Did The Beatles release an illegal album?

“It was twenty years ago today . . .” No. That will forever be Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  It was fifty years ago today, however, that The Beatles released their “semi-illegal” US debut disc Introducing  . . . The Beatles.  The Vee-Jay Records release, originally slated to hit the record racks in July, 1963, was actually released on January 10, 1964 a mere ten days prior to the release of Capitol’s Meet the Beatles.

The Vee-Jay release: “Introducing . . . The Beatles”

The reasons behind this erroneous event harkens back to the previous year when the band’s second single, “Please Please Me”, was put out in the UK.  The parent company of UK Parlophone label, EMI, gave the US label, Capitol, a chance to put out the single in the states but Capitol refused.  Transglobal, another EMI-owned company, was charged with finding the record a place in the US.  A Chicago R&B label, Vee-Jay, famous for acts such as the Impressions and Gladys Knight, jumped at the chance to pick up the single.

Michele Marotta, eldest daughter of Randy Wood, president and later owner of Vee-Jay recollects   “My dad . . . worked with (founders) Vivian and Jimmy (Bracken) then bought the company.  Vee-Jay was originally a gospel label and delved into rock and roll with The Beatles.”  In fact, they released “Please Please Me” on February 7, 1963.

It wasn’t a hit but did well enough to encourage Vee-Jay to plan to put out the group’s premiere platter, Please Please Me, in the US with but one change.  Back then American LPs generally only had 12 tracks while UK albums had 14.  The titular track and the single B-side, “Ask Me Why” were dropped and the project was re-christened Introducing  . . . The Beatles.  Unfortunately, while it was supposed to be in stores before the end of July, a major financial crisis at Vee-Jay postponed the scheduled release date.

Transglobal voided its contract with the company due to “nonpayment of royalties” from the “Please Please Me” single.  Word spread about The Beatles and by that fall Capitol committed to releasing their new hit single “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.  Vee-Jay, still in possession of the complete, earlier masters and the majority of the album cover artwork ready and released Introducing  . . . The Beatles before Capitol’s Meet the Beatles hoping the much-needed money would outweigh any potential legal issues.

Marotta recalls: “I met the Beatles in 1964 after the August Hollywood Bowl concert.  I was 8; they were early 20s and I thought they were old!  They came over to our house when the album Introducing  . . . The Beatles was first released.  My mom and I spoke at length about how long their hair was and you could not tell them apart. How funny is that?”

The fun was quickly over though as one week later Vee-Jay was sent a restraining order from Beechwood Music which owned the rights to “P.S. I Love You” and “Love Me Do”.  The label quickly dropped those songs and replaced them with the pair they had originally cut and reissued the platter in February.  It climbed to number 2 on the Billboard Top 200 second only to Meet the Beatles.

Transglobal was next to take Vee-Jay to court.  Over the following two months, Vee-Jay would release a different version of the album Introducing  . . . The Beatles material every time the court lifted one of Capitol’s injunctions.  Marotta concludes: “Vee Jay ultimate re-released Introducing  . . . The Beatles under different titles, i.e., The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons. “

The Beatles (April 1964)

An agreement was reached that April.  Vee-Jay was given six months to market the tracks it controlled after which Capitol get them.  Over 1 million copies of Introducing  . . . The Beatles would be sold by the time this changeover occurred in October.  The LP would go on to become a favorite of counterfeiters due perhaps to the different versions put out by Vee-Jay.

(Images courtesy of LiveAuctioneers and Billboard)