“With the Beatles” album (1963)

With the Beatles is the second studio album by the Fab Four. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the band’s debut Please Please Me. Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions (seven by Lennon–McCartney and “Don’t Bother Me“, George Harrison’s first recorded solo composition and his first released on a Beatles album) and six covers (mostly of rock and roll and Motown R&B hits). The sessions also yielded the non-album single, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” backed by “This Boy“. The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups over the years. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with.

In the United States, the album’s tracks were unevenly split over the group’s first two albums released on Capitol Records: Meet the Beatles! and The Beatles’ Second Album. It was also released in Canada under the name Beatlemania! With the Beatles. The album was ranked number 420 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and was included in Robert Dimery’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2010). It was also voted number 275 in the third edition of English writer Colin Larkin’s All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

• Release date: November 22, 1963
• Genres: Rock, Pop music, Rock and roll, Pop rock, Rhythm and blues, Beat music, Blues rock
• Label: Odeon Records

With the Beatles tracklist

SIDE A

1. It Won’t Be Long
   (Lennon/McCartney)
2. All I’ve Got to Do
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. All My Loving
   (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Don’t Bother Me
   (Harrison)
5. Little Child
   (Lennon/McCartney)
6. Till There Was You
   (Wilson)
7. Please Mr. Postman
   (Dobbins/Garrett/Gorman/Holland/Bateman)

SIDE B

1. Roll Over Beethoven
   (C. Berry)
2. Hold Me Tight
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. You Really Got a Hold on Me
   (Robinson)
4. I Wanna Be Your Man
   (Lennon/McCartney)
5. Devil in Her Heart
   (Drapkin)
6. Not a Second Time
   (Lennon/McCartney)
7. Money (That’s What I Want)
   (Bradford/Gordy)