The Beatles' Record Label in America Said the Band Was Bad and Wouldn't Sell
The Beatles hit it big in the United Kingdom in 1963. Their record label in the United States didn't think it would transfer.
The Beatles’ record label could boast about their ability to sell albums from the biggest band in the world. Beginning in 1963, the band became an undeniable success in the United Kingdom, with records flying off the shelves and an increasingly rabid fan base. Capitol Records, which would eventually become the band’s American record label, initially wanted nothing to do with the group. They were certain they would sell well in the country. The Beatles’ record label didn’t think the band would do well in America
In 1963, “From Me to You” brought The Beatles their first Number One hit in the United Kingdom. It was their third single and marked the start of their rapid rise to success.
“It was very difficult in 1963 to think The Beatles were going to last forever and that I would be talking about them thirty years on. But it was very gratifying that they had made Number One,” Beatles producer George Martin said in The Beatles Anthology. “It took a whole year before they really conquered the world. It was 1964 before they had a Number One in America — the whole of 1963 was taken up with consolidating our work in England.”
Each time the band released a single, Martin sent it to Capitol Records in America. For a while, the label rejected their songs, believing that they wouldn’t be able to sell in the United States.
Source: Emma McKee/cheatsheet.com
