Beatlantis: 03} The Beatles' Third Album

 The Beatles' Third Album (June, 1964, Timaeus)

< file under Beatles In Atlantis >

~ an approximation of this album, using latest remasters, can be heard here on Apple Music ~

The good times continued in Atlantis; the leadership was keeping promises to the people, the dreams of the nation were taking shape, and the good relations with the surface world flourished. 1964 felt like the least troubled. most optimistic year in the collective memory of the young populace of this fabled realm.

Over at EMI's local outpost, though, Tivowr Dorna had a bit of concern about how to maintain The Beatles' remarkable undersea momentum. A Second Time was an even bigger hit than Twist and Shout, and under Dorna's supervision and courtesy of his connections in the UK and now the US, BBC Beatles performances were flooding the waterwaves of Atlantis radio and the quartet's Ed Sullivan TV appearances beamed into homes across the country. 

But, thinking perhaps he'd expected a bit too much output too quickly from the Lennon/McCartney songwriting duo — seeing as how he'd placed more Beatles originals on their second album than had even appeared on a single UK album to date — Dorna faced what he considered an obstacle in crafting the next Beatles Atlantis release. He had only four unused originals, one of which had already been released by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas, the other by The Rolling Stones — with both making the charts, the latter launching the Stones' successful Atlantis sixties — to build an LP around. 

Dorna was concerned enough about the prospects of such a release that he considered going to EMI and suggesting it be released on Timaeus' budget label counterpart, Critias. He decided that might do more harm than good to the album's sales, and to the band's longterm prospects. 

To bolster the LP's chances, he chose to open and close the album with the two German sides the band had recorded. These may have been seen as odd novelties when they appeared in the US. In Atlantis, however, where the people had always been polyglots, The Beatles taking the time to record in another language was celebrated. The average Atlantean is said to have spoken at least six languages other than their own. With East Germany one of the Eastern Bloc nations with which Atlantis was developing the most diplomatic relations, and with West Germany having built a recent history a strong trade and cultural exchanges with Atlantis, German had grown into one of the more popular surface tongues. Additionally, in this stereo-obsessed nation, Sie liebt dich held a special appeal, as the English She Loves You was mono-only.  

To augment the four English Lennon/McCartney numbers, and the two earlier gems rerecorded in German, Dorna relied on what he described on the back cover as "fab covers of some of the lads' most rocking and fervent favorites." The resultant release was in this regard not so different from the second Capitol US album which bore a similar name. Any similarity though is apparently a coincidence. EMI notes, and messages back to George Martin, clearly indicate Dorna had the majority of songs selected, and the album title chosen, well ahead of the release of the American compilation. 

Like that similarly titled American LP, this one featured a good number of tracks left over from the band's excellent second UK LP; unlike that album, this release also included the entirety of the band's fifth UK EP. 

Donna's initial concerns, largely allayed when he became aware of the German recordings, were unfounded. The Beatles' Third Album was beloved by the band's growing Atlantis fanbase, who turned it into another smash chart-topper. 

Despite a paucity of new originals, the third LP was a smash

Side one

1.     Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand °

2.     This Boy ‡

3.     Roll Over Beethoven †

4.     Please Mr. Postman †

5.     Matchbox ^

6.     Long Tall Sally [mono] ∞

7.     I Call Your Name [mono] ∞

Side two

1.     Slow Down ^

2.     Devil in Her Heart †

3.     Money †

4.     I Wanna Be Your Man *

5.     Hold Me Tight *

6.     You Really Got a Hold on Me †

7.     Sie Liebt Dich π    

All tracks stereo except as noted. 

° Something New {The Capitol Albums, Volume 1; 2006}

‡ Meet the Beatles! {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or Past Masters {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

† The Beatles' Second Album {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or With The Beatles {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

^ Something New {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or Past Masters {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

∞ The Beatles' Second Album {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014}

* Meet the Beatles! {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or With The Beatles {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

π Past Masters {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

next: 04} A Hard Day's Night (1964)

previous: 01} A Second Time (1963)

Beatlantis: 02} A Second Time

A Second Time (December, 1963, Timaeus)

< file under Beatles In Atlantis >

~ an approximation of this album, using latest remasters, can be heard here on Apple Music ~

Having met their obligation to offer The Beatles' first Atlantean release to a local independent label, EMI was free to issue subsequent material on either or both of their own Atlantis subsidiary labels. With the Twist and Shout LP having made such a splash, EMI did just that — offering the act to their main label, Timaeus. The execs leapt at the chance, but lacking expertise in the pop and rock field, they turned to EMI back in London for guidance. George Martin promptly advised Timaeus enlist the aid of the young A&R man, Tivowr Dorna, who'd had such a success at the indy Plato with the fabs' debut.  

Hired away from Plato and installed as the point man for pop and specifically to spearhead future Beatles releases, Dorna was given great latitude in how to proceed. Ironically, though he'd been reluctant to alter The Beatles' debut when contractually obliged to do so, now, free of any such requirement, he decided he simply had to. He'd been aware that, since long before his own career had started, there was no market for singles in Atlantis; in the time since slightly altering Please Please Me for release underseas, it had become clear to him that back in England the opposite was quite true: the Beatles had issued some of their best new material as non-album singles. Determined that the Atlantis audience should not be deprived of these and future such numbers, and aware of the surprisingly growing market for Beatles UK LPs imported into Atlantis, Dorna settled on a twin strategy of including the singles on the LPs for the general record buying public and furthermore significantly altering the main track selection and the artwork so as to entice even those acquiring the imports to buy the local product as well; he couldn't risk losing many sales to Parlophone imports. To further this second goal, he included less common mixes when available. Coupled with the underwater nation's preference for stereo, and the fact that the imports from England, as decided in London, were mostly, though not exclusively, the mono issues, going forward Dorna chose the standard stereo mixes except when a unique stereo (or, on occasion, mono) mix had been prepared for Capitol, as he was receiving those different mixes from Martin. In certain instances, Timaeus also received copies from Capitol, with their own alterations, which Dorna generally aimed to avoid, already applied. In the case of both sides of the Beatles' fourth EMI single, included herein, Dorna chose to go with with the "Duophonic" tapes prepared by Capitol, as no true stereo masters existed.

This approach would have, by extension, made the Atlantis releases quite tempting to some UK and international fans if exported, but EMI prohibited that. Martin — aware of this export prohibition, and seeing the new inroads into the Atlantis market as somewhat of a testing ground, and informed by a fondness for the care Tivor took in preparing Twist and Shout and for his thoughtful correspondence regarding the strategy he intended to take going forward with the Timaeus albums — began to also send a bit of unreleased material to Dorna. Working from what was provided, Dorna prepared a complete composite take of the 1963 One After 909, apparently a model for the edit later mimicked by EMI for the cancelled Sessions archival compilation LP, which eventually saw release on the first installment of the Anthology series. Dorna had meanwhile acquired, either from Brian Epstein or someone at the BBC, transcriptions of on-air Beatles performances, for broadcast in Atlantis. Considering one track — Soldier of Love — essential to the young band's burgeoning catalog, Dorna chose to include the recording on this second Atlantis / first Timaeus LP he was preparing. It became one of only two covers included on A Second Time, thus named after the Lennon/McCartney tune Dorna selected as the album closer. Timaeus managed to get this new release on the shelves in time for the tail end of Atlantis' winter solstice holiday shopping season. Sales were brisk, riding the rising tide of the band's popularity.

The second Beatles album released in Atlantis was the first on an EMI label

Side one

1.     From Me To You °

2.     All I've Got to Do *

3.     All My Loving *

4.     I'll Get You [Duophonic] ∞

5.     Little Child *

6.     She Loves You [Duophonic] ∞

7.     It Won't Be Long *

Side two

1.     I Want to Hold Your Hand ‡

2.     Till There Was You *

3.     Soldier of Love [mono] ^

4.     One After 909 [mono] ª

5.     Thank You Girl †

6.     Don't Bother Me *

7.     Not a Second Time *

All tracks stereo except as noted. 

° Past Masters {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

* Meet the Beatles! {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or With The Beatles {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

∞ The Beatles' Second Album {The Capitol Albums, Volume 1; 2006}

‡ Past Masters {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009} or Meet the Beatles! {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014}  

^ Live at the BBC {2013}

ª Anthology 1 {1995}

† The Beatles' Second Album {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or Past Masters {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

next: 03} The Beatles' Third Album (1964)

previous: 01} Twist and Shout (1963)

Beatlantis: 01} Twist and Shout

Twist and Shout (July, 1963, Plato Platters)

< file under Beatles In Atlantis >

~ an approximation of this album, using latest remasters, can be heard here on Apple Music ~

1963 was a good year. After what could most generously be described as a lull in democracy, Atlanteans elected their youngest leadership to date— a leadership dedicated — so they said, and so they seemed to demonstrate — to the nation’s highest ideals. It was an ancient realm yet a young nation anew, as the Land Pox which had afflicted those in early middle age and beyond, decimating the older generations, left a population principally under 33. This population enjoyed an unprecedented warming of relations with the surface world, across which they had an unparalleled access to both the Eastern Bloc and the West. Into this milieu, British transnational conglomerate EMI wanted to sell some records. But, they couldn't— not directly.

Owing to a parliamentary declaration dating back to when surface media companies were first allowed, decades earlier, to enter the Atlantis market, any initial release from a new artist originating on an outside record label had to first be offered to a local company before that parent label could move the artist to EMI's own Atlantis subsidiary. Shortly after passage of that requirement, in response, or some would say retaliation, EMI declared essential to any licensee agreement was the forbidding of export from Atlantis of EMI licensed products. In an escalating diplomatic row expected to be of little consequence, Atlantis' parliament insisted this restriction must be applied not just to materials licensed to local labels, but releases issued by EMI's own local affiliates. And so it is that no copies of Atlantis Beatles records are known to have ever landed on surface world soil. In the years since the parliamentary edict, record buyers and record labels in Atlantis had abandoned singles, hence the first offering from this foursome was not merely a pair of songs but instead their full-length debut. A local independent label specializing in classical and jazz, Plato Records, more commonly known as Plato Platters, was approached by EMI for the Beatles' first underwater release. Some may cynically suggest EMI deliberately went to the classical / jazz label, assuming they’d be ill-suited to handle a pop rock release in this new genre. But there was no reason for EMI to wish this release to underperform, as they were guaranteed - if they so wished - the opportunity to offer any subsequent material to their own subsidiary. Indeed it would be beneficial to EMI for Plato to have a hit with its first fab platter, and that’s exactly what happened thanks to some luck, fortunate timing, and the good taste and marketing savvy of a newcomer to Plato, a recently hired young producer and A&R man who would come to figure greatly in The Beatles' Atlantean success, Tivowr Dorna.

The suits at Plato recognized the moptops possessed "an efficacy for melody… [and]… somewhat surprising breadth of material" per an internal memo. So they seized the opportunity to present this new EMI act on their label. Beyond that, they left the task of preparing the release to young Mr. Dorna. The only instruction they gave him was that, back when EMI instituted the export restriction, the company had also stipulated any album released on an independent label had to differ significantly, and to EMI's approval, from its original EMI source. This was presumably in the hopes that local interest would lead to some importing of actual EMI product. Dorna was initially reluctant to change anything about Please Please Me, which he found captivating, but, obliged to do so, he sought to change the content as little as possible. He was so taken with the climactic closing cover of the Medley/Berns gem, he chose to rechristen the Beatles' debut album in its honor. Can't blame him — this take inspired by the Isley Brothers rendition remained throughout their storied career the most essential cover The Beatles ever recorded. Other than that title change, differing cover art, and a slight rearranging of the album's song sequence — for the better, in this journal's opinion — the result is a faithful representation of the band's UK debut LP. It's also one of only two instances before 1966 that an Atlantis release would contain all the same numbers as its UK counterpart.

The little banner on the front cover proclaims, quite simply, that the album features love, which turned out to be predominant sentiment throughout the band's songwriting. Canada would take this layout, which uses the photo from a UK EP of the same name, and slightly repurpose it for the second Beatles LP there.

Sending a proof of the new art, and his revised running order for the songs, to the band's producer George Martin in hopes of acquiring EMI's approval of the changes as sufficient, Dorna explained his reasoning for the rearranging as being rooted in his belief in the importance of an album's "side perimeters"— that is, the opening and closing of each side. He stressed the least critical perimeter was the closing of the first side, and therefore he moved the contents of the band's first single to the end of the side one, shifting their second single — which he felt was much stronger — to open the second side. Martin wrote back, thanking Tivowr for his thoughtfulness— and agreeing with his conclusion! Knowing this would be the band's only release on Plato, as any subsequent recordings that might materialize would move over to EMI, it is likely neither man anticipated this to be the start of a long-lasting, little-known, professional correspondence.

Despite minimal budget for promotion, which was mostly limited to ads featuring Dorna's slogan "These Air-Breathers Take Our Breath Away!" and propelled by the popularity of the closing trio of tracks which radio programmers soon dubbed "The Three Ts" — A Taste of Honey, There's A Place, and the title track — on Atlantis' youth-focused land-based pirate radio stations such as SAND, the album rose to the fourth spot on the Pop chart. This was the highest any surface act had climbed since Serge Gainsbourg's N° 2 had reached number three in late 1959 on the main Wet 100 chart, and the first top ten placing for an American act on any Atlantean chart since Anita O'Day's Anita Sings The Most and Sun Ra's Super-Sonic Jazz held the number one and number two spots, respectively, on the Jazz & Classical chart in early 1957.

The Beatles' Atlantis debut, Twist and Shout; art from EMI archive
of approval print sent to George Martin, which he ran by Brian Epstein

Side one

1.     I Saw Her Standing There *

2.     Misery °

3.     Anna (Go to Him) †

4.     Chains †

5.     Boys †

6.     Love Me Do [mono] ^

7.     P.S. I Love You [fake stereo] ∞

Side two

1.     Please Please Me †

2.     Ask Me Why †

3.     Baby It's You †

4.     Do You Want to Know a Secret †

5.     A Taste of Honey †

6.     There's A Place °

7.     Twist and Shout †

All tracks stereo except as noted. It seems the original (single) recording of Love Me Do with Ringo on drums was never sent to Atlantis, and hence was the one official Beatles recording from what would come to be known as the core catalog never to see release there. The above is the rerecorded version, with session musician Andy White on drums and Ringo on tambourine, as featured on the Please Please Me LP. 

* Meet the Beatles! {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or Please Please Me {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

° Please Please Me {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

† The Early Beatles {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or Please Please Me {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

^ 1+ {2015} or The Early Beatles {The U.S. Albums box set; 2014} or Please Please Me {The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) stereo box set; 2009}

∞ The Early Beatles {The Capitol Albums, Volume 2; 2006}

next: 02} A Second Time (1963)

previous: 00} Beatlantis: Unseaing The Fab Four's Lost Atlantean Discography