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Rare 12˝ US Capitol Records two-sided acetate for a mono version of the unreleased album tentatively entitled Best of the Beatles, intended for release as a greatest hits compilation in mid-1964. The acetate disc bears red-and-white Capitol Records "Mono Type B" labels annotated in blue ballpoint: "Master No. 46934-41, Time 14:30, Side 1, Title: Best of the Beatles, Artist: Beatles, Proof, 5-25-64" and "Time 14:30, Project No. 46934-41, Side 2, Title: Best of the Beatles, Artist: Beatles, Proof, 5-25-64."
In 1964, Capitol Records was experiencing a phenomenal surge in success driven by the onset of Beatlemania in the United States. By the time this acetate was produced in May, Capitol had already issued Meet the Beatles! and The Beatles’ Second Album, with Something New scheduled for release in July.
Beatle record expert and author Bruce Spizer discusses this in an interview for The World Beatles Forum: "In the summer of 1964, Capitol prepared a double album called Best of the Beatles, which was to combine the Capitol and Vee-Jay hits. While this would have been a terrific album, Capitol could not release it because Vee-Jay didn't lose its rights to its 16 Beatles songs until October of 1964. I don't know why Capitol's production department did not know that. So, much to the horror of the Capitol sales force, that LP never happened."
This amazing rarity represents Sides 1 and 2 of the proposed release, as follows:
Side 1
- Twist and Shout
- Love Me Do
- I Want To Hold Your Hand
- From Me To You (not released on a US Beatles LP until the 1973 Red Album (1962-1966))
- This Boy
- Roll Over Beethoven
Side 2
- Do You Want to Know a Secret
- Boys
- Ask Me Why
- She Loves You
- You Really Got a Hold On Me
- Long Tall Sally
The acetate grades VG with some very light surface marks not affecting play. Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Rockaway Records, explaining: "This proposed release was canceled and only a few 2LP sets of acetate discs were made, likely no more than two mono sets and two stereo sets. This disc is one only of a mono set, which is labeled as 'Mono Type B.' This denotes that the recordings are not the original UK mono mixes, but rather a 'fold-down,' which simply combines the left and right channels of the stereo mix." Accompanied by a high-fidelity digital transfer (.wav file) of the acetate's contents on a USB stick.
From the Mark Erbach Collection.
