1964 marked the first Beatles album released on Capitol with Meet The Beatles! on January 20th, the beginning of a prodigious 60-year partnership that resulted in a staggering 15 million albums sold that year alone. To commemorate the anniversary of Capitol’s label-defining relationship with The Beatles and the explosion of Beatlemania worldwide, Capitol Records announces an exclusive capsule collection between The Beatles and beloved cult brand Online Ceramics.
The anniversary collection arrives alongside The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono vinyl box set, released November 22 by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe, and Beatles ’64, an all-new documentary produced by Martin Scorsese and directed by David Tedeschi, which will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning November 29.
Today’s announcement is paired with a Julian Klincewicz promotional video viewable here. On February 7th, 1964, scores of screaming fans gathered at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to catch a glimpse of John, Paul, George and Ringo as The Beatles took their first steps on American soil.
Two nights later, on February 9th, 73 million viewers in the U.S. and millions more in Canada tuned in to CBS to watch The Beatles make their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. In this cultural watershed moment in American history, The Beatles performed five songs on the live broadcast, returning later that same year for a month-long dash of 32 concerts across North America from August 19th – September 20th.
“Beatlemania,” already in full, feverish bloom in The Beatles’ native U.K. and developing in the U.S., exploded with blissful fervor across America and around the world. The British Invasion had begun. Shortly before The Beatles’ history-making Stateside visit, Capitol Records secured exclusive U.S. rights to release the band’s recordings in a deal with EMI setting the stage for the beginning of an iconic relationship.
This led to 15 million Beatles records sold in 1964 alone, including 7 U.S. Top 40 singles, six Number 1s, six Top 10 albums including four Number 1s, and a blockbuster film (A Hard Day’s Night). It was a banner year for both Capitol Records and the band, even by The Beatles’ own “toppermost of the poppermost” standards.
The exclusive capsule collection highlights The Beatles’ timeless influence, reflected in this month’s two Grammy nominations for “Now and Then,” including for Record of the Year. Assets were provided to Online Ceramics from the Capitol and Apple Corps archives, including original tape reel images, internal documents, and historic photos. The resulting line incorporates handwritten mastering notes and tracklists from the original production master of A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track), and promotional photos from the band’s first North American tour and history-making performances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The collection also celebrates The Beatles’ U.S. albums released in 1964: Meet The Beatles!, The Beatles’ Second Album, A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track), Something New, The Beatles’ Story, and Beatles ’65. The designs are centered around the iconic Beatles logo, juxtaposed with the “record stack” tower of the historical landmark Capitol Records Building. Starting today, Tuesday, November 26, the collection will be available for pre-order purchase via https://Beatles.lnk.to/OnlineCeramics.
