The Beatles Second Album

1964年4月10日リリース、5週1位獲得。
世界的なビートルズ旋風の60周年を記念して、主に1964年にアメリカでリリースされたザ・ビートルズのアルバム群がモノ・ミックスの新たなアナログ盤として蘇る。
オリジナル・モノ・マスターからカッティングした180グラム仕様。
オリジナルを忠実に再現したアートワークを使用。さらに、今回新たに付属する二つ折りのインサートには、米国のビートルズ研究家/作家のブルース・スパイザーによるエッセイが掲載。また、ラッカー盤のカッティングは、ケヴィン・リーヴスがナッシュヴィルにあるイースト・アイリス・スタジオで新たに手がけた。

The Beatles Second Album was the first album of the groups work to be assembled by Capitol Records exclusively for the American market (as opposed to, say, Meet the Beatles!, which was a reconfigured and shortened version of With the Beatles). As such, it offends some historical purists, who dont think of it as a real album. Regardless of its origins, however, The Beatles Second Album stands as probably best pure rock & roll album ever issued of the groups music. In the process of pulling songs from various British and American EPs, singles (including She Loves You) and B-sides, as well as tracks left over from the editing of With the Beatles for American release, the compilers somehow managed to avoid any trace of the pop ballads favored by Paul McCartney that usually slowed down the groups other early albums, and the result was the longest uninterrupted body of hard rock & roll and R&B in their entire output. No other long-player by the group featured them doing more covers of songs by black American artists or songwriters, including Little Richard (Long Tall Sally), Chuck Berry (Roll Over Beethoven), Smokey Robinson (You Really Got a Hold on Me), Barrett Strong (Money), and others, and just to show how rich a vein this all was at the time of its release, the version of Roll Over Beethoven here actually charted briefly as a single, while Long Tall Sally served as their concert finale. ~ Bruce Eder