Extended Play

The next "batch" of songs released by the Beatles were issued in a format that has long been deleted and was a very popular method of obtaining material from one's favourite band back in the 1960's. This format was known as the "EP" or "Extended Play". This format was basically a seven inch vinyl record with a hard cardboard picture sleeve that contains two songs on each side for most of the time. This format was popular in the 60s due to the fact that a lot of the record buying public were young teenagers and young adults who sometimes could not afford a full LP and therefore were receptive to buying the EP as an alternate. After all, buying two EPs was the equilavent of having 8 songs at your disposal which was a tad more than a whole side of an LP at a much more affordable cost. The Beatles released a total of 13 EPs. Most of the EPs contained previously released material either from the LP or from a hit single.

The next four posts will be concerned with the fifth EP that the Beatles released as this EP contained songs that were up to this point unreleased in any other form. The first EP released by the Beatles was: "Twist and Shout" which contained Twist and Shout, A Taste of Honey, Do You Want to Know A Secret and There's a place; all from the first LP. The second EP was entitled: "The Beatles' Hits" which contained From Me to You, Thank you Girl, Please Please Me and Love Me Do ; all from the singles. The third EP was entitled: "The Beatles (no.1) which contained I Saw Her Standing There, Misery, Anna (Go To Him" and Chains; all from the first LP. The fourth EP was entitled: "All My Loving" which contained the title song, Ask Me Why, Money (That's What I Want) and P.S. I Love You; a mixture of tunes from the first and second LP.

Finally, the fifth EP was unique in that all of the songs were brand new and recorded specifically for the EP. All the songs were recorded approximately at the same times as the Beatles were working on their first soundtrack/ third LP. The name of the EP was "Long Tall Sally" and it was a real rocking little record. Four great tracks with three blistering covers and one original.

The EP was released on June 19 1964 in the UK. As promised, the four songs will be discussed in the next four posts..