The studio and office were to be run by Peter Brown, Brian Epstein’s former Personal Assistant, but Allen Klein warned Brown against continuing with the project and it was dropped. The Beatles were later to go ahead with a similar venture – they called it Apple!

Vee Jay Copulation!
An unusual album which has become a collectors item is ‘Jolly What! England’s Greatest Recording Stars The Beatles And Frank Ifield On Stage,’ issued by Vee-Jay Records in America on 26 February 1964.

The Vee-Jay label had been given the opportunity of picking up some Beatles tracks for release in America in 1963 when Capitol Records had turned the group down. Once the build-up began in 1964, Vee-Jay decided to take advantage of the material. They’d released an album ‘Introducing The Beatles’ (which contained tracks from the British debut album ’Please Please Me’) in July, 1963 with no success.

They re-released the album in January 1964 and it reached No. 2 in Cashbox and Billboard and No.1 in the Record World chart. As the company was unable to obtain any more Beatle cuts due to the fact that Capitol had now realized the group’s potential, Vee-Jay placed four of the tracks from ‘Introducing The Beatles’ (‘Please Please Me’, ‘From Me To You, ‘Ask Me Why’ and ‘Thank You Girl.’) on this album, which also contained eight Frank Ifield cuts (‘Any Time’, ‘Lovesick Blues’, ‘I’m Smiling Now’, ‘Nobody’s Darling’, ‘I Remember You’, ‘The Wayward Wind’, ‘Unchained Melody’ and ‘I Listen To My Heart.’)

The implication on the cover was that the album had been recorded live, which was untrue. All the tracks were studio cuts. By sheer coincidence, the Beatles and Frank Ifield had actually appeared on the same show in Peterborough.

The original album sleeve was a rather bland affair sporting a drawing of an Edwardian-style figure with long moustache and spectacles, no doubt to illustrate the ’Jolly What!’ phrase. The album was re-pressed with a different cover featuring a painting of the four in their collarless jackets. The sleeve notes read:

“The tremendous surging influence that has of recent months been felt by the European Recording artists has never before been equaled as in this album. Without any question THE BEATLES and FRANK IFIELD are the most popular recording stars in Europe. THE BEATLES are considered a phenomena on the American scene in that this is the first time that a European base recording act has so captivated the American public from both TV and recording standpoint.

“It is with a good deal of pride and pleasure that this copulation has been presented.”

Review
On its release in October 1963 ‘Love Me do’ was only reviewed in a single British music paper, Disc (apart from Mersey Beat), who commented, in part: “The Beatles sound rather like the Everlys or the Brooks according to whose side you’re on.”

Adrian
The late Liverpool poet Adrian Henri related an anecdote harking back to John Lennon’s Art School days. He says that John was lying on the floor in the pub ‘Ye Cracke’, surrounded by friends, and pretending to swim. The landlady pushed her way forward and demanded to know what he was doing. “I’m swimming” he said. “Well, stop it now” she told him. “I can’t,” said John, “I’ll drown.”

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