The Beatles' Story is the sixth album by
the Beatles in the
United States, issued on 23 November 1964 by
Capitol Records in both
mono and
stereo formats (although the mono was merely a fold-down of the stereo mix). It is a documentary
double album featuring interviews, press conferences, and song snippets with
voice-overs, and was issued in response to interviews of the Beatles collected on the
Vee-Jay Records release,
Hear the Beatles Tell All. Originally, Capitol Records intended to release the group's 1964 performance at the Hollywood Bowl, but due to a lack of advanced studio technology and the excessive amount of loud screaming fans on tape the album was shelved. Another plan was to release a 2 LP 'Greatest Hits' album for the Christmas market. Four songs were to make their Capitol debut on this album: "
A Hard Day's Night," "
Misery," "
There's a Place," and "
From Me to You." The album was compiled, but never issued.
The Beatles' Story entered the
Billboard Pop Albums on 12 December at number 97, and on 2 January 1965 it reached its peak position at number seven, where it remained for four weeks before beginning its slide down the charts. It has been certified a
gold record by the
RIAA; it was also released in
Canada and is currently out of print. It was released by Toshiba EMI in
Japan on the Apple label (in
stereo) in a box set with a deluxe 24 page 12"x12" booklet that contains the entire text of the script in English and Japanese.