Video: 'The Beatles’ Second Album' (Clips 2-12 constitute original album)

(Saturday, May 2, 1964) — The Beatles’ Second Album, the second U.S. album by the rock band from Liverpool, England, to be issued by Capitol Records, peaked at #1 on today’s Billboard Top LPs chart for five consecutive weeks (May 2/9/16/23/30, 1964).

It was the band’s second consecutive number 1 album on the chart (after Meet the Beatles!) since Feb. 15, 1964, and marked 16 straight weeks in the #1 position.

The album was compiled mostly from leftover tracks from the UK album With the Beatles and Long Tall Sally EP, which are predominantly rock and roll and R&B covers, and rounded out with several Lennon-McCartney-penned non-album b-sides and the hit single “She Loves You.”

It included the very first releases of two Beatles tracks: “Long Tall Sally” and “I Call Your Name.”

Among critics, it is considered the band’s purest rock and roll album and praised for its soulful takes on both contemporary black music hits and original material.