On this day in Beatles History...December 19, 1964

It was 51 years ago today on December 19, 1964 that Beatles For Sale reached #1 on the UK charts.  What album did they knock out of the top position?  Their own album A Hard Day's Night!  The band had been working harder than ever in 1964 and Beatlemania was in full swing.  In fact, the recording sessions for Beatles For Sale began in August of 1964 only about a month after A Hard Day's Night was released.  However, most of the recording was done in September.  The record company wanted to release a new record in time for Christmas, so the band was in a rush to write and record this album.  The previous album, A Hard Day's Night, featured all original music, but with pressure to complete the album quickly, the band went back to recording cover songs for Beatles For Sale.  Although there were 6 cover songs on the album along with the 8 songs written by the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team, the album was considered by many to be a turning point for the band in terms of songwriting.  More serious themes were creeping into the lyrics with songs like No Reply, I'm A Loser and Baby's In Black.  Even the wonderful cover photo presents a more serious look at the band.  Photographer Robert Freeman took the picture during a photo shoot in Hyde Park.  This is one of my favorite album covers of all time.  Beatles For Sale remained in the charts for 46 weeks in 1964 and 1965.  Then it returned to the charts for another 2 weeks over 2 decades later when it was released on CD in 1987.