Beatles for Sale (No. 2)
EP by The Beatles • 4 June 1965 • Parlophone GEP 8938
Beatlemania (1962–1964) — Mod sharpness — sharp suits, sharper hooks.
On this page
About this release
Beatles for Sale (No. 2) is an extended play on Parlophone (catalogue GEP 8938), released 4 June 1965. Four further LP tracks from Beatles for Sale.
Recorded during the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period, produced by George Martin with Norman Smith engineering. The tracks were committed to tape at EMI Studios, Abbey Road on Twin-track BTR-2 (1962); Studer J37 four-track from late-1963 via the REDD.37 / REDD.51 valve consoles.
Release context
Beatles for Sale (No. 2) is a Beatles EP issued in the United Kingdom on 4 June 1965 by Parlophone under catalogue number GEP 8938. It sits in the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period. The release arrived 182 days after the parent LP Beatles for Sale, placing it firmly within that album's commercial window.
Sessions were produced by George Martin with Norman Smith engineering, working at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. The signal chain ran through the Twin-track BTR-2 (1962); Studer J37 four-track from late-1963 • REDD.37 / REDD.51 valve consoles, with vocals captured on Neumann U47, U48. This combination of room, tape format and outboard chain is the same one heard across the band's other releases from the era — meaning the release shares its sonic identity with its parent LP rather than departing from it.
The EP collects 2 tracks — I'll Follow the Sun, Baby's in Black — drawn from contemporaneous LP and single sessions. Each individual song entry preserves its full session history and pattern analysis, which the EP-level page references rather than duplicates.
Documented alternate masters and remaster passes can be found via the linked entries above; the editorial position throughout Beatles Answers is that the original UK mono master is the canonical point of reference for any EP from this era, with the 2009 and 50th-anniversary stereo remasters treated as documented variations rather than replacements. Catalogue numbers, label copy and matrix data are taken from EMI/Parlophone primary documentation and cross-checked against Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (1988).
Track-by-track context
Each track on this EP carries its own session history on the dedicated entry. The summary below pulls the most distinctive editorial detail from each:
- I'll Follow the Sun — The spare acoustic arrangement required careful vocal microphone placement capturing McCartney's intimate delivery. Lack of overdubbing—relying on direct vocal-guitar balance—distinguished this from most Beatles for Sale material.
- Baby's in Black — Multiple takes refined waltz-time execution and vocal harmony balance between Lennon and McCartney. The 3/4 meter required careful rhythm section coordination—Ringo's drums articulating triple-beat subdivision without overwrought complexity.
What's distinctive
4 tracks; average length 2:10. Lennon dominates the lead vocals (3/4). Lead writing credit: Lennon–McCartney (2 of 4). Estimated total takes across the release: 76.Tracklist
Side A
Side B
Pattern analysis
Era technical context
| Microphones | Neumann U47, U48; AKG D19 (drums); STC 4038 (overheads) |
|---|---|
| Outboard | EMI RS124 compressor (Altec 436B mod), EMT 140 plate reverb, STEED tape echo |
| Guitars | Rickenbacker 325 (Lennon), Gretsch Country Gent / Tennessean (Harrison), Höfner 500/1 violin bass (McCartney), Ludwig Oyster Black Pearl kit (Starr) |
| Amplifiers | Vox AC30 (TB & non-Top-Boost variants) |
