Guitarist Andy Timmons recently joined Premier Guitar for an interview during which he revealed his thoughts on The Beatles. During the interview, Timmons also revealed the band’s song, which greatly influenced its era.
On November 22, 1963, EMI decided to release the Beatles’ ‘With The Beatles’ album ahead of their single ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand,’ and they also excluded the single in the album. Following the release, the album turned out to be a huge success and received critical acclaim from music critics.
However, at that time, EMI’s American subsidiary Capitol Records declined to issue the Beatles’ music and prevented the Beatles’ releases in the U.S. for over a year. Some of the songs in 1963 were released by the independent U.S. label Vee-Jay — but not all of them.
Following this tumultuous period, Beatles’ manager Epstein brought a demo of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ to Capitol’s Brown Meggs. He then signed the band and arranged a $40,000 marketing campaign. After that, ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ rapidly rose to success and became a number-one hit in the U.S.
In an interview with Premier Guitar, Andy Timmons talked about those days when the Beatles came to the U.S. He stated that the band first came to America in 1964, and their single ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was the song that contributed to their fame in the U.S.
He then said ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was recorded in 1964 and released in England. However, according to Timmons, Capitol finally picked the song up in 1964, and the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show. He claimed that this changed everything, and the release helped many musicians come forward.
During the conversation, Andy Timmons said the following about the Beatles:
“In 1964, the Beatles came to America for the first time, and the single that really put them over was ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand.’ So, this would have been recorded in 1963, released in England and other parts of the world in 63.
But the American label Capitol finally picked it up in 1964, and they came over to Ed Sullivan in February 64. And that changed everything, man. That date really spawned so many musicians’ careers that it’s incalculable.”
You can watch the interview and listen to the Beatles’ ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ below.
