Capitol Gains: Exposing the Conflict Between The Beatles and the Record Label that Made Them

A chance remark on the stairs at Peter Morris Music in London’s Denmark Street, in October 1963, set off a chain reaction that helped Brian Epstein apply some much-needed leverage on America’s Hollywood-based Capitol label.

Although February 1963 marked the Beatles’ breakthrough in Britain, by the closing months of that year they still had not conquered the United States. Their manager Brian Epstein had been fighting what seemed like a losing battle to persuade Capitol to release the band’s ...