SMITHEREENS, THE
B-SIDES THE BEATLES.

KOCH Records is happy to announce the release of B-Sides The Beatles, The Smithereens’ highly anticipated follow up to their critically acclaimed 2007 release, Meet The Smithereens. It’s no secret that The Smithereens grew up listening to The Beatles. Their album Meet The Smithereens paid homage to the group’s landmark Capitol debut album by lovingly re-recording Meet The Beatles in its entirety. This time The Smithereens dug through their treasure of early Beatles singles and selected a dozen of Beatles B-Sides. At the time Beatlemania exploded, the dominant format was the 45 RPM single – an unbreakable vinyl disc that spun on a turntable at 45 revolutions per minute. One paid anywhere from 69 cents to a buck for these records, and although they were called singles, each disc contained two songs, one on each side. The Smithereens respectful treatment of these B-sides from 1964 and early 1965 re-enforces what we knew all along—The Beatles B-sides were better than most of the A-sides released by other artists. The Smithereens drive home this point by keeping the arrangement the same while remaining true to their New Jersey bar band roots. You know you are listening to great Beatles songs, but at the same time, you know it’s The Smithereens who are performing them.