2 September 1964: Ringo's Records

     During The Beatles' extensive August-September 1964 North American tour, the group got a couple days rest at the Lafayette Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On the morning of 2 September, the day they left Atlantic City for Philadelphia, Ringo Starr bought ten records (LPs) from Armand's Record Shops Inc at the Cherry Hill Mall. Ringo's selection is pretty typical of the Black American artists that the group loved, but he also picked up something to satisfy his passion for Country & Western (as the genre was known to him at the time). Each album cost $3.98 and Ringo's receipt came to $39.80 (no sales tax appears to have been added...*sigh*).

    The first record on Ringo's receipt is by Jimmy Soul, most famous for his 1963 number one hit 'If You Wanna Be Happy'. It is most likely the album of the same name, released on SPQR, that Ringo purchased - the only LP issued solely under Soul's name.

    Second, Ringo got two Aretha Franklin albums. Franklin had released six studio albums by this point, including two in 1964, so it is unclear which ones Ringo would have purchased. The most recent two were Runnin' Out Of Fools (1964) and Unforgettable (1964, a tribute to Dinah Washington), both released on Columbia.

    Third, fourth and fifth, Ringo got an album by Marvin Gaye, Gaye's duet album with Mary Wells, and a solo album by Wells. The joint album titled Together (1964) was released on Motown. Both Gaye and Wells had recently released Greatest Hits compilation albums, so it is possible that Ringo also bought these. Otherwise, Gaye had four other albums to choose from and Wells had five. We already know that Ringo brought Wells' live 1963 On Stage album back from the USA in February 1964, so we can probably rule that one out. Mary Wells was then top support act for The Beatles' 1964 UK Autumn Tour, which began in Bradford on 9 October (John's 24th birthday). Wells also recorded a tribute album to The Beatles the following year titled Love Songs To The Beatles (1965).

(The Beatles and Mary Wells backstage in Bradford, 9 October 1964)

    Next Ringo selected three albums by The Impressions. The group's first album, under the name The Impressions with Jerry Butler, was released in 1963 on Vee-Jay Records (who also released The Beatles' 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me To You' the same year in America). The Impressions then recorded three albums for ABC-Paramount: The Impressions (1963), The Never Ending Impressions (1964) and Keep On Pushing (1964). It is likely these three that Ringo purchased.

    Finally, Ringo picked out a Patsy Cline album. Cline only recorded three LPs for Decca before her premature death in an airplane crash on 5 March 1963 (aged 30). These were Patsy Cline (1957), Showcase (1961) and Sentimentally Yours (1962).

    It is not known if (and seems unlikely that) Ringo went to the Cherry Hill Mall in person. More likely, Neil Aspinall or Mal Evans made the trip to buy them or a representative of the store came to the hotel. Nevertheless, this is what the inside of Armand's looked like circa 1970.

    Interestingly, it was from Armand's that some New Jersey fans bought their tickets for The Beatles' 2 September appearance at Philadelphia's Convention Hall. Tickets went on sale at 9:30am on 5 May and although it was announced that thousands would be available, there were many disappointed fans when only 350 tickets were actually available. Armand, embarrassed about the mixup, had to limit the sale to two tickets per customer.

(Courier-Post Camden, NJ 5 May 1964)