Editing Vee-Jay Records (section)

==Success==
Vee-Jay's biggest successes occurred from 1962 to 1964, with the ascendancy of the Four Seasons and the distribution of early [[The Beatles|Beatles]] material ("[[From Me to You]]" b/w "[[Thank You Girl]]," "[[Please Please Me (song)|Please Please Me]]" b/w "[[From Me to You]]," and "[[Do You Want to Know a Secret]]" b/w "Thank You Girl" via Vee-Jay;<ref name=thompson/> and "[[Love Me Do]]" b/w "[[P.S. I Love You (Beatles song)|P.S. I Love You]]" and "[[Twist and Shout]]" b/w "[[There's a Place]]" via its subsidiary [[Tollie Records]]), because [[EMI]]'s autonomous [[United States of America|United States]] company [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] initially refused to release Beatles records<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yokono.co.uk/collection/beatles/usa/single/usa_single_noncapiol.html|title=The Beatles U.S. Singles|work=yokono.co.uk|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatlesagain.com/barchive/b4capitl.html|title=Reference Library - Beatles Before Capitol - Internet Beatles Album|work=beatlesagain.com|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.friktech.com/btls/bc1.htm|title=The Beatles B.C.--Before Capitol|work=friktech.com|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.friktech.com/btls/bc2.htm|title=The Beatles Before Capitol, Part 2|work=friktech.com|access-date=14 November 2016}}</ref><ref name="SI"/> Vee-Jay's releases were at first unsuccessful, but quickly became huge hits once the [[British Invasion]] took off in early 1964, selling 2.6 million Beatles singles in a single month. Cash flow problems, reportedly caused by Ewart Abner's tapping the company treasury to cover personal gambling debts, led to the company's active demise; Vee-Jay had been forced to temporarily cease operations in the second half of 1963, leading to royalty disputes with the Four Seasons and EMI. The Four Seasons then left Vee-Jay for [[Philips Records]],  and [[Swan Records]] purchased the rights to the Beatles' "[[She Loves You]]," which failed to meet a sales quota to retain the rights to the band.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Kristin |date=2024-04-04 |title=Before Beatlemania swept the U.S., a Philly record label tried — and failed — to cash in on the Fab Four |url=https://www.phillyvoice.com/beatles-philadelphia-swan-records-she-loves-you-label-dick-clark/ |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=PhillyVoice |language=english}}</ref>  EMI's Capitol Records picked up the U.S. rights for both the Beatles and Frank Ifield.<ref name="SI"/>

Other Vee-Jay subsidiary labels included [[Interphon]] (which yielded the Top 5 hit "[[Have I the Right?]]" by another British group, [[the Honeycombs]]), and [[Oldies 45]] for reissues along with [[Tollie Records|Tollie]] and [[Abner Records]], which was an early subsidiary label formed in 1958. Vee-Jay also did distribution for Champion Records (notable for producing the original version of [[Tainted Love]]<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Dahl
 |first=Bill
 |date=February 28, 2011
 |title=Motown: The Golden Years
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsCrDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22tainted+love%22+%22Vee+Jay%22&pg=PT501
 |publisher=[[Penguin Group]]
 |page= <!-- or pages= -->
 |isbn=9781440225574
}}</ref>) as well as [[Rick Hall]]'s Fame Records and, for a time, the Memphis label Goldwax Records and [[Johnny Vincent]]'s [[Ace Records (US)|Ace Records]].

Vee-Jay moved back to Chicago in 1965 after a year in [[Los Angeles]]. Liens were placed on Vee-Jay assets still in Los Angeles after legal action by [[Pye Records]] due to non-payment of royalties.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCkEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22vee+jay+returns+to+chi.%22&pg=PA3 |title=Billboard - Google Books |date=1965-10-23 |access-date=2015-03-18}}</ref>