Here's a Beatles discography for the US...I understand that the releases in the UK were different, so don't use this as the basis for a report or anything :)

1. Introducing the Beatles (1963 22 July)
2. Meet the Beatles (1964 20 January)
3. The Beatles' Second Album (1964 10 April)
4. A Hard Day's Night (1964 26 June)
5. Something New (1964 20 July)
6. The Beatles' Story (1964 23 November)
7. Beatles '65 (1964 15 December)
8. The Early Beatles (1965 22 March)
9. Beatles VI (1965 14 June)
10. Help! (1965 13 August)
11. Rubber Soul (1965 6 December)
12. "Yesterday"...and Today (1966 20 June)
13. Revolver (1966 8 August)
14. Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967 2 June)
15. Magical Mystery Tour (1967 27 November)
16. The Beatles (1968 25 November)
17. Yellow Submarine (1969 13 January)
18. Abbey Road (1969 1 October)
19. Hey Jude (1970 26 February)
20. The Beatles - Circa 1960 (1970 4 May)
21. Let it Be (1970 18 May)
22. The Beatles Christmas Album (1970 18 December)
23. The Beatles 1962-1966 (1973 2 April)
24. The Beatles 1967-1970 (1973 2 April)
25. Rock'n'roll Music (1976 7 June)
26. The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl (1977 4 May)
27. The Beatles live at the Star Club in Hamburg (1977 13 June)
28. Love Songs (1977 21 October)
29. The Beatles Collection (13 LP Boxed Set) (1978 1 December)
30. Rarities (1980 24 March)
31. Reel Music (1982 22 March)
32. The Complete Silver Beatles (1982 27 September)
33. 20 Greatest Hits (1982 11 October)
34. The Beatles Past Masters I (1988 7 March)
35. The Beatles Past Masters II (1988 7 March)
36. Live at the BBC (1994 30 November)
37. Anthology I (1995 21 November)
38. Anthology II (1996 18 March)
39. Anthology III (1996 29 October)

As evan927 says above, the Beatles' album releases were different in the United Kingdom and the United States until Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Usually, the British albums were two or three songs longer and often did not contain the band's hit singles; the group thought at first that it was cheating their fans to make them buy the same song on a single and an album. The American versions had the hits, and periodically there would be a compilation album containing all the songs that had been removed from the shorter American releases. The original British vinyl releases are the basis for the CD releases now available everywhere. In order, the British releases from the period when they were different are:

• Please Please Me
• With The Beatles
• A Hard Day's Night soundtrack -- the British version contains songs that are not in the film; the American version replaced these with the incidental music from the film.
• Beatles For Sale
• Help! soundtrack -- like A Hard Day's Night, the British one has additional songs and the American one has incidental music.
• Rubber Soul (with extra songs)
• Revolver (with extra songs)

After Revolver, the albums are the same, except that the compilation Hey Jude was not released in Great Britain and the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack in the U.S. contained songs that were only singles in Britain.

The Beatles are my favorite band, and are considered by many to be the best band ever. They are one of the most prolific bands ever as well. During their career (from 1962 - 1970), they released 13 studio albums. They recorded over 160 songs in this time. And they wrote their own songs! At one point, they held the #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 spots on the US Charts simultaneously. They were extremely popular, sparking Beatlemania all around the globe. Their songs are catchy, creative, and at times extremely innovative (Tomorrow Never Knows, anyone?). At least part of the reason for this is because of the genius of their producer, George Martin, who is often called "the fifth Beatle." Another man that was invaluable in The Beatles' rise to fame was their manager, Brian Epstein. His hard work and dedication to the Beatles was critical in landing them a recording contract and in the success of their music.

For an excellent biography of the Beatles, check out The Love You Make, by Peter Brown. It is an excellent biography. (It might be hard to find though). For a not so excellent biography of the band, you can listen to what John said, as printed in The Anthology:

Once upon a time there were three little boys called John, George an Paul, by name christened. They decided to get together because they were the getting together type. When they were together, they all wondered what for after all, what for? So all of a sudden they all grew guitars and formed a noise. Funnily enough, no one was interested, least of all the three little men. Sooo... on discovering a fourth little even littler man called Stuart Sutcliffe running about them, they said, quote: `Sonny, get a bass guitar and you will be all right," and he did - but he wasn't all right because he couldn't play it. So they sat on him with comfort until he could play. Still there was no beat, and a kindly old aged man said, quote: `Thou hast not drums!' We had no drums! They coffed. So a series of drums came and went and came. Suddenly, in Scotland, touring with Johnny Gentle, the group (called the Beatles called) discovered they had not a very nice sound - because they had no amplifiers. They got some. Many people ask what are Beatles? Why Beatles? Ugh, Beatles, how did the name arrive? So we will tell you. It came in a vision - a man appeared on a flaming pie and said to unto them, `From this day on you are Beatles with an A.'--`Thank you, Mister Man,' they said, thanking him.

Below is a discography of the singles that they released for both the US and the UK. Also, there is a complete UK discography, including release dates.

UK Singles

Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You
October 5, 1962

Please Please Me / Ask Me Why
January 11, 1963

From Me To You / Thank You Girl
April 11, 1963

She Loves You / I'll Get You
August 25, 1963

I Want To Hold Your Hand / This Boy
November 20, 1963

Can't Buy Me Love / You Can't Do That
March 20, 1964

A Hard Day's Night / Things We Said Today
July 10, 1964

I Feel Fine / She's A Woman
November 27, 1964

Ticket To Ride / Yes It Is
April 9, 1965

Help! / I'm Down
July 23, 1965

We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper *
December 3, 1965

Paperback Writer / Rain
June 10, 1966

Eleanor Rigby / Yellow Submarine *
August 5,1966

Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane *
February 17, 1967

All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man
July 7, 1967

Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus
November 24, 1967

Lady Madonna / The Inner Light
March 15, 1968

Hey Jude / Revolution
August 30, 1968

Get Back / Don't Let Me Down
April 11, 1969

The Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe
May 30, 1969

Something / Come Together
October 31, 1969

Let It Be / You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
March 4, 1970


* These singles were released as double a-sides.

US Singles

Please Please Me / Ask Me Why (Vee Jay)
February 25, 1963

From Me To You / Thank You Girl (Vee Jay)
May 27, 1963

She Loves You / I'll Get You (Swan)
September 16, 1963

I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There (Capitol)
December 26, 1963

Please Please Me / From Me To You (Vee Jay)
January 30, 1964

Twist And Shout / There's A Place (Tollie)
March 2, 1964

Can't Buy Me Love / You Can't Do That (Capitol)
March 16, 1964

Do You Want To Know A Secret / Thank You Girl (Vee Jay)
March 23, 1964

Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You (Tollie)
April 27, 1964

Sie Liebt Dich / I'll Get You (Swan)
May 21, 1964

A Hard Day's Night / I Should Have Known Better (Capitol)
July 13, 1964

I'll Cry Instead / I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (Capitol)
July 30, 1964

And I Love Her / If I Fell (Capitol)
July 20, 1964

Matchbox / Slow Down (Capitol)
August 24, 1964

I Feel Fine / She's A Woman (Capitol)
November 23, 1964

Eight Days A Week / I Don't Want To Spoil The Party (Capitol)
February 1, 1965

Ticket To Ride / Yes It Is (Capitol)
April 19, 1965

Help! / I'm Down (Capitol)
July 19, 1965

Yesterday / Act Naturally (Capitol)
September 13, 1965

We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper (Capitol)
December 6, 1965

Nowhere Man / What Goes On (Capitol)
February 21, 1966

Paperback Writer / Rain (Capitol)
May 30, 1966

Eleanor Rigby / Yellow Submarine (Capitol)
August 8, 1966

Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane (Capitol)
February 13, 1967

All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man (Capitol)
July 17, 1967

Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus (Capitol)
November 27, 1967

Lady Madonna / The Inner Light (Capitol)
March 18, 1968

Hey Jude / Revolution (Apple (Capitol))
August 26, 1968

Get Back / Don't Let Me Down (Apple (Capitol))
May 5, 1969

The Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe (Apple (Capitol))
June 4, 1969

Something / Come Together (Apple (Capitol))
October 6, 1969

Let It Be / You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (Apple (Capitol))
March 11, 1970

The Long And Winding Road / For You Blue (Apple (Capitol))
May 11, 1970

UK Albums

Beatles' Albums were released several weeks earlier in the UK than they were in the US. Also, as is mentioned above, there are fewer UK releases than US releases because Parlophone, The Beatles' British label, didn't put together compilations of singles (and tracks that were skipped over on regular albums to make room for singles) like Capitol Records did.

Please Please Me
March 22, 1963

With the Beatles
November 22, 1963

A Hard Day's Night
July 10, 1964

Beatles for Sale
December 4, 1964

Help!
August 6, 1965

Rubber Soul
December 3, 1965

Revolver
August 5, 1966

A Collection of the Beatles Oldies (But Goldies)
December 10, 1966

Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
June 1, 1967

The Beatles
November 22, 1968

Yellow Submarine
January 17, 1969

Abbey Road
September 26, 1969

Let It Be
May 8, 1970

The Beatles 1962-1966
April 19, 1973

The Beatles 1967-1970
April 19, 1973

Rock'n'Roll Music
June 10, 1976

Magical Mystery Tour
November 18, 1976

The Beatles Live at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, 1962
May 1, 1977

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl
May 6, 1977

Love Songs
November 19, 1977

The Beatles Collection (13 LP Boxed Set)
December 2, 1978

Hey Jude
May 11, 1979

Rarities
October 12, 1979

The Beatles Ballads
October 20, 1980

Reel Music
March 12, 1982

The Complete Silver Beatles
September 10, 1982

20 Greatest Hits
October 18, 1982

Past Masters - Volume I
March 7, 1988

Past Masters - Volume II
March 7, 1988

Live at the BBC
November 30, 1994

Anthology I
November 21, 1995

Anthology II
March 18, 1996

Anthology III
October 29, 1996

Yellow Submarine
September 13, 1999

1
November 14, 2000

Briefly, the Importance of the Beatles

The importance of the Beatles in the history of popular music cannot be overstated. Wildly eclectic, fiercely idiosyncratic, and dazzlingly creative, they single-handedly transformed Rock 'n Roll from a teenage music rebellion into the world-spanning, all-embracing, almost genre-less omnigenre it is today, in the process utterly obliterating the once large divide between popular music and high art.

Because of their incredible stylistic omnivorousness, there is almost no song today that does not owe something significant to their work. Among others they invented the song with lyrics that make no sense ("I Am the Walrus"), the cultural crossover sound ("Tomorrow Never Knows"), the music video ("