Post by The End on Sept 18, 2007 19:01:33 GMT
What's so great about the Beatles' musical output is that it's so diverse that people are bound to disagree over what their greatest musical achievment is.
I must admit, their earlier R 'n' B influenced albums are among my favourites. With The Beatles IS the Beatles playing their favourite R 'n' B songs... with the exception of Till There Was You of course (which I always skip - sorry Paul!).
Don't forget, this was their 2nd album in a year, PLUS they'd released From Me To You/Thank You Girl and She Loves You/I'll Get You - and these were ALL original tracks, plus none of them appeared on this album or Please Please Me, their previous LP! This was totally unprecidented and probably not matched by any artist to this day!
There were actually only 6 cover versions on here, which means there were 7 new original numbers penned by Lennon McCartney and George Harrison's first proper songwriting credit for the very fine Don't Bother Me.
I really do find this LP so uplifting and stimulating with its energy; you can almost imagine what these tracks would have sounded like in a dimly-lit cellar in Liverpool (even though I know they didn't play most of these tracks in the Cavern, just let your imagination run riot!).
The album opens with It Wont Be Long, featuring the tried and tested "Yeahs", and again it works a treat! It's strange to think that after it was recorded it was never performed again!
We then slow down for John's self-penned Arthur Alexander tribute (and one of my all-time favourite tracks), All I've Got To Do. Too many people dismiss this track - but just listen to John's pleading vocal "you just gotta call on me" - his voice hitting some amazing top notes. Awesome!
Next is a little-known song called All My Loving!! Listen to John's brilliant rhythm guitar on this track - not many people discuss HIS playing, which is a shame. A great Carl Perkins influenced solo from George here too! This STILL sounds great when Paul plays it live.
George gets that first ever songwriting credit with Don't Bother Me (excluding Cry For A Shadow and In Spite Of All The Danger of course) and it's a great first effort! There are some wicked chord changes here and great rhythmic experimentation too... Ringo played a loose-skinned Arabian bongo apparently!
I love Little Child! It's a shame this never got played live - can you just imagine how the crowd would have reacted to this rocker! Shame about the rather obvious edit before the harp solo though. Apparently it took them quite a few tries to get this right, but it was well worth it the effort!
Till There Was You was a firm favourite with the Beatles' audience, which explains its worthy inclusion here. It had been a staple part of the Beatles' live shows for many years, and was y VERY popular at the Cavern Club. When played live, Paul always gave it a jokey introduction as is evident from their appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in November, 1963.
Next, from the opening smack on Ringo's hi-hat, Please Mr Postman had me hooked! I was very young when I first heard this song... by the Carpenters would you believe!! My Dad didn't like the Carpenters; "Sunday music", he said! But he told me The Beatles recorded it too and then I simply just HAD to have it! Which is why I ended up stealing my Aunts LP - true story! Anyway, just listen to Paul's pounding bass-line throughout this number and John's brilliantly raw vocal! "You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute..."
Totally exhausted you flip over to side two... and you're met with George's rocking rendition of Roll Over Beethoven. Play this at a party and guage the reaction! What a great guitar solo by George... it's so good it sounds speeded up - and it's certainly a better guitar intro than he played at the Star Club in Germany! A welcome return of the handclaps as per I Saw Her Standing There.
I've never been sure about Hold Me Tight - rumour has it that Paul sings some flat notes on this... I'm not too sure, it all sounds very deliberate to me. This is another stonking great
R 'n' B number which had earlier been attempted for possible inclusion on Please Please Me - sadly, those first takes no longer exist. Stupid EMI!
You Really Got A Hold On Me... The Beatles make this sound easy - this is a highly complex arrangement but they had no trouble playing the song live. It's another tribute to one of their R 'n' B heroes - Smokey Robinson. Listen for Paul and George's brilliant backing vocals.
Ringo lets rip on the next number - I Wanna Be Your Man. Already given to the Rolling Stones and released as a single by them, the Beatles claim the song back, and rock through this sped up version. A very good vocal by Ringo too.
Devil In Her Heart... a second vocal for George on this song originally recorded by the Donays. Some really great harmonies by the three guys on this track reaffirming their love of Sixties girl groups.
Not A Second Time... what a great track that is! Even notable musicologists were starting to listen - the Times music critic (William Mann) wrote about the "Aeolian cadence reminiscent of Mahler's 'Song Of The Earth'"... whatever that means! There's some great use of piano here, emphasising the 'on' beat, it gives the song an ominous feel.
Then the album closes with Money (That's What I Want) - what can I say about THIS track! In the early Sixties every band had a go at recording this, but the Beatles' version remains the definitive one - eclipsing even Barratt Strong's original! Another classic vocal from John, with Paul and George backing. This song was a combination of two 2-track versions - leading many to mistakenly believe that this was their first 4-track recording. Compare this version to the Decca Audition version - they'd certainly come a very long way in under two years!
22 November 1963 - not a great day to release your second album... it was the day President Kennedy was shot.
Seven days after this LP was released, the Beatles issued I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy! Can you believe how prolific they were?!
PLEASE, give this album a decent blast and listen to the sheer raw, fresh energy of The Beatles rhythm and blues.
I must admit, their earlier R 'n' B influenced albums are among my favourites. With The Beatles IS the Beatles playing their favourite R 'n' B songs... with the exception of Till There Was You of course (which I always skip - sorry Paul!).
Don't forget, this was their 2nd album in a year, PLUS they'd released From Me To You/Thank You Girl and She Loves You/I'll Get You - and these were ALL original tracks, plus none of them appeared on this album or Please Please Me, their previous LP! This was totally unprecidented and probably not matched by any artist to this day!
There were actually only 6 cover versions on here, which means there were 7 new original numbers penned by Lennon McCartney and George Harrison's first proper songwriting credit for the very fine Don't Bother Me.
I really do find this LP so uplifting and stimulating with its energy; you can almost imagine what these tracks would have sounded like in a dimly-lit cellar in Liverpool (even though I know they didn't play most of these tracks in the Cavern, just let your imagination run riot!).
The album opens with It Wont Be Long, featuring the tried and tested "Yeahs", and again it works a treat! It's strange to think that after it was recorded it was never performed again!
We then slow down for John's self-penned Arthur Alexander tribute (and one of my all-time favourite tracks), All I've Got To Do. Too many people dismiss this track - but just listen to John's pleading vocal "you just gotta call on me" - his voice hitting some amazing top notes. Awesome!
Next is a little-known song called All My Loving!! Listen to John's brilliant rhythm guitar on this track - not many people discuss HIS playing, which is a shame. A great Carl Perkins influenced solo from George here too! This STILL sounds great when Paul plays it live.
George gets that first ever songwriting credit with Don't Bother Me (excluding Cry For A Shadow and In Spite Of All The Danger of course) and it's a great first effort! There are some wicked chord changes here and great rhythmic experimentation too... Ringo played a loose-skinned Arabian bongo apparently!
I love Little Child! It's a shame this never got played live - can you just imagine how the crowd would have reacted to this rocker! Shame about the rather obvious edit before the harp solo though. Apparently it took them quite a few tries to get this right, but it was well worth it the effort!
Till There Was You was a firm favourite with the Beatles' audience, which explains its worthy inclusion here. It had been a staple part of the Beatles' live shows for many years, and was y VERY popular at the Cavern Club. When played live, Paul always gave it a jokey introduction as is evident from their appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in November, 1963.
Next, from the opening smack on Ringo's hi-hat, Please Mr Postman had me hooked! I was very young when I first heard this song... by the Carpenters would you believe!! My Dad didn't like the Carpenters; "Sunday music", he said! But he told me The Beatles recorded it too and then I simply just HAD to have it! Which is why I ended up stealing my Aunts LP - true story! Anyway, just listen to Paul's pounding bass-line throughout this number and John's brilliantly raw vocal! "You gotta wait a minute, wait a minute..."
Totally exhausted you flip over to side two... and you're met with George's rocking rendition of Roll Over Beethoven. Play this at a party and guage the reaction! What a great guitar solo by George... it's so good it sounds speeded up - and it's certainly a better guitar intro than he played at the Star Club in Germany! A welcome return of the handclaps as per I Saw Her Standing There.
I've never been sure about Hold Me Tight - rumour has it that Paul sings some flat notes on this... I'm not too sure, it all sounds very deliberate to me. This is another stonking great
R 'n' B number which had earlier been attempted for possible inclusion on Please Please Me - sadly, those first takes no longer exist. Stupid EMI!
You Really Got A Hold On Me... The Beatles make this sound easy - this is a highly complex arrangement but they had no trouble playing the song live. It's another tribute to one of their R 'n' B heroes - Smokey Robinson. Listen for Paul and George's brilliant backing vocals.
Ringo lets rip on the next number - I Wanna Be Your Man. Already given to the Rolling Stones and released as a single by them, the Beatles claim the song back, and rock through this sped up version. A very good vocal by Ringo too.
Devil In Her Heart... a second vocal for George on this song originally recorded by the Donays. Some really great harmonies by the three guys on this track reaffirming their love of Sixties girl groups.
Not A Second Time... what a great track that is! Even notable musicologists were starting to listen - the Times music critic (William Mann) wrote about the "Aeolian cadence reminiscent of Mahler's 'Song Of The Earth'"... whatever that means! There's some great use of piano here, emphasising the 'on' beat, it gives the song an ominous feel.
Then the album closes with Money (That's What I Want) - what can I say about THIS track! In the early Sixties every band had a go at recording this, but the Beatles' version remains the definitive one - eclipsing even Barratt Strong's original! Another classic vocal from John, with Paul and George backing. This song was a combination of two 2-track versions - leading many to mistakenly believe that this was their first 4-track recording. Compare this version to the Decca Audition version - they'd certainly come a very long way in under two years!
22 November 1963 - not a great day to release your second album... it was the day President Kennedy was shot.
Seven days after this LP was released, the Beatles issued I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy! Can you believe how prolific they were?!
PLEASE, give this album a decent blast and listen to the sheer raw, fresh energy of The Beatles rhythm and blues.