Post by The End on Jun 12, 2013 1:28:12 GMT
Because The Beatles' musical output is so diverse and crossed so many genres - from pop, to psychedelia, to 1920’s dancehall music, to all out heavy metal rock and roll etc etc etc - people are bound to have completely different opinions about what they consider is a good and a bad Beatles album (for example, see the discussions here: ...). In my case, high on my list of favourites are their early rhythm and blues-influenced albums. They had already touched on that musical style on their first album, Please Please Me but eight months later they really embraced it on With The Beatles, which, with the probable exception of Till There Was You, is essentially The Beatles running through their favourite R 'n' B songs and adopting and adapting that style for many of their own compositions.
So yeah, opinions do differ about what is a good and a bad album and this is my story of With The Beatles and how I came to know and love it, because, in my opinion, it is a very good Beatles album.
In keeping with my previous review, I’ll just add a little personal history around the album before getting into the individual tracks...
It was late 1974, so I must have been eight-years-old when The Carpenters entered the UK charts with ‘Please Mister Postman’ and I absolutely loved it, much to the chagrin of my dad who could not stand The Carpenters. He said they played "Sunday music", which was his way of saying their music fell into that dreaded bracket of easy listening - much loved by old farts in beige comfortable slacks and knitted cardigans but certainly not by the likes of my dad, who had himself been in an R ‘n’ B group throughout the sixties. The Carpenters’ version, he said, was lightweight rubbish and nowhere near as good as The Beatles’ version. Wait, The Beatles recorded it, I ask incredulously? Yes, it was a track on one of their LPs. Well, already being a bit of a fan by then, I knew it wasn’t on Please Please Me or A Hard Day’s Night but I simply had to find that song.
Up to this point I had just been playing (and “borrowing”) The Beatles singles and EPs left at my nan and grandad’s by my aunt but I knew there were some LPs stored in the wire rack beneath their record player. And, as my aunt had left her singles behind when she left home, I hoped that she had also neglected to take her albums with her as well, you never knew your luck! So, across the road I went to my nan and grandad’s and began searching through their LPs. Most of them though belonged to my grandad - Jim Reeves, Nat King Cole, Mrs Mills, the Cat Balou soundtrack, Rubber Soul, With The Beatles... wait, what? Two Beatles LPs! I removed both albums from the rack and scanned through the track listings on the back of both sleeves and bloody hell - there it was: ‘Please Mister Postman’, side 1, track 7 on the album with the black and white cover!
Hurriedly, I slipped the LP from its sleeve, put it on the record player and dropped the needle at the start of the final track on side one and waited... “I think I’m gonna be sad, I think it’s today, yeah...” Hmmmm, this sounded nothing like the Carpenter’s version of Please Mister Postman – what was going on? Of course it soon transpired that the wrong album was in the wrong sleeve and I was in fact playing the Help LP. Following an exhaustive search through the remaining LPs in the rack the absent vinyl was nowhere to be found! So after all that, I still hadn’t heard The Beatles’ version and so I instead went off for a ride on my bike to play conkers with my schoolmates and collect caterpillars in a crisp bag (probably!).
For what felt like years (in reality a few months), all I could do was stare at that song title and the tantalising description given by Tony Barrow in his sleeve notes, longing for the day I would eventually hear the bloody thing! To make matters worse, while I was wandering round a record shop in Aldgate one day, they started playing the Red Album and I remember being so pleased, smug even, that I knew all the songs when the next track stopped me dead in my tracks - it was literally the best thing I had ever heard and from the lyrics I derived it was called ‘All My Loving’ – another track from the elusive With The Beatles LP! Now I absolutely had to have this album but LPs were very expensive, especially for an 8 year-old with no steady income.
Then my mum and dad came up with a brilliant idea (influenced no doubt by some pestering from me!); they would ask my aunt if, instead of giving me a present for my up-coming birthday, she might instead like to reacquaint the correct album sleeve with the correct LP, and give that to me instead - to my relief she actually thought that was an excellent idea - so when she next came to visit, she took the With The Beatles sleeve and Help LP home with her and I waited patiently for my birthday to come around.
On the big day, my aunt and uncle duly arrived with an LP-shaped gift, which I eagerly unwrapped – and there it was, finally the right LP in the right sleeve: the Help album!
I can’t remember if I expressed any disappointment at that time – obviously I was more than grateful to receive any Beatles LP as a gift but what I do know is that for my next birthday my aunt and uncle very kindly gave me With The Beatles and from that day onward I did not stop playing it! I still have it today; unplayable because in the end the grooves simply wore out!
So, with that preamble over, on to the next preamble...
Since the unmitigated triumph of their first album, Please Please Me, they had gone from strength to strength building on that success, undertaking a sell-out UK tour (and a brief tour of Sweden), releasing two multi-million-selling singles ‘From Me To You’ and ‘She Loves You’ (including b-sides, a total of four Lennon/McCartney originals), appearing on the seminal TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium (considered the pinnacle of success in those days) and all culminating in the Royal Command Performance, where, in his introduction to ‘Twist and Shout’, John cheekily told the Queen Mum and those not sitting in the cheaper seats to “rattle their jewellery”.
Not only was The Beatles’ sound unlike anything else in the UK or US charts, their song writing was also prolific, fresh and ground-breaking and they had an enormous amount of charisma and humour to back it all up - the press absolutely loved the so-called Fab Four and the Daily Mirror coined the phrase Beatlemania to describe the frenzy that now accompanied their every move. On top off all that, Lennon McCartney were also writing hit songs for other artists – in the short gap between their first and second album, they gave songs away to The Rolling Stones, Billy J Kramer, Tommy Quickly, The Fourmost and Cilla Black!
It’s Friday 22 November 1963 and on the day when the whole World would later be united in shock at the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Gerry and the Pacemakers were currently sitting at the top of the UK charts with their third successive number one – ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – and The Beatles released their second album: With The Beatles.
This was The Beatles’ second album in the space of exactly eight months and again, of the fourteen tracks on the album, six are cover versions, as was the case on Please Please Me, however, this time round there were seven brand new numbers penned by Lennon McCartney plus one by George Harrison and there were no singles released from the album either before or after it came out.
As million-selling number one artists, The Beatles were afforded more time to make this album - no rush-recording the whole thing in 10 hours this time. It was however still a rush to get the album released in time for the lucrative Christmas market and, as such, they had to squeeze recording sessions in between a plethora of interviews, concerts and radio and TV appearances. Despite this ad-hoc approach, the whole album was still an improvement on their debut; even the black and white sleeve was a work of art and has been much imitated since of course.
Taken by Robert Freeman in a hotel in Bournemouth while they were on tour, they stood unsmiling in front of a dark curtain (maroon I think), their faces side-lit, half in shade – the style exactly matching the iconic images Astrid Kirscherr took of them in Hamburg. From the very start, The Beatles were winning small victories in artistic control – the first major one being of course the choice of ‘Love Me Do’ as their first single instead of ‘How Do You Do It’. This sleeve was another small victory of sorts because they chose the photographer and how they wanted to be presented - no more posing with cheesy grins, in fact the next time any sort of cheesy grin would appear on a Beatles album would be on their final album, Let It Be. However, they did concede some ground to EMI as the original idea was to have no writing on the front of the sleeve, but instead, in a white band at the top of the sleeve, it declared simply “with the beatles” in lower-case and “mono” (or “stereo” if you were dead posh!).
Side One
It Wont Be Long
Featuring the tried and tested "yeahs" utilised so well on ‘She Loves You’, it again works a treat here. Another superb vocal from Lennon - mellow on the verses before really letting rip in the choruses backed up by some very fine harmonies from McCartney and Harrison in those responses. A well thought out ending too - all too often the endings of their songs were identical, which is especially noticeable in early live performances – this is very different, slowing the pace nicely to introduce the next song. It's amazing to think that such a great album-opener was (like many of the other songs on the album) never performed again, aside from a few TV shows where they mime along to it.
All I've Got To Do
Slowing the pace down for John's self-penned Arthur Alexander tribute (and one of my all-time favourite tracks), in the past, many people have dismissed this track but it now finally seems to getting the recognition it deserves although it is still rarely played by any of the tribute acts during Beatle Week. Lennon's vocal is nothing short of incredible, from the very opening notes on “Whenever...” it is absolutely spine-tingling. In the refrain he hits some pretty amazing top notes, particularly in the high-register "oh-oh-oh, you just gotta call on me" parts. In his book, Revolution in the Head, Iain Macdonald said it was Smokey Robinson-influenced song. I do not hear that at all – I mean even the rhythm is an Arthur Alexander trademark (notable in a few of his recordings, particularly You Better Move On and Soldier of Love). Anyway, in one word: awesome!
All My Loving
A little-known song written by McCartney. And moving on.... Just kidding! Without a doubt this would have been a huge hit had it been released as a single. And the reason it wasn’t released is probably because The Beatles were sitting on I Want To Hold Your Hand at the time! John's rhythm guitar on this track is particularly good - not many people discuss his playing, which seems unbelievable (apart from mrmustard of course – did you think I’d forgotten Si?). A great Carl Perkins-influenced solo from George here too. You’ll note that on a lot of the tracks on With The Beatles, Starr’s first snare hit in each bar is on a mid-beat – bear with me here as I cannot provide citations but I’m pretty sure I read that this was because Lennon had problems with time signatures (not the actual timing) where he would, for example, come in half a bar early, and apparently Starr fixed this by using this style of playing. I would imagine timing problems were only a problem on new and therefore under-rehearsed songs. In case you skipped the multiple preambles, the story of how and when I first heard it is somewhere up the page. Still a massive crowd-pleaser when Macca plays it live fifty years later!
Don't Bother Me
Harrison gets his first ever songwriting credit with (excluding Cry For A Shadow and In Spite Of All The Danger of course) half-way through side one and it's a great effort too. However, despite being his first proper track it was never highly regarded by the songwriter himself, in fact the recording outtakes seem to reveal that maybe he wasn’t really sold on the song even during its recording. It’s particularly revealing during take 10 where in the fade he seems to be taking the mickey out of the song with the line: “Don’t bother me, oh yeah, rock and roll now – oh yeah...”. Despite this, the song it really drives along and its darker mood fits in very nicely alongside the Lennon McCartney songs on this release. There are some great chord changes here too and some interesting rhythmic experimentation... Ringo played a loose-skinned Arabian bongo apparently!
Little Child
To me, this is the epitome of an under-valued and under-appreciated song but it absolutely rocks! It's such a shame this never got played live either - can you just imagine how the crowd would have reacted to this rocker? It took quite a few tries to get this right, which might explain the rather obvious edit piece before the solo but it was well worth the effort because Lennon’s bluesy harp solo is awesome. Another song that not many bands play live during Beatle Week and they’re missing a trick (any bands reading this? Ross?).
Till There Was You
This was a firm favourite with the Beatles' audience, which explains its worthy inclusion here but to me it just doesn’t fit and has never really been a favourite of mine. It had though been a staple part of the Beatles' live shows for many years, and was very popular at the Cavern Club. When played live, Paul always gave it a jokey introduction as was evident from their appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in November, 1963.
Please Mister Postman
From the opening smack on Starr’s hi-hat they really wrestle this song out of the hands of The Marvelettes and make it their own, and this wouldn't be the only time they would better a Motown original on this album – this was the first of three covers from the motor city. Another brilliant raw Lennon vocal, which is exceptional in the “check in and see…” section toward the end. McCartney’s prominent and punchy bass-line really drives the song along and again his and Harrison’s backing vocals are excellent throughout.
Side Two
Roll Over Beethoven
Welcome to side two and Harrison’s rocking rendition of a Chuck Berry classic. It starts off with an immaculate intro by George - so good it almost sounds speeded up and it’s a marked improvement over the intro he played at the Star Club, Germany just under a year prior to this. His solos are especially good here on this well-rehearsed stage number. A welcome return of the handclaps as well, as per ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ - I actually thought they enhanced that track as well as this one. Ringo is particularly playful on this track - his drumming and fills are just superb. When played live, they ramped up the tension brilliantly by including rises and drops in volume during the “You know she wiggles like a glow worm, dance like a spinning top…” section, which sent audiences wild.
Hold Me Tight
Certain reviewers have asserted that Macca sings flat here but this may be because its key isn’t immediately apparent from the intro, aside from that I don’t hear much wrong at all with the vocal. Another stonking great R 'n' B original though, which had been attempted and abandoned during the Please Please Me sessions - sadly, takes of which no longer exist. This “album filler”, as McCartney later called it, is augmented by a very nice arrangement especially during the “you don’t know…” section where Starr’s toms are put to good use and again the four-in-the-bar handclaps.
You Really Got A Hold On Me
The Beatles make this a highly complex arrangement sound easy but as they had been playing the song live since 1962 it’s no wonder. Lennon again takes lead vocal on the second Motown song on the album, a tribute to another one of their R 'n' B heroes - Smokey Robinson this time. Lennon’s vocals were nothing short of sublime throughout this album and this is one of his best. Lovely backing harmonies from George and Paul too and good piano played by George Martin.
I Wanna Be Your Man
A Lennon McCartney original, this had already been given to the Rolling Stones and released as a single by them – the impressive way the songwriters finished off the unfinished song in front of the Stones instantly inspired and spurred on another future legendary songwriting partnership – that of Jagger and Richards. The Stone’s version though was bluesier and noticeably slower but The Beatles rock through this sped up version, claiming the song right back from them. This is another solid vocal from Ringo, with John and Paul taking over from him on the choruses.
Devil In Her Heart
The third vocal outing for George on a song originally recorded by The Donays, as The Beatles reaffirm their love of Sixties girl groups. Some great three-part harmonies by George, John and Paul in what was a popular choice live and as such recorded for two BBC radio sessions, one of which later appeared on their Live at the BBC album. Although a nice cover version, this is one of the few examples where the original is actually better in my opinion.
Not A Second Time
The final Lennon McCartney original on the album (though probably all Lennon’s) and again critics haven’t been too kind to this song – aside, that is, from notable Times music critic, William Mann who drew a comparison with 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 whole song a rather ominous feel. Lennon’s vocal is double tracked with, unusually for the time, no harmonies or other vocal backing. One of my favourites on the album and another song they never played live.
Money (That's What I Want)
The final Motown song on the album and again Lennon takes on the lead with another classic vocal with Paul equalling it with his backing – the first recorded example of his throat-shredding “rock voice” used on other tracks such as ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘I’m Down’. 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, which is saying something! Again featuring George Martin rocking out on the piano this is an absolute powerhouse of a recording - they had certainly come a very long way in under two years, which is apparent when you compare this version to the Decca Audition version. The only song on the album that doesn’t have the music on the left channel and the singing in the right, this song was actually a combination of two 2-track versions - leading many to mistakenly believe that this was their first 4-track recording. This was the second time John had taken the honours for the closing track on an album, a tradition that would continue for most of The Beatles subsequent releases.
Wow…
Maybe you couldn’t exactly say With The Beatles was as polished as some of their later albums but for me that actually adds to its charm. And although it certainly is an improvement on Please Please Me it’s not a huge departure musically – certainly nothing like the changes in style we would see later in their career, for example from Help to Rubber Soul and from Revolver to Sgt Pepper, but then maybe it’s asking a little too much for them to redefine the UK music scene twice in one year? However their song writing was already an improvement, the musicianship was solid and getting better and better and their arrangements more adventurous. And just when Merseybeat was dominating the UK charts, they tore up that script and did something completely different – the other Liverpool acts could not compete.
What is undeniable though is the energy on this album; and despite not playing most of these tracks down the Cavern, you can almost imagine what they would have sounded like in that dimly-lit cellar in Liverpool... just let your imagination run riot! Give this album a decent blast with some watts behind it and listen to the sheer raw, fresh energy of The Beatles playing rhythm and blues.
A few final facts to round things off then as it’s now 2:30 am!
With The Beatles had advance orders of a half million and was only the second album to ever sell a million copies in the UK. It replaced Please Please Me at number one and stayed there for a further 21 weeks, which meant The Beatles were at number one for one week shy of a whole year! And because the UK charts counted record sales as a whole regardless of whether it was a single, EP or album, With The Beatles actually reached number 11 in the singles chart.
Then, just seven days after this LP was released, I Want To Hold Your Hand was unleashed onto the World and a few short months later America would finally surrender.
AL
So yeah, opinions do differ about what is a good and a bad album and this is my story of With The Beatles and how I came to know and love it, because, in my opinion, it is a very good Beatles album.
In keeping with my previous review, I’ll just add a little personal history around the album before getting into the individual tracks...
It was late 1974, so I must have been eight-years-old when The Carpenters entered the UK charts with ‘Please Mister Postman’ and I absolutely loved it, much to the chagrin of my dad who could not stand The Carpenters. He said they played "Sunday music", which was his way of saying their music fell into that dreaded bracket of easy listening - much loved by old farts in beige comfortable slacks and knitted cardigans but certainly not by the likes of my dad, who had himself been in an R ‘n’ B group throughout the sixties. The Carpenters’ version, he said, was lightweight rubbish and nowhere near as good as The Beatles’ version. Wait, The Beatles recorded it, I ask incredulously? Yes, it was a track on one of their LPs. Well, already being a bit of a fan by then, I knew it wasn’t on Please Please Me or A Hard Day’s Night but I simply had to find that song.
Up to this point I had just been playing (and “borrowing”) The Beatles singles and EPs left at my nan and grandad’s by my aunt but I knew there were some LPs stored in the wire rack beneath their record player. And, as my aunt had left her singles behind when she left home, I hoped that she had also neglected to take her albums with her as well, you never knew your luck! So, across the road I went to my nan and grandad’s and began searching through their LPs. Most of them though belonged to my grandad - Jim Reeves, Nat King Cole, Mrs Mills, the Cat Balou soundtrack, Rubber Soul, With The Beatles... wait, what? Two Beatles LPs! I removed both albums from the rack and scanned through the track listings on the back of both sleeves and bloody hell - there it was: ‘Please Mister Postman’, side 1, track 7 on the album with the black and white cover!
Hurriedly, I slipped the LP from its sleeve, put it on the record player and dropped the needle at the start of the final track on side one and waited... “I think I’m gonna be sad, I think it’s today, yeah...” Hmmmm, this sounded nothing like the Carpenter’s version of Please Mister Postman – what was going on? Of course it soon transpired that the wrong album was in the wrong sleeve and I was in fact playing the Help LP. Following an exhaustive search through the remaining LPs in the rack the absent vinyl was nowhere to be found! So after all that, I still hadn’t heard The Beatles’ version and so I instead went off for a ride on my bike to play conkers with my schoolmates and collect caterpillars in a crisp bag (probably!).
For what felt like years (in reality a few months), all I could do was stare at that song title and the tantalising description given by Tony Barrow in his sleeve notes, longing for the day I would eventually hear the bloody thing! To make matters worse, while I was wandering round a record shop in Aldgate one day, they started playing the Red Album and I remember being so pleased, smug even, that I knew all the songs when the next track stopped me dead in my tracks - it was literally the best thing I had ever heard and from the lyrics I derived it was called ‘All My Loving’ – another track from the elusive With The Beatles LP! Now I absolutely had to have this album but LPs were very expensive, especially for an 8 year-old with no steady income.
Then my mum and dad came up with a brilliant idea (influenced no doubt by some pestering from me!); they would ask my aunt if, instead of giving me a present for my up-coming birthday, she might instead like to reacquaint the correct album sleeve with the correct LP, and give that to me instead - to my relief she actually thought that was an excellent idea - so when she next came to visit, she took the With The Beatles sleeve and Help LP home with her and I waited patiently for my birthday to come around.
On the big day, my aunt and uncle duly arrived with an LP-shaped gift, which I eagerly unwrapped – and there it was, finally the right LP in the right sleeve: the Help album!
I can’t remember if I expressed any disappointment at that time – obviously I was more than grateful to receive any Beatles LP as a gift but what I do know is that for my next birthday my aunt and uncle very kindly gave me With The Beatles and from that day onward I did not stop playing it! I still have it today; unplayable because in the end the grooves simply wore out!
So, with that preamble over, on to the next preamble...
Since the unmitigated triumph of their first album, Please Please Me, they had gone from strength to strength building on that success, undertaking a sell-out UK tour (and a brief tour of Sweden), releasing two multi-million-selling singles ‘From Me To You’ and ‘She Loves You’ (including b-sides, a total of four Lennon/McCartney originals), appearing on the seminal TV show Sunday Night at the London Palladium (considered the pinnacle of success in those days) and all culminating in the Royal Command Performance, where, in his introduction to ‘Twist and Shout’, John cheekily told the Queen Mum and those not sitting in the cheaper seats to “rattle their jewellery”.
Not only was The Beatles’ sound unlike anything else in the UK or US charts, their song writing was also prolific, fresh and ground-breaking and they had an enormous amount of charisma and humour to back it all up - the press absolutely loved the so-called Fab Four and the Daily Mirror coined the phrase Beatlemania to describe the frenzy that now accompanied their every move. On top off all that, Lennon McCartney were also writing hit songs for other artists – in the short gap between their first and second album, they gave songs away to The Rolling Stones, Billy J Kramer, Tommy Quickly, The Fourmost and Cilla Black!
It’s Friday 22 November 1963 and on the day when the whole World would later be united in shock at the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Gerry and the Pacemakers were currently sitting at the top of the UK charts with their third successive number one – ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – and The Beatles released their second album: With The Beatles.
This was The Beatles’ second album in the space of exactly eight months and again, of the fourteen tracks on the album, six are cover versions, as was the case on Please Please Me, however, this time round there were seven brand new numbers penned by Lennon McCartney plus one by George Harrison and there were no singles released from the album either before or after it came out.
As million-selling number one artists, The Beatles were afforded more time to make this album - no rush-recording the whole thing in 10 hours this time. It was however still a rush to get the album released in time for the lucrative Christmas market and, as such, they had to squeeze recording sessions in between a plethora of interviews, concerts and radio and TV appearances. Despite this ad-hoc approach, the whole album was still an improvement on their debut; even the black and white sleeve was a work of art and has been much imitated since of course.
Taken by Robert Freeman in a hotel in Bournemouth while they were on tour, they stood unsmiling in front of a dark curtain (maroon I think), their faces side-lit, half in shade – the style exactly matching the iconic images Astrid Kirscherr took of them in Hamburg. From the very start, The Beatles were winning small victories in artistic control – the first major one being of course the choice of ‘Love Me Do’ as their first single instead of ‘How Do You Do It’. This sleeve was another small victory of sorts because they chose the photographer and how they wanted to be presented - no more posing with cheesy grins, in fact the next time any sort of cheesy grin would appear on a Beatles album would be on their final album, Let It Be. However, they did concede some ground to EMI as the original idea was to have no writing on the front of the sleeve, but instead, in a white band at the top of the sleeve, it declared simply “with the beatles” in lower-case and “mono” (or “stereo” if you were dead posh!).
Side One
It Wont Be Long
Featuring the tried and tested "yeahs" utilised so well on ‘She Loves You’, it again works a treat here. Another superb vocal from Lennon - mellow on the verses before really letting rip in the choruses backed up by some very fine harmonies from McCartney and Harrison in those responses. A well thought out ending too - all too often the endings of their songs were identical, which is especially noticeable in early live performances – this is very different, slowing the pace nicely to introduce the next song. It's amazing to think that such a great album-opener was (like many of the other songs on the album) never performed again, aside from a few TV shows where they mime along to it.
All I've Got To Do
Slowing the pace down for John's self-penned Arthur Alexander tribute (and one of my all-time favourite tracks), in the past, many people have dismissed this track but it now finally seems to getting the recognition it deserves although it is still rarely played by any of the tribute acts during Beatle Week. Lennon's vocal is nothing short of incredible, from the very opening notes on “Whenever...” it is absolutely spine-tingling. In the refrain he hits some pretty amazing top notes, particularly in the high-register "oh-oh-oh, you just gotta call on me" parts. In his book, Revolution in the Head, Iain Macdonald said it was Smokey Robinson-influenced song. I do not hear that at all – I mean even the rhythm is an Arthur Alexander trademark (notable in a few of his recordings, particularly You Better Move On and Soldier of Love). Anyway, in one word: awesome!
All My Loving
A little-known song written by McCartney. And moving on.... Just kidding! Without a doubt this would have been a huge hit had it been released as a single. And the reason it wasn’t released is probably because The Beatles were sitting on I Want To Hold Your Hand at the time! John's rhythm guitar on this track is particularly good - not many people discuss his playing, which seems unbelievable (apart from mrmustard of course – did you think I’d forgotten Si?). A great Carl Perkins-influenced solo from George here too. You’ll note that on a lot of the tracks on With The Beatles, Starr’s first snare hit in each bar is on a mid-beat – bear with me here as I cannot provide citations but I’m pretty sure I read that this was because Lennon had problems with time signatures (not the actual timing) where he would, for example, come in half a bar early, and apparently Starr fixed this by using this style of playing. I would imagine timing problems were only a problem on new and therefore under-rehearsed songs. In case you skipped the multiple preambles, the story of how and when I first heard it is somewhere up the page. Still a massive crowd-pleaser when Macca plays it live fifty years later!
Don't Bother Me
Harrison gets his first ever songwriting credit with (excluding Cry For A Shadow and In Spite Of All The Danger of course) half-way through side one and it's a great effort too. However, despite being his first proper track it was never highly regarded by the songwriter himself, in fact the recording outtakes seem to reveal that maybe he wasn’t really sold on the song even during its recording. It’s particularly revealing during take 10 where in the fade he seems to be taking the mickey out of the song with the line: “Don’t bother me, oh yeah, rock and roll now – oh yeah...”. Despite this, the song it really drives along and its darker mood fits in very nicely alongside the Lennon McCartney songs on this release. There are some great chord changes here too and some interesting rhythmic experimentation... Ringo played a loose-skinned Arabian bongo apparently!
Little Child
To me, this is the epitome of an under-valued and under-appreciated song but it absolutely rocks! It's such a shame this never got played live either - can you just imagine how the crowd would have reacted to this rocker? It took quite a few tries to get this right, which might explain the rather obvious edit piece before the solo but it was well worth the effort because Lennon’s bluesy harp solo is awesome. Another song that not many bands play live during Beatle Week and they’re missing a trick (any bands reading this? Ross?).
Till There Was You
This was a firm favourite with the Beatles' audience, which explains its worthy inclusion here but to me it just doesn’t fit and has never really been a favourite of mine. It had though been a staple part of the Beatles' live shows for many years, and was very popular at the Cavern Club. When played live, Paul always gave it a jokey introduction as was evident from their appearance at the Royal Variety Performance in November, 1963.
Please Mister Postman
From the opening smack on Starr’s hi-hat they really wrestle this song out of the hands of The Marvelettes and make it their own, and this wouldn't be the only time they would better a Motown original on this album – this was the first of three covers from the motor city. Another brilliant raw Lennon vocal, which is exceptional in the “check in and see…” section toward the end. McCartney’s prominent and punchy bass-line really drives the song along and again his and Harrison’s backing vocals are excellent throughout.
Side Two
Roll Over Beethoven
Welcome to side two and Harrison’s rocking rendition of a Chuck Berry classic. It starts off with an immaculate intro by George - so good it almost sounds speeded up and it’s a marked improvement over the intro he played at the Star Club, Germany just under a year prior to this. His solos are especially good here on this well-rehearsed stage number. A welcome return of the handclaps as well, as per ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ - I actually thought they enhanced that track as well as this one. Ringo is particularly playful on this track - his drumming and fills are just superb. When played live, they ramped up the tension brilliantly by including rises and drops in volume during the “You know she wiggles like a glow worm, dance like a spinning top…” section, which sent audiences wild.
Hold Me Tight
Certain reviewers have asserted that Macca sings flat here but this may be because its key isn’t immediately apparent from the intro, aside from that I don’t hear much wrong at all with the vocal. Another stonking great R 'n' B original though, which had been attempted and abandoned during the Please Please Me sessions - sadly, takes of which no longer exist. This “album filler”, as McCartney later called it, is augmented by a very nice arrangement especially during the “you don’t know…” section where Starr’s toms are put to good use and again the four-in-the-bar handclaps.
You Really Got A Hold On Me
The Beatles make this a highly complex arrangement sound easy but as they had been playing the song live since 1962 it’s no wonder. Lennon again takes lead vocal on the second Motown song on the album, a tribute to another one of their R 'n' B heroes - Smokey Robinson this time. Lennon’s vocals were nothing short of sublime throughout this album and this is one of his best. Lovely backing harmonies from George and Paul too and good piano played by George Martin.
I Wanna Be Your Man
A Lennon McCartney original, this had already been given to the Rolling Stones and released as a single by them – the impressive way the songwriters finished off the unfinished song in front of the Stones instantly inspired and spurred on another future legendary songwriting partnership – that of Jagger and Richards. The Stone’s version though was bluesier and noticeably slower but The Beatles rock through this sped up version, claiming the song right back from them. This is another solid vocal from Ringo, with John and Paul taking over from him on the choruses.
Devil In Her Heart
The third vocal outing for George on a song originally recorded by The Donays, as The Beatles reaffirm their love of Sixties girl groups. Some great three-part harmonies by George, John and Paul in what was a popular choice live and as such recorded for two BBC radio sessions, one of which later appeared on their Live at the BBC album. Although a nice cover version, this is one of the few examples where the original is actually better in my opinion.
Not A Second Time
The final Lennon McCartney original on the album (though probably all Lennon’s) and again critics haven’t been too kind to this song – aside, that is, from notable Times music critic, William Mann who drew a comparison with 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 whole song a rather ominous feel. Lennon’s vocal is double tracked with, unusually for the time, no harmonies or other vocal backing. One of my favourites on the album and another song they never played live.
Money (That's What I Want)
The final Motown song on the album and again Lennon takes on the lead with another classic vocal with Paul equalling it with his backing – the first recorded example of his throat-shredding “rock voice” used on other tracks such as ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘I’m Down’. 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, which is saying something! Again featuring George Martin rocking out on the piano this is an absolute powerhouse of a recording - they had certainly come a very long way in under two years, which is apparent when you compare this version to the Decca Audition version. The only song on the album that doesn’t have the music on the left channel and the singing in the right, this song was actually a combination of two 2-track versions - leading many to mistakenly believe that this was their first 4-track recording. This was the second time John had taken the honours for the closing track on an album, a tradition that would continue for most of The Beatles subsequent releases.
Wow…
Maybe you couldn’t exactly say With The Beatles was as polished as some of their later albums but for me that actually adds to its charm. And although it certainly is an improvement on Please Please Me it’s not a huge departure musically – certainly nothing like the changes in style we would see later in their career, for example from Help to Rubber Soul and from Revolver to Sgt Pepper, but then maybe it’s asking a little too much for them to redefine the UK music scene twice in one year? However their song writing was already an improvement, the musicianship was solid and getting better and better and their arrangements more adventurous. And just when Merseybeat was dominating the UK charts, they tore up that script and did something completely different – the other Liverpool acts could not compete.
What is undeniable though is the energy on this album; and despite not playing most of these tracks down the Cavern, you can almost imagine what they would have sounded like in that dimly-lit cellar in Liverpool... just let your imagination run riot! Give this album a decent blast with some watts behind it and listen to the sheer raw, fresh energy of The Beatles playing rhythm and blues.
A few final facts to round things off then as it’s now 2:30 am!
With The Beatles had advance orders of a half million and was only the second album to ever sell a million copies in the UK. It replaced Please Please Me at number one and stayed there for a further 21 weeks, which meant The Beatles were at number one for one week shy of a whole year! And because the UK charts counted record sales as a whole regardless of whether it was a single, EP or album, With The Beatles actually reached number 11 in the singles chart.
Then, just seven days after this LP was released, I Want To Hold Your Hand was unleashed onto the World and a few short months later America would finally surrender.
AL