Post by The End on Sept 20, 2013 21:14:29 GMT
BEATLES FOR SALE
You’ll be pleased to know there are not many historical family references attached to this album - it was just a birthday purchase of mine when I was a kid during the height of the second wave of Beatlemania circa 1976 - a stereo vinyl edition with the silver and black Parlophone label. However, I was already very familiar with four of the songs through my aunts/my copy of the Beatles For Sale No.2 EP – which featured "I'll Follow the Sun", "Baby's in Black", "Words of Love" and "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". And I do recall being out playing with my mates one day when one of them asked me what song it was I kept singing: “I’ll Follow the Sun” – and I still remember exactly where I was: standing on the roadside perimeter wall that ran across the front of our block of flats, I have no idea why that particular memory stuck!
Anyway...
Usually way down on the list of fans’ favourite Beatle LPs, often languishing at the bottom along with Yellow Submarine, this album actually has a lot more going for it than people give it credit for.
Let’s first start off with the sleeve, which was another innovation as it was gatefold – the front cover photo by Robert Freeman showed four rather tired-looking Beatles posing among the Autumn leaves in Hyde Park. The unusual camera effect used on both the front and reverse of the album sleeve lent the subjects a grainy and almost cartoon-like appearance, which was probably why, of all The Beatles LPs, this was the least imitated. When you opened the sleeve up, on the left were Derek Taylor’s very prophetic liner notes [“The kids of AD2000 will draw from the music much the same sense of well being and warmth as we do today...”] and a shot of The Beatles on stage taken during their first US gig in Washington and on the right is what could be considered a pointer to their future Sgt Pepper sleeve as the Beatles pose in front of a collage of movie heroes (I'm sure I've seen this collage without the Beatles standing in front of it but couldn't find it for this review. I seem to recall it was taken at Twickenham film studios).
SIDE ONE
No Reply
The album opens with a Lennon song built around some interesting changes of rhythm styles - Latin for the fist half of each verse and straight up rock for the second parts and the chorus. This is the gentlest opener of all of the Beatles’ studio albums and, with the proceeding two tracks (along with the majority of the original material here), it sets a much more sombre tone than their previous three LPs. The song’s very basic, almost throw-away lyric tells the tale of a two-timing romance but this is masked by a great arrangement and very nice use of applied reverb – removed and reintroduced throughout John’s lead vocal track to great effect. Along with Eight Days A Week this was a contender for their next single till I Feel Fine came along.
I’m A Loser
The lyric of I’m A Loser contains an interesting twist – at first glance the title seems to imply that the singer is declaring himself a loser but then, upon listening to the lyric, it becomes apparent that the reason he’s a loser is because he’s just lost someone - typical word-play by John, the song’s author. An unusual vocal line from John as he dips into quite a low register in places. Continuing on from the country rock style briefly explored on “I’ll Cry Instead” from their previous album, it is one of a few other numbers on Beatles For Sale that also falls within this genre (they would again flirt with this style the following year on Rubber Soul: “What Goes On” and “Run for Your Life”). The upbeat nature of the track – on the surface, just another tale of lost love - belies a seemingly darker meaning: is Lennon already expressing his disillusionment with the inherent trappings of fame (“although I laugh and I act like a clown, beneath this mask I am wearing a frown”)? Apparently influenced by Bob Dylan – I don’t hear it at all. Note that John’s microphone pops have been removed on the newly-remastered version, which is a shame!
Baby’s In Black
This, for me, is one of the stand-out tracks on the album. Some very tight harmonies from John and Paul (apparently a 50/50 songwriting effort), with Paul taking his harmony to a whole other lever during the second “Oh how long will it take...” section. Long thought to be a reference to Astrid Kirchherr’s penchant for dressing in black (she had in fact met up with The Beatles during 1964), this was a staple of The Beatles’ live act right the way through to their final concert in 1966. A very fine twangy country-style lead guitar from George throughout, which also introduces the song, with laid back, effortless drum-work from Ringo - nice fills toward the end too - as Lennon finally gets his waltz! To explain that last comment, during the recording sessions for A Hard Day’s Night, “I’ll Be Back” was also attempted in 3/4 time (as can be heard on Anthology), but as John had trouble squeezing the lyrics for the middle 8 into that time signature, it was scrapped and re-recorded in the more standard 4/4 time. With this and the preceding tracks, by far the darkest opener to a Beatles album so far.
Rock And Roll Music
With the Lennon McCartney songbook seemingly exhausted following A Hard Day’s Night, The Beatles were forced to return to old stage favourites with which to fill out the album – although calling them filler tracks is probably a little unfair as there are some very fine cover versions here – this being one of them. John absolutely belts out his vocal with The Beatles straight-out rock arrangement blowing Chuck Berry’s far looser original out of the water! Some really nice piano too, right up to the 1.46 mark, where it strangely disappears without a trace before returning at 1.52 – baffling, and not fixed for the re-masters. With arguably one of the most recognisable rock intros of all-time, the song eventually replaced “Twist and Shout” as their opening number when they played live and was another that remained in their set list right up to that final gig in Candlestick Park, 1966.
I’ll Follow The Sun
As already stated, with the Lennon McCartney cupboard all but bare, they had to resort to other means to complete their new album. This is another example – a song written many years prior and dusted off for the Beatles For Sale sessions – an early draft was actually recorded on a home tape machine (long since bootleged) back in 1960, when Paul was just seventeen (I’ll avoid tagging on “you know what I mean” there!). Although attributed to Paul, it is very possible that John had more than a helping hand in the song’s creation, especially considering that it originated from a time when John and Paul were still writing songs together face to face. A lovely arrangement with John and Paul’s vocals blending as one during the first half of each verse – so good it almost sounds double tracked – with John taking the lower harmony during the bridge. The arrangement itself features three guitar parts – two electric and one acoustic, which runs contrary to other books I’ve read on the subject that say it’s two acoustics - I disagree. It’s easier to discern the guitar parts in the stereo version – the guitar in the left channel is acoustic but the finger-picked guitar part in the right channel sounds like it’s played on an electric guitar to me, the third guitar part is the very brief solo. But whatever, for me, its another stand-out track on the album! The rhythm track is unusual though as it sounds like Ringo is tapping it out on a cardboard box, possibly influenced by Jerry Allison of The Crickets, who also experimented with this method. It’s possible that this arrangement may have reminded them of "Words of Love", which could have prompted them to record their version just a week after "I’ll Follow the Sun".
Mister Moonlight
Should “Leave My Kitten Alone” have been included on this album instead of “Mister Moonlight”? Yes. So, moving swiftly on... Right from the off, with his unaccompanied vocal-shredding intro, it’s undeniably a brilliant vocal from Lennon - this Doctor Feelgood and the Interns cover was obviously a firm favourite of his which they performed live many times – the tight harmonies of the verses being another stand-out and probably another of attraction of playing the song live. So why is this track universally hated? Where does it all go wrong? Well, it’s basically that God-awful cheesy organ. If it wasn’t for that, maybe this song would have been remembered as one of Lennon’s greatest vocal achievements instead of being declared an error of judgment. Just think though, if it wasn’t for this track we would never have had The Rutles’ “Between Us” or possibly “With A Girl Like You”, and where would the world of rock music be then, eh?!
Kansas City
This is actually a cover version of two songs (Kansa City and Hey Hey Hey), a medley arrangement that Little Richard performed live and purloined by The Beatles. A firm favourite at The Cavern and one of the two songs recorded by Granada TV intended for possible inclusion in their People and Places magazine show back in 1962. Although, I must admit it’s not a favourite of mine, it’s obvious why it was such a live favourite as especially the “Hey Hey Hey” call and response part of the medley actively encourages audience participation. A undeniably great vocal from Paul and another example of his screamers, typical of his vocals in their other Little Richard covers.
SIDE TWO
Eight Days A Week
Another 50/50 Lennon McCartney songwriting effort and innovation right from the start as, after experimenting with numerous intros for the song (one of which was hilarious as it sounds like the Muppets!), they finally settled on a simple fade-in, which hadn’t been done before. The song s a perfect mix of originality and pure pop perfection – even during the short four bar fade-in, Paul’s double-time bass parts, when coupled with George’s jangling guitar riff, just builds momentum and anticipation for the first verse... and the song hasn’t even got started yet! John and Paul both sing the lead vocal with Paul providing occasional harmonies and the very nice jangly guitar riff that introduced the track also neatly closes it. The whole arrangement draws you into the song – especially with the “hold me [clap clap], love me [clap clap]...” sections, which sees some neat tom work from Ringo, it seems to encourage you to join in. Strangely, despite sounding nothing like anything else before or since, this is the quintessential sound of their early period and another example of The Beatles stealing the a newspapers’ job; penning their own headlines... yeah, yeah, yeah! One of the most glaringly commercial songs the group ever recorded, it really should have been a UK single – in the US it was though and it became The Beatles’ seventh number one. This would arguably have made for a better album opener than No Reply and, along with “All My Loving”, it must be one of the most famous album tracks in the world! A true classic Beatles song.
Words Of Love
Although they often dipped into Buddy Holly’s back catalogue for their BBC radio appearances, this is the only song of his they recorded for an album. In what is essentially just a tightened up and de-cha-cha-cha’d copy of Buddy’s original arrangement, the song starts mid-beat with George’s guitar mixed more to the fore during the intro before John and Paul take over on harmonised vocal duties. Some really nice guitar work here – listen between each line of the verses as the guitar slides into the next chord. Running to just over two minutes it’s very short and sweet. On a side note, Buddy Holly copied the chord progression for “Words of Love” from Mick and Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange”, which he was obsessed with for a while, recording it over and over again in his apartment in New York.
Honey Don’t
The first of two Carl Perkins numbers on the album and with no song to offer Ringo again, John handed the vocal duties for “Honey Don’t” over to the drummer… and he sings it damn well, in my opinion. It does annoy me when the “Ringo” in tribute bands sings like he’s got a peg on his nose – Ringo was actually not a bad singer! Harrison, who certainly rocked on for Ringo one time (twice!), impeccably plays the rockabilly guitar parts. George must have been in his element – he was a huge Carl Perkins fan and it certainly shows, leading some to believe that it’s Perkins himself playing lead. Having said that, I’m not a fan of the song either by John or Ringo.
Every Little Thing
Some very nice pre-Byrds guitar jangles on this song that has been alternately ascribed to John or Paul depending on whose book you read (Paul – Mark Lewisohn, John – Pete Doggett). However, at this stage in their career it was normally a safe bet to assign the songwriting credits to whoever the lead singer was… in this case, both John and Paul share lead during the verses with Paul taking on the harmony during the chorus, so it was probably 50/50 again. A really well thought out and interesting arrangement too with Ringo on timpani during the chorus doubling up with the piano – and I love that dampened guitar part in the fade too. A great but sadly much overlooked song.
I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party
Saying “I don’t like country music” may be considered to be a sweeping statement, but I don’t like country music... most of the time. This Lennon song is great though and like the other country-influenced songs on this album, it has a great little rock-out part in it. Very much “I’ll Cry Instead” part 2, the vocal parts are interesting in that Paul sings a deeper harmony under John’s lead vocal while George plays a heavily Carl Perkins-influenced guitar solo. Another thing I like are the lyrics, which to me read like an internal monologue, morally wrestling with the dilemma as to whether or not you should leave a party if you have a row with your girlfriend. I especially love the mundaneness of last line “I think I’ll take a walk and look for her” – brilliant without intending to be.
What You’re Doing
Another innovative arrangement as the song’s intro is pounded out in a hypnotic drum pattern, not completely dissimilar to that later used on “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Once again pointing the way forward for The Byrds, the song jingle jangles away nicely in what is arguably Paul’s only brand new song on the album (discuss!). Paul takes the lead with some really nice backing harmonies provided by John and (probably) George under the “would it be too much to ask of you…” parts. The shouted first word of each verse works well too, until 1:04 into the track and John/George shouts “I’m…” over the top of Paul’s “You…”. A great song though and another highlight of the album.
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
One of the few albums not concluded with a vocal by Lennon, this second Carl Perkins number features George “Carl” Harrison on the lead vocal. Again, Harrison plays the rockabilly guitar parts perfectly but, as with “Honey Don’t”, I’m not a huge fan of the track. Interestingly, the mono version differs to the stereo version in that the tape delay machine seems to falter during the intro – compare both where George sings “took…”. On a side note, for years I thought the opening line was “Well they took some hunk, from a tree…” as opposed to “honey from a tree”.
So then, a patchy, but not a bad album and if this disappointed you when it was released at the time, you only had to wait eight months for Help! or twelve months for Rubber Soul!
Once again, apologies for the lateness of this review!
You’ll be pleased to know there are not many historical family references attached to this album - it was just a birthday purchase of mine when I was a kid during the height of the second wave of Beatlemania circa 1976 - a stereo vinyl edition with the silver and black Parlophone label. However, I was already very familiar with four of the songs through my aunts/my copy of the Beatles For Sale No.2 EP – which featured "I'll Follow the Sun", "Baby's in Black", "Words of Love" and "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". And I do recall being out playing with my mates one day when one of them asked me what song it was I kept singing: “I’ll Follow the Sun” – and I still remember exactly where I was: standing on the roadside perimeter wall that ran across the front of our block of flats, I have no idea why that particular memory stuck!
Anyway...
Usually way down on the list of fans’ favourite Beatle LPs, often languishing at the bottom along with Yellow Submarine, this album actually has a lot more going for it than people give it credit for.
Let’s first start off with the sleeve, which was another innovation as it was gatefold – the front cover photo by Robert Freeman showed four rather tired-looking Beatles posing among the Autumn leaves in Hyde Park. The unusual camera effect used on both the front and reverse of the album sleeve lent the subjects a grainy and almost cartoon-like appearance, which was probably why, of all The Beatles LPs, this was the least imitated. When you opened the sleeve up, on the left were Derek Taylor’s very prophetic liner notes [“The kids of AD2000 will draw from the music much the same sense of well being and warmth as we do today...”] and a shot of The Beatles on stage taken during their first US gig in Washington and on the right is what could be considered a pointer to their future Sgt Pepper sleeve as the Beatles pose in front of a collage of movie heroes (I'm sure I've seen this collage without the Beatles standing in front of it but couldn't find it for this review. I seem to recall it was taken at Twickenham film studios).
SIDE ONE
No Reply
The album opens with a Lennon song built around some interesting changes of rhythm styles - Latin for the fist half of each verse and straight up rock for the second parts and the chorus. This is the gentlest opener of all of the Beatles’ studio albums and, with the proceeding two tracks (along with the majority of the original material here), it sets a much more sombre tone than their previous three LPs. The song’s very basic, almost throw-away lyric tells the tale of a two-timing romance but this is masked by a great arrangement and very nice use of applied reverb – removed and reintroduced throughout John’s lead vocal track to great effect. Along with Eight Days A Week this was a contender for their next single till I Feel Fine came along.
I’m A Loser
The lyric of I’m A Loser contains an interesting twist – at first glance the title seems to imply that the singer is declaring himself a loser but then, upon listening to the lyric, it becomes apparent that the reason he’s a loser is because he’s just lost someone - typical word-play by John, the song’s author. An unusual vocal line from John as he dips into quite a low register in places. Continuing on from the country rock style briefly explored on “I’ll Cry Instead” from their previous album, it is one of a few other numbers on Beatles For Sale that also falls within this genre (they would again flirt with this style the following year on Rubber Soul: “What Goes On” and “Run for Your Life”). The upbeat nature of the track – on the surface, just another tale of lost love - belies a seemingly darker meaning: is Lennon already expressing his disillusionment with the inherent trappings of fame (“although I laugh and I act like a clown, beneath this mask I am wearing a frown”)? Apparently influenced by Bob Dylan – I don’t hear it at all. Note that John’s microphone pops have been removed on the newly-remastered version, which is a shame!
Baby’s In Black
This, for me, is one of the stand-out tracks on the album. Some very tight harmonies from John and Paul (apparently a 50/50 songwriting effort), with Paul taking his harmony to a whole other lever during the second “Oh how long will it take...” section. Long thought to be a reference to Astrid Kirchherr’s penchant for dressing in black (she had in fact met up with The Beatles during 1964), this was a staple of The Beatles’ live act right the way through to their final concert in 1966. A very fine twangy country-style lead guitar from George throughout, which also introduces the song, with laid back, effortless drum-work from Ringo - nice fills toward the end too - as Lennon finally gets his waltz! To explain that last comment, during the recording sessions for A Hard Day’s Night, “I’ll Be Back” was also attempted in 3/4 time (as can be heard on Anthology), but as John had trouble squeezing the lyrics for the middle 8 into that time signature, it was scrapped and re-recorded in the more standard 4/4 time. With this and the preceding tracks, by far the darkest opener to a Beatles album so far.
Rock And Roll Music
With the Lennon McCartney songbook seemingly exhausted following A Hard Day’s Night, The Beatles were forced to return to old stage favourites with which to fill out the album – although calling them filler tracks is probably a little unfair as there are some very fine cover versions here – this being one of them. John absolutely belts out his vocal with The Beatles straight-out rock arrangement blowing Chuck Berry’s far looser original out of the water! Some really nice piano too, right up to the 1.46 mark, where it strangely disappears without a trace before returning at 1.52 – baffling, and not fixed for the re-masters. With arguably one of the most recognisable rock intros of all-time, the song eventually replaced “Twist and Shout” as their opening number when they played live and was another that remained in their set list right up to that final gig in Candlestick Park, 1966.
I’ll Follow The Sun
As already stated, with the Lennon McCartney cupboard all but bare, they had to resort to other means to complete their new album. This is another example – a song written many years prior and dusted off for the Beatles For Sale sessions – an early draft was actually recorded on a home tape machine (long since bootleged) back in 1960, when Paul was just seventeen (I’ll avoid tagging on “you know what I mean” there!). Although attributed to Paul, it is very possible that John had more than a helping hand in the song’s creation, especially considering that it originated from a time when John and Paul were still writing songs together face to face. A lovely arrangement with John and Paul’s vocals blending as one during the first half of each verse – so good it almost sounds double tracked – with John taking the lower harmony during the bridge. The arrangement itself features three guitar parts – two electric and one acoustic, which runs contrary to other books I’ve read on the subject that say it’s two acoustics - I disagree. It’s easier to discern the guitar parts in the stereo version – the guitar in the left channel is acoustic but the finger-picked guitar part in the right channel sounds like it’s played on an electric guitar to me, the third guitar part is the very brief solo. But whatever, for me, its another stand-out track on the album! The rhythm track is unusual though as it sounds like Ringo is tapping it out on a cardboard box, possibly influenced by Jerry Allison of The Crickets, who also experimented with this method. It’s possible that this arrangement may have reminded them of "Words of Love", which could have prompted them to record their version just a week after "I’ll Follow the Sun".
Mister Moonlight
Should “Leave My Kitten Alone” have been included on this album instead of “Mister Moonlight”? Yes. So, moving swiftly on... Right from the off, with his unaccompanied vocal-shredding intro, it’s undeniably a brilliant vocal from Lennon - this Doctor Feelgood and the Interns cover was obviously a firm favourite of his which they performed live many times – the tight harmonies of the verses being another stand-out and probably another of attraction of playing the song live. So why is this track universally hated? Where does it all go wrong? Well, it’s basically that God-awful cheesy organ. If it wasn’t for that, maybe this song would have been remembered as one of Lennon’s greatest vocal achievements instead of being declared an error of judgment. Just think though, if it wasn’t for this track we would never have had The Rutles’ “Between Us” or possibly “With A Girl Like You”, and where would the world of rock music be then, eh?!
Kansas City
This is actually a cover version of two songs (Kansa City and Hey Hey Hey), a medley arrangement that Little Richard performed live and purloined by The Beatles. A firm favourite at The Cavern and one of the two songs recorded by Granada TV intended for possible inclusion in their People and Places magazine show back in 1962. Although, I must admit it’s not a favourite of mine, it’s obvious why it was such a live favourite as especially the “Hey Hey Hey” call and response part of the medley actively encourages audience participation. A undeniably great vocal from Paul and another example of his screamers, typical of his vocals in their other Little Richard covers.
SIDE TWO
Eight Days A Week
Another 50/50 Lennon McCartney songwriting effort and innovation right from the start as, after experimenting with numerous intros for the song (one of which was hilarious as it sounds like the Muppets!), they finally settled on a simple fade-in, which hadn’t been done before. The song s a perfect mix of originality and pure pop perfection – even during the short four bar fade-in, Paul’s double-time bass parts, when coupled with George’s jangling guitar riff, just builds momentum and anticipation for the first verse... and the song hasn’t even got started yet! John and Paul both sing the lead vocal with Paul providing occasional harmonies and the very nice jangly guitar riff that introduced the track also neatly closes it. The whole arrangement draws you into the song – especially with the “hold me [clap clap], love me [clap clap]...” sections, which sees some neat tom work from Ringo, it seems to encourage you to join in. Strangely, despite sounding nothing like anything else before or since, this is the quintessential sound of their early period and another example of The Beatles stealing the a newspapers’ job; penning their own headlines... yeah, yeah, yeah! One of the most glaringly commercial songs the group ever recorded, it really should have been a UK single – in the US it was though and it became The Beatles’ seventh number one. This would arguably have made for a better album opener than No Reply and, along with “All My Loving”, it must be one of the most famous album tracks in the world! A true classic Beatles song.
Words Of Love
Although they often dipped into Buddy Holly’s back catalogue for their BBC radio appearances, this is the only song of his they recorded for an album. In what is essentially just a tightened up and de-cha-cha-cha’d copy of Buddy’s original arrangement, the song starts mid-beat with George’s guitar mixed more to the fore during the intro before John and Paul take over on harmonised vocal duties. Some really nice guitar work here – listen between each line of the verses as the guitar slides into the next chord. Running to just over two minutes it’s very short and sweet. On a side note, Buddy Holly copied the chord progression for “Words of Love” from Mick and Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange”, which he was obsessed with for a while, recording it over and over again in his apartment in New York.
Honey Don’t
The first of two Carl Perkins numbers on the album and with no song to offer Ringo again, John handed the vocal duties for “Honey Don’t” over to the drummer… and he sings it damn well, in my opinion. It does annoy me when the “Ringo” in tribute bands sings like he’s got a peg on his nose – Ringo was actually not a bad singer! Harrison, who certainly rocked on for Ringo one time (twice!), impeccably plays the rockabilly guitar parts. George must have been in his element – he was a huge Carl Perkins fan and it certainly shows, leading some to believe that it’s Perkins himself playing lead. Having said that, I’m not a fan of the song either by John or Ringo.
Every Little Thing
Some very nice pre-Byrds guitar jangles on this song that has been alternately ascribed to John or Paul depending on whose book you read (Paul – Mark Lewisohn, John – Pete Doggett). However, at this stage in their career it was normally a safe bet to assign the songwriting credits to whoever the lead singer was… in this case, both John and Paul share lead during the verses with Paul taking on the harmony during the chorus, so it was probably 50/50 again. A really well thought out and interesting arrangement too with Ringo on timpani during the chorus doubling up with the piano – and I love that dampened guitar part in the fade too. A great but sadly much overlooked song.
I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party
Saying “I don’t like country music” may be considered to be a sweeping statement, but I don’t like country music... most of the time. This Lennon song is great though and like the other country-influenced songs on this album, it has a great little rock-out part in it. Very much “I’ll Cry Instead” part 2, the vocal parts are interesting in that Paul sings a deeper harmony under John’s lead vocal while George plays a heavily Carl Perkins-influenced guitar solo. Another thing I like are the lyrics, which to me read like an internal monologue, morally wrestling with the dilemma as to whether or not you should leave a party if you have a row with your girlfriend. I especially love the mundaneness of last line “I think I’ll take a walk and look for her” – brilliant without intending to be.
What You’re Doing
Another innovative arrangement as the song’s intro is pounded out in a hypnotic drum pattern, not completely dissimilar to that later used on “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Once again pointing the way forward for The Byrds, the song jingle jangles away nicely in what is arguably Paul’s only brand new song on the album (discuss!). Paul takes the lead with some really nice backing harmonies provided by John and (probably) George under the “would it be too much to ask of you…” parts. The shouted first word of each verse works well too, until 1:04 into the track and John/George shouts “I’m…” over the top of Paul’s “You…”. A great song though and another highlight of the album.
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
One of the few albums not concluded with a vocal by Lennon, this second Carl Perkins number features George “Carl” Harrison on the lead vocal. Again, Harrison plays the rockabilly guitar parts perfectly but, as with “Honey Don’t”, I’m not a huge fan of the track. Interestingly, the mono version differs to the stereo version in that the tape delay machine seems to falter during the intro – compare both where George sings “took…”. On a side note, for years I thought the opening line was “Well they took some hunk, from a tree…” as opposed to “honey from a tree”.
So then, a patchy, but not a bad album and if this disappointed you when it was released at the time, you only had to wait eight months for Help! or twelve months for Rubber Soul!
Once again, apologies for the lateness of this review!