The year 1965 rolled in for the band with an already tight schedule–the first two weeks of January saw them finishing up their lengthy Christamas show ‘revue’ at the Hammersmith Odeon that had started 24 December, same as last year’s.  After a few weeks of well-deserved rest, it was time to jump back into the fray in mid-February.  Between 15 February and 11 May, they would be busy not with a tour or the endless radio and tv appearances, but jumping between recording studio, film studio and other locations for their next film project.  At first entitled Eight Arms to Hold You (officially given the name–another Ringo malapropism!–on 17 March during the Austria location shoots, until it was changed a month or so later), this new film would strive to be different from the semi-biographical A Hard Day’s Night.  It would not only be in color, it would also be a completely fictional story.  This second movie would also be directed by Richard Lester and produced by Walter Shenson, though screenwriter Alun Owen was not retained.  In retrospect, the lack of snappy, funny dialogue and smart plot that permeated the first film would be part of its faults–the “Beatles on the run” theme is turned into a farcical chase between a religious cult who want Ringo for their next sacrifice, and the boys are relegated to a lot of what sounds like halfhearted ad-libbing (most of which was inspired by their use of marijuana at this time)–but regardless, it would be a hit as expected.

And with a new film project meant new recordings.  In between filming (and the occasional one-time appearance here and there), they returned to Abbey Road Studios to record their next batch of songs.  As before, they’d planned on doing a half-album’s worth of actual soundtrack songs on Side One, with new album tracks on Side Two, with the occasional non-lp single here and there.  In this case, they’d record two non-lp b-sides this time.  It was a crazy and busy schedule to be sure, but at the same time, it actually worked to their advantage.  Unlike the previous movie, which had a relatively tight script, this one left things open to chance, with many scenes filmed but never used.  When they needed to be filmed performing new songs, they were often new tracks that had just been written a few weeks previously.  This happens plenty of times:  “Ticket to Ride” was recorded on 15 February, filmed in late March in Austria, and released as the lead single in early April; “I Need You”, started on the same day, was filmed in Salisbury Plain in early May; “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” was started 19 February and filmed in a fake-EMI studio on 30 April.

The filming would finish on 11 May, with post-production (overdubs and whatnot) finishing in mid-June.  The movie itself would be released in the UK on 29 July and worldwide soon after.  The album recording would finish on 17 June, with George Martin doing the final mixing days later.  Now it was time to return to Beatlemania:  new singles, new album, more touring, more radio and tv appearances.  Their summer would be jam-packed again, only to have them return to the studio again in August for another album come August (thankfully, they were given six weeks off in between, so they could recharge).  In some ways, 1965 could be considered a rerun of the previous year, but with some differences–they no longer had to puddle-jump all over Britain to appear everywhere, and sonically they sounded even better than every before.  Still, it had already started to wear on them.

Interestingly enough, one idea they had come up with to combat this was to send out pre-filmed performances, something they had come up with late in 1964 for “I Feel Fine” and a few other songs.  The benefits would be two-fold: they would not need to visit every television studio and perform the same song endlessly, and they could also make as many copies as needed and have them sent out to television studios, who could then insert them on any show they chose.  This could be considered the birth of the modern music video; a simple but effective promotional tool and also a quick and easy way to get out of physically appearing on everyone’s shows.  By 1966 when they stopped touring, this would become the only way you could see them performing.

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Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Single: “Ticket to Ride”/”Yes It Is”
Released: 9 April 1965

The first new single of the year was also the first to break the three-minute mark in a Beatles single.  It’s also a change in sonic direction for the band; the straight-ahead rock of 1963 and 1964 had become infused with more folky sounds, thanks to the influence of Bob Dylan and the burgeoning folk scene in the United States.  These tracks take their time unfolding, giving the listener a chance to pay attention to what’s going on underneath.  At the same time, George Martin had suggested a new approach to recording: instead of attempting multiple takes of the same song and hoping a gem would surface, they would let the songs grow organically.  They would record the backbone of a song with minimal instrumentation, leaving them room to overdub when necessary to build up the track.  In this way, there would be very few actual full “takes” and much less tape used, and more creativity being given to the details.  The Help! singles and album would definitely have their share of quick-take rock songs they were known for, but their sound had definitely matured because of this approach.

Side A: Ticket to Ride

The new single opens up with a beautiful, chiming riff courtesy of Paul McCartney, who also happened to suggest the curious, slightly off-beat drumming to Ringo, which you hear next. Moments later John steps in and gives us a stellar vocal delivery about his girl leaving him. Unlike the downbeat lyrics of many of his Beatles for Sale lyrics, however, this one is almost a return to their earlier lyrical sound–it’s less introspective and a lot simpler. He knows he can’t do anything about her leaving, except feel sad, even when he tries to convince himself that “she ought to think right, she ought to do right by me”. She really doesn’t care what he thinks–she’s out of there, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.

One can definitely hear the outcome of Martin’s new approach to recording–the band-as-a-cohesive-whole is still there, especially with the changes in tempo and the deft harmonies of John, Paul and George, there’s also a fuller sound, with plenty more to hear. There are layered guitars and strong additional percussion right there in the foreground, and John’s multitracked vocals sound rich and full. Musically it’s similar to their recent previous output, but they’ve given it more life.

Side B: Yes It Is
John often dismissed this track as a failed attempt, and one can kind of understand his reticence…it’s almost a slower, sadder “This Boy” without the pleading middle eight. On the other hand, that’s it’s strength: it features absolutely beautiful three-part harmony from John, Paul and George (recorded live and not separately, I should add), and though its bridge is more sedate, recalling the self-deprecation of John’s previous songs like “I’m a Loser”, it’s still a strong piece. Of note is George’s guitar playing, this time with yet another new toy: a tone pedal (later dubbed the ‘wah-wah’ pedal), which gives his meandering notes a plaintive touch.

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Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Single: “Help!”/”I’m Down”
Released: 23 July 1965

The next single would be the all-new theme song for their next movie, which would premiere the following week. Both tracks featured sounds that fans hadn’t expected: “Help!”, while quite an upbeat number, is also an extremely folky one, not to mention one of John’s first truly heartbreaking songs about his insecurities; on the flip side, “I’m Down” is a barebones, nothing-held-back rocker that ended up being a concert favorite of theirs. It was a hint of even better, more personal things to come.

Side A: Help!
One of the main reasons for John’s writing the song–aside from it being a real cry for help–lies in the band’s and the director’s indecision on what to name the new movie. Richard Lester had been calling it Beatles 2 or some version thereof, and the semi-official title early on had been Eight Arms to Hold You, in reference to the multi-armed Hindu goddess Kali that is part of the movie’s main plot. John and Paul didn’t like the title, mainly because they really didn’t want to write a song with such a mouthful to sing, and instead came up with the movie’s other main plot: the band on the run and unable to find the help they need to save themselves.
The song itself, as mentioned, is quite upbeat–it’s one of their faster tracks of the time–but the lyrics are quite unexpected. Never before had John been this bare in his emotions. It’s not just about the imagined conflict of the movie, but the stress of life: the feeling of drowning, the inability to find a foothold, the loss of direction. John’s delivery is desperate but not whining–it’s breathless and just this side of breaking, and Paul and George’s harmonies serve not just to punctuate the cry for help, but to bring that tension that much closer to the surface. It’s a simply-written melody, but it’s relentless and doesn’t let up until the final exhalation of “ooh’s” at the end.

Side B: I’m Down
This is a fascinating track of Paul’s, and a revisit of Britain’s fascination with American soul at the time. It’s very reminiscent of their earlier “Long Tall Sally”, but where that track is tight and rocking, this one is purposely disjointed and full of spite. They turn a simple twelve-bar blues riff into a track that threatens to fall apart every time it comes to the chorus, there’s so much tension. Even the lyrics are accusatory: instead of the usual “you’re making me blue” they delivered in the past, it’s now become almost a “how dare you make me feel this way” (“How can you laugh when you know I’m down?”). This track soon replaced “Sally” as their show closer on their international tours (an incredibly spirited version from Shea Stadium in New York can be seen here).
One interesting side note is the studio chat in between takes 1 and 2, when Paul comments on the song, saying “Plastic soul, man…plastic soul.” [This can be heard on the version of “I’m Down” on the Anthology 2 album.] The origin of the phrase is unknown, but it’s said that a black musician had used it to describe the appropriation of American soul by white British musicians, specifically Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. By the end of the year, it the phrase would be slightly changed and a new album name would arise: Rubber Soul.

* * *

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Album: Help!
Released: 6 August 1965

The first Beatles album of 1965 (and the second soundtrack of their career) was released a week after the UK premiere of the movie, just in time for midsummer. The movie itself, while not nearly as clever as A Hard Day’s Night, was full of music, silliness, and capable acting by the foursome, and both the movie and the album quickly became hits of the year. Another interesting outcome was that it introduced eastern music to the band, specifically George Harrison, who would introduce the sitar and other eastern instruments to the band. The foreign sounds didn’t show up on this album, but the change in direction towards folk and balladry definitely did. Given more time than the rushed production of Beatles for Sale, Help! features the band spreading their wings and testing out even more creative ways to define their sound.

Side A

Track 1: Help!
As before, the album starts off with the theme song. The movie uses this song in quite a cheeky way: after the prologue, we see the foursome playing the song in black and white, a nod to their previous film. Only eventually do we notice that darts are being thrown at it by the evil-but-pathetic Klang (played to amusing effect by Leo McKern), hinting that, honestly, that’s the most harm this so-called villain could cause.

Track 2: The Night Before
Another track recorded early in the process, this one was first laid down on 17 February. It’s a typical Paul track that might have fit nicely on Beatles for Sale, so similar is the sound and feel. It’s a surprisingly sparse track, actually–aside from John’s electric piano playing and George’s short but fun solo, there’s not too much that stands out here. In fact, all the instrumentation stays in the background and doesn’t venture too far, saving the front end for Paul’s strong vocals. Of note here, however, is a reference to a drumming trick Ringo used on “I Want to Hold Your Hand” a few years earlier: he plays a loose high-hat through most of the track, only to close it for effect on the quick bridge (during “…last night is a night I will remember you by”). It’s a simple song, but it’s fun. This one appears during the extended Salisbury Plain scene, the second of two songs they’re trying to record surrounded by soldiers.

Track 3: You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
John returns here with an overt nod to Bob Dylan, right down to the bare, raspy vocal delivery and the jangly acoustic guitar. It’s an absolutely gorgeous ballad in 6/8 time that extends on the insecurities he sang about on the title track. Here, he’s been beat down and made “two foot small” to the point that he doesn’t dare show his emotions, for fear that he’ll only get hurt again. Even when someone tries to lift his spirits (“How could she say to me ‘love will find a way’?”), he shouts back with a “Hey!” during the chorus, refusing to play along.

Track 4: I Need You
Recorded on the same days as “Yes It Is” (thus the return of the tone pedal on this track), George’s first of two offerings for the album is a summery love song similar to “The Night Before” in that it’s sparse and quite acoustic. It’s even used during the same Salisbury Plain scene. It’s not one of George’s stronger songs lyrically or even musically, but on the other hand, it’s actually a good example of how different his songwriting is to John and Paul’s. It’s a simple love song on the surface, but underneath all that, there are a handful of offbeat elements: ending the verse melody on a seventh note, using the guitar melody to “respond” to the vocal melody, things that John and Paul wouldn’t normally put in their own compositions.

Track 5: Another Girl
Another Paul song recorded the same day as “Ticket to Ride” and “I Need You”, so it definitely shares that acoustic vibe. The track starts off with the chorus, right down to the “…for I have got / another girl” incomplete sentence (it ties in with the end of the previous verse later on in the song), and is full of folksy goodness. Like the other previous similar songs, the instrumentation is secondary to the vocal delivery, and in retrospect that was very much key in the folk songs of the time. The song isn’t all that adventurous either, but it does hint at the old skiffle sound they grew up with…one can easily hear this being played by a young John and Paul with their friends on washboard and other homemade instruments. Filmwise, this song actually works in its scene, shot on a rocky shore in the Bahamas, inciting a laid back, summery feel.

Track 6: You’re Going to Lose That Girl
A rather quick song from John, this one doesn’t get anywhere near the personal demons of the previous songs. Instead, it’s a track similar many of his early love songs, only this time he’s warning his friend that if he doesn’t watch it, someone (namely John himself!) is going to take his girl away from him. This song can easily be seen as a nod to all their previous hits, such as the call and response vocals of “Twist and Shout”, the talking to a friend of “She Loves You”, and the downside of relationships of Beatles for Sale.

Track 7: Ticket to Ride
The soundtrack side ends with the first single, simply one of their greatest tracks of the time. The song features in a classic scene in the film with them miming to the song in the Austrian Alps with grand piano, skiing and sledding, falling about themselves, and having a fun time.

Side B

Track 1: Act Naturally
Ringo very nearly didn’t have a vocal track on this album, due to the fact that John and Paul’s offering of “I’ve You’ve Got Troubles” (recorded but never released until Anthology 2) was rejected as a failed attempt, the band quickly relied on their extensive back catalogue of cover songs they knew and loved. In this case, they took the 1963 Buck Owens country hit and turned it into a fun and pleasant Ringo track. Having noticed that country songs fit well with him, such as the previous “Honey Don’t”, it was a perfect fit. In 1989, Ringo and Buck would record it together as a duet.

Track 2: It’s Only Love
Both Paul and John have admitted this was a throwaway song with uninspired lyrics–in fact, it’s kind of a bland ballad with many stereotypical tricks inherent in that kind of song (the pleading vocal, the lyrics describing a rough relationship, the melody relegated to the background). Still, only the Beatles could dismiss a song as such and still get away with a strong track. George’s wonderful guitar work, the creative uses of sixth and seventh chords, the delayed release of tension in the chorus…it might be a simple song and not very adventurous, but it’s still catchy and well done.

Track 3: You Like Me Too Much
George’s second offering was almost in the running for the film but was dismissed to this side instead. It’s not one of his strongest songs–he was a good writer, but clearly not in the same league as his bandmates. Still, it’s a very typical song of his, full of interesting and unexpected chord changes and melody lines that one wouldn’t necessarily hear in a pop song. Added to that, both John and Paul added some wonderful keyboard work here, with Paul on piano and John on a much more upfront electric piano. The call-response of John and George during the solo is simple but creatively done.

Track 4: Tell Me What You See
Another John/Paul duet, right down to the dual vocals. Neither remember much about this track, hinting that it might be another throwaway, but it does have its interesting quirks. It’s full of percussion in addition to Ringo’s drums. There’s a guiro, claves, and a tambourine all throughout the track, blending in almost seamlessly with the rest of the track. There’s also the breakdown right at the end of each chorus, with the electric piano bringing it back up to speed until the last time around, where it’s used as an outro.

Track 5: I’ve Just Seen a Face
Like “I’ll Be Back” on A Hard Day’s Night, this track and the next feel completely out of context with the rest of the album, partly as they were some of the last songs to be recorded for these sessions. At the same time, they’re both perfect examples of just how fast their songwriting evolved, even within the span of a single album project. This track of Paul’s is purely inspired by country music, with an incredibly fast tempo and some absolutely stunning work from all three guitarists, from the layered 2/4 intro to the hoedown rhythm to the eighth-note solo. Paul’s wordy yet poetic lyrics are pure bliss. It feels more at home on the follow-up album Rubber Soul (it would in fact be released on the US version of that album), but here it’s used to hint at what’s coming soon.

Track 6: Yesterday
The Beatles were consistently at the top of the charts, but in the context of their whole oeuvre to date, they really hadn’t had a bona fide perfect song since “I Want to Hold Your Hand” or “She Loves You”. Then on 14 June–the same day the previous track was recorded–Paul finally laid down a song that had been running through his head for quite some time. The song had resonated with him so much that he was convinced it wasn’t his, but no one could prove otherwise. It’s a deceptively simple song, just a short but catchy melody about love and loss. There’s no resolution, no “it gets better” or “I wish she would return”…it’s just “she’s gone and I can’t get her back”…simple, but heartbreaking. It was recorded with just Paul on acoustic guitar that day, and three days later a string quartet was added, the first Beatles song featuring only one Beatle. The end result became one of the most covered pop songs in the world, and one the best songs Paul has ever written.

Track 7: Dizzy Miss Lizzie
To end the album on an upbeat note, they relied on an upbeat cover of a Larry Williams hit (they also recorded Williams’ “Bad Boy” on the same day, 10 May, and that track would only show up on the US album Beatles VI and not appear on any UK release until late 1966’s A Collection of Beatles Oldies). It’s another rocker similar to “Long Tall Sally” or “Money (That’s What I Want)”, played more for a party mood than a serious track, and they’re clearly having fun here. This is the Beatles finally releasing their tension with some good old rock and roll. After the fact, these two Williams tracks are the last cover songs the band would record as a group, not including the random covers played during the Get Back sessions in 1969; from here on in, they would only record their own compositions.

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Help!, the album, could easily be considered the point that marked the end of the band as a “pop group”. While there are certainly a handful of pop songs here that are a logical progression from A Hard Day’s Night (specifically its second side) and Beatles for Sale, their songwriting had moved well past the point of simple love songs and covers. Lyrically they’d started to dig well past the surface and into introspective and even philosophical territory, even while still retaining the catchy melodies. Despite it being a half-soundtrack to what was essentially an absurdist comedy film, it was their most personal album to date, even more so than Beatles for Sale, and the fans definitely noticed. And given the last few tracks on the album, it was clear that they were no longer going to keep writing and recording the same style of pop songs. By the time they returned in October to record their second album of the year, their songs would include one with a sitar, another with a piano solo recorded at half-speed to sound like a harpsichord, and a complex, multi-tempo track that would only see release as a single.

Next Up: “Day Tripper”/”We Can Work It Out”, Rubber Soul and The Beatles Third Christmas Record

In retrospect, it’s amazing just how far the Beatles managed to reach in popularity–and productivity–in such a short time.  They’d been, for all intents and purposes, a bar band from their humble beginnings in Liverpool all the way to their Hamburg days.  It was only by chance that Tony Sheridan had asked them to be his studio band for a release.  It wasn’t until the end of 1962 that they’d gotten lucky, finding an excellent manager in Brian Epstein and a young and open-minded studio producer in George Martin, and hit #17 on the UK chart with their debut single.  In the ensuing two years, they released not one but four albums, eight singles and an EP, all containing new recordings; shot and released a hit movie; made multiple appearances on both radio and TV; toured in Europe, Australia and parts of Asia, and had a level of success in the United States not seen before by any pop musician from Britain. There aren’t that many bands nowadays that do that much in the span of two years.

All things considered, 1964 was a banner year for them. When they touched down on American soil on 7 February, they were met by loud and emphatic screams and cheers of teenagers who found the band the perfect antidote for post-Kennedy gloom and ennui. In March they started filming A Hard Day’s Night. Every release eventually hit Number One on both the US and UK charts (or at least close to it)–in fact, they hit the rarest of feats: on 4 April, a few weeks after “Can’t Buy Me Love” was released, they had songs in the top five positions on the Billboard singles chart, four of them on different labels: the Vee Jay single “Please Please Me” at #5, Capitol’s “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at #4, Swan’s “She Loves You” at #3, Tollie’s “Twist and Shout” at #2, and Capitol’s “Can’t Buy Me Love” at #1. [They also had an additional seven singles in the Top 100 on that day, totaling an astonishing twelve singles on one chart.] At the end of April, John Lennon released his first book of poetry and literary silliness, In His Own Write.   Their movie was released to thunderous applause in July.  By midsummer they were on tour, and by August their first official US tour commenced, two straight months of continent-crossing mayhem.

All this action with nary a second to breathe, and it nearly did them in. Part of this was obvious–no one had expected the teen fans to be screaming throughout the entire show, not like the Cavern days when the boys could mingle with the crowd after their set or even in between songs. British crowds were noisy, but they certainly weren’t on the verge of hysteria. Shows were booked at halls much too small for their American fanbase, and their sound system was meant for a much smaller space–in such a cavernous hall amidst thousands of howling teens, their amplifiers just weren’t going to cut it at all. They were held captive in their own hotels most of the time, unable to do anything except play cards, write songs, and watch television. There was also the fact that the tour had not been planned according to the size of the country they would be in. In Britain, one could get away with playing in Liverpool, do a show the next day in London, head up to Glasgow and do another show a day or so later, and head over to Blackpool the day after that, with only their chauffeurs and drivers feeling the strain. In the US, they’d hopped from one major city to the next with nary a day off in between–and traveling thousands of miles between shows by air or land. It was exhausting and disorienting.

And yet…despite the ups and downs, the noise and insanity, they’d made it. Beyond their wildest dreams, they’d made it to the big time.

And as a year-end thank you to their most dedicated fans…

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Single: “Another Beatles Christmas Record”
Released to the Beatles’ Official Fan Club: 18 December 1964

“Another Beatles Christmas Record” was recorded on 18 October, the same day they recorded Ringo’s cover of “Honey Don’t”. Much like the previous year’s Christmas message, it was a semi-scripted four minute track (written by their erstwhile publicist Tony Barrow) full of thank yous and year-end reminisces with the typical Beatle silliness thrown in for good measure. They sound much more relaxed and unrestrained, not just going offscript but breaking the fourth wall multiple times (“I wrote a book it says here [in the script]!” says John). The exhaustion that shows on their faces on the Beatles for Sale cover can be heard in their voices here, as they don’t sound nearly as bouncy and full of energy as the previous Christmas single, but regardless, they must have been thankful, if not a bit blown away, by the reception they got from all their fans the world over, and made sure they received the next holiday single.

*

Come the end of this banner year, the boys finished up with another seasonal run of shows at the Odeon Cinema at Hammersmith, London, similar to 1963’s year-end shows. By this time they were on home turf, worn out but able to relax at the end of it all. They had another busy year ahead of them, with another round of touring around the world, two more albums and a few singles to record, and a second movie to film. It would be similar to 1964, and again it would nearly drain them. Music-wise, however, things were changing. They’d learned a lot in the studio over the course of two years…even George Martin began devising new ways to record the band that would not only save them time but make the process more creative and relaxed. The band would take in even more outside influences, moving away from the American soul and Motown of the covers they’d cut their teeth with and onto the country and folk of the American troubadours like Bob Dylan. The lyrics were becoming less doe-eyed and more introspective, already hinted at on many of John’s contributions to Beatles for Sale.

If 1963 had been their rise to UK stardom and 1964 had been their US rise, then 1965 would be the year of change, personally and professionally.

Next Up: The “Ticket to Ride”/”Yes It Is” and “Help!”/”I’m Down” singles, and Help!

After the summer release of their first movie, there was a flurry of releases, both related and unrelated, to fill up an entire late summer-into-early-fall season. Some of them were mentioned in previous posts (Vee Jay’s plethora of “releases” and the US releases of Something New and A Hard Day’s Night). Since I went into detail about the Long Tall Sally EP and A Hard Day’s Night releases in my last entry, I will pass up going into detail and only list the movie-related (and EP related) releases here.

The United States had a heads-up on the A Hard Day’s Night soundtrack, having been released a good two weeks earlier on 26 June 1964. As mentioned previously, the American version differed in that it did not contain the non-film songs from the UK version. Instead, the film songs from the band were interspersed with the orchestral score arranged by none other than George Martin himself (this score would end up being reissued a short time later–with a few extra non-film tracks–on United Artists Records under George Martin and His Orchestra), and the non-film songs would be released a few weeks later on 20 July as part of the Something New album. There were also a number of singles released at the same time:

–A Hard Day’s Night/I Should Have Known Better (released 13 July)
–And I Love Her/If I Fell (released 20 July)
–I’ll Cry Instead/I’m Happy Just to Dance with You (released 20 July)
–Matchbox/Slow Down (released 24 August)

The UK releases, on the other hand, were much more conservative, obviously being that no massive media blitz was needed. After the tandem release of A Hard Day’s Night, the “A Hard Day’s Night”/”Things We Said Today” single, and the Long Tall Sally EP, there were no further releases on the docket until five months later, with the follow-up EPs to keep them in the limelight until the next project was ready:

—Extracts from the Film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (released 4 November)
(I Should Have Known Better / If I Fell / Tell Me Why / And I Love Her)
—Extracts from the Album ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ (released two days later on 6 November)
(Any Time At All / I’ll Cry Instead / Things We Said Today / When I Get Home)

After their last recording on 2 June which would wrap up the movie and EP project, they would not head into the studio again until 11 August, when they were to start recording their next album and single. In the meantime, they kept themselves quite busy with the movie premiere, many television and radio appearances, and Ringo’s bout of tonsillitis that caused Jimmy Nicol to fill in for six shows during a short tour through Australia and the Netherlands/Denmark area. Even then, this next round of sessions would be broken up by yet another tour–this time their first official tour of the United States. This would give them precious little time to write any new material, so instead of a full album’s worth of originals like A Hard Day’s Night, they only came up with ten songs, necessitating six covers (and a seventh that was never released until much later) from their older repertoire to fill in the gaps.

Schedule-wise, it seemed the world of Beatlemania was a blur of nonstop touring, frequent appearances, and young screaming girls everywhere, and it’s amazing to think that in addition to all of that, they somehow managed to also record two full albums and a handful of singles for three years in a row. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons that one can hear a major difference between the songs of the early years (1962-1965) and the later years (1966-1970)…once they were given more room to breathe and less of a jam-packed schedule, they were able to focus even more on their music. This wouldn’t happen for another couple of years, but you can definitely hear that things were starting to change.

*      *      *

Single: “I Feel Fine”/”She’s a Woman”
Released: 27 November 1964

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

The next new release from the band was a non-album single that preceded the album they were working on. Both tracks were actually recorded near the end of the sessions in October, and this was definitely a great example of the surprisingly quick turnaround of writing-to-recording-to-release that the band could occasionally pull off. The two tracks have a similar upbeat feel that could possibly fit in with the A Hard Day’s Night sound, but it’s also clear that there are outside influences at work here as well, specifically the soul of Motown and Ray Charles. In addition to that, it’s clear that the band had also become quite comfortable in the studio, and in the process had begun to experiment with their sound.

Side A: I Feel Fine
And nothing is more experimental in late 1964 than deliberate feedback! This track started out as a riff that John had come up with around 6 October while the band was recording “Eight Days a Week”, and had nearly thrown it away as ‘rubbish’ until he’d written a song around it, recording it two weeks later on 18 October. It was during one of those takes that the band had stopped playing to take a listen, when John, playing a semi-acoustic Gibson at the time, put his guitar down to head to the control room. He’d leaned the guitar against the amplifier, and the ensuing feedback stopped everyone in their tracks. Any other producer at the time would have screamed bloody murder at such reckless treatment of instruments, but it being the Beatles, they thought it was the coolest sound ever, and wanted it in the song. And George Martin being the producer he was, willingly obliged by suggesting it as an intro, preceded by a harmonic pluck of the A string on Paul’s bass. And another classic moment in Beatle music is born.

The song itself is excellent, a mixture of Ray Charles’ upbeat soul and trademark Beatle melody, and some of the best playing the band put on record to date. John’s signature riff plays throughout the main verses and echoed by George (who pulls off a brief Carl Perkins-style solo halfway through), and there’s some phenomenal harmonization going on here. Even Ringo deserves some serious accolades here, with some of his fastest and most intricate playing of ride cymbals and tom-toms. It’s a song that leaves you breathless just as John and George trade the riff on the fade out.

Side B: She’s a Woman
Paul, in the meantime, had written an equally driving song in the style of one of his favorite singers, Little Richard, which explains why the song is in such a high register (even for Paul at the time). This is also one of their first tracks where the song deliberately starts on the backbeat, with John’s Rickenbacker 325 hitting all those funky seventh chords. And once the song proper kicks in, we hear Paul playing a deliberate countermelody on bass and piano. George and Ringo don’t have too much to do in this song, but they do deliver a great solo and solid percussion. The track is relegated a b-side, but it’s still a great rock song that fit in quite well with the rest of the tracks they recorded at this time.

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Album: Beatles for Sale
Released: 4 December 1964

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

The band released their follow-up album one week after the above single, just in time for the Christmas rush. It’s a record of a band evolving again, becoming older and more mature, and of a band whose persistent and unending hard work was starting to pay off. As is often commented, one can see this hard work in the eyes of the band on the iconic autumnal album cover shot by Robert Freeman in Hyde Park. They may look exhausted here–unlike the poses on With the Beatles a year previous, where they look confident and maybe a bit nervous–but they’ve also retained that confidence, that they can now show that they’re not a band in the dark but a band out in the world. The title itself may be a cynical response to the cost of their overwhelming worldwide fame, but it could also be a response to the level of fame they were at: they could easily sell themselves now, without using outside help.

Side A

Track 1: No Reply
One of the most repeated comments about Beatles for Sale is its downbeat attitude, and given the first three tracks on this album, it’s hard to refute that point. The album starts off with one of John’s songs that may be autobiographical–it’s a song of dark jealousy, about possibly being two-timed by his girl (in this case, his wife Cynthia, even though John’s often later commented that a lot of his “jealousy” songs were really about himself, projected onto other people). The music itself is given a darker edge as well, playing up the mood of the lyrics: the song is played in a quiet acoustic manner…only to burst out in emotional pain at the end of each verse, and worse, in angry accusation during the middle eight. The band had never written such an angry love song before, so this certainly set the tone for the rest of the album.

Track 2: I’m a Loser
As if to counterpoint the accusatory nature of the opening song, John returns with another, this time as if to say, “You know what–forget what I just said. I’m just an idiot.” Here he opens himself up even more, revealing the hard truth that his anger and jealousy is really an inner weakness–deep down, he’s afraid of himself and afraid of the pain. This track is highly influenced by Bob Dylan, but it’s also influenced by the sad country music they were listening to at the time, like that of George Jones.

Track 3: Baby’s in Black
Three songs in, and the band is yet to bring out a happy song–definitely unlike any other Beatles release at the time. This third track of John’s feels like an old-school American country ballad, written in 6/8 time and sung as a duet (similar to “If I Fell”, in which both vocals are the main melody). Written for their Hamburg friend Astrid Kirchherr, who’d been the fiancee of John’s old school buddy Stuart Sutcliffe before he died. The three had been extremely close friends, and their loss had hit them hard.

Track 4: Rock and Roll Music
The album finally gets an emotional lift with a phenomenal cover of Chuck Berry’s classic rock song, done as only the Beatles could do it. If you went back and listened to the original, you’d hear a much more laid back version, one that sounds almost quaint at this point. The Beatles instead chose to give it their live interpretation by cranking up the guitars and screaming out the lyrics. Its placement here is almost cathartic, as if it’s high time to let go of the emotional baggage they felt at the moment and just rock out.

Track 5: I’ll Follow the Sun
It seems the emotional release of the previous track only lasts so long, as we’re right back down to the melancholy of love thwarted. This time it’s Paul with a lovely ballad about leaving. As a counterpoint to his previous “Things We Said Today” in which he hopes things are better in the future, this track says the opposite, as if there was no future in that relationship, and that he’d warned her this would happen. Paul’s songs at this time were never as emotionally raw as John’s, but he could be just as cold in his departure. It’s actually an older track dating from around 1960, but they never recorded it previously as it wasn’t considered “hard” enough for their original leather-jacket image. [On a lighter note, Ringo performs on an altogether different piece of percussion equipment here–his knees. It was one of the first Beatles tracks where he’s on the track but not playing his drum set.]

Track 6: Mr. Moonlight
Another cover is brought in, this of an obscure b-side by Dr. Feelgood and the Interns that was a cult favorite of British teens back in the day. It’s kind of a weak track here, as it’s a straightforward cover that doesn’t vary from the original. Still, it’s a reminder of their early pre-studio days when most of their live set was filled with adventurous covers. Its only saving grace, really, is John’s stellar vocal delivery (with able assistance by Paul), although it took them a few tries to nail it!

Track 7: Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey
The first side finishes up with a third cover, this one of a medley made famous by Little Richard of an old Wilbert Harrison blues song matched with one of his own. Paul being a serious Little Richard fan (and no mean impersonator!) they deliver a solid party track. It unfortunately gets lost in the darker mood and the long list of covers on this album (it works much better as an opening salvo on the 1965 US release Beatles VI), but it’s a great cover nonetheless.

Side B
Track 1: Eight Days a Week
The second side starts off on a much happier note, this time with an unexpected twist–a fade-in. It’s also the first song they’d brought in unfinished, quite unsure how to arrange it. The Anthology version shows an altogether different cold opening with a harmonizing “ooh’s” from Paul and John, before eventually settling on the opening guitar riff. Elsewhere on the arrangement one can find an interesting use of quiet singing on the two bridges, as well as Ringo’s use of floor toms both on the intro and the coda.  In retrospect, this song is almost like a return to their simpler “Love Me Do” era songs, only updated to fit their current sound.

Track 2: Words of Love
Yet another cover, but this time it’s a lovely interpretation of an early Buddy Holly tune, complete with some excellent vocal duet work by Paul and John, and possibly the inspiration for some of their own “duet melody” songs like “If I Fell”. Again, it’s a straight cover, but it highlights their strengths here. Aside from the vocals, George delivers some excellent guitar-picking here, quite clearly in his Carl Perkins phase.

Track 3: Honey Don’t
Cover number five on the album, and Ringo’s vocal entry on this album. John had sung this one back in their Cavern days, but it suited Ringo quite well, as his vocal delivery here has to be the best he’s given the band so far. The cover itself sounds a bit sparse, as if it had been recorded more as a jam than a true album track–John’s rhythm guitar is unadventurous and quite loose, and George’s two solos are almost the note-for-note the same, but that only adds to the charm of this Carl Perkins track.  Clearly, Ringo’s strengths as a singer lay in country music.

Track 4: Every Little Thing
One of the few really strong tracks on this album, this one is unique in that it was written by Paul, but John is the primary vocalist here, even though Paul is there as backup. [One way to figure out who wrote what in the Lennon-McCartney catalog is to hear who sang it, as they often sang their own compositions.] It hints at a Buddy Holly track, actually, with its plaintive vocals and “I’m a lucky guy” lyrics, which Paul had written while still living at Jane Asher’s house. The arrangement is quite nice, sparse and tight during the verses, and more unbound in the chorus. In a hint of what was to come, Ringo introduces another non-standard instrument to a rock song: the timpani drum, using it to great effect during the chorus to underscore its importance.

Track 5: I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party
As if to bring the opening theme of the album back around again, John brings another Dylanesque track to the fore, this time a song of love thwarted. There’s no jealousy, no anger…just heartbreak here, as his girl has stood him up, and he doesn’t want to bring everyone else down in the process. It’s not one of his strongest songs, and feels a bit like he didn’t try all that hard with this one, but there’s some great guitar work going on here, and the vocal melody is deliberately resigned.  In retrospect, it’s one of his strongest emotional songs in that it’s so retrained–he’s not lashing out or accusing here, he’s completely blaming himself.

Track 6: What You’re Doing
In an interesting change, it’s Paul this time who’s writing a song of a relationship in trouble. Supposedly written about his current relationship with Jane Asher (who was quite the socialite at the time; Paul, when not on stage or in the studio, was more of a stay-at-home guy), it’s a song about questioning what the status of their relationship is, and more specifically, where she thinks they are. Is she serious, or just playing games? Does she truly love him, or the idea of being with him? The music itself is a perfect complement to the lyrics–it’s sharp and staccato, leaving uncomfortable silences everywhere. Hardly any instrument, save George’s excellent 12-string playing, resonates for more than a moment.

Track 7: Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby
The album ends with the last cover, and interestingly, a Harrison vocal. This time it’s another Carl Perkins track, this time about the perils of being a bit too famous, and closes up the theme of the entire album quite nicely. Like “Honey Don’t”, the cover is delivered much like a loose jam, but considering they knew this song so well, it didn’t take that many tries to perfect it.  George had many guitar heroes in his lifetime, and Carl Perkins was right up near the top there, so this can also be thought of as a personal ‘thank you’, as he delivers his guitar and vocal work with care and admiration.  Recording engineer Geoff Emerick gave George’s voice a STEED effect (send tape echo & echo delay), giving it an odd yet pleasing multiple-echo sound that hints at the amateur recording processes of yesteryear.  And as a final nod, they deliver a false ending–just when you think it’s going to stop cold, they sneak back with one final jazzy riff.  It’s a fun way to end an otherwise downbeat album.

Beatles for Sale may in fact be a deeply uneven and perhaps even a weak album to some, but it’s not without merit. Given that it was recorded in roughly six days over the course of four months scattered in between dates of a major world tour, and so quickly on the heels of a major album and movie breakthrough, it’s a wonder they were able to finish it at all in time for the Christmas season. Even more surprising is a seventh cover, Little Willie John’s “Leave My Kitten Alone”, had been recorded and ended up unreleased until 1995’s Anthology 1. Still, it remains a relatively strong album, if not a stellar one. As I’d mentioned in previously, the A Hard Day’s Night track “I’ll Be Back” was definitely a sign of things to come…the band had evolved from the simple by-the-books pop songs and started experimenting with different soundscapes and themes, and Beatles for Sale is full of songs that sound nothing like their previous output, even despite half of it being cover songs. It also hints at the folksy sound they would perfect once they recorded Rubber Soul a year later, under very similar circumstances as this one.

As an aside, the songs here actually benefit from the US track shuffling. As Beatles ’65, four tracks were taken off (Eight Days a Week, Words of Love, I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party and What You’re Doing–they would appear a short time later on Beatles VI), and I’ll Be Back and the I Feel Fine/She’s a Woman single are added, creating a slightly shorter and much tighter sounding album, and one with a slightly more positive outlook. If you listen to the songs on that album–and forgive the US meddling of adding ridiculous echo to a few songs–one can forgive the exhaustion and resignation that permeates Beatles for Sale and hear the songs instead as a band once again in motion–they were maturing, both as artists and as people. This version is available as part of The Capitol Albums Vol 1 box set. It’s well worth checking out.

Next Up: Another Christmas Beatles Record and post-Beatles for Sale releases

The multiple shows and appearances in the first two months of 1964 out of the way, the Beatles now moved on to their next major project: a film.  It seemed the natural thing to do, as many of the big rockers of the time were making or were about to make their own musical movies.  Most likely inspired by Elvis Presley’s star turns in the American film industry over the last few years, it was considered yet another viable avenue for worldwide fame.  The end result was more often than not a drive-in quality film not unlike the Beach Party movies Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello became known for: a lot of fun to watch and listen to, but very little in the way of substance and plot.  But that wasn’t as important as the music that would be featured–the point was to show the band in their natural habitat, performing hit songs.  The storyline would be halted, the band would head up on stage and perform a big song, and would continue again once the song was finished.  All kinds of bands including Cliff Richard (Expresso Bongo and The Young Ones), The Dave Clark Five (Catch Us If You Can, aka Having a Wild Weekend in the US) and Chuck Berry (Rock, Rock, Rock) would make films like this, to varying success.

The Beatles actually began recording music for their movie before they started filming, per director Richard Lester’s request.  Lester was an American who had started making his name  primarily in Britain, making comedic and often irreverent films, his first being the bizarre experimental short The Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film with comedian Peter Sellers.  That was a particuar favorite of the Beatles (especially John, who was a huge Goon Show fan), which helped Lester get hired for the film.  Lester wanted a few songs beforehand so he could fit them into the shooting script, and the band gladly provided.  They would only need a small handful of songs–maybe seven or so–for the film itself, but they treated the assignment as sessions for a follow-up album.  The viewpoint was that Side A would be songs from the film, and Side B would be “songs from the album of the same name”.  In the end, they laid down seventeen new songs, providing them with a full thirteen-track album, as well as an EP that preceded it.

Credit: discogs.com

EP: Long Tall Sally
Released: 19 June 1964

Side A
Track 1: Long Tall Sally
Little Richard’s early 1956 single was a huge favorite of the band and one they often played in their early days. Recorded on the afternoon of 1 March during the earliest days of the A Hard Day’s Night sessions, this was Paul’s baby–he could do a mean Little Richard wail, and he nailed it in one take. With all four band members rocking their hardest and George Martin providing the piano backing, the first take was so perfect that they didn’t bother doing another. It’s an all-out rocker that leaves you breathless.

Track 2: I Call Your Name
Recorded the same day as “Long Tall Sally”, this was an older track of John’s written at least a few years previous, which may explain the band’s return to the simpler lyrics of their first songs. It’s another curiosity, for a few reasons. First, this was originally a track given to fellow Liverpudlians (and fellow Epstein roster band) Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, who relegated it to a b-side (interestingly, its a-side was another Lennon/McCartney track given especially to them, “Bad to Me”). Second, John wanted to record it as he was unhappy with Kramer’s version (and admittedly, theirs is a bit of a hash). Third, it’s one of the first band tracks that feature George’s new toy, a Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar, one of the first electric 12-strings out there, and one he’d use in a number of songs from this period. And fourth…it’s the rare moment when the band switches into a completely different sound for the solo, in this case ska, of all things. In all honesty, it’s not one of their strongest songs, but as always, it’s a solid one.

Side B
Track 3: Slow Down
This Larry Williams track from spring 1958 had long been a staple in their early live shows (and one of two Williams tracks they’d record), a simple 12-bar blues rock song. I’ll be straight here–this recording is a complete mess, even though there were six takes done on 1 June – their first recording session after all filming of the movie had finished and a holiday had been taken. The playing here is fast and extremely loose to the point of sloppiness. There’s also a noticeably bad mix error around 1:14 in which the bass and the piano disappear for a few seconds, not to mention John screwing up the lyrics around the same time. And yet, it’s almost as if it was done that way on purpose, a track that was supposed to sound like it was played by a band up on stage at a bar, who’d already had a few too many, and no one seems to mind. It’s rocking, it’s messy, and somehow it manages to still be good.

Track 4: Matchbox
And now a track for Ringo! The band had been big fans of Carl Perkins since their Hamburg days, and this old blues standard (originally “Match Box Blues” from 1927 and updated by Perkins in 1957) was often performed during the time, specifically for the drummer to sing. Pete Best sang it during those early years, and Ringo handily took over when it came time for them to record it, which they did the same day as “Slow Down”. It’s a simple song for Ringo to sing, more in his limited vocal range than “Boys” and “I Wanna Be Your Man”, and a fun track for the whole band to jam to.

All told, this quick EP did reasonably well in the UK, and two of the tracks even made it as a single in the US (“Matchbox”/”Slow Down” hit a respectable #17 in the charts). It’s by no means their best work, but it’s an excellent example of a band’s evolving sound finally falling into place–a mix of American blues and rock, and British pop–and it’s also a great example of a band refusing to stay in one style.

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Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Album: A Hard Day’s Night
Released: 10 July 1964

The Beatles’ first movie was released on 6 July to rave reviews worldwide–everyone had expected another throwaway movie, and no one had expected such a detailed, decently acted, well-written, and extremely well-made film from scruffy rock stars. The humor was distinctively British and to some extent specifically Liverpudlian, that ‘we’re taking the piss out of you because we like you’ working class irreverence. It was also made with the idea that not only would the kids love it, but the grown-ups would enjoy it as well. In a brilliant move from Lester and screenwriter Alun Owen, all four band members were able to show their own personal side, specifically in solo scenes. John got to play the silly but smart leader to his heart’s content, Paul got to play the straight man with responsibility (Wilfred Brambell played his “clean” grandfather that they had to take care of), George showed a quiet but deep intelligence in an unexpectedly serious scene (he’s cornered by clueless fashion designers and asked his opinion, thus introducing the word “grotty” to the world), and Ringo got to show his natural acting chops in a wonderfully somber solo scene. Its ‘day in the life of a musician’ plot made such a lasting impression that it still influences other music-related movies to this day. The soundtrack, started in early March before filming started and completed in June once it ended, was released a few days later in the UK.

Side A (songs from the film)

Track 1: A Hard Day’s Night
This track opens up with a distinctive Beatle note–a crash of guitars and piano so inventive that no one can seem to figure out how the hell they did it (the Wikipedia entry has some interesting theories on it, however), and one that sets the tone not only for the album but the film. In the movie, the first thing we hear is that chord, placed right at the cold opening (no fade in) of the boys being chased all over the city. The lyrics opine about their day being hellish, but in the end when they come home, it’s totally worth it. In those two-plus minutes of music and film, we know exactly what the movie’s about: it’s tough, but often fun, being a world famous rock musician. One last note–this was the very first time John and Paul wrote a song to order.  In this case, thanks to Ringo’s malapropism-influenced title, they now had to come up with a theme song within a few days. The title had been chosen and confirmed for the movie on 13 April; by the sixteenth, they had the song in the can.

Track 2: I Should Have Known Better
Another of John’s, this was one of the first Beatles songs to have a Bob Dylan influence, even though it’s not quite as obvious this time out. One of the first in the new batch of songs, you can immediately hear a difference from their past few releases already. Their musicianship continues to tighten, but they’re becoming more adventurous with their songwriting. Though this track is very much in the mold of their verse/chorus/bridge oeuvre, you can hear the subtle differences. George plays a wonderful yet simple solo, again using his Rickenbacker 12-string and giving it a much fuller sound.

Track 3: If I Fell
John certainly outdid himself with this track, as there’s all kinds of fascinating things going on here. Let’s start with that opening: you get an introductory passage that doesn’t repeat anywhere else in the song, which also contains eight chord changes–D#m-D-Db-A#m-D#m-D-Em-A–all within the span of sixteen seconds. Once the main song starts, we’re brought into a beautiful duet between John and Paul sharing lead (with George filling in the occasional seventh-note), with all sorts of major and minor chords being played. Like its predecessor “This Boy”, it’s one of John’s best early efforts.

Track 4: I’m Happy Just to Dance with You
John and Paul wrote this one for George to sing, and it was recorded the same day as “Long Tall Sally” and “I Call Your Name” (1 March), which is interesting in itself, considering how vastly different the three songs sound. This is a lovely and restrained song with relatively simple love song lyrics, and it’s used wonderfully as a ‘filler’ performance track in the movie, one of the few times they actually stop what they’re doing to play a song.

Track 5: And I Love Her
This could easily be a companion piece to John’s “If I Fell” in terms of sound and composition. Paul’s lovely acoustic ballad has some absolutely stunning guitar work here, with John strumming a Gibson acoustic and George playing a Ramirez classical. George’s work here is stellar, the simple four-note low end complementing the eighth-note high end and even delivering a lovely romantic solo. It features in one of my favorite scenes in the movie in terms of cinematography.

Track 6: Tell Me Why
Recorded on the same day as the previous song (27 February), this track was written by John just a few months earlier (either during their extended stay in Paris or their US visit) and is one of his many multi-layered songs. I say this in terms of lyrics and composition, as on the surface, it sounds like a swinging, almost doo-wop track that anyone could have written…but underneath the all the poppiness, the lyrics belie a deep jealousy and mistrust.

Track 7: Can’t Buy Me Love
Released as a single a good few months before the movie, this song closes out the “film” side of the album on an upbeat note. For the most part it’s a simple 12-bar blues riff with a few chord embellishments along the way, but Paul turned it into an irresistibly catchy tune and a surefire hit. It’s also used in one of the most famous scenes in the movie (and is a nod to Lester’s own Running Jumping & Standing Still Film). Originally the scene was to have “I’ll Cry Instead” playing, but this song worked much better, given its fast and breezy tempo.

Side B (songs from the album)
Track 1: Any Time At All
By June, the band had over half the album in the can–with all of the songs from the movie done and a good handful of the rest done as well–they had a few more days left to fill up the rest. On 2 June they recorded three tracks that would fill up this side of the album, including this incredibly strong track from John. It can easily be considered one of the defining Beatle tracks that divide the early years of simple songs and the next phase of more elaborate and folky songs. Of note is a middle-eight solo written by Paul; it’s a simple bridge that does little more than use an ascending melody to build tension, but it’s a great example of how well John and Paul worked together, feeding off of each other’s ideas.

Track 2: I’ll Cry Instead
John’s original entry for the “break-out” scene in the movie is a relatively short track that sounds very much like a country song. It’s another song of jealousy and heartbreak, but unlike “Tell Me Why”, this one has a more positive outlook–he knows he’s the jealous type, but he’s not going to get everyone else involved in his drama. In an inspired move, twice the band uses the trick of lifting all the instruments out of the mix for a few seconds right at the end of the second and third verse (right under “I’ll show you want your loving man can do”), creating not only tension but also expectation once the music kicks back in.

Track 3: Things We Said Today
Another of my favorite tracks from this album, and also released as the UK b-side to the “A Hard Day’s Night” single. This is another of Paul’s songs in the “letter” format, even though it’s delivered more like an internal monologue or a hushed conversation rather than a written love letter. It’s wistful and sad, but wishful and positive at the same time, especially with the harder-edged middle eight. The lyrics are also quite mature, years older in theme than the simple love songs of just a few years previous.

Track 4: When I Get Home
This track, recorded the same day as “Things We Said Today” and “Any Time At All”, is an interesting counterpoint to the title track–while “A Hard Day’s Night” embraces the inherent craziness that comes with being a musician, “When I Get Home” is about wanting to escape that craziness as soon as possible and get home to his girl. This just goes to prove that while John could write a seething and jealous lyric, he could also write something purely from the heart.

Track 5: You Can’t Do That
The b-side to “Can’t Buy Me Love” finds its way here near the end of the album, having been dropped from the movie. This track was supposed to be a part of the ending concert segment of the film, but was dropped due to time as well as it being a slow track compared to all the other upbeat tracks in that scene. As mentioned previously, John wrote this as a nod to Wilson Pickett, relatively unknown at the time but well liked by the band.

Track 6: I’ll Be Back
This album closer is interesting in that it not only shows how much musical ground they’d covered in a short amount of time, it also hints at what their next few releases would sound like. One of the handful of songs recorded on 1 June, John’s song mirrors Paul’s “Things We Said Today” as if to hint to their fans that the band–at least the bouncy and lovable moptops the world knows–is going away, but they’ll be back sometime down the line. They’ll be different and somehow irrevocably changed, but they’ll come back to them one way or another. Given these two songs were written and recorded so relatively close together, one wonders if John and Paul had done that on purpose…

*      *      *

In retrospect, this could be considered the album where they finally found their signature sound and knew exactly what they wanted to do from here on in.  A Hard Day’s Night, the album, is miles ahead of the rough and raw Please Please Me, and much more polished and orderly than With the Beatles. And all this while at the height of their career! Despite the distractions of movie making, tours, television appearances and live shows, they kept a keen eye and ear on what they liked and what influenced them, and paid attention to how it translated into their music. All those years of hard work had finally paid off, and they were about to reap the wards in spades.

Next up: The various A Hard Day’s Night singles, “I Feel Fine”/”She’s a Woman” and Beatles for Sale

It was January of 1964, and it looked as though the Beatles were not stopping to catch their breath any time soon. They were finishing up a few weeks’ worth of “Christmas shows” in London, recording live songs for the BBC, doing a televised show at the London Palladium, and heading off to France for a marathon of shows there. Their fame was growing at a phenomenal rate at this point, having finally broken in Europe outside their proving grounds of Hamburg, Germany. But that was just the beginning–at the start of February, they’d fly to the United States and play their most important shows ever: Washington Coliseum, Carnegie Hall, and two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. These would prove to Capitol Records (and the rest of the world) once and for all that they were a rock and roll force to be reckoned with.

Being out on the road did not mean they weren’t working on new music. New songs were still being worked on, and a new album was slated for the summer to coincide with the movie they were about to shoot as well. In true Brian Epstein fashion, he refused to have the band act in a second-rate low-budget musical like the ones Elvis and Cliff Richard had made in the past. Scriptwriter Alun Owen had been hired to capture the distinct Liverpudlian style of humor the boys were known for. As soon as they returned from the US, they’d be not only behind the mike, but in front of the camera.

In the meantime, Parlophone made sure the busy Beatles remained in the charts and on the radio as much as possible.

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

EP: All My Loving
Released: 7 February 1964

Side A:
All My Loving
Ask Me Why

Side B:
Money (That’s What I Want)
PS I Love You

This EP is for all intents and purposes a filler release (as most of their EPs were), using two tracks from each of their 1963 albums. “All My Loving” is definitely a song that should have been a single but wasn’t, though in EP form it made it to a respectable number 12 on that particular chart. The cover is a variation on the With the Beatles cover, adjusted to show a bit more of the darkened half of their faces, and a pinkish header up at the top to give it a bit of color. There’s not too much to be said about this release, other than that it did its intended job of keeping the band in the limelight.

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Credit: Discogs.com

Single: “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand”/”Sie Liebt Dich”
Released: 5 March 1964 [Germany]

This single, on the other hand, had to be one of the more interesting and esoteric releases the band had ever recorded. The West German branch of EMI Records had been hounding Brian and George Martin to get the boys to record in German, absolutely convinced that their music would not sell at all unless they sung in the vernacular. [By now, we understand that most of the suits at the record labels at this time were often “absolutely convinced” something would not sell, and were almost always proven wrong after the fact.] So on 29 January, in the middle of their long stay at the Olympia Theatre in Paris, they were shuttled over to the Pathé Marconi Studios to record two songs for Germany. Clearly they were not looking forward to this, and must have only done it simply as a thank you to the country that had helped establish them a few years previous. The end result was mixed; as always, they did their best and it went over well, but in the end it really made no difference on the charts. They would not record another song in a foreign language (at least not for this reason and to this extent) again.

Side 1: Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand
First on the docket on that day was 11 vocal takes of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in German. They’d used the backing tracks for the English version here, explaining why this version sounds so close to the original. The vocal delivery lacks a lot of the emotion of that original, but it’s worth noting that they did their best, considering they’d only had a day or so to learn the song phonetically from a German vocal coach.

Side 2: Sie Liebt Dich
This version of “She Loves You”, on the other hand, is quite interesting, in that it was a full recording, music and all. The original masters for that single had been destroyed by EMI (one of only a rare few that had suffered that fate due to old and outdated regulations at Abbey Road), they recorded a completely new version in fourteen takes. Unlike the reckless abandon of the original, this version seems a little tame. Having played it so many times live since its release, this version sounds tighter and smoother–it sounds more like the sleek professionalism of “All My Loving” at this point.

All told, the single did reasonably well, but it was a superfluous release. The single itself would show up as an import in the UK, and in the US, “Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand” would show up on the US-only Something New album while “Sie Liebt Dich” would be released by Swan, and eventually show up on the 1980 Rarities compilation. Both would be considered official canon and are now available on the Past Masters compilation.

* * *

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Single: “Can’t Buy Me Love”/”You Can’t Do That”
Released: 20 March 1964

They had be come so efficient with their recording at this point, that not only did they end up cancelling a second day’s recording time for the above single, but they had time left over to record a new song. This time it was Paul’s new track, and one that would become the first single for their upcoming movie that they were about to start shooting at the start of March. Director Richard Lester had requested a few songs from them ahead of time to use within the movie (not so much as plot points but as scenes where they’re actually performing the song), and this was the first of many they wrote at the time. This was the first of an extremely small number of Beatles songs that were not recorded at Abbey Road, but as was often their habit, if they had a good idea, they didn’t want to waste time sitting on it until they returned back to their home base. While the b-side would be recorded a short time later at the end of February, this track became yet another turning point in their career.

[Note: As both of these would end up on the A Hard Day’s Night album, I will go into more musical detail in that entry; for now I will briefly go over the recording notes at this time.]

Side A: Can’t Buy Me Love
Paul’s blues-influenced rocker begins with a fantastic a capella entrance, just like the previous “All My Loving” and the countdown to “I Saw Her Standing There”–he knew how to pull the listener in right from the get-go. And like “She Loves You”, it starts off not with a verse or an introduction, but the chorus itself. It was also decided that, after previous versions that had the distinct Beatles harmony, they decided that a single-voice delivery worked even better. That was George Martin’s doing; it was another wonderful example of the producer hearing potential in a song, playing with the arrangement, and creating a newer and better track in the process.

Side B: You Can’t Do That
Another song written specifically for the upcoming movie, it’s a twelve-bar American blues-influenced track of John’s with a special nod to Wilson Pickett. Of special interest is the fascinating use of seventh chords in the rhythm guitar and the deep jealousy in the lyrics, both of which give the song a nasty edge. In another shake-up of the Beatles love song, he already has the girl, but she’s sneaking behind his back and he doesn’t trust her. This track was recorded at Abbey Road at the end of February, upon their return to the UK after their sojourn to the United States, and was very nearly part of the finished movie, only to be cut in the final edit. It ended up on the non-soundtrack side of the A Hard Day’s Night album in the UK, and on The Beatles’ Second Album in the US.

Considering how the rest of the year would play out for the band, this was probably the most understated and straightforward time of their career before worldwide Beatlemania kicked in. Though their touring schedule was intense, at this point they were not traveling nearly much as they had in the past few years–all told, in the first few months of the year they played a large number of dates at the same places, with no endless traveling in between–but that would change in the next half of the year, when their world tours began and their new movie hit the theaters.

Next up: the Long Tall Sally EP, A Hard Day’s Night, and making movies

There have been countless books, blogs, videos, documentaries and what-have-you about the start of Beatlemania, so I’ve decided to do a little something different here and focus not on the fans, but the business. Admittedly, it’s less of a thrill ride, but it’s equally as fascinating, considering the sheer number of Beatle-related titles that were released in the six months between that first Capitol single and their soundtrack for A Hard Day’s Night.

Officially, it wasn’t until the “I Want to Hold Your Hand”/”I Saw Her Standing There” single was released the day after Christmas in 1963 that Beatlemania finally kicked off in the United States. Just over a year after their debut Parlophone single in the UK (and just shy of two years after their “unofficial” recorded debut with the “My Bonnie” single), Capitol Records in the US finally realized they had a potential moneymaker on their hands and chose to jump to it. For varying reasons, however, they decided to retain some semblance of control and made their own decisions as to how they’d go about making that money. Like Elvis Presley and many other rock performers of the day, if they could get away with repackaging the same albums and singles in slightly altered formats, and especially if the young listeners out there kept buying them, then they saw no problems.

Backing up a little here, we should probably mention that the smaller independent labels were in fact trying to do what they could to release everything the band had recorded thus far. Vee Jay did in fact release the first few singles, “Please Please Me”/”Ask Me Why” and “From Me to You”/”Thank You Girl” on 25 February and 27 May 1963 respectively, though they didn’t really do much of anything on the charts. Brian Epstein had also made sure that he didn’t make the same mistake with Vee Jay and made sure any future singles or albums not released by Capitol were on a single-title basis. By the time “She Loves You”/”I’ll Get You” came out, it was instead given to the small Philadelphia label Swan Records. Swan managed to luck out here, as this was the single that kicked off the firestorm in the UK–they might have only owned one Beatles single (technically two, as they were able to also release the German-sung “Sie Liebt Dich” on 21 May 1964 as well), but by the time “I Want to Hold Your Hand” came out, “She Loves You” finally shot back up the charts (and eventually hit Number 1). That one single alone saved the label’s business for at least a few more years.

Vee Jay finally released their version of the American debut album under the name Introducing the Beatles, on 10 January 1964, ten days before Capitol released its “American debut” of the Beatles, Meet the Beatles. Sadly, Vee Jay’s story is a long one of legal troubles, both internal and external. They were an extremely small independent label with insignificant releases and very few big names; their company president Ewart Abner had spent a sizable portion of the label’s finances on gambling and personal debts; and by the middle of 1963, when they’d originally planned to release the album, they instead put it on hold when it seemed there was insufficient demand. However, by the end of 1963, they had a change of mind. Capitol had instead come out guns blazing, informing that they were going to release an all-out blitz campaign for the band. Vee Jay’s board of directors knew they had a full album on their hands, and given their current financial woes…was it worth tempting legal fate by releasing what they had and raking in as much money as they could? Evidently, yes–and multiple times throughout 1964:

–10 January: Introducing the Beatles album (Please Please Me minus “Please Please Me” and “Ask Me Why”)
–27 January: Introducing the Beatles album with a slightly different lineup (the two above songs replacing “Love Me Do” and “PS I Love You” due to Capitol’s first of many legal volleys to stop the label from releasing tracks multiple times)
–30 January: “Please Please Me”/”From Me to You” single
–26 February: Jolly What! The Beatles & Frank Ifield On Stage album: a shameless compilation of Ifield studio tracks (he was a country singer with minor hits in the UK) with both sides of the “Please Please Me” and “From Me to You” singles sprinkled throughout.  No tracks at all were in fact “on stage.”  The label would also reissue this album later in the year with a different cover.
–2 March: “Twist and Shout”/”There’s a Place” (under the subsidiary Vee Jay label “Tollie”)
–23 March: “Do You Want to Know a Secret”/”Thank You Girl” single
–23 March–Souvenir of their Visit to America EP (“Misery”/”A Taste of Honey”/”Ask Me Why”/”Anna (Go to Him)”)
–27 April: “Love Me Do”/”PS I Love You” (on subsidiary Tollie)
–10 August: reissues of the “Do You Want to Know a Secret”, “Please Please Me”, “Love Me Do” and “Twist and Shout” singles under their “Oldies 45” subsidiary label
–September: Hear the Beatles Tell All interview album (interestingly, Capitol had no legal rights to this one)
–1 October: The Beatles vs the Four Seasons album: the Introducing… album, packaged with a recent Four Seasons’ hits album Vee Jay had released
–12 October: Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles album–the same Introducing… album under a different name and cover.

Amazing how one label could stretch one album’s worth of songs into four albums, four singles, an EP, four reissued singles, and two reissued albums, all within the space of ten months. Certainly, the label had absolutely no shame in wanting to scare up as much money as they could while they still had hold on the fourteen songs. A small section of the public was willing to spend that money on the same album multiple times, but by the end of the year, those later titles sank without a trace quickly. On 15 October 1964, all legal battles between Vee Jay and Capitol put to rest, all the masters on Vee Jay reverted to Capitol…

…who would then release their own version of these same songs on 22 March 1965 as The Early Beatles. This was most likely more out of completeness’ sake than anything else, just so they could say they released every Beatles song on Capitol. By that time they had also taken ownership of the “She Loves You” single that Swan so briefly owned, placing it on The Beatles’ Second Album on 10 April 1964.  It was repackaging taken to ridiculous extremes…but if anything, The Early Beatles remains the official release in the US Beatles canon.

***

The repackaging of Beatles albums went on for a few more years, up until Revolver in late 1966. For some reasons it made sense, at least to the labels–while a fourteen-track album was not anything surprising in Britain, in the US that was considered a relatively long album, and most of them were cut down from fourteen to ten or eleven tracks. These extra songs would pile up alongside new songs and singles that were popping up in the UK. Capitol made good with these by creating US-only releases that did not have any UK analogue. There was also the fact that both A Hard Day’s Night and Help! were released in the US as full soundtracks–instead of releasing half-soundtracks like in the UK (side one was the soundtrack, side two was non-movie songs), the US versions contained the scores instead.

But consider this: in the space of two years, Capitol was almost as bad as Vee Jay, splitting seven UK albums and various singles across eleven US albums and singles.

—Meet the Beatles! (20 January 1964) took half the tracks (and the cover) of With the Beatles alongside various single sides.
—The Beatles’ Second Album (10 April 1964) took the other half, plus more single sides and half of the Long Tall Sally EP.
–The EP Four by the Beatles (11 May 1964) featured songs from Second Album.
—A Hard Day’s Night (26 June 1964, released on United Artists Records) featured the movie’s songs plus the score.
—Something New (20 July 1964) took the non-soundtrack songs from A Hard Day’s Night, the other two Long Tall Sally EP tracks, and “Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand”.
–“And I Love Her”/”If I Fell” and “I’ll Cry Instead”/”I’m Happy Just to Dance with You”, both US-only singles from A Hard Day’s Night (also released on 20 July)
–“Matchbox”/”Slow Down” single (24 August 1964), originally half of the Long Tall Sally EP
—Beatles 65 (15 December 1964) contained all but four tracks from Beatles for Sale, one leftover from A Hard Day’s Night, and the “I Feel Fine”/”She’s a Woman” single.
–The second and last Capitol EP, 4-By the Beatles (1 February 1965), featured tracks from Beatles 65.
–“Eight Days a Week”/”I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” (5 February 1965), two tracks from Beatles for Sale
—Beatles VI (14 June 1965) contained the remaining Beatles for Sale tracks, plus various single sides and “Bad Boy”–the one Beatles song specifically recorded for the American release.
—Help! (13 August 1965) featured the movie’s songs plus the score.
–“Yesterday”/”Act Naturally” (13 September 1965) from the UK Help! album, a US-only single that would become one of their best-selling songs.
–“Nowhere Man”/”What Goes On” (21 February 1966) from Rubber Soul, a US-only single and a radio favorite.
—Yesterday…and Today (20 June 1966) was the last of them, which featured leftovers from the non-soundtrack side of Help!, various singles and tracks missing from the US versions of Rubber Soul (16 December 1965) and Revolver (8 August 1966).

By that time, the Beatles had had enough of Capitol butchering their albums (and yes, this is precisely why Yesterday and Today had the infamous butcher sleeve that it did when it was first released) and made sure that future releases would not suffer the same fate. Thankfully, no more Beatles albums would be torn apart this way in the name of making money off of new albums every three months, with only one album (Hey Jude on 26 February 1970, a compilation of singles sides) being the exception. Capitol relented, having realized that their relentless publicity had paid off in spades. They were one of the label’s biggest-selling bands, their name big enough that they could release anything at this point and it would sell.

***

Most of these label shenanigans were not watched by the band themselves, of course. They paid attention to their own UK releases, but when it came time to the US, they found they couldn’t even begin to make heads or tails of it. John Lennon was known to introduce a song when they played live by saying something along the lines of “here’s a song that’s from our new album…record…single…I think.” Many of the releases were even remixed differently–the most interesting difference being on Beatles 65, which for some reason was drenched in reverb, giving songs, especially “I Feel Fine” and “She’s a Woman”, an extremely heavy echo. While the real masters had been mixed and maybe occasionally touched up by George Martin himself, Capitol had been the culprit behind these not-quite-professional tweaks. You can hear them on the two box sets that came out in 2003-4, The Capitol Albums Volumes 1 and 2 (which is also the only place you can find the US version of Help! with the score intact). The members of the band have often stated they weren’t exactly happy with these remixes, let alone the mangling of the albums themselves, but despite all that, the American releases did their job, and did it well. The constant issuing of new material alongside previously released tracks had kept the band in the sights of the US throughout the first half of the sixties, helping them define an era in American rock and roll.

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Single: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”/”This Boy”
Released: 29 November 1963

By late Autumn 1963, John and Paul’s musical output was in full swing with no sign of slowing down at all. This was the sign of two writers who were lucky enough to work on what they did and loved all day long; they were also smart and attentive enough to understand that to be a strong musician and performer, they couldn’t do it half-assed. Even if the songs missed their mark and the end result wasn’t exactly what they’d wanted or planned on, they knew enough not to release something they’d be ashamed of later on. [John, however, would later be his own harshest critic in this respect and dismissed a lot of his own earlier work, even if the songs were strong.] They were a band made up of obsessed music lovers who had a bead on what sounds they loved and what sounded right to them, and had the dedication to focus on that in their own work.

In addition to this, near the end of their studio work on With the Beatles, they were given an extremely wonderful gift–four-track recording at Abbey Road, which gave them even more of an aural playground to work in than before. Their previous work had all been on two-track recording consoles which gave them an extremely limited amount of aural space to work with. Nearly all of their songs so far had been recorded with the full band playing and singing, with just the occasional overdub [which was recorded straight onto the master, meaning they’d damn well better get it right the first time!] and rarely a double-tracked vocal. This worked just fine for the band, but it left their sound just a tiny bit flat; they were itching to break that barrier like they very nearly did with “She Loves You”, attempting to capture not just the song but the emotion behind it. Expanding to four-track gave them two more tracks to play with–they could overdub, expand the sound, let it breathe like they’d wanted it to.

Of course, back then it didn’t make all that much difference to the listener; at that point in time, the kids in Britain were still listening to the BBC on handheld radios with single speakers or on the radio at home. AM radio was (and still is) monaural, and the prevalence of FM stereo radio was still quite a few years in the future. For the most part, most listeners actually preferred a well-produced mono recording over stereo, because it translated a lot better on their single-speaker radios. [This is also why the band’s discography has separate and unique mono and stereo mixes from their beginning all the way up to early 1969, and why there are slight differences in each. I’ll go into this later in the series.]

So on 17 October, they christened their four-track recording career with a new single that would change the game entirely.

Side A: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
Their next single was written in the music study basement of the Asher residence in Wimpole Street, London–Paul was going out with daughter and well known London actress Jane Asher at the time, and they’d also become good friends with her brother Peter (one half of Peter & Gordon, whom John and Paul wrote a few songs for). It was a truly co-written song, “written eyeball to eyeball” as John would later put it, on the Asher’s piano. On the surface, and to many critics who didn’t quite get it, this track was yet another Beatles love song, same as all their others. What made it different, and what pricked the ears of quite a few fans, not to mention other musicians, was the innovative chord changes they were using. Unlike earlier songs influenced by American pop and blues, they were expanding out into complex melodies.

The home chord here is G, giving it a high, happy sound. The path the verse takes is almost literary: G-D-Em-B. The phrase takes us on a miniature journey of home-travel-conflict-return. Laid on top of that are lyrics of wanting–the narrator is attempting to ask out a girl he really enjoys being with. The following chorus is relatively simple and positive: C-D-G-Em, the Em used less as a conflict and more as a way to come back around to the positive A for the repeat, and then to the positive G to end the phrase.

We of course have the band’s trademark of a twice-used bridge, and I really enjoy what goes on here aurally. The simple progression of Dm-G-C-Am once is very similar to any other of their bridges; it’s then followed by Dm-G-C, and a final triple-repeat of C-D–you’re expecting a repeat of that first phrase, only the ending has been changed, and the excitement and anticipation builds up to return to the main verse again. But that’s not all…if you’ve noticed, Ringo has been playing his high-hat cymbals very loosely throughout the track, which fills up a lot of the background with white noise. It’s not until this bridge that he closes that high-hat and the cymbals are short and crisp, and that the song suddenly grows quieter. Added to that, lyrically this is where the narrator temporarily stops his pleas and dwells on just how happy the girl makes him; where the main lyrics are dialogue, the bridge is a reverie.

If your ears and brain aren’t trained or used to listening to things like this, this track is a relatively simple one, another love song made to order. But for the kids scrambling for something new, and for the musicians with the ear for it, this track completely blew them away. There were at least a million advance sales for it in the UK, even before anyone had heard it (mainly due to the popularity of their recent singles and albums), and considering the reaction when it finally dropped, it would only send them even higher into the musical stratosphere. In a way, it would also create a future goal, albeit a sometimes frustrating one for them–the song had gone past their fans’ expectations to the point that they now expected that to happen on a consistent basis. It pushed them ever further creatively, but it could also stifle and frustrate them. Tempering that balance would be a trick, but they felt they were up for it.

Side B: “This Boy”
A fascinating B-side, so much so that one wonders why they squandered such an excellent track. This was another of John’s attempts at writing a song similar to Motown doo-wop, like Smokey Robinson’s “I’ve Been Good to You”–the I-VI-II-V musical phrase that was so prevalent in many of those torch songs from the fifties and early sixties. What sets it apart, just like its A side, is what they do with it. Lyrically, it’s a change-up from the sad love song: this time it’s the narrator saying “he’s no good for you, take me back instead.” Vocally it’s absolutely gorgeous: John, Paul and George, who were naturals at three-part harmony, deliver the verses quietly and breathily, adding an extra level to the lyrics. It might be a wish for the girl to return to him, but he’s not expecting much. At least not until the middle eight, where John lets it all out in a double-tracked vocal, an incredibly strong and loud “I’m on my knees here” plea. The bridge is also fascinating in its own right, with a descending chord phrase filled with sevenths (G-F#7-Bm-D7, G-E7-A-A7) while John’s vocal line ascends. It’s a lovely piece, and one that was later recorded by George Martin with an orchestra for Ringo’s solo scene in their upcoming movie A Hard Day’s Night.

* * *

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Single: “The Beatles’ Christmas Record”
Released to the Beatles’ Official Fan Club: 6 December 1963

“The Beatles’ Christmas Record” was recorded on the same day as the above tracks, a short five minute track of semi-scripted silliness as a personal thanks to the members of their fan club. You can distinctly hear each member’s unique sense of humor here, even when having to read a scripted “thanks to everyone, it’s been a great year, etc.”: John’s deft wordplay (“Merry Christmas” as “Gary Crimble”), Paul’s smarminess (we love you, but please stop sending the jelly babies!), Ringo’s lovable straight man (I was the last to join, but I’ve been in other bands…), and George’s cleverly snide remarks (“Thank you Ringo! We’ll phone you!”). Each even gets to sing their own interpretation of “Good King Wenceslas”.

This recording and the Christmas messages that followed were never released as part of the official discography, only to the fan club members, and thus were relatively hard to find for quite some time. You may be able to find the original 1970 compilations (the UK From Then to You or the US The Beatles Christmas Album) on specialty vinyl stores, or you can find them on oft-bootlegged collections, but they’ve never been rereleased in their original flexidisc form.

* * *

Meanwhile, over in the United States…

Credit: Wikipedia

Single: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”/”I Saw Her Standing There”
Released in the US: 26 December 1963

…Capitol Records finally gets on board. And only after much wrangling from EMI and Brian Epstein, a few renegade DJs who’d gotten a hold of the UK single weeks earlier, and many teenage fans telling their local radio stations to play the band already. To be honest, they’d been half-heartedly planning on releasing this particular single sometime in early January of 1964, to coincide with their scheduled performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, but one gets the feeling they hadn’t really put too much heart into it. Instead of the original single, they created their own by switching “This Boy” with the then non-single “I Saw Her Standing There” from Please Please Me. That itself is interesting, considering that track was at that moment about to be released by Vee-Jay Records on the long-delayed Introducing the Beatles. Nonetheless, the switch paid off, as both songs ended up being powerhouse hits. Given the overwhelmingly positive radio response, Capitol moved up the release to just after Christmas.

The outcome was instantaneous. It sold a quarter million copies within the first few days, and eventually sold up to five million. It hit number one in early February, only to be eventually knocked off the spot by none other than their previous UK number one hit, “She Loves You”, and soon the charts would be filled with multiple Beatle hits. The floodgates were opened, and Beatlemania had begun. But not just Beatlemania…it also triggered a “British Invasion” of UK pop songs entering the US charts and hitting high numbers, from the Hollies to the Kinks to the Dave Clark Five.

In retrospect, the time had been ripe for a musical revolution, one that tends to happen every decade or so. It’s fascinating to watch and predict once you know what to look for, and this had all of it. By late 1963 the country was in a troubling state…they’d just suffered a terrible blow due to the assassination of President Kennedy; racism and segregation in the South had become ever-rising hot button issues; other world events such as the Cuban Missle Crisis and unrest in France were still on the minds of the country. The mood of popular music had changed to mirror life: Elvis had returned from the Army, but his once-rebellious rock now sounded dated, and he’d just started a decade-long run of making lightweight movies with uninspiring soundtracks; other big names had fallen from the limelight either due to not changing their sound (Jerry Lee Lewis) or personal issues (Chuck Berry, who’d spent a year or so in jail) or death (Buddy Holly, a few years earlier); still other popular artists (Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra) were liked by the older generation but left younger fans wanting. At the same time, various subgenres of new music were gaining ground in localized areas: the southern California surf sound of the Beach Boys, the Detroit grooves of Motown, the southern gospel blues of Johnny Cash. New sounds were brewing just underneath the surface, maybe even popping up on local charts, sounds that the younger generation wanted and desperately needed, and it was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose.

The rise of Beatlemania and the British Invasion of the sixties was the catalyst for all that–perhaps just as Nirvana was for the Seattle sound, thirty years later.  A new generation of music would rise with the changing times, only this time it was rock music.

Next up: Introducing the Beatles, Meet the Beatles, and many singles: the US catches up (sort of)

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

EP: The Beatles’ Hits
Released: 6 September 1963

Side A:
From Me To You
Thank You Girl

Side B
Please Please Me
Love Me Do

*******

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

EP: The Beatles No 1
Released: 1 November 1963

Side A
I Saw Her Standing There
Misery

Side B
Anna (Go to Him)
Chains

The usual lifespan of a single is about two months, from release to charting to fade from public view. Back then as now, it would take a week or two for it to ascend the charts until it either stalled or hit Number One, and start its descent back down again. There’s the occasional rarity of a single so popular it stays on the charts for an extremely long time, or the even rarer single that rises, drops, then rises again. The Beatles’ releases would experience all of these during their tenure, and part of it was due to the shrewd planning of Brian Epstein. Having been a keen record store manager who could read the pulse of listeners and purchasers, he and George Martin understood that to keep your prized band in the limelight,
one had to have something new and fresh (or at least something in a different package!) in the shops every couple of months or so. This was standard practice back then, but Epstein and Martin followed it so thoroughly that it was considered shocking when the band finally took some time off in 1966 and their fourth quarter release was a greatest hits package instead.

These two EPs were nothing more than yet another repackaging of tracks from the Please Please Me album and are not worth going into too much detail here. Both covers were shot by Angus McBean–the second EP is an outtake from the debut album’s cover session–and the band’s erstwhile press officer Tony Barrow wrote some rather amusing fluff for the rear covers, as he would for the first three albums. The first one was packaged as some of the best songs “in the Lennon-McCartney Songbook”, a sort of sampler for those who hadn’t quite caught on yet. The second EP is a little stranger in packaging, as it looks as if Parlophone had come up with and soon aborted the idea of rereleasing the album in EP form of four songs each. This second EP is simply the first four tracks from the album.

Despite these two releases having nothing new at all, they did surprisingly well on the charts and in sales. Unlike the shameless repackaging-as-completely-new VeeJay releases in the States, Parlophone all but stated these were songs you already had, just in a new, collectible form.

In the meantime, the boys had spent their summer working on a second album, all while still touring locally.

*********************

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

Album: With the Beatles
Released: 22 November 1963

The Beatles released their second album exactly nine months after their first album, and though they were recorded just a few months apart, you can hear (and see!) just how much the band had matured in an amazingly short amount of time. The cover was taken by fashion photographer Robert Freeman, shot in a darkened hallway at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth (the natural light source was a window at the end of the hall), who captured a slightly older, harder, more serious band. Even the artwork is reserved, the title in a small lowercase font.

Unlike the insanity of the first album’s recording in one marathon session, they spent a few weeks here and there in July and September working on the follow-up at Abbey Road, in between their never-ending tour schedule. While Please Please Me emulated the sound of the band’s live shows, this second album showcased their impressive songwriting chops in action. Six of the songs are covers–considering their meteoric rise to fame, it only made sense to continue with well-rehearsed covers from their live shows rather than rushing the songwriting–but once again their covers are of their personal favorites, Motown tracks, obscure American singles, and a song from a musical.

Side A

Track 1: It Won’t Be Long
One would expect an album’s first track to start out with a bit of melody or a countdown, some kind of introduction, yes? Not this one. Right out of the gate, we’ve got John belting out the chorus of this fantastic rocker, the first song written specifically for this album. Right away we hear two things: a deft call/response with the “yeahs” (perhaps a nod to their previous single, which they had just recorded), and John’s love of wordplay: It won’t be long ’til I belong to you. After the chorus we have a simple E-C-E verse, followed up with something quite interesting, a middle-eight filled with chromatically descending chords. You wouldn’t hear that in a rock and roll song. There are also little tricks hiding in the song, such as using only one measure instead of an expected two between the two verse lines. Listening to this alongside “She Loves You”, it’s quite surprising to hear how vastly different they are, even though they were written and recorded just a month apart. Even then they must have understood the sonic and melodic differences between a song destined for a single and a song destined for an album.

Track 2: All I’ve Got to Do
John follows up with a Smokey Robinson-styled original, and there’s something quite original going on here right at the beginning that you might not notice: an open chord, played not by a guitar, but by Paul on his bass, apparently the first rock song to ever to do that. There’s also the fact that, taking the lyrics in a historical sense, boys in the UK actually didn’t call girls on the phone! That was purely an American thing back then; it was still rare for kids in the UK to call lovers and friends (instead they would stop by their houses or meet up a predetermined destination). John stated this track was pretty much written for the American market on those two points alone.

Track 3: All My Loving
This fabulous number by Paul was written just weeks after “She Loves You”, and is quite possibly one of his first big hits. This track was never released as a single in the UK, but despite that it received so much airplay that EMI released it a few months later on an EP. Everyone supplies some fantastic playing here…Paul sings the wonderful melody while playing a descending/ascending bass line throughout. John supplies some impressive rhythm guitar work here, frantically strumming triplets to give it a bouncy, rollicking sound. George’s lead fills are very close to that of his country fingerpicking heroes like Chet Atkins. And Ringo’s drumming here is solid, echoing John’s triplets with his fills.

Track 4: Don’t Bother Me
George makes his official songwriting debut, and he doesn’t pull any punches at all. Written while he was recuperating from an illness while the band were playing in Bournemouth (at the same hotel the cover was taken, some time in late August), this song had started out as an exercise to see if he could, in fact, write a song for the band. Right away you can hear George’s penchant for uncommon chord changes, in this case the main melody of B-A-G-Em. It’s almost got a Link Wray feel, a “dirty blues” sound rather than a pop-infused melody like John and Paul knew so well. It’s also the band’s first song with a less-than-happy feel to it. He wants the girl back, but in the meantime, leave him alone to deal with it himself.

Track 5: Little Child
John readily admitted this was a filler song. It’s not one of their strongest or most creative; it’s a typical I-IV-V blues rock song with blatant throwaway lyrics. They at least did their best by turning it into a decent rocking jam, complete with some spirited harmonica playing by John.

Track 6: Till There Was You
The only Beatles cover of a song from a Broadway musical. Paul was familiar with Peggy Lee’s 1961 version of this song from The Music Man, which the band played frequently during its 1962 Hamburg run. One of four covers recorded during the first With the Beatles session on 18 July and redone and finished on the 30th, it’s a quiet and pretty little number very similar to Lee’s. Everyone plays very quietly, from George’s delicate fingerpicking and John’s muted chord strumming to Ringo’s soft percussion.

Track 7: Please Mister Postman
After the previous track’s quietness, they bounce back with another cover, this time of the debut single by Motown singers The Marvelettes. Similar to “It Won’t Be Long”, there’s no intro here, it just jumps right in with a howling “Wait!” from John, Paul and George. Also recorded on 30 July, this track definitely sounds like they had a hell of a lot of fun recording this one, even if it wasn’t their best work. It sounds like the band recording the song for their own enjoyment rather than the listener.

Side Two:

Track 1: Roll Over Beethoven
George gets a second lead performance here, this time with a great cover of the classic Chuck Berry tune. A holdover from the earliest days of the band, they loved playing this track so much they kept it in their live repertoire up until 1964. It was always George’s showcase song, not just with the great opening riff and guitar work, but as a singer. You can hear the conviction in his voice here.

Track 2: Hold Me Tight
Both John and Paul thought very little of this track, though I personally find it one of their more melodic tracks on this album. This was one of their early songs, written sometime around 1961 and attempted during the Please Please Me session, and used as another filler track here. It’s a party song more than anything else, one to get the crowds up on the dance floor, where the audience’s focus is more on having a good time rather than listening closely to the song. There’s also Paul’s incredibly shaky vocal delivery–he’s all over the place on this one, like he never quite figured out how to sing it. Despite all that, it’s got some great bits like the descending chords of the chorus. It’s definitely a throwaway, but it’s a good throwaway, probably better than “Little Child.”

Track 3: You Really Got a Hold on Me
After that diversion, we come back to another excellent cover song, this time of the great Smokey Robinson & the Miracles track. John and George share vocal duties here, and they do a wonderful job delivering the goods. It obviously pales to the soulful original, but for an up and coming British band to cover a hit song released only a year previous, they do far better than one would expect. This was the first track recorded for this album, back on 18 July, so you can still hear the afterglow of their recent live performances here.

Track 4: I Wanna Be Your Man
This goofy little party track was perfect for Ringo to sing–it’s got ridiculously simple lyrics, the music isn’t all that adventurous, and there’s a lot of amusing hooting and hollering from the other guys going on during the break. It’s not a song to take all that seriously! It’s definitely a step up from “Boys” from the previous album, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun. The band handed this track to The Rolling Stones for one of their earliest single releases, even though they made a right hash of it (as only they could and get away with it!).

Track 5: Devil in Her Heart
Talk about obscure covers! George pulled out this single by The Donays, released late in 1962 in the UK which didn’t go anywhere on the charts. He did the pronoun switcheroo from “his” to “her” and the end result is quite excellent, bypassing the original and giving it a new life. His vocals here are strong and much more confident than his previous songs. Ringo executes some excellent drumming here, playing with force and conviction. One would be convinced this was an actual Lennon/McCartney composition, they pull it off so well.

Track 6: Not a Second Time
This quite a fascinating track of John’s, as there’s some really adventurous chord changes going on here–it’s almost a George song in that respect. Lyrically it’s also a song that’s not one of their cookie-cutter love lyrics, but one of heartbreak and not letting it happen again. It’s not a song that makes its presence known like some of the earlier tracks on the album, but it’s one that grows on you.

Track 7: Money (That’s What I Want)
The album winds down with one last cover, this of Barrett Strong’s song that gave Motown its first big hit. Brian Epstein turned them onto this one, having carried it at his record store back in 1960, and it became a staple of their live shows. John delivers a gritty lead, with the three sharing background “…that’s what I want” vocals as if their lives depended on it. It’s a great cover that would wind up on many of their post-breakup compilations.

**

The end result of With the Beatles is that, although it’s not their most cohesive record, it’s one where they’ve at least (and at last) found their voice and their style, and have begun to experiment with it. Unlike the previous album, this one shows a lot more confidence in their playing, if not always their writing. They could be forgiven for not quite hitting their mark this time out, considering it was recorded in fits and starts while they were out on tour. They would thankfully be given some time off in between gigs come 1964, which gave them a bit more time to come down as well as focus more on their songwriting.

If they thought they were on top of the world now, however, things were about to get a hell of a lot more insane.

Next up: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”/”This Boy” single and their first Christmas single

Credit: jpgr.co.uk – The Beatles Complete UK Discography site

The spring of 1963 was a ridiculously busy time for the Beatles. After their marathon session in February to record the remaining ten tracks off Please Please Me, they left it in George Martin’s capable hands to produce the mono and stereo masters for release. Meanwhile, they would be crisscrossing all over Britain on tour. Many of these shows had been arranged by Brian Epstein well before they became famous, so even though they’d suddenly had hit singles and a new album racing up the charts, they were still honoring these tiny shows at hotel ballrooms, local cinemas, and even a few schools! In addition to this, they also honored a few of their scheduled shows at the Cavern Club, played a number of BBC radio programs (thus the wealth of “at the Beeb” recordings available), occasional showcases with other Epstein acts like Billy J Kramer and Gerry and the Pacemakers, and an ongoing tour with Helen Shapiro. And in between all of this, they made time to record more singles and a second album.

It was on 28 February while they were riding on a coach for the Shapiro tour that John and Paul holed themselves up in the rear of the bus and worked on writing a follow-up single. It’s said that Kenny Lynch–the man who’d recorded “Misery” as the first person to ever cover a Beatles tune–had heard them singing the “ooh” in the middle eight, and immediately thought the song was doomed to failure. Five days later they were back in Studio Two at Abbey Road, and banged out “From Me to You”. And despite Lynch’s misgivings, it would end up being their second single to hit number one.

The b-side, “Thank You Girl”, was most likely written around the same time. These two tracks, as well as a long-unreleased version of their song “The One After 909” were recorded on 5 March (a fourth song, a version of “What Goes On”, was practiced but never recorded). The single was released a month later.

Side A: “From Me to You”
Despite Kenny Lynch’s disdain for such a simply-written song, it’s a very catchy tune, and understandably caught the ear of thousands of teenage fans. Playing on the personal “me and you” that worked so well with “Please Please Me”, this love song played on the fact that John and Paul were well aware of their female fans that felt they were singing just to them! The lyrics are light and fun, as if they just want to gush over their sweetheart–if there’s anything she wants, he’ll take care of it, because they love her that much. There’s also a return of the theme of distance, the couple being separated but their love remaining strong and true.

There are quite a few interesting bits to this song, really. Right off, we have John and Paul scatting the opening melody, the “da-da-dah da-dun dah-dah-dah”. That was Martin’s suggestion (which the band thought was rather odd, until they heard the final run through and agreed it actually worked). What’s also interesting is that the main verses of the song also serve as a repeating chorus, with the title right at the end of each verse–“just call on me, and I’ll send it along, with love from me to you.” The bridges are similar, repeated after each verse section. There’s also the solo section, understated yet creatively done: George repeats the verse melody on the guitar, while John echoes it in a higher octave on harmonica and also fills in an echoing of the title [da-da-dum da-da-dum-dum-dah (“from me…”), da-da-daum- da-da-dum-dum-dah (“…to you…”)] before singing the last part of the verse.

Overall, it’s a giant step up from their previous songwriting–by this time, they had a few singles, an album, and a ridiculous amount of touring under their belt, not to mention at least five years’ worth of working on their craft. This was the song that clicked with them, one that wasn’t a throwaway but a well-crafted one they devoted time and work to.

Side B: “Thank You Girl”
“We knew that if we wrote a song called, ‘Thank You Girl’ that a lot of the girls who wrote us fan letters would take it as a genuine thank you. So a lot of our songs were directly addressed to the fans.” — Paul, in 1988

That pretty much explains that song in a nutshell–it might be yet another love song they could write in their sleep, but it was one that the fans could take as a personal note just to them. On the surface, it’s another of their head-over-heels love song lyrics, and musically it’s extremely simple. John later said he wasn’t exactly impressed with how it came out, feeling it was close but missed its mark. Simply put, it’s a song about a man eternally grateful about the woman he loves. But as Paul hinted, there was an ulterior motive: taken from a besotted fan’s perspective, this is a heartfelt “thank you” to all the female fans out there who sent them countless fan letters and screamed at their concerts. So soon into their professional career as musicians, they felt themselves truly lucky and grateful that these fans were so dedicated.

This was actually supposed to be the A-side, but after recording the two, it was decided this would be the b-side. Like “Ask Me Why”, it ended up not being one of their stronger songs, but it was no throwaway, and it the fans themselves were of course happy to have such a song written for them by their favorite band.

*

This was another single released on the VeeJay label in the US, as Capitol still hadn’t gotten on board at this time. “Thank You Girl” was added as a replacement track on later reissues of Introducing the Beatles and later on the US release The Beatles’ Second Album, and “From Me to You” would pop up on a version of Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Beatles (one of the many VeeJay reissues of Please Please Me under various titles), but other than that, neither track would get a straightforward release on an album together until the cd release of Past Masters in 1987. It was unfortunately a missed opportunity due to the legal wrangling between VeeJay and Capitol at the time.

The third track recorded during this session, “The One After 909”, would be all but forgotten until January 1969 when it resurfaced during the Get Back album and movie sessions, but by that time its format was drastically different. Instead of a mid-tempo rock and roll tune emulating Chuck Berry, it ended up countrified and sloppily recorded as an afterthought and released on Let It Be. It very nearly surfaced in 1985 on an aborted compilation of unreleased tracks called Sessions, but wouldn’t get an official release until the Anthology 1 album in 1995.

In the UK, however, it was their second number one single hit right after “Please Please Me”, and they weren’t about to rest on their laurels, not by a long shot. They’d continue touring and recording well into the next year. They’d return to the studio again on the first of July to record what would become one of the signature songs of Beatlemania, thanks to the phrase “yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Next up: “She Loves You”/”I’ll Get You” single

image via discogs.com

Album: Please Please Me
Released: 22 March 1963

Let’s start with some interesting facts:

1. Photographer Angus McBean, who had previously worked on comedy record covers, took the famous picture in the stairwell of the old EMI house in Manchester Square on 5 March after an unsatisfactory session with photographer John Dove. Dove’s ideas were very typical of the day: standing on stairs, corny dance poses, arty ground-view shots. McBean’s iconic shot was quite different from the norm, especially for a debut album.

2. Four songs already recorded as singles made their presence known here, the A and B sides mirroring each other (the “Please Please Me” single in reverse order and ending Side A, the “Love Me Do” single in its right order, starting Side B). This running order is quite uncommon for the time, considering most pop albums would have the hit songs starting Side A, so the average listener would hear the hit song right off the bat.

3. The remaining ten tracks (plus an eleventh unused track, “Hold Me Tight”, which would be rerecorded and released on their second album) recorded for this album were all done on 11 February in 585 minutes (roughly ten hours, not including breaks, and not including two extraneous overdubs by George Martin), for the princely sum of four hundred pounds. And John Lennon had a heavy cold at the time.

Mind you, recording an album in a day was typical for the time, but it was quite rare for every single track to be up to snuff–more often than not, a pop singer’s album would contain two or three hit songs and the rest would truly be filler: half-baked songs and throwaways that were recorded to pad the playing time. Added to that, eight out of the fourteen tracks were written by the band themselves, with only six covers used.

Granted, even though their recorded output at this point was exactly three singles, they were by no means amateurs. The band was ridiculously busy at this point, playing shows nearly every single day for about two and a half years straight, sometimes double shows (one afternoon, one evening). This was the price they paid for wanting to be famous pop stars, and they weren’t going to be lazy about it. They wrote and jammed in between shows, on tour buses, on days off, whenever. Thanks to the unflagging loyalty and relentless work of Brian Epstein in managing their tours and recording time, the band could solely focus on what they did best: the music itself.

Side A
Track 1: I Saw Her Standing There
…and what a great way to start an album! George Martin had understood they were primarily still a live band at this time, so he’d decided to keep the excited count-in (very rare in studio tracks back then) nicked from Take 9 (which you can hear on 1995’s “Free As a Bird” single) and edited onto Take 1. The song itself, a great party rocker written by Paul and aided by John, is one hell of a great opening track for an album, especially when it’s not the big single of the moment. It’s a love song, but it’s also a love song for the excitable British youth of the era–Paul’s not meeting a girl on the street or in a quiet parlor…he’s catching a girl’s eye on a crowded dance floor and falling in love instantly. This is exactly why, when the song was released in the US as a single at the end of 1963, it would be the main catalyst for Beatlemania in America. It provided the kids exactly what they wanted to hear.

Track 2: Misery
This one’s interesting, in that they’d specifically written it for Helen Shapiro, who they’d been touring with for the last few weeks on a package deal, and was about to record a country album in Nashville. However, Shapiro’s manager nixed the idea, and the song ended up in Kenny Lynch’s hands–Lynch was a well-known actor/singer in Britain who was part of the Helen Shapiro tour (and interestingly enough, he later ended up on Paul’s Band on the Run album cover…he’s the guy right behind Paul, grabbing the shirt of the guy behind him). Lynch’s version ended up being the first Beatles song to be covered by someone else. John and Paul both admit this is a space-filler song for the album, considering it was for someone else, but they don’t waste it. The vocals have strong delivery, and the playing is tight. It’s also one of the first Beatles songs where George Martin features as a session musician, offering the piano opening.

Track 3: Anna (Go to Him)
The second song recorded during the third session of the day, and you can hear John’s voice starting to crack ever so slightly here from strain. This is pretty much a straight cover of Arthur Alexander’s original, right down to Ringo’s drumming; the single had come out in late 1962 on Dot Records, so it’s most likely that this was another in the Beatles’ recent live repertoire of obscure American singles. Despite all that, it’s a strong cover that captures the desperation of Alexander’s, right down to the the pleading middle eight.

Track 4: Chains
The first of two George-sung songs on the album. This Goffin/King composition was a hit for Little Eva’s backup singers, The Cookies. Though this is another spot-on cover and a filler, the Beatles loved it for the three-part harmony. It was covers like this that inspired harmony in future songs of their own such as “She Loves You” and “Nowhere Man”. This song seems just a touch above George’s range, as he tends to reach a bit on the higher notes and thus sounds ever so slightly flat, but for a vocal debut, it works well.

Track 5: Boys
Even Ringo was given a lead vocal now and again, often simple songs to fit his minimal range. This cover of a Shirelles b-side is definitely a live staple and a crowd pleaser (and one to let the other three rest their voices a bit). Unlike most gender-switching covers, however, the band only changed the pronouns in a few verses (from “my” to “her”) and the rest of the track is another nearly spot-on cover, with George soloing where the original’s sax solo resides.

Track 6: Ask Me Why
It’s interesting to hear this and the next few tracks within the context of the rest of this album, for a few reasons. First of all, John’s voice is obviously cold-free here and a lot stronger. And while I felt it was kind of a weak song and understandably relegated to the b-side of “Please Please Me”, it fits really well in the middle of this album. Stylistically it’s very similar to the other mid-tempo songs here like “Do You Want to Know a Secret”, and is a good segue between the raucous “Boys” and the poppy “Please Please Me”.

Track 7: Please Please Me
Again, I find it quite fascinating that the current single on the charts at the time was planted right here in the middle, and at the end of the first side. This was part of George Martin’s plan, to sequence the album as if it were a live show: don’t put the big hits at the beginning, because everyone will walk away after you play them–put the hits in the middle so they have to wait, but not for too long.

Side B
Track 1: Love Me Do
This is the re-recorded version with Ringo on tambourine and session player Andy White on drums. Again, context plays here: its sparse, countryish style is quite different from the rest of the songs on the album, but not enough for it to stand out like a sore thumb. It’s contained here mainly to say “you remember this from six months ago? Well, here they are, and they sound even better!”

Track 2: P.S. I Love You
Again, one of my favorite tracks of their early career, and one of Paul’s best early songs. Compare this track to “A Taste of Honey” and “Baby It’s You”, and you can see how deftly Paul can pick up on a musical style. And as with “Ask Me Why”, this track works okay as a single, but works even better as an album track.

Track 3: Baby It’s You
The next-to-last song recorded that day, and John’s voice is really starting to waver here. Another Shirelles cover, it’s another live staple and filler. Paul and George (with a bit of John) provides backup vocals, but it’s mainly John here, delivering a very Motown-esque vocal. Listening to these tracks in chronologically-recorded order, you can hear the band are a bit tired here (this was most likely somewhere around Hour Nine in the session), but despite that, they deliver the goods.

Track 4: Do You Want to Know a Secret
This was written primarily by John and inspired by “I’m Wishing” from Disney’s Snow White, a track John knew from his childhood. He turned it into a simple “I’m falling in love with you” track, specifically for George to sing. At the time, George was not much of a songwriter, but he was often given equal stage time for his vocal abilities. In these early days, his singing voice had a gruff tone–you can hear more of that Liverpudlian accent than with the other two. It’s not as strong as John’s or as dead-on as Paul’s, but it’s unique and it works well here.

Track 5: A Taste of Honey
The first track for the band’s afternoon session that day. The song was written originally as an instrumental for the Broadway version of the Shelagh Delaney play of the same name. It was given lyrics soon after and recorded by Lenny Welch, who released it as a single in late 1962. It was most likely this version that the Beatles knew and copied, as theirs is close to the original. There’s some lovely guitar work here from George, who calmly plucks the strings during the verses and strums the chorus. John, Paul and George get some nice harmonies in there on the title phrase (and the “doo-doo-dn-doo”). Even Ringo’s quite restrained brush playing is perfect. One of my favorite bits in any Beatles song is in the “I will return” refrains here…Martin gave Paul some heavy echo to emulate the poor soul walking away, hands stuffed in pockets and sad to be leaving, and it works brilliantly. Added to that, we’re given a tiny speck of hope at the end, when the B minor-to-F# minor riff repeats only to finally land on F# major instead. Maybe he really will return…

Track 6: There’s a Place
Though this is the next-to-last track on the album, it was the first track they’d attempted to record that day, with ten takes. John uses the harmonica sparingly here, but it’s an interesting use, with the first note of the melody being a dissonant E-flat, echoing the song’s personal sadness. It’s a John and Paul song from start to finish, sharing harmonized vocals throughout. George makes a minor vocal appearance with harmony on the chorus.

Track 7: Twist and Shout
…and how else could they end the album, but with their showstopper? Originally a throwaway dance track by Philly band The Top Notes in 1961, it was soon covered with great success by the Isley Brothers in late 1962, and the Isleys’ party-shaking performance is obviously the one that the Beatles decided to emulate. This was their live set closing number, the one to go out with a bang, and after a brief bit of debate and argument down in the Abbey Road canteen, it was decided as the last song to record. John’s voice is quite audibly in shreds at this time, so they had to get it right the first time (a second complete take was attempted but quickly aborted when it was obvious he just didn’t have any voice left). Despite the obviously painful vocal delivery, they nailed it flawlessly, and it remains one of the bands’ best known and loved songs of the early era.

*

This obviously was not your typical debut album of the early sixties. This was a band purely dedicated to their craft and a love of music. You can hear signs of their trademark sound right from the beginning–the harmonies, the boundless energy, the unique songwriting ability, even the clever way John and Paul played off each other. It was an instant hit in the UK, and stayed in the charts for weeks, where it finally got chased off by…their second album, With the Beatles.

And yet in the US…Capitol Records didn’t care for it at first. Obviously their parent distributor, EMI, thought quite well of the band, but the US were slow to catch up. For most of 1963 in America, Capitol passed on their early output, leaving Epstein to broker a deal with low-budget label Vee Jay for the album. Even then, a legal delay caused it not to be released until January 1964, one full week behind Meet the Beatles, when Capitol finally jumped on the bandwagon. And to add insult to injury, Vee Jay capitalized on their license by releasing the same album (or songs from it) under at least four different titles. Even the band’s singles before “I Saw Her Standing There” languished on small labels like Swan and Tollie. Capitol would finally buy out the license in 1965, “officially” releasing the songs under the title The Early Beatles. It wasn’t until the CD releases in 1987 that the US finally saw Please Please Me as it ought to be.

Mind you, the album wasn’t even out yet and they were already working on their next single.

Next up: “From Me to You”/”Thank You Girl” single