THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM

This LP was the second album of the Beatles which Capitol Records produced for the north-American market. It is said that especially John Lennon wasn't too pleased with what the Americans did and one can understand his reasons: Capitol took material from the UK-"With The Beatles"-album (second release in Britain) they had left out from the US-"Meet The Beatles"-LP (first American album) and combined it with single-B-sides and EP-songs. The Beatles weren't happy with it, as at the time of the release in the USA they had developed their skills as composers and instrumentalists.

The LP contains quite a number of rockers the Beatles used to have in their live set-lists. Usually Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" was sung by John, but in the studio was given to George (to increase his number of vocals on "With The Beatles"). Except for the - in comparison with Berry - messed up guitar intro they do quite nicely. "Thank You Girl" - the B-side of "From Me To You" - features John and Paul on lead vocals on their own composition whereas John and George take over for "You Really Got A Hold On Me" from Smokey Robinson. As it would be so often later on, the musical additions of producer George Martin weren't credited - but he plays piano on this one and does a brilliant job. With "Devil In Her Heart", a mid-tempo beat with some fine guitar work, the Beatles pay their respect to American all-girl band The Donays.

"Money" is a 'big screamer' (with a screaming John) and Paul recalled that when they were playing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool this one came close to "Twist And Shout" in the response from the audience. "You Can't Do That" is the second Lennon-McCartney composition on this compilation, the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love". Another rocker follows with "Long Tall Sally", a Little-Richard-original the Beatles bring to new heights: Paul sings as he was given a last chance to prove that he's a rock'n'roller at heart, George adds a fantastic ripping guitar-solo. "I Call Your Name" (Lennon-McCartney) is from the same rocking EP as "Long Tall Sally", the other two tracks being "Slow Down" (Larry Williams) and "Matchbox" (Carl Perkins).

"Please Mr. Postman" - according to the sleeve notes on "With The Beatles" - is another number which dates back to the Beatles' Cavern Club period. It features a double tracked John with vocal support from Paul and George. "I'll Get You" was the single-B-side of the closing "She Loves You" and the latter may be defined as the most typical of all Beatles' records: The pure energy is overwhelming and the famous 'yeah, yeah, yeah'-chorus gets you hooked on immediately. With all those years gone between the recording and today it still sounds fresh and surprisingly new.

Though the Beatles may not have been to happy with this LP, it is a good example of the rock'n'roll- and other musical roots the relied on - and it's fun listening to it.