SHE LOVES YOU

This is just a funny idea I got this morning: to write a set of reviews from subsequent years. Most of them will be on singles, but since the only point is to proceed year by year, there may be some albums along the way, too. I'm increasing the personal challenge by starting BEFORE the year 1967 which I see as a turning point in pop music. I have a minimal relationship with pre-'67 pop/rock in general, Simon & Garfunkel being among the few exceptions.

My own relationship with The Beatles is sovereignly based on their magnificent later albums, but like everybody I couldn't have avoided to hear many of their earlier hits. I was born in 1970, so I wasn't there when The Beatles made pop history, but I can imagine how much the band has meant to the older generation.

'She Loves You' is one of the finest early Beatles songs. It starts unconventionally with the chorus which is a guaranteed earworm. Everything around it is full of interesting melodies and vocal harmonies, even some clever tempo changes. This happy song is a definite evergreen.

The B-sider 'I'll Get You' is not a commonly known Beatles song. The beginning with "Oh yeah, oh yeah" and hands clapping the rhythm is frankly not very promising, but it can't be denied there is the melodic genius of Lennon/McCartney shining through in this little song. The playing and the arrangement featuring some uninspired harmonica are perhaps slightly below the standard.