The Early Beatles

Ticket to Ride is a classic.

I will probably be the only one to cast a vote for Please Please Me.  There's some crap floating around in there sure enough (ya kiddin' me, A Taste of Honey?), but when it's good it is very very good.  Anna, Baby It's You, Twist and Shout.  I know, they didn't even write those songs.  But man did they interpret them, and in the process changed the course of rock and roll forever.  Get out your guitar, if you have one.  Play Baby It's You.  Go ahead, it's just four chords, and easy ones at that yer standard one six four five that's been around forever. Just try to replicate it.  I try it all the time, still.  It seems so simple, like as the ad sez that even a caveman could do it.  Good luck with that.  This album was an absolute turning point.

I may be the only one who votes for With The Beatles.

There's something about that album, it seems to have more great songs than any of the 5 here, with only one song that I particularly dislike (being the awful Please Mr Postman). The rest have a bunch of forgettable tunes. In particular, the first three songs on WTB are amazing, with 'All I've Got To Do' being my favourite Beatles song pre-1967.

Help!

I thought it was interesting how the 4 of them were set against having their singles featured on the albums. With the Beatles was a collection of songs that the Beatles took more seriously. They were a bit mainstream in some sense of the word, but the rock n' roll type songs like "Hold Me Tight" and "I Wanna Be Your Man" seemed raw and non-commercial formulated. "All I Gotta Do" feels that way. Songs like "Don't Bother Me" are a little off beat from the times and more daring then the current material in those days ...for example.."The Game Of Love" by Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders or Gerry & the Pacemakers singles. Dave Clark Five were perhaps slightly different with the addition of sax, however once you heard the John Lennon style of playing on harmonica and the various Beatles chord progressions which were exploding in your face ..then you knew they were stealing from Lennon/McCartney. The Kinks and the Rolling Stones had their own originality and Jagger/Richards would keep in touch with Lennon/ McCartney for concerns they wanted to work out peacefully between them. Richards would consult with the Beatles and asking them when they were planning their next release. If they were planning it in 1 month...Richards would hold out on the Stones release.

The American releases contained singles galore and the Beatles were pretty uptight about that issue for a long time. I think they were attempting to be a little more serious with writing and in America with Beatlemania they were being worshipped in a sense where they were not even human flesh. The actual transition into a different level or peak of writing is heard on Beatles For Sale. This is when they actually began proving to the world that they could be something else that know one had realized before. Many songs on Beatles For Sale are a demonstration of just that. "Baby's In Black" had a new sound and style. This was the first time as a kid I could directly indicate something different about their music.

 

The anger that developed within the Beatles regarding the singles issue became a snowball affect. They realized after extensive touring that many of the album cuts became popular like the singles and the point they wanted to get across on "With the Beatles" was missed as far as they were concerned. At least of all that is what I have read for decades and they spoke about the issue during interviews.

Help! The remarkable harmonies on the title track, the Dylanesque touches on "Hide Your Love Away" (along with Harrison's use of sitar, the first ever on a pop album), and the great acoustic tunes "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Yesterday"  seal the deal for me.

Edited by The Dark Elf - September 27 2011 at 11:31

thehallway wrote: Sorry to create challenge you in parallel threads, but there is no sitar on 'Hide Your Love Away'!

ROFL! No, there isn't! I am discussing Beatles in another forum, and it seems I am Beatled out. I was referring to "Norwegian Wood" elsewhere, and somehow I managed to transpose sitar from one song to another. I guess since both "Hide Your Love Away" and "Norwegian Wood" were definitely influenced by Dylan, I crossbred discussions.

A Hard Day's Night Wins