WITH THE BEATLES

The Beatles recorded plenty of cover songs, but I think of With the Beatles as their "covers album." In terms of original compositions, it's one of their weakest; John Lennon's "It Won't Be Long" and Paul McCartney's "All My Loving" are OK, but there was nothing like a "She Loves You" or "I Want to Hold Your Hand" here. But what is here is pretty great, including some superb Motown re-makes sung by Lennon: the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman," Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)," and the Miracles' "You Really Got a Hold on Me," on which he duets with George Harrison. Among the three other cover songs, Harrison turns in a nice performance of Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven."

In terms of performance, With the Beatles is one of Lennon's strongest outings, and as much as any LP, this one could have been billed as "John & the Beatles." This is also true of the group's original compositions; it's clear that by the end of 1963, John Lennon was doing most of the proverbial heavy lifting in the songwriting department. It's true that at this early date, both he and McCartney were still contributing to many songs credited to "Lennon-McCartney;" for example, Lennon was apparently not the sole writer of "It Won't Be Long." It's also true that Harrison wrote "Don't Bother Me," meaning that just seven of the fourteen tunes here were written by Lennon and/or McCartney. Nonetheless we can hear the dynamic shifting in Lennon's favor on With the Beatles.

Compared to Please Please Me, With the Beatles also represents an upgrade in sound quality. Although the two LPs were recorded during the same year (the former on February 11, the latter between July and October), With the Beatles has better sound separation (for what it's worth, I'm listening to the 2009 EMI remaster of Please Please Me and the original (1987) CD issue of With the Beatles). There are also more overdubs (e.g., Lennon's harmonica on "Little Child"), signaling a departure, however slight, from the "live" sound of their prior LP.

The group's second album, With the Beatles was released just six months after their promising debut. It's a better album in many respects, but the Beatles' songwriting here fails to match that of Please Please Me. Nonetheless, another good LP.