The Beatles - Past Masters, Vol. 1
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Free Music Notes for Past Masters, Vol. 1
Free Music Review: A must have!
Hit: 4 Stars
It brings back so many memories! It is great to have all of these songs in one collection. I recommend it to any Beatle lover.Free Music Review: Like the 2nd, an essential
Hit: 5 Stars
Some of the Beatles' best cuts were regulated to non-LP b-sides (or at least are now ever since the US albums were dropped from the market in favor of the UK ones), and the best of those (other than Rain and Revolution, found on Volume 2) can be found here: This Boy is a superb, R&B-laced original; She's a Woman, a brilliant rockabilly/Elvis throwback (later covered quite nicely by Jeff Beck); I'm Down is relentless rock 'n' roll. You also get a straight reissue of the Long Tall Sally EP: Long Tall Sally itself and I Call Your Name are two bare essentials, both charged-up, three-chord rock with Lennon's powerful vocals. The other two tracks from that EP (Slow Down, with an interesting guitar solo; Matchbox) are nothing special but coulda been worse. Then there are the classic #1's from the early days that didn't make it onto an LP: From Me to You; She Loves You; I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Feel Fine are presented in their original versions here, while Love Me Do is an alternate version with Ringo (rather than a session drummer) drumming, though it isn't much different than the original, that's no real reason to complain. Bad Boy is an awesome rocker (from the US-only Beatles VI, which doesn't exist on CD unless you shell out $60 for The Capitol Albums, Volume 2) that didn't deserve to disappear. The German-language versions of She Loves You and I Want to Hold Your Hand may seem like padding, but they're fun and interesting, though certainly not perfect or the originals: the only song that doesn't do the job for me is Yes It Is, one of their weakest.
The only way to get several of these tracks other than buying this is through The Capitol Albums boxed sets. So if you don't feel like spending $60 or more, go here for some great rare Beatles!
Why don't the Rolling Stones or the Who have collections like these? Both bands recorded some quality single-only material that is now fairly hard to find, except through greatest-hits albums.
Free Music Review: Fills in the void created when these singles were omitted from the original LPs
Hit: 5 Stars
It's well-known that The Beatles ruled the charts for the majority of the 60s and the record company knew the value of their prizes when they released songs as singles (never putting them on LPs), split albums into EPs and releasing different versions of the same album (as was the case with "Revolver," and the beginning of the song "Help!" among many examples).
The two "Past Masters" CDs, to me, fill the void one might feel was created by the omission of the singles from the LPs. The fact that singles such as "Love Me Do," "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," and "She Loves You" were omitted from LPs in the first place seems a bit weird to me - someone born after The Beatles long split up (at least on paper, anyway).
But just thinking about John and Paul cranking out more timeless and poignant songs (separately and together) as opposed to insisting the singles be put on the albums attests to the fact that they are the greatest songwriters of the modern era of music.
Both "Past Masters" are essentials to a Beatles collection. - Donna Di Giacomo
Free Music Review: There are better and more interesting samplings
Hit: 4 Stars
These tracks appear to be the A and B sides of 45 rpm and some 33 1/3 rpm LP records that I have tucked away in my closet. Volume One is a very good cross section of The Beatles hits early in their career, along with songs that are (were) rarely heard on the radio, particularly Matchbox (sung by Ringo) which was originally recorded by Carl Perkins, a country rock-a-billy or country rock artist. Yes It Is, is a soulful love song sung (and probably written) by John Lennon. Unique to The Beatles are their early appearances in a night club in Hamburg, Germany thus the two tracks sung in German. What you hear and hopefully enjoy while listening to this CD, is the energy, warmth, passion and diversity that John, George, Paul and Ringo put into each song. There are better, less well known, cuts that show a greater diversity of the Fab Four. But Volume One is a good place to start for a neophyte "The Beatles" fan. Free Music Review: Go to the barbershop and get that hair cut off your head.
Hit: 4 Stars
This CD contains non-LP songs recorded by the Beatles between September 1962 and July 1965. That is to say, songs that are not available on their "regular" album CDs. These are mostly songs that were released as singles (a-sides and b-sides). Of course, any song that was released by the Beatles as a single must have been great. But the German language versions of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" aren't that great, although they are interesting oddities. But any CD that includes "From Me to You", "I Feel Fine" and "She's a Woman" is a must get for Beatles fans.