The Beatles - Please Please Me
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Free Music Notes for Please Please Me
Free Music Review: Here It Began
Hit: 4 Stars
It is fitting that the first Beatles album to be released in the United Kingdom begins with a Paul McCartney and John Lennon penned song, "I Saw Her Standing There." This song led the remaining 14 and helped keep this album atop the British charts for a record 30 weeks, a record that I believe still stands. Ironically, this album was toppled by "With the Beatles." This song is one of the rockers from this album that is raw, and yet very enjoyable.
The second song begins in a manner similar to some other British rock groups of the time. "Misery" has harmonies and styles that are a bit more derivative than most of the other music on this album. This song also features a brief but clearly noticeable piano, which is uncharacteristic of the typical Beatles sound in their early years.
The third song is relatively unremarkable. "Anna (Go to Him)" contains some Beatles elements, but is otherwise a throwaway song. The third song was written by Gerald Goffin and Carole King. "Chains" is a relatively unsophisticated pop song that is below average for this album. In yet another irony, Goffin and King also wrote a number of songs for the Monkees, including hits. "Boys" was also written by other artists, and is yet another unremarkable pop song. The next song is "Ask Me Why," which was written by McCartney and Lennon and contains many of the features that makes Beatles songs so enjoyable, though it is difficult to precisely define what that feature is. Later in the album is "Baby It's You," which sounds like a 50s leftover. "A Taste of Honey" is uncharacteristic for the Beatles, sounding like a completely different group. The latter two songs were covers.
The seventh song is one of the standout songs on this CD. "Please Please Me" is wonderfully written and performed. A harmonica is effectively used to provide a unique sound to this pop love song. The effective use of guitars and vocals make this short (2:03) song feel longer and more complex. The first time this song was released it went no where. The second time the song went to #3. This song remains a classic rock standard.
The next song is yet another of those songs that helped define the Beatles. "Love Me Do" is a simple love song that uses vocals and a harmonica to expand the depth of the music. The singable lyrics and catchy pop hooks made this song a sure winner and another classic in the Beatles catalog, reaching #1 in the charts.
Many groups struggle to have even a single great song. The Beatles had several excellent songs on this album. "P.S. I Love You" was a wonderful song that was easily better than most of the pop of the era. This song could have been a hit single had it been released in the U.S.
"Do You Want to Know a Secret" achieved #2 or #3, depending on the chart. This song is relatively simple, but pretty. This song is also very short at just under two minutes. Showing that even McCartney and Lennon had clunkers is "There's a Place." I find it difficult to recommend this song. The vocals sound strained, and the music is neither innovative nor remarkable.
This CD closes with "Twist and Shout." This song reached #2 or #1, depending on the chart. A rarity for the covers on this CD, this song is well done and does the Isley Brothers credit. The Beatles make it their own with a rendition that makes this song one of a Beatles classic.
The initial impression you get from hearing this CD is that the music is relatively unrefined. You can also get the impression that this was a group of energetic young guys with far more talent than skill. The most amazing thing is to listen to the evolution of the Beatles from this 1963 release to "Rubber Soul," "Revolver," and "Sgt. Pepper." It is incredible how quickly this group matured from a talented group of boys to the most influential rock group in history.
The Beatles actually had a bit of a rough start before their music became popular, but once it did it was unstoppable. Even those singles released from this early album were competing with each other on the charts, which would continue for the next few years as Beatlemania swept the country, and then the world.
Free Music Review: Beatles were the best live band in Britain
Hit: 5 Stars
This is The Beatles' first album, and shows what the prior four years of gigging can do for a band with an encyclopedic knowledge of American pop and rock n' roll.
But this is not just any band-- this is the newest version, with the final piece of the miraculous puzzle in place: I mean Ringo Starr, of course, who was the best drummer in Liverpool at the time.
He was the one primarily responsible for putting the "beat" in The Beatles, and having him at last made The Beatles ready for the big time. As it was, his swinging and driving drumming, those funky tom tom rolls, and that splashy cymbal work made the band's early music BREATHE with energy, character, excitement.
George Martin basically tried to record the club act as honestly as possible, but even then Martin was working magic in terms of editing-- George's solo on "I Saw Her Standing There" is a patch job of several different takes.
And on this opening number we already hear something new and different: John's modal harmony under Paul's melody-- something Everly-esque but different and darker. This kind of intertwined line shows up throughout their career, most notably in "If I Fell" and "Hey Jude". We also hear a tight band with each member propelling the other along, Paul's staccato bass synching up with Ringo's propulsive drumming, and John playing rhythm guitar in the upper register like a whirligig trying to lift the song off the ground.
On "Misery" we are introduced to the primal/sexual rock howl of John, "hampered" by a nasty head cold but carrying on with cough lozenges and cigarettes. This time Paul harmonizes above John in a more conventional manner, and we hear how the timbres of John and Paul's voices mesh together so well. On the fadeout the falsetto "la-la"s give us that Lennon humor.
"Anna" shows that the band were real students of American music, always looking for obscure B-sides to exploit and show how they have mastered and made their own such material. This song is a showcase for John. His voice is one of the great instruments of rock n' roll as well as rock n' soul, and he is at this point a far more expressive, sexy, and sincere singer than Paul.
"Chains" is another cover that shows how nicely the three singers can harmonize at this early stage, and George handles the lead vocal with a kind of one-off casualness that is endearing. Imagine having John and Paul as your backing vocals!
"Boys" is a great rocker and features a fun vocal by Ringo with backing vocals by John and Paul, whose joyousness is infectious.
"Ask Me Why" is a fun little song, with tight three-part harmony and a campy John extending his "why", "you", and "true" with playful "woo-woo-woo"s.
"Please Please Me" was their first hit single and was actually recorded a few months earlier. The song's call and response climb-up is erotic and infectious, Paul's bass playing is bouncy and chugging all at once, Ringo's drumming is swinging, and John's voice swoops and soars on the refrain around the other vocals in such a way that it sounds like more than two voices. David Crosby must have picked up some tips from Lennon on this song when he formed The Byrds.
"Love Me Do" is lovely and simple yet has a deceptively complex harmony. I feel it shows that John and Paul were mates and really cared for each other, and its echoes can be heard all the way to "Two of Us" on their final album, "Let It Be".
"P.S. I Love You" is a nice solo vocal showcase for Paul, and is Elvis-like in concept but is all Paul in terms of sweetness and romance. This is the kind of innocent and non-threatening element that made teeny-boppers develop mad crushes.
"Baby It's You" is another cover song that exceeds the original version by The Shirelles. It exceeds because of John's vocal once again, at turns intimate and passionate. Paul and George do a great job backing him.
"Do You Want to Know A Secret?" is another song by Lennon/McCartney written for George, and George makes no effort to hide his Liverpudlian accent on words such as "well" and "tell," and the result is a performance of great charm. It's to his credit that George avoids sounding saccharine and cloying all at once with such a teeny-bopperish tune. Imagine if this song were sung by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits. Yikes!
"A Taste of Honey" is probably the only "mistake" on this album. Why include an American show tune? I find it implausible that John, George or Ringo would have volunteered this song. That said, John does a nice job once again harmonizing underneath Paul, keeping the song a safe distance from cutesy. "Honey" indeed.
"There's A Place" is a truly excellent song about youthful confusion and angst around an infatuation that conveys much lyrically in very few words. Yet somehow a certain "old-soul" aspect adds maturity and depth to the song. The passion and understanding that John and Paul bring to the words is palpable, and adding George in on the repeated last line is a bonus. Greatness, and it could very well have served as a fitting end to this album but for...
"Twist and Shout" is a perfect coda to the album, a perfect bookend to "Saw Her Standing There", and a perfect first take which propels the whole album into the stratosphere. As with "Baby It's You" it supercedes the original in its directness and power. Ringo locks in to the perfect "twist" tempo. Everyone cherishes this song and it establishes John's place as one of rock's greatest singers. Listen for the "cluck" that Paul must have added at the very end, a little touch that echoes down and expands out to his "Her Majesty" on Abbey Road.
People who claim that this first album is not as great as their later work miss the point entirely-- this is not an "album" so much as England's best LIVE rock 'n roll band (at the time) captured in all their glory on tape. They did not become a STUDIO band until quite a while later.
Free Music Review: Awsome Beatles
Hit: 5 Stars
My son who is 12 and born 31 years after its release thinks that this is the best Beatle album.He likes to play it,and it proves to me that anyone from any genneration can like The Beatles music.Yeah ok,he has me to brain wash him,but you get no arguments from him.
Amazingly this album was recorded in a day due to a busy scedule at the record company.And who were these guys anyway,thinking they are going to be famous.
They had been rejected from alot of record labels,and their new drummer Ringo had just replaced Pete Best.
They may have been new to the recording industry but they had been playing pubs and clubs for years.So they could play,not like these manufactured bands of today.They played real instruments.And after a long day of recording they got to the song Twist And Shout,and Johns voice was so croaky,but it seemed to fit into the song well.
You wont find a bad song on this album.Its rock and roll at its very best.
Free Music Review: Debut Album
Hit: 1 Stars
That means it's not good. 2 good songs and that's it.
The 60s are over.
Free Music Review: You say you want a revolution?
Hit: 3 Stars
To truly appreciate the Beatles for who they are in the canon of music history, you have to consider that prior to this album singers and songwriters were very rarely the same people. Accomplished singing legends like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley almost never wrote the tunes they sang. It was NOT a badge of irrelevance to be "just" an interpreter of song. For better or worse, that all changed shortly after the Fabs burst onto the scene.
From this first album, you only see the seeds of the shift: 8 of the 14 tracks here are "Lennon/McCartney" and several of them are fairly unremarkable tunes that don't really hint at what either John or Paul would become (to say nothing of George).
That said, the opening track does make it plain that history is about to change. That "1,2,3,fah!" that bursts out of the speakers is nothing short of incendiary..notice to the old guard that there's a new sheriff in town.
HIGHLIGHTS:
"I Saw Her Standing There" has proven durable enough to survive a trampling by 80s teen popper Tiffany and an 80s rewrite (albeit a good one) by 80s rocker Joan Jett (that's really all "I Love Rock and Roll" is..). It still resonates more than 40 years later. Other standouts are the title tune with its building harmonies on the "C'mon..." bridge, the almost bossa nova shuffle of "P.S. I Love You" (the idea of trading lead vocals between the group in unison and Paul was also a relatively new idea at the time), and the decent "Do You Want to Know a Secret?". If those aren't enough, they manage to place another all-time rock classic into the debut with John's tonsil-shredding cover of "Twist and Shout" that accomplishes the rare distinction of superseding the original (sorry, Isley Brothers fans..)
LOWS:
It's obvious that the Fabs owed a big debt to 60s girls groups ("Chains") and R&B("Anna","Boys","Baby it's You") but their versions reveal themselves as pallid garage band knockoffs of the "real thing". Show tune "A Taste of Honey" is also an ill fit for the group.
BOTTOM LINE:
If you somehow have no idea who the Beatles are, don't start here to understand them. This is really only necessary to complete a collection, or to understand their beginnings. If you're looking for "suit era" Beatles music, the better stuff was still to come.
3 1/2 stars