The Beatles - Please Please Me
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Free Music Notes for Please Please Me
Free Music Review: The Beatles First - A Must Have
Hit: 4 Stars
The Beatles first album boasts strong Lennon/McCartney tunes, such as its hit title track, "Please, Please Me," as well as "I Saw Her Standing There," and "Love Me Do." It also shows the Beatles' ability (and early tendency) to do covers such as "Chains" by Carole King and Gerry Goffen.
The album was rush-released by EMI in 1963. In fact, the whole album was recorded in a famous one-day session. The final track recorded during this session was "Twist and Shout," by Phil Medley and Bert Russell, a favorite Beatles cover from their Hamburg and Liverpool nightclub days. On this album, "Twist and Shout" was recorded in a single take with Lennon already suffering from a sore throat after eleven consecutive hours of recording. This apparent weakness actually helped enhance the edgy sound of Lennon's lead vocals on this track.
Free Music Review: The explosion still hasn't faded...
Hit: 5 Stars
Significant moments in history always fog hindsight. With a swift machete-chop they bisect an era into mutually exclusive units of "before" and "after." People firmly situated in the "after" of such a Krakatoa event must contort their brains to conceive of life "before" that historical line was etched. For instance, those born long after the Viking raid of Beatlemania probably have trouble conceiving of pop music culture before the Fab Four's inexorable arrival. After all, those deities of the 1960s mainstream were once nobodies. They once could traipse down the street without being hogpiled by screaming flailing fans. Before 1963 few wanted pieces of their clothing, their autographs, thier underwear, or even less mentionable things. "Please Please Me," their first album, changed that with a zap. Thousands of flat vinyl cylinders whirling at 33 1/3 sliced into the conscious of a generation. And then nothing seemed the same in the eternal "after." The "before" became, and remains, almost incomprehensible.
People across the ocean from Her Majesty's domain hadn't yet felt the tremors. They would soon be bowled over, but "Please Please Me" remained a British phenomenon even after the Ed Sullivan Show. Americans instead received a hybrid album, called "Meet The Beatles," made up of singles and other bits. In fact, all of the songs on their first British album weren't released in the U.S. until 1965 with "The Early Beatles." Even in the LP era, "Please Please Me" remained difficult, but not impossible, to find in the United States. The CD releases of the 1980s forever corrected this piece of marketing butchery. Now we're all on the same page.
This album has a naked and raw sound compared with their subsequent releases. Going back again to that murky time when they were relatively unknown, Parlophone, their British label, had no reason to see cascading dollar signs under those Counsin Itt moptops. To the suits, this was just another band riding the industry conveyor belt. On a budget for the first and last time, the group recorded the entire album, with George Martin behind the glass, live in a single breakneck session at Abbey Road. No overdubs. No studio tricks. They played No. 2 Studio like they played the Cavern Club. As such, this album captures the young band's live sound better than any known recording. Their energy and skill is undeniable. The frenzy that followed remains somewhat understandable.
From this innocent beginning The Beatles would revolutionize the music and recording industries. Going forward, the band had progressively more control over the studio recordings and even over the album art. This cover, taken at EMI's Manchester Square offices, remains their only cover that was somebody else's idea. Six years later, a cosmic eyeblink, they would reprise it for an unused "Let it Be" cover before fading into legend (the picture ended up on the cover of the 1967-1970 "Blue" album). "Please Please Me" stands on that historic threshold dividing the eras of "before Beatles" and "after Beatles." Something made them different. Something about them spoke, and continues to speak, to millions. Those of us forever stuck in the amber of the "after" will continue to reap the benefits of the changes they made while pondering just how they pulled it off. It all started with a frenetic countdown.
Free Music Review: Please Please Me rocks!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an album of early Beatles songs and is a different compilation than was available in America at the time it was released. Some were released here on "Introducing The Beatles" on the Vee-Jay lable and some on "The Beatles Second Album" on the Capital lable as I recall. They would take the British Parlophone releases which had more songs and split them up into different contents here so they had more albums to sell. There are some of the early hits here and others that didn't get deserved airplay like "Misery" and "Ask Me Why". But they had so many great songs coming out that the radio programmers probably didn't know what to do! And back in those days they spun single 45's not album tracks.Free Music Review: Pure rock and roll heaven!
Hit: 5 Stars
This Cd stays in my car always! John's voice gives me chills just like he did in the 60's! I was lucky enough to see the Beatles sing in 1966 in Memphis, and it was amazing. My favorites are "No Reply" and "I'm a Loser".This CD shows pure raw talent that was created by these 4 geniuses! It always lifts my mood.Free Music Review: Average
Hit: 3 Stars
As much as it pains me to call a Beatle record average (they're my favorite band ever), that word sums up Please Please Me pretty well. Don't get me wrong, it has its moments - album-opener I Saw Her Standing There is certainly one; Ringo's showcase Boys is a blast, one of my favorite Ringo-sung tunes; the justly legendary title track; Love Me Do (the group's first #1 hit in America) and especially the high-energy cover of Twist And Shout. But there are one too many weak tracks. For one, A Taste of Honey is arguably the worst thing the Beatles ever did, not counting Revolution #9 - in the Beatles' defense, they hated it, it went as far as John singing "A waste of money" instead of the title phrase in concert. The rest is middle-of-the-road pop. It's inviting, quick, and catchy as hell, but doesn't nearly measure up to the high standards the later records set. I guess I made a mistake by listening to this after the late '60's classics. So you won't miss your $15 if you pick it up, but don't expect Abbey Road.