The Beatles
Beatles 101 - Help! & Rubber Soul
March 08, 2010
This post is in
reference to the Beatles 101 class I’m teaching at
the Sanctuary
in Greensboro,
NC. Please click here
to read the
introductory blog, if you’d like to know more
about the course and why I’m teaching it.
The past three weeks in Beatlesland have been busy. So busy that I haven’t posted the latest goings-on.
Three weeks ago, the class opted to explore Help!, the fifth studio album from the Beatles, in a slightly different manner. Rather than meet in our usual location for our usual discussion format, we opted to meet at the Garrigan house for a viewing of the movie (of the same name).
If you are familiar with the Beatles’ music (who isn’t) you may not be familiar with the two Richard Lester directed films. The first, A Hard Day’s Night, offered a ground breaking, all-original Lennon/McCartney soundtrack. Help! had a similar soundtrack, although it contained two cover songs as well as a near solo effort from McCartney...his unforgettable and unmistakable “Yesterday.”
Like A Hard Day’s Night, Help! contained seven Beatles performances that were connected by some kind of loose narrative. While AHDN resembled a documentary, Help! was pure inanity--kind of funny, kind of not, all a little on the goofy side.
The general consensus of the group was that Help! was a great album but a lack luster movie. Lennon’s title track is one of the Beatles best known songs. “I Need You” is easily one of Harrison’s best compositions, ever. McCartney’s offerings are solid.
The class took a recess the following week, but reconvened to discuss Rubber Soul, the fab-four’s sixth studio album.
It’s easy to mark the beginning of a career. Please Please Me was a great introduction to the Beatles. Let It Be, while not recorded last, marked the end of the four’s tenure. With this clear beginning and ending, there is a clear progression over their time together. Rubber Soul signals the end of the beginning.
Songs like “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” and “In My Life” are absolutely breathtaking. It surprised me to learn that this December 1965 release wasn’t begun until mid-October of 1965. Meaning, there wasn’t a lot of time to think about the record. Most of the album was written very fast and executed in the moment. Brilliant.
As far as complete albums go, Rubber Soul is, in my opinion, the best offering from the Beatles catalog. It echoes all of the early 60’s pop mentality that worked. Also, it foreshadows where these guys are headed. The sitar on “Norwegian Wood” is telling as is the piano solo on “In My Life.” There might be better individual songs on other recordings, but there really isn’t a weak moment on Rubber Soul.
Revolver, their eighth album, is often regarded as a “part 2” to Rubber Soul. I look forward to our discussion this coming week.
The past three weeks in Beatlesland have been busy. So busy that I haven’t posted the latest goings-on.
Three weeks ago, the class opted to explore Help!, the fifth studio album from the Beatles, in a slightly different manner. Rather than meet in our usual location for our usual discussion format, we opted to meet at the Garrigan house for a viewing of the movie (of the same name).
If you are familiar with the Beatles’ music (who isn’t) you may not be familiar with the two Richard Lester directed films. The first, A Hard Day’s Night, offered a ground breaking, all-original Lennon/McCartney soundtrack. Help! had a similar soundtrack, although it contained two cover songs as well as a near solo effort from McCartney...his unforgettable and unmistakable “Yesterday.”
Like A Hard Day’s Night, Help! contained seven Beatles performances that were connected by some kind of loose narrative. While AHDN resembled a documentary, Help! was pure inanity--kind of funny, kind of not, all a little on the goofy side.
The general consensus of the group was that Help! was a great album but a lack luster movie. Lennon’s title track is one of the Beatles best known songs. “I Need You” is easily one of Harrison’s best compositions, ever. McCartney’s offerings are solid.
The class took a recess the following week, but reconvened to discuss Rubber Soul, the fab-four’s sixth studio album.
It’s easy to mark the beginning of a career. Please Please Me was a great introduction to the Beatles. Let It Be, while not recorded last, marked the end of the four’s tenure. With this clear beginning and ending, there is a clear progression over their time together. Rubber Soul signals the end of the beginning.
Songs like “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” and “In My Life” are absolutely breathtaking. It surprised me to learn that this December 1965 release wasn’t begun until mid-October of 1965. Meaning, there wasn’t a lot of time to think about the record. Most of the album was written very fast and executed in the moment. Brilliant.
As far as complete albums go, Rubber Soul is, in my opinion, the best offering from the Beatles catalog. It echoes all of the early 60’s pop mentality that worked. Also, it foreshadows where these guys are headed. The sitar on “Norwegian Wood” is telling as is the piano solo on “In My Life.” There might be better individual songs on other recordings, but there really isn’t a weak moment on Rubber Soul.
Revolver, their eighth album, is often regarded as a “part 2” to Rubber Soul. I look forward to our discussion this coming week.
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Beatles 101 - Beatles For Sale
February 14, 2010
This post is in
reference to the Beatles 101 class I’m teaching at
the Sanctuary
in Greensboro,
NC. Please click here
to read the
introductory blog, if you’d like to know more
about the course and why I’m teaching it.
I guess after the powerhouse that was A Hard Day’s Night, virtually anything the Beatles would release wouldn’t measure up to someone’s standard. Beatles For Sale suffers from a perceptual malaise, although, on a completely intrinsic level, it’s amazing in its own right--if you haven’t guessed, it’s also one of my favorite albums by the fab four.
Our discussion was lively and informative. Most who participated in our weekly discussion really loved the album. It’s surprising to me that, still, many critics who are also die-hard fans of the Beats, just don’t get this album.
Beatles For Sale, and its co-incident US singles “I Feel Fine” and “Eight Days A Week,” offer many firsts. For one, “Eight Days A Week” is the first commercial recording to feature a “fade in” at the beginning. Much of this novelty is lost in translation from vinyl to mp3. There’s something magical about starting off side 2 to a record with a fade-in. Secondly, “I Feel Fine” is the first commercial recording to feature “feed back” in its intro.
The album cover is striking. Much different from the smiling faces on Please Please Me, or the stoic royalty of With The Beatles, Beatles For Sale portrays a disturbed and tired Beatles standing in the bleak cold of winter. The music is also much darker with selections like “No Reply,” “I’m A Loser” and “Baby’s In Black,” as if the “hand holding” implied from earlier singles just didn’t workout somehow.
The cover song selection is a bit different, too. Still present are the one-take rockers: “Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey,” “Rock And Roll Music,” and “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby.” New to the fold are relatively obscure songs but favorites to the four: “Mr. Moonlight” and “Words Of Love.”
The Lennon/McCartney relationship on Beatles For Sale approaches more of a 50/50 deal. John writes 6 of the 10 originals (including the singles). Paul pens 4 (although “I’ll Follow The Sun” is a leftover from Paul’s youth, something he’ll repeat again with “When I’m Sixty-Four” on Sgt. Pepper’s). The singing is just about shared. George and Ringo both sing one song.
The studio innovations are relevant. The feedback on “I Feel Fine” went on to inspire schools of guitarists and musicians. The way the Hammond Organ is used on “Mr. Moonlight” foreshadows studio experimentation. The timpani on “Every Little Thing” does the same.
All in all, the discussion was quite splendid. The video clips we watched from the Hollywood Bowl performance as well as a few European shows in 1964 indicate Lennon’s unraveling, to some extent. It’s no surprise that the title of the next Beatles album would be Help!
I guess after the powerhouse that was A Hard Day’s Night, virtually anything the Beatles would release wouldn’t measure up to someone’s standard. Beatles For Sale suffers from a perceptual malaise, although, on a completely intrinsic level, it’s amazing in its own right--if you haven’t guessed, it’s also one of my favorite albums by the fab four.
Our discussion was lively and informative. Most who participated in our weekly discussion really loved the album. It’s surprising to me that, still, many critics who are also die-hard fans of the Beats, just don’t get this album.
Beatles For Sale, and its co-incident US singles “I Feel Fine” and “Eight Days A Week,” offer many firsts. For one, “Eight Days A Week” is the first commercial recording to feature a “fade in” at the beginning. Much of this novelty is lost in translation from vinyl to mp3. There’s something magical about starting off side 2 to a record with a fade-in. Secondly, “I Feel Fine” is the first commercial recording to feature “feed back” in its intro.
The album cover is striking. Much different from the smiling faces on Please Please Me, or the stoic royalty of With The Beatles, Beatles For Sale portrays a disturbed and tired Beatles standing in the bleak cold of winter. The music is also much darker with selections like “No Reply,” “I’m A Loser” and “Baby’s In Black,” as if the “hand holding” implied from earlier singles just didn’t workout somehow.
The cover song selection is a bit different, too. Still present are the one-take rockers: “Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey,” “Rock And Roll Music,” and “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby.” New to the fold are relatively obscure songs but favorites to the four: “Mr. Moonlight” and “Words Of Love.”
The Lennon/McCartney relationship on Beatles For Sale approaches more of a 50/50 deal. John writes 6 of the 10 originals (including the singles). Paul pens 4 (although “I’ll Follow The Sun” is a leftover from Paul’s youth, something he’ll repeat again with “When I’m Sixty-Four” on Sgt. Pepper’s). The singing is just about shared. George and Ringo both sing one song.
The studio innovations are relevant. The feedback on “I Feel Fine” went on to inspire schools of guitarists and musicians. The way the Hammond Organ is used on “Mr. Moonlight” foreshadows studio experimentation. The timpani on “Every Little Thing” does the same.
All in all, the discussion was quite splendid. The video clips we watched from the Hollywood Bowl performance as well as a few European shows in 1964 indicate Lennon’s unraveling, to some extent. It’s no surprise that the title of the next Beatles album would be Help!
Beatles 101 - A Hard Day's Night
February 08, 2010
This post is in
reference to the Beatles 101 class I’m teaching at
the Sanctuary
in Greensboro,
NC. Please click here
to read the
introductory blog, if you’d like to know more
about the course and why I’m teaching it.
This week’s discussion around A Hard Day’s Night was the best yet. What an amazing album! With thirteen new songs, the band had doubled it’s classics with home-runs like “If I Fell,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and the title track.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this album. I had forgotten that among Beatles albums, A Hard Day’s Night is the only one that contains just Lennon/McCartney compositions. The other three from the early period each contain six cover songs, perhaps as some sort of workable formula. Later albums would contain a few songs written by Harrison and Starr.
The historical context for A Hard Day’s Night is that it comes at the heels of the first Beatles visit to US soil. When its counterpart film began production in March of 1964, the band submitted a few new songs to help set the mood for the project. Also, President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated not even a year before the album came out.
Ethnographically, the album cover really doesn’t have much to offer. Other than a possible homage to the rapid fire photographs that were shot of the Beatles throughout their visit, the little pictures of each band member aren’t that interesting. Of the 12 albums, this cover might be the least bit of note. Song-wise, the band still sings of love & relationships.
In looking at the data, it’s surprising that John dominates both the writing and singing on A Hard Day’s Night. Some of the songs have a dynamic vocal interchange between John and Paul--this masks some of the Lennon domination on A Hard Day’s Night. Most critics chalk this up to a mere prolific period of John, nothing more, nothing less. The vocal doubling and close harmony on songs like “If I Fell” and “I’ll Be Back” are simply breathtaking...some of the best singing in the Beatles catalog.
Technologically, this album marked the entrance of the 12-string electric guitar, heard resoundingly on the opening track’s unforgettable start. Harrison was an innovator in this regard. After this record, other bands started to use the 12-string 360 Rickenbacker guitar. Also, this being the band’s first 4 track album, the stereo mixes are balanced and full.
Every album seems to offer some Ringo controversy. Not only is this one of the only albums in which Ringo didn’t have a vocal lead, it is rumored that he may not have played on portions of “Can’t Buy Me Love.” A mysterious, anonymous receipt from EMI Recording was uncovered in 1991 to pay for drumming overdubs on a day in which Ringo was shooting A Hard Day’s Night. Whether or not the truth is ever known, A Hard Day’s Night seems like a giant leap forward for one of history’s greatest bands.
This week’s discussion around A Hard Day’s Night was the best yet. What an amazing album! With thirteen new songs, the band had doubled it’s classics with home-runs like “If I Fell,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and the title track.
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this album. I had forgotten that among Beatles albums, A Hard Day’s Night is the only one that contains just Lennon/McCartney compositions. The other three from the early period each contain six cover songs, perhaps as some sort of workable formula. Later albums would contain a few songs written by Harrison and Starr.
The historical context for A Hard Day’s Night is that it comes at the heels of the first Beatles visit to US soil. When its counterpart film began production in March of 1964, the band submitted a few new songs to help set the mood for the project. Also, President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated not even a year before the album came out.
Ethnographically, the album cover really doesn’t have much to offer. Other than a possible homage to the rapid fire photographs that were shot of the Beatles throughout their visit, the little pictures of each band member aren’t that interesting. Of the 12 albums, this cover might be the least bit of note. Song-wise, the band still sings of love & relationships.
In looking at the data, it’s surprising that John dominates both the writing and singing on A Hard Day’s Night. Some of the songs have a dynamic vocal interchange between John and Paul--this masks some of the Lennon domination on A Hard Day’s Night. Most critics chalk this up to a mere prolific period of John, nothing more, nothing less. The vocal doubling and close harmony on songs like “If I Fell” and “I’ll Be Back” are simply breathtaking...some of the best singing in the Beatles catalog.
Technologically, this album marked the entrance of the 12-string electric guitar, heard resoundingly on the opening track’s unforgettable start. Harrison was an innovator in this regard. After this record, other bands started to use the 12-string 360 Rickenbacker guitar. Also, this being the band’s first 4 track album, the stereo mixes are balanced and full.
Every album seems to offer some Ringo controversy. Not only is this one of the only albums in which Ringo didn’t have a vocal lead, it is rumored that he may not have played on portions of “Can’t Buy Me Love.” A mysterious, anonymous receipt from EMI Recording was uncovered in 1991 to pay for drumming overdubs on a day in which Ringo was shooting A Hard Day’s Night. Whether or not the truth is ever known, A Hard Day’s Night seems like a giant leap forward for one of history’s greatest bands.
Beatles 101 - With The Beatles
February 01, 2010
This post is in
reference to the Beatles 101 class I’m teaching at
the Sanctuary
in Greensboro,
NC. Please click here
to read the
introductory blog, if you’d like to know more
about the course and why I’m teaching it.
Our With The Beatles discussion afforded new perspectives. For most, the album wasn’t a favorite. Personally, I like the complexity of the lead off track, “It Won’t Be Long.” Also, “All My Loving” ranks among one of McCartney’s best compositions...ever.
For where the Beatles were in 1963, With The Beatles seems to have been “where the music had to go,” (according to Mark Hertsgaard, a leading Beatles historian). With three back to back #1 songs in the UK--“Please Please Me,” “From Me To You,” and “She Loves You”--this second album has a tenacious let’s-try-it-again factor to it. In so many ways, With The Beatles plays like the sequel to Please Please Me.
Whatever our intra-group critique may have been, what the Beatles did worked. Soon after WTB was released in late November of 1963, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” skyrocketed to #1 on the US charts. The Beatles had arrived. Their second LP served as a great commercial companion to this very successful single.
Like Please Please Me, WTB offers 6 cover songs. Unlike its predecessor, one of the songs comes not from America’s R & B canon, but rather from Broadway. “Till There Was You,” Meredith Willson’s elegant ballad, would be the only show-tune song in the Beatles repertoire. And, like PPM most of the songs are about love or troubled relationships. A good many of them concern long-distance relationships, which may have been because of their rigorous touring schedule in 1963. “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Money (That’s What I Want)” are thematic departures, but still powerhouses in their own right.
John continues to dominate the writing on With The Beatles. He also sings half of the songs. Paul yields his share of the singing and writing to make room for George’s writing debut “Don’t Bother Me.” Ringo’s vocal is stunning--a brilliant rendering of the Lennon/McCartney rocker “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
Recording technology was fairly the same at the end of 1963 as it was at the beginning. Save a bongo overdub and a slide on a Hammond Organ, most of the extra instruments on With The Beatles stick to what worked: piano, harmonica, and percussion. The most notable exception in many of the songs is double-tracked vocals. Perhaps because of the short amount of time used in recording the first album, this was eschewed then. The effect is a thicker, more commercial vocal on half of the songs.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” and its b-side “This Boy” were game changers. These recordings were the first to feature four-track recording methods. The previous singles, b-sides, and albums were made using two-track tape. The opening of two more tracks offered more options, which is especially evident in the clarity of the guitar on “I Want To Hold Your Hand” as well as the nearly larger than life quality of the vocal stacking on “This Boy.”
With The Beatles is the only album in the Beatles catalog that repeats, nearly exactly, the formula on the album that preceded it--eight original songs, six covers, the same basic sound, etc... While they would return to this 8/6 formula with Beatles For Sale in 1964, they deliver a different kind of album there.
The Rolling Stones released a version of “I Wanna Be Your Man” and it went to #2 in the UK. I had always thought that the Stones version was released after the Beatles LP version with Ringo’s lead.
Arguments for the mono versions of these albums garner another point. The stereo version of WTB is crisp and clear but distractingly lopsided. Also, the stereo mixes for the entire album were conducted in three hours on October 29, 1963. The mono mixes undoubtedly utilized more studio time and are therefore preferred.
I look forward to next week’s discussion: A Hard Day’s Night and the Long Tall Sally EP.
Our With The Beatles discussion afforded new perspectives. For most, the album wasn’t a favorite. Personally, I like the complexity of the lead off track, “It Won’t Be Long.” Also, “All My Loving” ranks among one of McCartney’s best compositions...ever.
For where the Beatles were in 1963, With The Beatles seems to have been “where the music had to go,” (according to Mark Hertsgaard, a leading Beatles historian). With three back to back #1 songs in the UK--“Please Please Me,” “From Me To You,” and “She Loves You”--this second album has a tenacious let’s-try-it-again factor to it. In so many ways, With The Beatles plays like the sequel to Please Please Me.
Whatever our intra-group critique may have been, what the Beatles did worked. Soon after WTB was released in late November of 1963, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” skyrocketed to #1 on the US charts. The Beatles had arrived. Their second LP served as a great commercial companion to this very successful single.
Like Please Please Me, WTB offers 6 cover songs. Unlike its predecessor, one of the songs comes not from America’s R & B canon, but rather from Broadway. “Till There Was You,” Meredith Willson’s elegant ballad, would be the only show-tune song in the Beatles repertoire. And, like PPM most of the songs are about love or troubled relationships. A good many of them concern long-distance relationships, which may have been because of their rigorous touring schedule in 1963. “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Money (That’s What I Want)” are thematic departures, but still powerhouses in their own right.
John continues to dominate the writing on With The Beatles. He also sings half of the songs. Paul yields his share of the singing and writing to make room for George’s writing debut “Don’t Bother Me.” Ringo’s vocal is stunning--a brilliant rendering of the Lennon/McCartney rocker “I Wanna Be Your Man.”
Recording technology was fairly the same at the end of 1963 as it was at the beginning. Save a bongo overdub and a slide on a Hammond Organ, most of the extra instruments on With The Beatles stick to what worked: piano, harmonica, and percussion. The most notable exception in many of the songs is double-tracked vocals. Perhaps because of the short amount of time used in recording the first album, this was eschewed then. The effect is a thicker, more commercial vocal on half of the songs.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” and its b-side “This Boy” were game changers. These recordings were the first to feature four-track recording methods. The previous singles, b-sides, and albums were made using two-track tape. The opening of two more tracks offered more options, which is especially evident in the clarity of the guitar on “I Want To Hold Your Hand” as well as the nearly larger than life quality of the vocal stacking on “This Boy.”
With The Beatles is the only album in the Beatles catalog that repeats, nearly exactly, the formula on the album that preceded it--eight original songs, six covers, the same basic sound, etc... While they would return to this 8/6 formula with Beatles For Sale in 1964, they deliver a different kind of album there.
The Rolling Stones released a version of “I Wanna Be Your Man” and it went to #2 in the UK. I had always thought that the Stones version was released after the Beatles LP version with Ringo’s lead.
Arguments for the mono versions of these albums garner another point. The stereo version of WTB is crisp and clear but distractingly lopsided. Also, the stereo mixes for the entire album were conducted in three hours on October 29, 1963. The mono mixes undoubtedly utilized more studio time and are therefore preferred.
I look forward to next week’s discussion: A Hard Day’s Night and the Long Tall Sally EP.
Beatles 101 - Please Please Me
January 25, 2010
This post is in
reference to the Beatles 101 class I’m teaching at
the Sanctuary
in Greensboro,
NC. Please click here
to read the
introductory blog, if you’d like to know more
about the course and why I’m teaching it.
The Please Please Me discussion was fruitful, energetic, and elucidating. The experience of listening to and digging into primary sources (the album, studio notes, videos, etc...) raised a wealth of questions and challenged quite a few of my assumptions about this first Beatles LP.
All of the class enjoyed listening to the album this past week. With the exception of “Twist and Shout,” most of the cover songs weren’t favored over the 8 original Lennon/McCarntey compositions. The consensus appreciated the “opening set” quality of this mostly live-in-the-studio recording.
The overarching question we are addressing in these first four weeks is “Why did Beatlemania happen?” Sure, it hit the US in 1964. But why not in 1963 with this first, incredibly cogent and sellable LP? My theory is that the assassination of John F. Kennedy created a cultural depression that the Beatles lifted.
In probing the history books, it appears that 1963 was a period of British isolationism with England having been denied admission to the European Economic Community. I wonder if the economic barriers to Europe (and the US, by extension) are echoed in tepidly received cultural exports? On the other hand, I guess you have to start somewhere. Maybe the Beatles just needed a few UK #1’s and a few LP’s before being taken seriously by US radio programmers.
The album cover is atypical for the Beatles, most likely because it was before they had any sort of clout. A four-some of non-offensive looking, smiling young men look down from a balcony in Manchester Square. The lettering and font style on the album cover are very similar to the look of other pop groups of the time.
Much can be said about a band by the songs it chooses to cover. Six of the 14 songs on Please Please Me were re-recordings of favorite American R & B songs. With the exception of “Twist & Shout” and maybe “Boys,” the fab-four aren’t improving on existing ideas. While “Chains” offers a great lead vocal performance by George, the original version by The Cookies swings better and feels more vibrant. Still, the cover songs are well recorded; if anything, they come off as “cleaner” than the original versions.
With Please Please Me, the Beatles is very much John’s band. He writes more than half of the basic ideas that end up being Lennon/McCartney songs. He sings lead or co-lead on 7 of the 14 songs. While Paul’s composition, “Love Me Do,” went to #17 on the UK charts, it was John’s “Please Please Me” and “From Me To You” that went to #1 in the UK back-to-back.
Even in the beginning, the Beatles are using sounds outside of their basic mold: drums, bass, guitars, and vocals. Harmonica takes the lead on a handful of tunes. Piano overdubs anchor “Misery.” A celeste sneaks into “Baby It’s You.”
The subject matter of Please Please Me is relationships, love, and young lust. In a round-about way, one could argue that “There’s A Place” foreshadows some of Lennon’s spiritual yearnings that would appear in later recordings. “Do You Want To Know A Secret?” was purportedly inspired by “Wishing Well,” a song that John’s mother used to sing to him when he was a child.
Several of my own assumptions about Please Please Me were completely shattered. First, I had come to regard Please Please Me as the “Beatles album that was made in one day.” In looking at the studio logs (provided in the Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn), the album was recorded and mixed over a period of five or six days. 10 of the tracks were recorded on February 11, 1963. The two singles “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me” and their respective b-sides were recorded on different days in 1962. The album had a half-day of overdubs for “Misery” and “Baby It’s You.” And, the mono and stereo mixes were compiled on still a different day.
Secondly, I knew a alternate drummer had played on the album version of “Love Me Do,” but I didn’t know that he also played on “P.S. I Love You.” Session drummer Andy White was hired to perform on this session. A version of “Love Me Do” from the EMI audition contains a drumming performance from Ringo. The easiest way to tell if it’s the version with Ringo on drums is that it doesn’t have a tambourine in the background. The Andy White version features a sad Ringo playing tamb in the wings.
Third, there’s a mythology attached to the mono versions of these Beatles records that is false. The idea that “the Beatles only cared for the mono mixes and those were the ones they attended and had input on” is simply not true for these first albums. Both the mono and stereo mixes for Please Please Me were completed while the fab-four were on tour. No band input was given to either set.
Fourth, for me, I prefer the mono version of Please Please Me over the new stereo re-master. Although my 1987 mono copy isn’t as loud and as crisp, some of the stereo mixes threw me for a jolt. “Please Please Me” has some vocal errors that are a little too clear in the re-master. Also, the juked reverb at the end of the track took me out of the moment. Currently, I’m saving up for the mono box set and I will most likely listen to that remaster of Please Please Me over the stereo one.
Next week, we’ll listen to and discuss the second Beatles album, With The Beatles, as well as the late 1963 singles “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”
The Please Please Me discussion was fruitful, energetic, and elucidating. The experience of listening to and digging into primary sources (the album, studio notes, videos, etc...) raised a wealth of questions and challenged quite a few of my assumptions about this first Beatles LP.
All of the class enjoyed listening to the album this past week. With the exception of “Twist and Shout,” most of the cover songs weren’t favored over the 8 original Lennon/McCarntey compositions. The consensus appreciated the “opening set” quality of this mostly live-in-the-studio recording.
The overarching question we are addressing in these first four weeks is “Why did Beatlemania happen?” Sure, it hit the US in 1964. But why not in 1963 with this first, incredibly cogent and sellable LP? My theory is that the assassination of John F. Kennedy created a cultural depression that the Beatles lifted.
In probing the history books, it appears that 1963 was a period of British isolationism with England having been denied admission to the European Economic Community. I wonder if the economic barriers to Europe (and the US, by extension) are echoed in tepidly received cultural exports? On the other hand, I guess you have to start somewhere. Maybe the Beatles just needed a few UK #1’s and a few LP’s before being taken seriously by US radio programmers.
The album cover is atypical for the Beatles, most likely because it was before they had any sort of clout. A four-some of non-offensive looking, smiling young men look down from a balcony in Manchester Square. The lettering and font style on the album cover are very similar to the look of other pop groups of the time.
Much can be said about a band by the songs it chooses to cover. Six of the 14 songs on Please Please Me were re-recordings of favorite American R & B songs. With the exception of “Twist & Shout” and maybe “Boys,” the fab-four aren’t improving on existing ideas. While “Chains” offers a great lead vocal performance by George, the original version by The Cookies swings better and feels more vibrant. Still, the cover songs are well recorded; if anything, they come off as “cleaner” than the original versions.
With Please Please Me, the Beatles is very much John’s band. He writes more than half of the basic ideas that end up being Lennon/McCartney songs. He sings lead or co-lead on 7 of the 14 songs. While Paul’s composition, “Love Me Do,” went to #17 on the UK charts, it was John’s “Please Please Me” and “From Me To You” that went to #1 in the UK back-to-back.
Even in the beginning, the Beatles are using sounds outside of their basic mold: drums, bass, guitars, and vocals. Harmonica takes the lead on a handful of tunes. Piano overdubs anchor “Misery.” A celeste sneaks into “Baby It’s You.”
The subject matter of Please Please Me is relationships, love, and young lust. In a round-about way, one could argue that “There’s A Place” foreshadows some of Lennon’s spiritual yearnings that would appear in later recordings. “Do You Want To Know A Secret?” was purportedly inspired by “Wishing Well,” a song that John’s mother used to sing to him when he was a child.
Several of my own assumptions about Please Please Me were completely shattered. First, I had come to regard Please Please Me as the “Beatles album that was made in one day.” In looking at the studio logs (provided in the Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn), the album was recorded and mixed over a period of five or six days. 10 of the tracks were recorded on February 11, 1963. The two singles “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me” and their respective b-sides were recorded on different days in 1962. The album had a half-day of overdubs for “Misery” and “Baby It’s You.” And, the mono and stereo mixes were compiled on still a different day.
Secondly, I knew a alternate drummer had played on the album version of “Love Me Do,” but I didn’t know that he also played on “P.S. I Love You.” Session drummer Andy White was hired to perform on this session. A version of “Love Me Do” from the EMI audition contains a drumming performance from Ringo. The easiest way to tell if it’s the version with Ringo on drums is that it doesn’t have a tambourine in the background. The Andy White version features a sad Ringo playing tamb in the wings.
Third, there’s a mythology attached to the mono versions of these Beatles records that is false. The idea that “the Beatles only cared for the mono mixes and those were the ones they attended and had input on” is simply not true for these first albums. Both the mono and stereo mixes for Please Please Me were completed while the fab-four were on tour. No band input was given to either set.
Fourth, for me, I prefer the mono version of Please Please Me over the new stereo re-master. Although my 1987 mono copy isn’t as loud and as crisp, some of the stereo mixes threw me for a jolt. “Please Please Me” has some vocal errors that are a little too clear in the re-master. Also, the juked reverb at the end of the track took me out of the moment. Currently, I’m saving up for the mono box set and I will most likely listen to that remaster of Please Please Me over the stereo one.
Next week, we’ll listen to and discuss the second Beatles album, With The Beatles, as well as the late 1963 singles “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”
Beatles 101
January 18, 2010
I like to try different
things. Back in college, I wanted to graduate with
honors in history. I also didn’t want to spend a year
in the library researching a topic in which I had
little interest. I voiced my curiosity to a few
professors and I embarked on what became an honors
thesis on the Beatles.
What attracted me the most to this incredibly important and omni-relevant band of musicians was how popular they became in a relatively short amount of time. Beatlemania, as it would be called, exploded upon the United States in February of 1964 like nothing before it (and, like nothing since either).
My finding, through spending that year in the library and by what seemed to be an unending listening to Beatles songs, was that the Beatles re-presented our culture back to us in a time when it was greatly needed. The Beatles were a cultural pat-on-the-back after a tumultuous end of 1963 (when the most popular president in US history was mysteriously shot while appearing in a Dallas, TX parade).
After 1964, the Beatles continued to make music. Their 1967 masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is often considered the most critically acclaimed album of all time (although personally, I think Rubber Soul in mono is one of the coolest records, ever). The Beatles, commonly known as “The White Album,” while a clumsy foreshadowing of four solo careers, has a wit and charm that no double album could ever parallel—how could it!?. Abbey Road’s side-two montage as well as Let It Be (the greatest album that was almost never heard) are equally striking.
Today, with the recent re-release/re-mastering of the entire Beatles catalog (in both stereo and mono) the Beatles are still as significant as ever.
A few months ago, I was asked to share my knowledge of the Beatles with the Sanctuary, a center for creativity and spirituality located in Greensboro, NC. Over the past month, I have been preparing for the course, gathering my old resources, purchasing a copy of the new stereo box set, viewing the Anthology series, and listening. As iconic as John, Paul, George, and Ringo will always be, there’s something about the “old-friend” quality of Beatles music that makes it always welcome for me.
The class met for its first gathering last Thursday evening, January 14th. What a great experience!
The 12-week course aims at developing an appreciation for the Beatles and their music. Being that there are also 12 albums (I recognize that there are those who will disagree with how I quantify this), we all felt that it would be compelling to study one album each week.
The first class was an introduction and overview of the course. Here, I gave an outline of where we’re going, as well as some jumping off points for what to listen for and look for with each album. Also, I highlighted some general discussion arcs that seem germane for album groupings (i.e. “Beatlemania” for the first four albums, “building up to Sgt. Pepper” for the second four albums, and “nonsense and individuality” in the final four albums).
The five themes we will address with each album are 1) personal response, 2) historical context, 3) album cover & ethnography, 4) the Lennon/McCartney relationship, and 5) sound. Each album is so different and I can’t wait to discuss each one with care, depth, and interest. We have an eager and attentive bunch for this course so there’s no doubt it will be at least fun if not fantastic.
I’m enjoying this project. After all, the best way to learn something is to teach it.
What attracted me the most to this incredibly important and omni-relevant band of musicians was how popular they became in a relatively short amount of time. Beatlemania, as it would be called, exploded upon the United States in February of 1964 like nothing before it (and, like nothing since either).
My finding, through spending that year in the library and by what seemed to be an unending listening to Beatles songs, was that the Beatles re-presented our culture back to us in a time when it was greatly needed. The Beatles were a cultural pat-on-the-back after a tumultuous end of 1963 (when the most popular president in US history was mysteriously shot while appearing in a Dallas, TX parade).
After 1964, the Beatles continued to make music. Their 1967 masterpiece Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is often considered the most critically acclaimed album of all time (although personally, I think Rubber Soul in mono is one of the coolest records, ever). The Beatles, commonly known as “The White Album,” while a clumsy foreshadowing of four solo careers, has a wit and charm that no double album could ever parallel—how could it!?. Abbey Road’s side-two montage as well as Let It Be (the greatest album that was almost never heard) are equally striking.
Today, with the recent re-release/re-mastering of the entire Beatles catalog (in both stereo and mono) the Beatles are still as significant as ever.
A few months ago, I was asked to share my knowledge of the Beatles with the Sanctuary, a center for creativity and spirituality located in Greensboro, NC. Over the past month, I have been preparing for the course, gathering my old resources, purchasing a copy of the new stereo box set, viewing the Anthology series, and listening. As iconic as John, Paul, George, and Ringo will always be, there’s something about the “old-friend” quality of Beatles music that makes it always welcome for me.
The class met for its first gathering last Thursday evening, January 14th. What a great experience!
The 12-week course aims at developing an appreciation for the Beatles and their music. Being that there are also 12 albums (I recognize that there are those who will disagree with how I quantify this), we all felt that it would be compelling to study one album each week.
The first class was an introduction and overview of the course. Here, I gave an outline of where we’re going, as well as some jumping off points for what to listen for and look for with each album. Also, I highlighted some general discussion arcs that seem germane for album groupings (i.e. “Beatlemania” for the first four albums, “building up to Sgt. Pepper” for the second four albums, and “nonsense and individuality” in the final four albums).
The five themes we will address with each album are 1) personal response, 2) historical context, 3) album cover & ethnography, 4) the Lennon/McCartney relationship, and 5) sound. Each album is so different and I can’t wait to discuss each one with care, depth, and interest. We have an eager and attentive bunch for this course so there’s no doubt it will be at least fun if not fantastic.
I’m enjoying this project. After all, the best way to learn something is to teach it.