With The Beatles (Album)

[b.dfzo]

    * It Won't Be Long
    * All I've Got To Do
    * All My Loving
    * Don't Bother Me
    * Little Child
    * Till There Was You
    * Please Mister Postman
    * Roll Over Beethoven
    * Hold Me Tight
    * You Really Got A Hold On Me
    * I Wanna Be Your Man
    * Devil In Her Heart
    * Not A Second Time
    * Money (That's What I Want)

A mix of covers and originals which improves in many ways on the previous album, Please Please Me. 

I should also add, this album kicks off brilliantly: It Won't Be Long, All I've Got To Do, All My Loving, Don't Bother Me, etc.

[Chris D.]

I love it and even sit through most of the covers (the pot calling the kettle for sale?).  "It Won't Be Long" is one of their best songs.  "I Wanna Be Your Man" has a nice hint of menace thanks to Ringo.  I don't think he's looking for commitment.  She wasn't looking for the black eye.  "Don't Bother Me" should be played for the people who think George woke up around The Beatles.  "It Won't Be Long," "Don't Bother Me," "Not a Second Time," "I Wanna Be Your Man," and then "All My Loving," "All I've Got to Do."

[Chance]

I think it improves on the debut, but I can't shake "Meet The Beatles" and "The Beatles' Second Album" as being the way to hear these songs. That's how I fell in love with them, I'm not letting go.

[no]

Lennon's chord-progression on the "It Won't Be Long" verse is such an underrated moment in rock. It's still outside of the foda-ing box due to cultural/musical amnesia.

Kurt Cobain paid very close attention to riffs like these.

[Daniel S.]

I bought the Capitol Albums Vol.1 when it was released over a year ago. That's how I prefer to listen to the early albums too. Also, I love the remastering.

[I. Spaceman]

Little Child and Hold Me Tight are two oftheir weakest early originals, uninspired riffs in search of a song. And Till There Was You drags the album down and is severely out ofplace, though strangely, it worked well live. Devil In Her Heart was a bad choice, a cover of a song that was obscure for a reason. A real drag because it was apparently recorded because they had played it at a BBC session the day before. Unfortunately they may have forgot that they had done Soldier Of Love that day as well, which would have been a brilliant choice for this album.

Otherwise, this album is truly amazing, placing them at the top of the pop stakes in that year.
As usual for that era, John gives an incredible doubleshot at the top, the explosive powerpop of It Won't Be Long and the incredibly sensitive balladry of All I've Got To Do. John was never better.
Unbelievably for this time, Paul and George manage to match him following that blitz, with All My Loving, the song that cemented Paul's persona forevermore-pure pop perfection, and Don't Bother Me, which equally solidified George's image as "the mean one".
Strangely, these songs set a standard that Paul and George couldn't keep up songwriting-wise, and it would take until Soul for them to match John in this fashion.
Agian, John simply tears the heart out with his vocals on the cover versions here, proving him to be the finest rock singer of his generatio, and besides Elvis, maybe the best of all time.
He turns the bubble-soul of Please Mr. Postman into a heartwrenching and soulful torch-rocker. He unimaginably surpasses the pyrotechnical Smokey Robinson on You Really Got A Hold On Me, substituting the smoothness of Smoke with his own seaport Liver-soul.
And Money was never to be the same, after the metal-heavy primal groove the band nail it to the ground with.
A really inspired choice for George is an airborne rip through Berry's immortal Roll Over Beethoven. Ringo just excels here. Finest drummer ever. Deal with it.
And even his vocal, usually an album lowlight, is pretty great, I Wanna Be Your Man. A typically faux-blues-rocker Paul riff, the band unleash a rippin' trebly gallop that far bests the Stones' contemporary version.
And just as John establised his songwriting and vocal supremacy at the top of the album, he runs the gauntlet again at the end with Money and the almost unbearably poignany Not A Second Time.
Perhaps the most underrated Beatles song of all time, it's perfectly arranged, written and performed. harmonies, a beautiful classically-influenced piano solo, an incredible performance by Ringo add up to a simply astonishing display of quality in a disposable pop age.
Everyone else would be chasing this stuff for at least another year afterward, and maybe we still are.
Shave off the four throwaway tracks, add the astonishing single I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy, and you have one of the best albums ever made.

It's a shame it was junked for the bizarre, awful tracklists of the first two American albums.

[wind chime]

Great except for Please Mr Postman and Devil In Her Heart...prime RNR from the Beatles

[Peter Tomatz]

I'd say this is my least favorite Beatles album. Don't Bother Me is easily the best track. I don't really care for any of the covers on this one. I think it's a big step down from the first LP.

[Sir Rob]

And just as John establised his songwriting and vocal supremacy at the top of the album, he runs the gauntlet again at the end with Money and the almost unbearably poignany Not A Second Time.
Perhaps the most underrated Beatles song of all time, it's perfectly arranged, written and performed. harmonies, a beautiful classically-influenced piano solo, an incredible performance by Ringo add up to a simply astonishing display of quality in a disposable pop age.

This was the song (Not A Second Time) famously singled out at the time by The Times (highbrow quality UK newspaper, well it was in those days!) music critic, William Mann, for it's "aeolian cadences". 

Here's the Mann quote:  "...harmonic interest is typical of their quicker songs too, and one gets the impression that they think simultaneously on harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat submediant key switches, so natural in the Aeolian cadence at the end of Not a Second Time (the chord progression that ends Mahler's Song of The Earth..."

Years later Lennon said:   "To this day I don't know what that was about. I thought Aeolian cadences were exotic birds."

[richardsnow]

Little Child and Hold Me Tight are two oftheir weakest early originals, uninspired riffs in search of a song. And Till There Was You drags the album down and is severely out ofplace, though strangely, it worked well live. Devil In Her Heart was a bad choice, a cover of a song that was obscure for a reason. A real drag because it was apparently recorded because they had played it at a BBC session the day before. Unfortunately they may have forgot that they had done Soldier Of Love that day as well, which would have been a brilliant choice for this album.

I think it's a shame that they never recorded "Some Other guy" on record.
Still, the version on Live @ the BBC rocks.

[artie]

Great except for Please Mr Postman and Devil In Her Heart...prime RNR from the Beatles

Please Mr. Postman ranks right behind "Twist and Shout" and "Rock And Roll Music" as far as Lennon vocals go. Blistering and emotional.

[NC]

Agian, John simply tears the heart out with his vocals on the cover versions here, proving him to be the finest rock singer of his generatio, and besides Elvis, maybe the best of all time.

Amen and amen. This album is not one I listen to often, but it's his voice on this kind of stuff that really gets to me. Paul had the fun, little Richard style songs down pat, but John had that primal, wounded voice that sounds like it comes from the bottom of his soul.

 

[artie]

Ian:

Regarding Lennon's voice, while I often disagree with your opinions, there is one we share. Except I am firm in my belief that as an overall vocalist, John Lennon was stronger than even Elvis. Please Mr. Postman and I Won't Be Long from this album, specifically, are tremendous. He is simply in a league of his own. That is why I am more and more impressed with the Live At The BBC album these days.

His voice had power, character, emotion, and spirit, all at once...yes, Elvis was Elvis, but I'd rather hear John belt out a tune if I had to make a choice.

[Jeff Mason]

Where is Laurie's popcorn GIF?

This should be interesting...

[NC]

I think Elvis was a lot more versatile. He could sing something as raw as "One Night" ('68 NBC special) and then effortlessly go to something as tender as "Memories", within a single stand! Elvis had an awesome feeling for rhythm and phrasing. He could totally make a song his own by placing the words in a certain way, or doing amazing ad-libs. Lennon had many of these same gifts, but his voice could be terribly thin also, especially in the later years. Elvis' voice grew and matured through the years, becoming richer and fuller.   

But as far as conveying raw emotion, and having a wonderful, distinct tone all his own - Lennon was practically unbeatable.

[b.dfzo]

Til There Was You is probably one of best arragements The Beatles ever put on record.  All of the other songs on this album have some of these: noticible background noises, edits, isntrumental mistakes, vocal flubs, strange mixes, etc. etc.  But "Til There Was You" has none of these, and I thought that should be pointed out.  That doesn't necessarily make it better, but it's not a weak track.

[Jeff Mason]

I will say this -- non-PC as it is, John's weight had a huge impact on his voice.  It is a fact that being heavier adds resonance to the voice (that's why opera stars are so often large, seriously), and the years that John gained weight (he called them his "Fat Elvis" years) had lots of his best vocals.  Once he got thin again his voice lost something it had earlier.  It became thinner as another poster pointed out.  I suspect that Elvis had a similar voice impact though with his weight fluctuations it is harder to track.

[b.dfzo]

I will say this -- non-PC as it is, John's weight had a huge impact on his voice.  It is a fact that being heavier adds resonance to the voice (that's why opera stars are so often large, seriously), and the years that John gained weight (he called them his "Fat Elvis" years) had lots of his best vocals.  Once he got thin again his voice lost something it had earlier.  It became thinner as another poster pointed out.  I suspect that Elvis had a similar voice impact though with his weight fluctuations it is harder to track.

How hard?  Didn't he just get progressively bigger?  That is what his voice would indicate.

[NC]

Jeff, you are exactly right. I think during Elvis' later years, with his weight gain, he had some added power and his range improved also. If his medications had been taken out of the picture, one can only imagine how unstoppable he would have been.

As great a vocalist as Karen Carpenter was, when she got so thin, I can hear a difference in her voice. A lot of that richness and fullness was just gone. I've heard some speculate John had an eating disorder as well. Honestly, the vocals on "Double Fantasy" sound incredibly thin. Even after it sounds like he's been triple-tracked.

[Jeff Mason]

I will say this -- non-PC as it is, John's weight had a huge impact on his voice.  It is a fact that being heavier adds resonance to the voice (that's why opera stars are so often large, seriously), and the years that John gained weight (he called them his "Fat Elvis" years) had lots of his best vocals.  Once he got thin again his voice lost something it had earlier.  It became thinner as another poster pointed out.  I suspect that Elvis had a similar voice impact though with his weight fluctuations it is harder to track.

How hard?  Didn't he just get progressively bigger?  That is what his voice would indicate.

You would think.  Except that he gained weight multiple times in the 60's and lost it quickly to prep for pictures.  Part of his drug dependence came from diet pills.  Elvis was apparently a pro at quick weight loss.  He lost almost 30 pounds prepping for the Aloha show, and was listed once as having lost noticable weight between the two CBS-taped show in 1977 (with a 2 or 3 day gap).  So there you go.

But then again, he was thinnest in 1969, and those are my fav vocals of his, so again there you go.

[Fantastico!]

"With The Beatles" is an album that really suprised me.  I couldn't believe how good it was for one of their least popular albums and it helped solidify for me the idea that they had "the Midas touch."  I prefer the darker shading of this album to "Please Please Me"

Ian, I am with your thoughts on this one.  "Please Mr. Postman" is great, suprisingly maligned by some, and much better than "Chains."  And great production and performances in "You Really Got A Hold On Me" and "Money" attest that the Beatles were the best group in the world at this point at rendering others material as well as their own.  Their "You Really Got A Hold On Me" is without a doubt the best version of all time.  A real step up from "Boys" and up right up there with "Twist and Shout"

"Devil in Her Heart" is not as good as "Anna, Go to Him" or "Baby, it's You" but still enjoyable.  I enjoy the stop-start drumming and George's effortless, almost Caribbean feel.

"Roll Over Beethoven" is the requisite Berry of the album.  Hell, you can't be a cool 60s group without ripping Berry.  A good cover.  A badge of sorts.  Not as good as the classic original "I Saw Her Standing There" from  the previous album as far as good-time fun goes.

For the schmaltz factor, I'll take "Til there was You" over "A Taste of Honey" anyday.

As for the originals, the dark horses, "Not A Second Time" and the surfy "Don't Bother Me" are right up there with "There's A Place" and better than "Do You Want to Know A Secret"

"A'll I've Gotta Do" is on par with "Ask Me Why" - I love them both the same.

As for the hits, "All My Loving" is one of the best.  I prefer it to 'Love Me Do' and 'Please Please Me.'  All in all though, this is an album lacking in hits.  (those are usually great albums though).  The presense of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" "She Loves You" or "From Me To You" would have improved the album, but it doesn't need that much help.  

"Little Child" "Hold Me Tight" and "It Wont Be Long" and "I Wanna Be Your Man" are a better pack of originals than the cheesier "Misery" and "PS I Love You".  I rather like "Little Child" but "THank You Girl" or "THis Boy" would have been better.  I'm not a big "I'll Get You" fan.

[Billy Bob 1984]

This could perhaps be my favorite record by The Beatles.  It has a pure energy that some of their later work, ie. Pepper, Abbey Road, lacks.  As for the covers, I absolutely adore them.  To me, they represent the genius of Lennon's early period--pure emotion on record.  Their version of "Please Mister Postman" is a true example of what popular music should be--raw, urgent, and brilliantly performed.  I'm very surprised that many on the board have taken issue with The Beatles' covers.  I've always felt that The Beatles are one of the supreme interpreting bands on these early covers.  Hell, the emotional primacy achieved on tracks like "PMP" or "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" cannot be matched on the later records, despite the more elaborate production.

On a related note, I think some of the early American albums that cut the covers really miss out on an essential part of The Beatles' artistry.

This is not to overlook the original songs on this LP.  I'm not sure George ever matched the sheer brilliance of "Don't Bother Me" for the rest of his career--a track that perfectly summarizes his persona.  Of course, as on all the early records, John steals the show.  "Not a Second Time" is by now an acknowledged underrated masterpiece, but I wish "Little Child" would also get some more praise.  These tracks are so powerfully raw and emotional that for all of the talk of the emotion on Platic Ono Band, I think that Lennon never upped the emotional stakes of this record (and the other early ones).

[I. Spaceman]

Hot damn! Great post, as you can tell from my posts, I couldn't agree more.
Welcome to the board and stick around. Killer avatar! Swingin' Affair is one of the greats!

[Jeff Mason]

No comment from Cpt. Howdy on the John/Elvis comparison....?

[halleluwah]

Wow; Ian wrote a long post about the Beatles and I actually agreed with every word of it.  I never thought I'd see the day.  Apart from the four weaker tracks he mentioned, With the Beatles is probably my second favorite early album of theirs, eclipsed only by A Hard Day's Night.  Why a lot of people seem to think this is a step down from Please Please Me is truly mystifying to me.  I think it improves upon its predecessor in just about every way; the band's songwriting has improved dramatically, their choice in covers is (mostly) better, and the performances are better as well.  Hell, I actually think that Lennon's three Motown covers here have actually more passionate and impressive vocals than "Twist and Shout," and that's saying something.  And "Not a Second Time" would probably be my choice for the most underrated Beatles song ever as well.  To my ears, it's among their strongest early songs.  To me, this is the album where The Beatles started being consistently great in the studio, as opposed to the few glimpses of greatness on Please Please Me.