Music: Please Please Me (The Beatles)

Album Review #2: Please Please Me by The Beatles

Review Notes: when listening to music in general, I pay attention to the music itself first, second, third... and lyrics only after awhile or if they are very prominent or intriguing. Thus, my reviews are based almost entirely on the melodies, singing, instrumentals, etc. with little emphasis on lyrics.

The Beatles released their first album, Please Please Me, in March 1963, nearly a year before their first visit to the United States. To compare this, The Beatles' first album, to Abbey Road, their last, reveals perhaps the most dramatic musical evolution within a single popular musical group. The Beatles debuted with an album of songs similar to other rock and pop bands around them; in order to gain the freedom to do as they chose, which they did within a few years, first they had to make their recording company a load of money, and this style of music was the best way to do it. I significantly prefer The Beatles' later albums to the early ones, but I have grown more and more admiring of these as well. For the most part, the songwriting of Lennon and McCartney was still immature, although very solid at the least. Steady instrumentals and great vocals carry Please Please Me in an album that is sure to do what its title promises.

1. "I Saw Her Standing There" (Lennon/McCartney)
Ah, The Beatles' first great rocker - and the first song on their first album, at that. "I Saw Her" starts with Paul's classic 1-2-3-4 count off, launching into a driving beat led by Paul's bass and hand-clapping from the band. Paul sings the lead, and does it with perfect intensity while not going overboard (for those thinking The Beatles were always tamer than the Stones, look no further than the opening lines, "Well she was just seventeen/If you know what I mean"). Lennon joins in at the chorus with a great harmony. At the end of the middle eight, the band uses their signature rising harmonies in perfect unison. With Paul's lively vocals and steady bass, the song retains its energy through its nearly 3 minutes. An essential early Beatles song.

2. "Misery" (Lennon/McCartney)
The second track, "Misery," brings the intensity down a notch, but it doesn't really drag. It's got a sort of "aw shucks" sound to it, mostly due to the vocals, a Lennon-McCartney harmony throughout the entire song. It certainly shows the freshness of their songwriting skills, as it relies on a sort of "ta-ta, ta-ta, ta-taa... ta-ta, ta-ta, ta-taa" cadence throughout. The harmonies are probably the strongest part about this song, and it's a nice symbol of how, even when The Beatles sang "sad" songs, there was usually at least some positive aspect to them as well (in this case the "aw shucks" sound of injured young love). Not one of the best on the album, though.

3. "Anna (Go To Him)" (Alexander)
The third track is an even slower track, although I would say probably a superior one. Lennon sings the lead vocal solo, with some sparse backing vocals from the band (which are admittedly a little tacky), primarily in the chorus. Lennon sings it in parts like a crooner, and he really displays his skill with that style. The song is also helped tremendously by a gently seductive guitar part that just keeps repeating until it seems like it's floating you down a river, in addition to a restrained but perfect drum part from Ringo. Lennon builds to a good intensity before settling down again for the conclusion. The perfect instrumentals and fantastic vocals from Lennon make this a nice little gem on the album.

4. "Chains" (Goffin/King)
This one is rather reminiscent of "Misery," but it is weaker than that one. I suppose, if nothing else, it shows that The Beatles could already write songs similar and superior to their contemporaries. Or perhaps this is just a poor cover. Anyway, probably the thing that I find the biggest problem with this track is that it's just too slow; even at under 3 minutes, it just seems to drag. And after the crooner "Anna," the album needed another "I Saw Her"-type song. George does sing the lead vocal quite nicely, his voice eventually distinguishing itself from harmonies by Lennon and McCartney. This was probably used as album "filler," a common technique at the time.

5. "Boys" (Dixon/Farrell)
This is the kind of song we needed at the four-spot! Although technically the tempo is barely faster than that of "Chains," it is still clearly a much more up beat song, and the way they instruments are played, I think The Beatles liked it much better. Plus - whoa! - can Ringo sing on this one! It might be one of his best vocal performances with the band (not that that's saying a whole lot but...), and he puts all the energy he can muster into it. The band also provides nice, bright backing vocals to accompany him. One criticism is that perhaps it overstays its welcome just a bit, but otherwise it's just a nice little early Beatles song, showcasing many of their strengths.

6. "Ask Me Why" (Lennon/McCartney)
Here we take the intensity down a notch again. Written primarily by Lennon, and sung in the lead by him, it is another crooner-type song, and the verses have a definite early-60's feel to them (in perhaps not the best of ways; in fact the harmony adds to this). Fortunately, Lennon switches out the whimsical sound of the verses for a more Beatle-like, if brief, chorus, for lack of a better description. The guitar and drum parts do a nice job of keeping the toes tapping a little bit. It's another song for Lennon to display his crooner voice, which he does well again, but I would say "Anna" is a significantly better track.

7. "Please Please Me" (Lennon/McCartney)
Classic. Here is one of the first Beatles songs where you can really see the massive potential in them to mature into the extraordinary musicians that they quickly became. The song is full of instrumental parts that just stick in your head, and if you hear them in a store or some other random setting, you immediately knows it's The Beatles. The song also features, of course, the magnificent Beatle harmonies, Lennon and McCartney simultaneously in the verses and then a call and response between the two in the chorus followed by their soaring unison singing of the title. At just over two minutes, the song is over and you wonder what kind of force just hit you - it's The Beatles taking off into pop music for the ages.

8. "Love Me Do" (Lennon/McCartney)
Another big early hit for The Beatles, this one is considerably more laid back, with its signature tambourine part. The harmony in the verse, sung more slowly than "Please Please Me," allows Lennon and McCartney to show even greater vocal cohesion. Bouncing along with Paul's bass, the song is just a nice midrange pop song, with a nice harmonica part (something I don't say very often). There's not a lot I can say about the song specifically, but its strength is certainly the harmonies, even if it's not (in my opinion) as good as the other hit, "Please Please Me".

9. "P.S. I Love You" (Lennon/McCartney)
A fairly simple composition, "P.S. I Love You" is nevertheless a nice, sweet song. The sweetness of the melody and vocals could potentially have made the song far too slow, but The Beatles' instrumentals, particularly the guitar and percussion, keep the song moving at a nice clip. Paul sings the lead with restraint but with much of the skill that characterized the countless beautiful ballads he would come to sing later on. Backing vocals are used in a way similar to that in "Anna," and aren't spectacular but add just that little bit extra to make the song nicer. Not the best certainly on the album, but also definitely worth listening to.

10. "Baby It's You" (Bacharach/David/Williams)
This one slows down quite a bit, but it's a decent song. Once again, the instrumentals keep the song going; nothing fancy, but keeping the steady beat. Lennon does a very good job with the vocal, jumping on the few opportunities to inject some needed additional energy into the song. Also once again, the harmonies/backing vocals are subdued, but well executed, primarily with the laid back "sha-la-la-la-la-la-las," around which Lennon weaves his vocal. Here again we see two somewhat similar songs (the other being "P.S."), one written by The Beatles and the other a cover, in which The Beatles' song is pretty clearly the superior song.

11. "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" (Lennon/McCartney)
An alright song, this one is certainly lower in quality than "P.S. I Love You." George is the lead vocalist, although I don't know if he was the best choice for it. I suppose he had to satisfy himself with the scraps of Lennon and McCartney's composing output. Perhaps the strongest sign that makes me think that way is a surprisingly lazy and misfitting middle eight section. Along with the backing vocals, an unimaginative "doo-da-doo," I just get the feeling that The Beatles didn't put as much into this one as most of the others.

12. "A Taste Of Honey" (Scott/Marlow)
Here the album comes back up in quality, with an excellent cover. To start, The Beatles once again do a good job of making sure that this more restrained song still keeps a strong beat (this one, a rare early foray into 3/4 time). McCartney's vocals are perfect for the song, and he pours great passion into it, a level in fact that could have sounded sappy were the instrumentals and backing vocals not so strong. This cover is quite different from the song preceding it, as it's clear The Beatles put their full energies and talents into it, and it pays off handsomely with a strong performance in a tight 2-minute run time.

13. "There's A Place" (Lennon/McCartney)
Uh oh. Here is probably one of The Beatles' worst songs of their entire career. There are actually a few interesting parts in it, but they seem kind of haphazardly tagged on, and it's soon back to the dreadful verses. Even the Lennon-McCartney harmonies are pretty bad; they can't have rehearsed it more than a few times. And the harmonica part makes my ears bleed. So when you hear that opening horrific harmonica part, don't feel bad about hitting the fast forward button.

14. "Twist And Shout" (Medley/Russell)
Quite simply, one of the best rockers of the sixties. It doesn't rely on a fast tempo; in fact, it's pretty slow for a rocker, but the core instrumentals are "rock" solid, with the lead guitar and drums leading the band with great skill. And then there are the vocals. Lennon just lets his voice go free, and achieves one of the best rock vocal performances in history - and he is quite well supported by a more orderly backing vocal from the band. Here is the first song where The Beatles have an instrumental solo that is definitely one of the strengths of the song as well. The rising "oh"s are of course one of the signatures of the song, giving more energy and again showcasing the harmonies. A fantastic finish for the album.

Score: I'm going to refrain from giving scores to The Beatles albums for now, and give a ranking and brief explanation of those rankings once I've finished all the albums.

Essentials: "I Saw Her Standing There", "Please Please Me", "Twist And Shout"
Weak(er) Songs: "There's A Place", "Chains", "Do You Want To Know A Secret?"