Tuesday, June 3, 2008

STILL WITH THE BEATLES

First off I'd like to say thanks to all who have made comments in the past few weeks regarding my postings. While many of you had differing opinions I must say they were executed eloquently. Much obliged.

That said...I listened to WITH THE BEATLES a few days ago and it reminded me of something I read close to thirty years ago in Roy Carr and Tony Tyler's THE BEATLES: AN ILLUSTRATED RECORD (the first "Beatles Bible" I ever read...and reread...and reread...). Not having the book in front of me at the moment I hope you'll forgive me for paraphrasing: "and now, some ten years after its release, it still sounds as fresh as the day it was released." [I'm sure the actual quote is more articulate!] Today, some 40+ years after its release (11/22/63 in the U.K.), I couldn't agree more.

From the opening blast of "It Won't Be Long" - which has a great lick, one that George rearranged seven years later for "What Is Life" - to the leave-'em-beggin'-for-more closer "Money" I think one would be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable pop album in the Beatles oeuvre. Let's take a quick look at the other tracks:

- "All I've Got To Do" - powerful Lennon vocal with some great harmonies from Paul and George;

- "All My Loving" - great guitar work!

- "Don't Bother Me" - a bit awkward, but still a George keeper;

- "Little Child" - suffers from a bad edit (two of 'em actually) but has some great piano and harmonica;

- "Till There Was You" - great guitar courtesy of George, and not a one-off either (they played it many times in concert and he handled it adroitly);

- "Please Mr. Postman" - one of their best cover songs ever, with some tremendous cymbals work from Ringo;

- "Roll Over Beethoven" - one of the top 10 covers of a Chuck Berry song ever (a darn shame the Fabs never recorded CB's "Memphis" cuz the BBC versions are killer);

- "Hold Me Tight" - a chugging guitar riff throughout, but I like it!

- "You Really Got A Hold On Me" - another great Lennon vocal;

- "I Wanna Be Your Man" - sure they gave it to the Stones, but it's a great one for Ringo to sing;

- "Devil In Her Heart" - would have fit perfectly on the PLEASE PLEASE ME lp (and that's not a complaint);

- "Not A Second Time" - great Lennon tune, but ever since Robert Palmer recorded it and wrote a second verse I can't help but think how much the Beatles version could have used one.

That's it. A killer album. I love it.

As always, comments welcome.

Jeremy Boob

No comments: