The Beatles – Please Please Me (1963)
There is a place/Where I can go/When I feel low./When I feel blue./And it’s my mind./And there’s no time/When I’m alone.
Produced by: George Martin
2. MISERY
4. CHAINS
5. BOYS
6. ASK ME WHY
8. LOVE ME DO
10. BABY IT’S YOU
11. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET
12. A TASTE OF HONEY
13. THERE’S A PLACE
14. TWIST AND SHOUT
The Beatles first album was recorded, for the most part, in one whirlwind recording session. Sure, four of the songs (Love Me Do, Please Please Me, P.S. I Love You and Ask Me Why) were recorded earlier for singles and recording times were much faster back then than they are now with all of the overdubs and crap like that, but this was still amazing. There are some disputes over how long it actually took (from 10 hours to about 25 hours), but that only adds to the legend. Basically, Martin and the boys knew that with the success of their latest single (Please Please Me) they had to get an album out fast. They figured it would be best if they just took a bunch of the songs that they had perfected in Hamburg and recorded them live in the studio. And for a first album it rocks. Actually, for any number of album it’s pretty damn awesome. The innocence of these guys comes through, but there’s a worldliness, too. And there’s even some parody going on, which is great. They record some old standards (why the hell would a rock group record A Taste Of Honey?!?!) with a respectful smirk. They even do a couple of girl group songs not even thinking about the fact that they were girl group songs.
The album showed that these boys knew exactly where they were going and what they wanted to do. They wanted to create and re-define popular music. (Out of 14 songs, 8 were originals. That was unheard of back then. That’s the true innovation here.) They wanted to be the “toppermost of the poppermost.” Definitely one of the greatest debut albums ever.
A great way to start off a debut album, a song about a guy at a dance staring at a girl who he falls head over heels for at first sight. But what are they REALLY singing about? “Well she was just seventeen. You know what I mean.” Hmmm. Forget Tiffany’s 80s remake, this is the real teen sex drive running rampant.
LISTEN FOR: The rousing count off that starts off one of the most auspicious debuts in history. It’s inclusion was almost an accident. Every band counts off before they start a song and, if you listen to the original tapes of any song you’ll hear it. This one, however, sounded really cool, so they decided to leave it on the album.
Also the first appearance of Paul’s trademark, “Wooo!”s.
John’s first foray into depression in music. This guy has just lost the only girl he’ll ever have. Now he’s a lonely guy, but she’ll be back because she’ll miss him.
LISTEN FOR: The pain in John’s voice at the end. This may just be a two minute pop song (less, actually), but he’s feeling every bit of it.
3. ANNA (GO TO HIM) (Alexander)
One of John’s favorite writers, Arthur Alexander, shows up. This is a great paean to a love who might be better off with someone else.
LISTEN FOR: John’s pain throughout. He was really good at that.
George’s first turn as lead vocalist and the first of the girl group songs. George seems to be locked in invisible chains that don’t let him cheat. Good thing for him, ’cause his girlfriend sounds like a total bitch. Although, he does have that roving eye.
LISTEN FOR: The fact that these guys don’t even care that they’re singing a song written for a girl. They go after it with the same gusto as they do their own songs that are written from the guy’s point of view. And this is the first time (on this album, anyway–the two singles featured it pretty prominently) that John’s harmonica shows up.
And once again they go for a girl group song (The Shirelles), this time it’s even more unmistakable. Does Ringo (in his singing debut) really care? Not really. He said he didn’t even realize it. (It was rewritten a little bit.)
LISTEN FOR: Ringo’s first vocal effort. And his first time to yell something along the lines of, “All right, George!” a habit he was in until the mid-period albums. He was great at these kinds of rockers. Not the best voice out there, but good for this sort of thing.
John tries his hand at a pop standard that he wrote himself. And he gets a little self-reflexive (nearly 30 years before Eminem started doing it) when he says, “I can’t conceive of any more…Misery.”
Well, ok. I’m stretching a bit. But it could have been intentional.
LISTEN FOR: “Iy-yi-yi-yi.” It’s a little cheesy, but, hey, it was the early 60s. What do you want? Still a great song.
The Beatles’ first British number one. (In three out of the four British charts, anyway.) And it deserves it. It’s a great plea for just a little lovin’. Originally seen as a Roy Orbison type ballad, George Martin asked them to speed it up a bit. They did and the rest is history.
LISTEN FOR: Some of their first overdubbing. It was a little hard for John to both sing AND play harmonica, so they finally had to resort to studio tricks. And this is what started them on their way to Sgt. Pepper.
The Beatles’ first single. Of course, as I said on the main Beatles page, this is a different version from the single. It’s the version with Andy White on drums and Ringo on tambourine. Is there a difference? Well, there’s no tambourine on the other version.
LISTEN FOR: On the original Paul’s voice is very nervous during his solo. This time out he’s a little more self-assured. All of them sing a little higher on that one, too.
A boy writes his girl a letter, sending all of his love. How sweet. It’s the first time that the boys used this device, but it certainly wasn’t the last. (“From Me To You,” “All My Loving”) Even when choosing covers they sometimes did songs about long distance relationships (“Please Mr. Postman”).
LISTEN FOR: Paul’s interruptions of the “As I write this letter” lines the second time around. It makes that second time that much more interesting.
10. BABY IT’S YOU (David/Williams/Bacharach)
“Sha-la-la-la-la-la”? Yeah, that’s the way this one starts off. John, once again, shows how he can sing pain better than anyone else in this second Shirelles cover. This time it’s from those great philosophers Burt Bacharach and Hal David. (Monty Python fans got that one.)
LISTEN FOR: George’s rather accusatory “Cheat! Cheat!”s after the “You should hear what they say about you.” That girl’s a bitch, John.
11. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET
Often cited as one of the worst of their early songs, but I like it. It’s based on something that John’s mom used to say to him at night. John gave it to George to sing so that he would actually have an original showcase. It’s actually a pretty romantic little song. A guy telling the girl he’s secretly had a crush on exactly what’s going on for the first time. This is one of those songs that I would quote if I had the cheeseballs to do it.
LISTEN FOR: “I’ve known the secret for a week or two. Nobody knows. Just we two.” Great little break.
12. A TASTE OF HONEY (Scott/Marlow)
And here it is. The comedy centerpiece of the album. (Wait for their next album for more of that.) It’s an old standard that not many rock groups of the day would have covered, but here it is. And The Beatles take it on with a smirk and a wink. You can almost hear it on Paul’s voice. (Nowadays he would do it totally straight. And that’s the problem.)
LISTEN FOR: The intro and the outro. Great way to bring us into and out of the place the song tries so hard to bring us.
And speaking of places, this is the first time that John got introspective. Certainly not something that most rock groups did at the time. He’s singing about being so caught up with a girl (doesn’t have to be, though. Could just be normal problems), but he can always just use his mind to get out of the blues. That way he’s never alone.
LISTEN FOR: The harmonica is sometimes the loneliest sound in the world. Listen to U2′s “Running To Stand Still” or this song, and I think you’ll know what I mean.
14. TWIST AND SHOUT (Medley/Russell)
And the boys end it with a rocker, as they usually did back in the early days. This is probably their best closer, though. (They used it quite a bit as a closer in Hamburg, too.) An old Isley Brothers song that The Beatles took to a different level. There’s a reason why, nearly 25 years later, Ferris Bueller sang and danced to this song in the streets of Chicago. One of the greatest rock songs ever. Definitely one of the best covers ever.
LISTEN FOR: This was done in one take at the end of the hurricane session for the album. (They actually did a second take, but John’s voice was so dead that it didn’t even register.) At the end of the song you can hear his howl of release as he realizes that it’s all over.
