Ah, The Beatles. Please Please Me was their debut recording - it became a very significant album which experienced a long life-span in the charts. Released in March 1963, it followed after the success of their two previous singles, Please Please Me and Love Me Do.
For those unfamiliar with early Beatles' music, it might be surprising to find out that six tracks from Please Please Me were covers of songs not written by any of the band members! First up is John Lennon's take on an Arthur Alexander song, Anna. There is some great examples, in this version, of Lennon's 'strained' vocal-character. Lennon's approach to singing is most famously recognised in the cover, Twist and Shout, the final track on the LP. The third adaptation that Lennon served up was Baby it's You, a tame love song by Burt Bacharach, Mack Davis and Luther Dixon. Three other renditions were recorded: Chains (George Harrison), Boys (Ringo Starr) and A Taste of Honey (Paul McCartney).
Chains has a short but sweet intro melody on harmonica, played by John Lennon. It has an Asian feel to it which completely contrasts, but compliments, the mood of the song itself. Boys is my favourite take on a non-original - it's very groovy, in the same light as the first version done by The Shirelles. Ringo Starr singing about "boys" is, perhaps, a little unnerving if taken in the wrong context but, as a performance in its own right, they really have it rockin'. The backing vocals on this track are also most impressive, especially when you compare the similarities with those of The Shirelles. McCartney's only interpretation, A Taste of Honey, provides us with a solid effort on a Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow standard. His comfort in the high note ranges can be heard in the clarity of his voice throughout.
But what about their own material? Top drawer stuff! I Saw Her Standing There has a real funky feel to it. A sound that might lead one to believe Lennon is singing, McCartney actually provides the lead vocals with much more rough commitment than his usual timbre characteristics would offer. Lennon joins on the following selection as the two stalwarts weave in and out of each others melody lines during Misery. This recording also includes some piano playing from producer, George Martin!
The two hit singles, Please Please Me and Love Me Do deserve less credit than the many aforementioned. They are structurally far simpler and lyrically less poignant.
I love this album. It is easy to listen to but also incorporates an array of difficult vocal work and musical ideas that will give the critic something more substantial to admire.
Lyrically, not much can be said. Every song deals with love in some light or another, be it infatuation, loss, desire or misery. The words have probably been composed with the specific aim of making them rhyme, rather than to conjure up abstract meanings (as would be done much later in their career). This may be a drawback in some regards, though anything deeper than 'on the surface' would not have been suitable in context of the target audience. Charts music of this period was not, on the whole, lyrically challenging. It didn't have to be. The important areas of this Beatles music was in many other avenues and, if the lack of lyrical inspiration becomes a bother for you, it's plausible to suggest that you might just not understand early Beatles music.
Song of the album: I Saw Her Standing There
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