•
Rating: Given the recent Beatles revival thanks to Lucio on debaser, I feel obligated to share my thoughts on what is often considered the most popular and, in the opinion of many, the greatest pop band of the 20th century. I am focusing on the second effort of the Liverpool quartet, the "With The Beatles" album, which in my opinion can justifiably be considered a cohesive unit alongside their first album, "Please Please Me". In fact, these albums were released just a few months apart and have a similar structure: fourteen concise pop gems, with the majority being Lennon & McCartney originals, a handful of rock 'n' roll covers, minimal space for George Harrison (a maximum of two songs per album), and possibly a spot for Ringo Starr (see "I Wanna Be Your Man," offered somewhat unenthusiastically by Lennon).
It is incredible, I reiterate, to see the homogeneity of these two works, the same intensity of gems and missteps, novelty and naivete. But it’s useful to break through the barrier of the judgments surrounding these 28 songs. Critics, understandably, began to take the Beatles seriously as artists from "A Hard Day's Night" onward, which is indeed the band’s first absolute masterpiece. Moreover, we all know the incredible results the Fab Four achieved with their subsequent albums. A Sgt. Pepper would overshadow anyone's career, even a Rubber Soul; but this takes nothing away from the beauty of these first two works. We often imagine these early Beatles as young boys still fresh and trying to make it as a teen band. In reality, they had significantly paid their dues with a year and a half of playing nights at clubs in Hamburg (where they unfortunately even had to befriend Mino Reitano...), as well as dozens of auditions and hundreds of performances back home. As described by their former drummer, Pete Best, this seemingly unripe group once behind their instruments became a "charismatic powerhouse,” ready for any type of performance. The only limit the quartet might still have lacked was the creative maturity of the years to come, which is nonetheless starting to be shaped here. It is unsustainable, as many claim, that these Beatles were merely adapting to the current trend, because they themselves were defining the merseybeat trend, although everything in these songs suggests how much they wished to escape any definition.
In just over half an hour, you can go from listening to the pop perfection of the McCartney-like "All My Loving" or "Hold Me Tight" (how many times must Supergrass have heard it?) to the rage of father-to-be Lennon, arrogant and exuberant in "It Won't Be Long" or "Little Child" (not yet softened and slowed by LSD) or to the fragile and sensitive Harrison, memorable in both "Don't Bother Me", the most acidic and unusual song on the album, and an emotional "Roll Over Beethoven", where intimidated by the recordings he hesitates on chords he may have rehearsed hundreds of times. And there is also the already mentioned charming attempt to launch Ringo as a lead vocalist for a song: how many bands would (have) give/given this opportunity to their drummer?
Lennon & McCartney are not interested in becoming the best in a pre-existing genre but rather attempt to conglomerate all prior musical experiences (in "Till There Was You" McCartney even attempts a Broadway-Latin style cover!) into a new kind of music - future pop - with the sole goal of driving the masses wild, getting them to sing and dance, sigh and dream. Lyrics are still not a concern, serving simply as fillers with the exclusive function of accompanying the instrumental part. This does not make them banal or limping, but rather superficial and smoothed over with too much sentimentality. But those were different times, after all, the Beatles had not yet arrived...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 Till There Was You (02:17)
There were bells on a hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
Till there was you
There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
Till there was you
Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No I never heard it at all
Till there was you
Then there was music and wonderful roses
They tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
Of dawn and dew
There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No I never heard it at all
Till there was you
Till there was you
08 Roll Over Beethoven (02:48)
Well gonna write a little letter
Gonna mail it to my local D.J.
It's a rockin' little record
I want my jockey to play
Roll over Beethoven
I gotta hear it again today
You know my temperature's risin'
And the jukebox's blowin' a fuse
My hearts beatin' rhythm
And my soul keeps a-singing the blues
Roll over Beethoven
And tell Tchaikovsky the news
I got a rockin' pneumonia
I need a shot of rhythm and blues
I think I caught an arthritis
Sittin' down by the rhythm review
Roll over Beethoven
We're rockin' in two by two
Well if you fell you like it
Well get your lover and reel and rock it
Roll it over and move on up
Just a trifle further and reel and rock it
Roll it over
Roll over Beethoven
A rockin' in two by two , oh
Well early in the mornin'
I'm a givin' you the warnin'
Don't you step on my blue suede showes
Hey diddle diddle
I'm a-playin' my fiddle
Ain't got nothing to lose
Roll over Beethoven
And tell Tchaikovsky the news
You know she winks like a glow worm
Dance like a spinnin' top
She got a crazy partner
Oughta see 'em reel an rock
Long as she's got a dime
The music will never stop
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
Roll over Beethoven
And dig these rhythm and blues
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By popoloitaliano
For me, their best album is 'With The Beatles': the real Beatles, sparse, with some unbeatable songs like 'Don’t Bother Me' by George Harrison.
A kick-ass album with all the trimmings.
By Rax
The progress is evident and deserves a pass, even if it isn’t 'A Hard Day’s Night' or 'Help!'.
"Please Mr. Postman," a splendid cover... I adore it and prefer it much more to 'Twist and Shout'.
By claudio carpentieri
The history of rock would have had different evolutions without that July 6, 1957.
‘With the Beatles’ was the first songbook ... so to speak...
