The Beatles

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/pic200/drP100/P100/P10027WMT15.jpg

 

Biography by Richie Unterberger

 

So much has been said and written about the Beatles — and their story is so mythic in its sweep — that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century. Moreover, they were among the few artists of any discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did and the most popular at what they did. Relentlessly imaginative and experimental, the Beatles grabbed a hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and never let go for the next six years, always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity but never losing their ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience. Their supremacy as rock icons remains unchallenged to this day, decades after their breakup in 1970.

 

Even when couching praise in specific terms, it's hard to convey the scope of the Beatles' achievements in a mere paragraph or two. They synthesized all that was good about early rock & roll, and changed it into something original and even more exciting. They established the prototype for the self-contained rock group that wrote and performed its own material. As composers, their craft and melodic inventiveness were second to none, and key to the evolution of rock from its blues/R&B-based forms into a style that was far more eclectic, but equally visceral. As singers, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive vocalists in rock; the group's harmonies were intricate and exhilarating. As performers, they were (at least until touring had ground them down) exciting and photogenic; when they retreated into the studio, they were instrumental in pioneering advanced techniques and multi-layered arrangements. They were also the first British rock group to achieve worldwide prominence, launching a British Invasion that made rock truly an international phenomenon.

 

More than any other top group, the Beatles' success was very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Their phenomenal cohesion was due in large degree to most of the group having known each other and played together in Liverpool for about five years before they began to have hit records. Guitarist and teenage rebel John Lennon got hooked on rock & roll in the mid-'50s, and formed a band, the Quarrymen, at his high school. Around mid-1957, the Quarrymen were joined by another guitarist, Paul McCartney, nearly two years Lennon's junior. A bit later they were joined by another guitarist, George Harrison, a friend of McCartney. The Quarrymen would change lineups constantly in the late '50s, eventually reducing to the core trio of guitarists, who'd proven themselves to be the best musicians and most personally compatible individuals within the band.

 

The Quarrymen changed their name to the Silver Beatles in 1960, quickly dropping the "Silver" to become just the Beatles. Lennon's art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe joined on bass, but finding a permanent drummer was a vexing problem until Pete Best joined in the summer of 1960. He successfully auditioned for the combo just before they left for a several-month stint in Hamburg, Germany.

 

Hamburg was the Beatles' baptism by fire. Playing grueling sessions for hours on end in one of the most notorious red-light districts in the world, the group was forced to expand its repertoire, tighten up its chops, and invest its show with enough manic energy to keep the rowdy crowds satisfied. When they returned to Liverpool at the end of 1960, the band — formerly also-rans on the exploding Liverpudlian "beat" scene — were suddenly the most exciting act on the local circuit. They consolidated their following in 1961 with constant gigging in the Merseyside area, most often at the legendary Cavern Club, the incubator of the Merseybeat sound.

 

They also returned for engagements in Hamburg during 1961, although Sutcliffe dropped out of the band that year to concentrate on his art school studies there. McCartney took over on bass, Harrison settled in as lead guitarist, and Lennon had rhythm guitar; everyone sang. In mid-1961, the Beatles (minus Sutcliffe) made their first recordings in Germany, as a backup group to a British rock guitarist/singer based in Hamburg, Tony Sheridan. The Beatles hadn't fully developed at this point, and these recordings — many of which (including a couple of Sheridan-less tracks) were issued only after the band's rise to fame — found their talents in a most embryonic state. The Hamburg stint was also notable for gaining the Beatles sophisticated, artistic fans such as Sutcliffe's girlfriend, Astrid Kirchherr, who influenced all of them (except Best) to restyle their quiffs in the moptops that gave the musicians their most distinctive visual trademark. (Sutcliffe, tragically, would die of a brain hemorrhage in April 1962).

 

Near the end of 1961, the Beatles' exploding local popularity caught the attention of local record store manager Brian Epstein, who was soon managing the band as well. He used his contacts to swiftly acquire a January 1, 1962, audition at Decca Records that has been heavily bootlegged (some tracks were officially released in 1995). After weeks of deliberation, Decca turned them down as did several other British labels. Epstein's perseverance was finally rewarded with an audition for producer George Martin at Parlophone, an EMI subsidiary; Martin signed the Beatles in mid-1962. By this time, Epstein was assiduously grooming his charges for national success by influencing them to smarten up their appearance, dispensing with their leather jackets and trousers in favor of tailored suits and ties.

 

One more major change was in the offing before the Beatles made their Parlophone debut. In August 1962, drummer Pete Best was kicked out of the group, a controversial decision that has been the cause of much speculation since. There is still no solid consensus as to whether it was because of his solitary, moody nature; the other Beatles' jealousy of his popularity with the fans; his musical shortcomings (George Martin had already told Epstein that Best wasn't good enough to drum on recordings); or his refusal to wear his hair in bangs. What seems most likely was that the Beatles simply found his personality incompatible, preferring to enlist Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), a drummer with another popular Merseyside outfit, Rory Storm & the Hurricanes. Starr had been in the Beatles for a few weeks when they recorded their first single, "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You," in September 1962. Both sides of the 45 were Lennon-McCartney originals, and the songwriting team would be credited with most of the group's material throughout the Beatles' career.

 

The single, a promising but fairly rudimentary effort, hovered around the lower reaches of the British Top 20. The Beatles phenomenon didn't truly kick in until "Please Please Me," which topped the British charts in early 1963. This was the prototype British Invasion single: an infectious melody, charging guitars, and positively exuberant harmonies. The same traits were evident on their third 45, "From Me to You" (a British number one), and their debut LP, Please Please Me. Although it was mostly recorded in a single day, Please Please Me topped the British charts for an astonishing 30 weeks, establishing the group as the most popular rock & roll act ever seen in the U.K.

 

What the Beatles had done was take the best elements of the rock and pop they loved and make them their own. Since the Quarrymen days, they had been steeped in the classic early rock of Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, and the Everly Brothers; they'd also kept an ear open to the early '60s sounds of Motown, Phil Spector, and the girl groups. What they added was an unmatched songwriting savvy (inspired by Brill Building teams such as Gerry Goffin and Carole King), a brash guitar-oriented attack, wildly enthusiastic vocals, and the embodiment of the youthful flair of their generation, ready to dispense with postwar austerity and claim a culture of their own. They were also unsurpassed in their eclecticism, willing to borrow from blues, popular standards, gospel, folk, or whatever seemed suitable for their musical vision. Producer George Martin was the perfect foil for the group, refining their ideas without tinkering with their cores; during the last half of their career, he was indispensable for his ability to translate their concepts into arrangements that required complex orchestration, innovative applications of recording technology, and an ever-widening array of instruments.

 

Just as crucially, the Beatles were never ones to stand still and milk formulas. All of their subsequent albums and singles would show remarkable artistic progression (though never at the expense of a damn catchy tune). Even on their second LP, With the Beatles (1963), it was evident that their talents as composers and instrumentalists were expanding furiously, as they devised ever more inventive melodies and harmonies, and boosted the fullness of their arrangements. "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" established the group not just as a popular music act, but as a phenomenon never before seen in the British entertainment business, as each single sold over a million copies in the U.K. After some celebrated national TV appearances, Beatlemania broke out across the British Isles in late 1963, and the group generating screams and hysteria at all of their public appearances, musical or otherwise.

 

Capitol, which had first refusal of the Beatles' recordings in the United States, had declined to issue the group's first few singles, which ended up appearing on relatively small American independents. Capitol took up its option on "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which stormed to the top of the U.S. charts within weeks of its release on December 26, 1963. The Beatles' television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964 launched Beatlemania (and the entire British Invasion) on an even bigger scale than it had reached in Britain. In the first week of April 1964, the Beatles had the Top Five best-selling singles in the U.S.; they also had the first two slots on the album charts, as well as other entries throughout the Billboard Top 100. No one had ever dominated the market for popular music so heavily; it's doubtful that anyone ever will again. The Beatles themselves would continue to reach number one with most of their singles and albums until their 1970 breakup.

 

Hard as it may be to believe today, the Beatles were often dismissed by cultural commentators of the time as nothing more than a fad that would vanish within months as the novelty wore off. The group ensured this wouldn't happen by making A Hard Day's Night in early 1964, a cinéma vérité-style motion picture comedy/musical that cemented their image as "the Fab Four": happy-go-lucky, individualistic, cheeky, funny lads with nonstop energy. The soundtrack was also a triumph, consisting entirely of Lennon-McCartney tunes, including such standards as the title tune, "And I Love Her," "If I Fell," "Can't Buy Me Love," and "Things We Said Today." George Harrison's resonant 12-string electric guitar leads were hugely influential; the movie helped persuade the Byrds, then folksingers, to plunge all out into rock & roll, and the Beatles (along with Bob Dylan) would be hugely influential on the folk-rock explosion of 1965. The Beatles' success, too, had begun to open the U.S. market for fellow Brits like the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks, and inspired young American groups like the Beau Brummels, Lovin' Spoonful, and others to mount a challenge of their own with self-penned material that owed a great debt to Lennon-McCartney.

 

Between riotous international tours in 1964 and 1965, the Beatles continued to squeeze out more chart-topping albums and singles. (Until 1967, the group's British albums were often truncated for release in the States; when their catalog was transferred to CD, the albums were released worldwide in their British configurations.) In retrospect, critics have judged Beatles for Sale (late 1964) and Help! (mid-1965) as the band's least impressive efforts. To some degree, that's true. Touring and an insatiable market placed heavy demands upon their songwriting, and some of the originals and covers on these records, while brilliant by many group's standards, were filler in the context of the Beatles' best work.

 

But when at the top of their game, the group was continuing to push forward. "I Feel Fine" had feedback and brilliant guitar leads; "Ticket to Ride" showed the band beginning to incorporate the ringing, metallic, circular guitar lines that would be appropriated by bands like the Byrds; "Help!" was their first burst of confessional lyricism; "Yesterday" employed a string quartet. John Lennon in particular was beginning to exhibit a Dylanesque influence in his songwriting on such folky, downbeat numbers as "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." And tracks like "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" and "I've Just Seen a Face" had a strong country flavor.

 

Although the Beatles' second film, Help!, was a much sillier and less sophisticated affair than their first feature, it too was a huge commercial success. By this time, though, the Beatles had nothing to prove in commercial terms; the remaining frontiers were artistic challenges that could only be met in the studio. They rose to the occasion at the end of 1965 with Rubber Soul, one of the classic folk-rock records. Lyrically, Lennon, McCartney, and even Harrison (who was now writing some tunes on his own) were evolving beyond boy-girl scenarios into complex, personal feelings. They were also pushing the limits of studio rock by devising new guitar and bass textures, experimenting with distortion and multi-tracking, and using unconventional (for rock) instruments like the sitar.

 

As much of a progression as Rubber Soul was relative to their previous records, it was but a taster for the boundary-shattering outings of the next few years. The "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" single found the group abandoning romantic themes entirely, boosting the bass to previously unknown levels, and fooling around with psychedelic imagery and backward tapes on the B-side. Drugs (psychedelic and otherwise) were fueling their already fertile imaginations, but they felt creatively hindered by their touring obligations. Revolver, released in the summer of 1966, proved what the group could be capable of when allotted months of time in the studio. Hazy hard guitars and thicker vocal arrangements formed the bed of these increasingly imagistic, ambitious lyrics; the group's eclecticism now encompassed everything from singalong novelties ("Yellow Submarine") and string quartet-backed character sketches ("Eleanor Rigby") to Indian-influenced swirls of echo and backward tapes ("Tomorrow Never Knows"). Some would complain that the Beatles had abandoned the earthy rock of their roots for clever mannerism. But Revolver, like virtually all of the group's singles and albums from "She Loves You" on, would be a worldwide chart-topper.

 

For the past couple of years, live performance had become a rote exercise for the group, tired of competing with thousands of screaming fans that drowned out most of their voices and instruments. A 1966 summer worldwide tour was particularly grueling: the group's entourage was physically attacked in the Philippines after a perceived snub of the country's queen, and a casual remark by John Lennon about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus Christ was picked up in the States, resulting in the burning of Beatle records in the Bible belt and demands for a repentant apology. Their final concert of that American tour (in San Francisco on August 29, 1966) would be their last in front of a paying audience, as the group decided to stop playing live in order to concentrate on their studio recordings.

 

This was a radical (indeed, unprecedented) step in 1966, and the media was rife with speculation that the act was breaking up, especially after all four spent late 1966 engaged in separate personal and artistic pursuits. The appearance of the "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" single in February 1967 squelched these concerns. Frequently cited as the strongest double A-side ever, the Beatles were now pushing forward into unabashedly psychedelic territory in their use of orchestral arrangements and Mellotron, without abandoning their grasp of memorable melody and immediately accessible lyrical messages.

 

Sgt. Pepper, released in June 1967 as the Summer of Love dawned, was the definitive psychedelic soundtrack. Or, at least, so it was perceived at the time: subsequent critics have painted the album as an uneven affair, given a conceptual unity via its brilliant multi-tracked overdubs, singalong melodies, and fairy tale-ish lyrics. Others remain convinced, as millions did at the time, that it represented pop's greatest triumph, or indeed an evolution of pop into art with a capital A. In addition to mining all manner of roots influences, the musicians were also picking up vibes from Indian music, avant-garde electronics, classical, music hall, and more. When the Beatles premiered their hippie anthem "All You Need Is Love" as part of a worldwide TV broadcast, they had been truly anointed as spokespersons for their generation (a role they had not actively sought), and it seemed they could do no wrong.

 

Musically, that would usually continue to be the case, but the group's strength began to unravel at a surprisingly quick pace. In August 1967, Brian Epstein — prone to suicidal depression over the past year — died of a drug overdose, leaving them without a manager. They pressed on with their next film project, Magical Mystery Tour, directed by themselves; lacking focus or even basic professionalism, the picture bombed when it was premiered on BBC television in December 1967, giving the media the first real chance they'd ever had to roast the Beatles over a flame. (Another film, the animated feature Yellow Submarine, would appear in 1968, although the Beatles had little involvement with the project, either in terms of the movie or the soundtrack.) In early 1968, the Beatles decamped to India for a course in transcendental meditation with the Maharishi; this too became something of a media embarrassment as each of the four would eventually depart the course before its completion.

 

The Beatles did use their unaccustomed peace in India to compose a wealth of new material. Judged solely on musical merit, The White Album, a double LP released in late 1968, was a triumph. While largely abandoning their psychedelic instruments to return to guitar-based rock, they maintained their whimsical eclecticism, proving themselves masters of everything from blues-rock to vaudeville. As individual songwriters, too, it contains some of their finest work (as does the brilliant non-LP single from this era, "Hey Jude"/"Revolution").

 

The problem, at least in terms of the group's long-term health, was that these were very much individual songs, as opposed to collective ones. Lennon and McCartney had long composed most of their tunes separately (you can almost always tell the composer by the lead vocalist). But they had always fed off of each other not only to supply missing bits and pieces that would bring a song to completion, but to provide a competitive edge that would bring out the best in the other. McCartney's romantic melodicism and Lennon's more acidic, gritty wit were perfect complements for one another. By The White Album, it was clear (if only in retrospect) that each member was more concerned with his own expression than that of the collective group: a natural impulse, but one that was bound to lead to difficulties.

 

In addition, George Harrison was becoming a more prolific and skilled composer as well, imbuing his own melodies (which were nearly the equal of those of his more celebrated colleagues) with a cosmic lightness. Harrison was beginning to resent his junior status, and the group began to bicker more openly in the studio. Ringo Starr, whose solid drumming and good nature could usually be counted upon (as was evident in his infrequent lead vocals), actually quit for a couple of weeks in the midst of the White Album sessions (though the media was unaware of this at the time). Personal interests were coming into play as well: Lennon's devotion to romantic and artistic pursuits with his new girlfriend (and soon-to-be wife) Yoko Ono was diverting his attentions from the Beatles. Apple Records, started by the group earlier in 1968 as a sort of utopian commercial enterprise, was becoming a financial and organizational nightmare.

 

These weren't the ideal conditions under which to record a new album in January 1969, especially when McCartney was pushing the group to return to live performing, although none of the others seemed especially keen on the idea. They did agree to try and record a "back-to-basics," live-in-the-studio-type LP, the sessions being filmed for a television special. That plan almost blew up when Harrison, in the midst of tense arguments, left the group for a few days. Although he returned, the idea of playing live concerts was put on the back burner; Harrison enlisted American soul keyboardist Billy Preston as kind of a fifth member on the sessions, both to beef up the arrangements and to alleviate the uncomfortable atmosphere. Exacerbating the problem was that the Beatles didn't have a great deal of first-class new songs to work with, although some were excellent. In order to provide a suitable concert-like experience for the film, the group did climb the roof of their Apple headquarters in London to deliver an impromptu performance on January 30, 1969, before the police stopped it; this was their last live concert of any sort.

 

Generally dissatisfied with these early-1969 sessions, the album and film — at first titled Get Back, and later to emerge as Let It Be — remained in the can as the group tried to figure out how the projects should be mixed, packaged, and distributed. A couple of the best tracks, "Get Back"/"Don't Let Me Down," were issued as a single in the spring of 1969. By this time, the Beatles' quarrels were intensifying in a dispute over management: McCartney wanted their affairs to be handled by his new father-in-law, Lee Eastman, while the other members of the group favored a tough American businessman, Allen Klein.

 

It was something of a miracle, then, that the final album recorded by the group, Abbey Road, was one of their most unified efforts (even if, by this time, the musicians were recording many of their parts separately). It certainly boasted some of their most intricate melodies, harmonies, and instrumental arrangements; it also heralded the arrival of Harrison as a composer of equal talent to Lennon and McCartney, as George wrote the album's two most popular tunes, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun." The Beatles were still progressing, but it turned out to be the end of the road, as their business disputes continued to magnify. Lennon, who had begun releasing solo singles and performing with friends as the Plastic Ono Band, threatened to resign in late 1969, although he was dissuaded from making a public announcement.

 

Most of the early-1969 tapes remained unreleased, partially because the footage for the planned television broadcast of these sessions was now going to be produced as a documentary movie. The accompanying soundtrack album, Let It Be, was delayed so that its release could coincide with that of the film. Lennon, Harrison, and Allen Klein decided to have celebrated American producer Phil Spector record some additional instrumentation and do some mixing. Thus the confusion that persists among most rock listeners to this day: Let It Be, although the last Beatles album to be released, was not the last one to be recorded. Abbey Road should actually be considered as the Beatles' last album; most of the material on Let It Be, including the title track (which would be the last single released while the group was still together), was recorded several months before the Abbey Road sessions began in earnest, and a good 15 months or so before its May 1970 release.

 

By that time, the Beatles were no more. In fact, there had been no recording done by the group as a unit since August 1969, and each member of the band had begun to pursue serious outside professional interests independently via the Plastic Ono Band, Harrison's tour with Delaney & Bonnie, Starr's starring role in the Magic Christian film, or McCartney's first solo album. The outside world for the most part remained almost wholly unaware of the seriousness of the group's friction, making it a devastating shock for much of the world's youth when McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles on April 10, 1970. (The "announcement" was actually contained in a press release for his new album, in which his declaration of his intention to work on his own effectively served as a notice of his departure.)

 

The final blow, apparently, was the conflict between the release dates of Let It Be and McCartney's debut solo album. The rest of the group asked McCartney to delay his release until after Let It Be; McCartney refused and, for good measure, was distressed by Spector's post-production work on Let It Be, particularly the string overdubs on "The Long and Winding Road," which became a posthumous Beatles single that spring. Although McCartney received much of the blame for the split, it should be remembered that he had done more than any other member to keep the group going since Epstein's death, and that each of the other Beatles had threatened to leave well before McCartney's departure. With hindsight, the breakup seemed inevitable in view of their serious business disagreements and the growth of their individual interests.

 

As bitter as the initial headlines were to swallow, the feuding would grow much worse over the next few years. At the end of 1970, McCartney sued the rest of the Beatles in order to dissolve their partnership; the battle dragged through the courts for years, scotching any prospects of a group reunion. In any case, each member of the band quickly established a viable solo career. In fact, at the outset it could have been argued that the artistic effects of the split were in some ways beneficial, freeing Lennon and Harrison to make their most uncompromising artistic statements (Plastic Ono Band and All Things Must Pass). George's individual talents in particular received acclaim that had always eluded him when he was overshadowed by Lennon-McCartney. Paul had a much rougher time with the critics, but continued to issue a stream of hit singles, hitting a commercial and critical jackpot at the end of 1973 with the massively successful Band on the Run. Ringo did not have the songwriting acumen to compete on the same level as the others, yet he too had quite a few big hit singles in the early '70s, often benefiting from the assistance of his former bandmates.

 

Yet within a short time, it became apparent both that the Beatles were not going to settle their differences and reunite, and that their solo work could not compare with what they were capable of creating together. The stereotype has it that the split allowed each of them to indulge in their worst tendencies to their extremes: Lennon in agitprop, Harrison in holier-than-thou mysticism, McCartney in cutesy pop, Starr in easy listening rock. There's a good deal of truth in this, but it's also important to bear in mind that what was most missing was a sense of group interaction. The critical party line often champions Lennon as the angry, realist rocker, and McCartney as the melodic balladeer, but this is a fallacy: each of them was capable, in roughly equal measures, of ballsy all-out rock and sweet romanticism. What is not in dispute is that they sparked each other to reach heights that they could not attain on their own.

 

Despite periodic rumors of reunions throughout the 1970s, no group projects came close to materializing. It should be added that the Beatles themselves continued to feud to some degree, and from all evidence weren't seriously interested in working together as a unit. Any hopes of a reunion vanished when Lennon was assassinated in New York City in December 1980. The Beatles continued their solo careers throughout the 1980s, but their releases became less frequent, and their commercial success gradually diminished as listeners without first-hand memories of the combo created their own idols.

 

The popularity of the Beatles-as-unit, however, proved eternal. In part, this is because the group's 1970 split effectively short-circuited the prospects of artistic decline; the body of work that was preserved was uniformly strong. However, it's also because, like any great works of art, the Beatles' records carried an ageless magnificence that continues to captivate new generations of listeners. So it is that Beatles records continue to be heard on radio in heavy rotation, continue to sell in massive quantities, and continue to be covered and quoted by rock and pop artists through the present day.

 

Legal wrangles at Apple prevented the official issue of previously unreleased Beatle material for over two decades (although much of it was frequently bootlegged). The situation finally changed in the 1990s, after McCartney, Harrison, Starr, and Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, settled their principal business disagreements. In 1994, this resulted in a double CD of BBC sessions from the early and mid-'60s. The following year, a much more ambitious project was undertaken: a multi-part film documentary, broadcast on network television in 1995, and then released (with double the length) for the home video market in 1996, with the active participation of the surviving Beatles.

 

To coincide with the Anthology documentary, three double CDs of previously unreleased/rare material were issued in 1995 and 1996. Additionally, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr (with some assistance from Jeff Lynne) embellished a couple of John Lennon demos from the 1970s with overdubs to create two new tracks ("Free as a Bird" and "Real Love") that were billed as actual Beatles recordings. Whether this constitutes the actual long-awaited "reunion" is the subject of much debate. Certainly these cuts were hardly classics on par with the music the group made in the 1960s. Some fans, even diehards, were inclined to view the whole Anthology project as a distinctly 1990s marketing exercise that maximized the mileage of whatever could be squeezed from the Beatles' vaults. If nothing else, though, the massive commercial success of outtakes that had, after all, been recorded 25 to 30 years ago, spoke volumes about the unabated appeal and fascination the Beatles continue to exert worldwide.

 

 

 

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c528/c528765mjru.jpg

Album :Please Please Me

Rating : 5 Stars (10 out of 10)

Release Date : Mar 22, 1963

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

Once "Please Please Me" rocketed to number one, the Beatles rushed to deliver a debut album, bashing out Please Please Me in a day. Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh, precisely because of its intense origins. As the songs rush past, it's easy to get wrapped up in the sound of the record itself without realizing how the album effectively summarizes the band's eclectic influences. Naturally, the influences shine through their covers, all of which are unconventional and illustrate the group's superior taste. There's a love of girl groups, vocal harmonies, sophisticated popcraft, schmaltz, R&B, and hard-driving rock & roll, which is enough to make Please Please Me impressive, but what makes it astonishing is how these elements converge in the originals. "I Saw Here Standing There" is one of their best rockers, yet it has surprising harmonies and melodic progressions. "Misery" and "There's a Place" grow out of the girl group tradition without being tied to it. A few of their originals, such as "Do You Want to Know a Secret" and the pleasantly light "P.S. I Love You," have dated slightly, but endearingly so, since they're infused with cheerful innocence and enthusiasm. And there is an innocence to Please Please Me. The Beatles may have played notoriously rough dives in Hamburg, but the only way you could tell that on their first album was how the constant gigging turned the group into a tight, professional band that could run through their set list at the drop of a hat with boundless energy. It's no surprise that Lennon had shouted himself hoarse by the end of the session, barely getting through "Twist and Shout," the most famous single take in rock history. He simply got caught up in the music, just like generations of listeners did.

 

Tracks / Song Title / Writer(s) / Duration

Tracks in bold = Standout tracks

 

1 I Saw Her Standing There Lennon, McCartney 2:55

2 Misery Lennon, McCartney 1:50

3 Anna (Go to Him) Alexander 2:57

4 Chains Goffin, King 2:26

5 Boys Dixon, Farrell 2:27

6 Ask Me Why Lennon, McCartney 2:27

7 Please Please Me Lennon, McCartney 2:03

8 Love Me Do Lennon, McCartney 2:22

9 P.S. I Love You Lennon, McCartney 2:05

10 Baby It's You Bacharach, David, Williams 2:38

11 Do You Want to Know a Secret Lennon, McCartney 1:59

12 A Taste of Honey Marlow, Scott 2:05

13 There's a Place Lennon, McCartney 1:52

14 Twist and Shout Medley, Russell 2:33

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf500/f574/f57446vm7jb.jpg

Album : With the Beatles

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Nov 22, 1963

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

With the Beatles is a sequel of the highest order — one that betters the original by developing its own tone and adding depth. While it may share several similarities with its predecessor — there is an equal ratio of covers-to-originals, a familiar blend of girl group, Motown, R&B, pop, and rock, and a show tune that interrupts the flow of the album — With the Beatles is a better record that not only rocks harder, it's considerably more sophisticated. They could deliver rock & roll straight ("I Wanna Be Your Man") or twist it around with a little Latin lilt ("Little Child," one of their most underrated early rockers); Lennon and McCartney wrote sweet ballads (the achingly gorgeous "All I've Got to Do") and sprightly pop/rockers ("All My Loving") with equal aplomb; and the propulsive rockers ("It Won't Be Long") were as richly melodic as slower songs ("Not a Second Time"). Even George Harrison's first recorded song, "Don't Bother Me," is a standout, with its wonderfully foreboding minor-key melody. Since the Beatles covered so much ground with their originals, their covers pale slightly in comparison, particularly since they rely on familiar hits (only "Devil in Her Heart" qualifies as a forgotten gem). But for every "Roll Over Beethoven," a surprisingly stiff reading of the Chuck Berry standard, there is a sublime moment, such as Lennon's soaring interpretation of "You Really Got a Hold on Me," and the group always turns in thoroughly enjoyable performances. Still, the heart of With the Beatles lies not in the covers, but the originals, where it was clear that, even at this early stage, the Beatles were rapidly maturing and changing, turning into expert craftsmen and musical innovators.

 

 

Tracks

 

1 It Won't Be Long Lennon, McCartney 2:13

2 All I've Got to Do Lennon, McCartney 2:04

3 All My Loving Lennon, McCartney 2:09

4 Don't Bother Me Harrison 2:29

5 Little Child Lennon, McCartney 1:48

6 Till There Was You Willson 2:16

7 Please Mr. Postman Bateman, Dobbins, Garrett ... 2:36

8 Roll over Beethoven Berry 2:47

9 Hold Me Tight Lennon, McCartney 2:32

10 You've Really Got a Hold on Me Robinson 3:02

11 I Wanna Be Your Man Lennon, McCartney 1:58

12 Devil in Her Heart Dropkin 2:27

13 Not a Second Time Lennon, McCartney 2:08

14 Money (That's What I Want) Bradford, Gordy 2:47

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc600/c641/c64167l8jq3.jpg

Album : A Hard Day's Night [uK]

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Jul 10, 1964

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

A Hard Day's Night not only was the de facto soundtrack for their movie, not only was it filled with nothing but Lennon-McCartney originals, but it found the Beatles truly coming into their own as a band. All of the disparate influences on their first two albums had coalesced into a bright, joyous, original sound, filled with ringing guitars and irresistible melodies. A Hard Day's Night is where the Beatles became mythical, but this is the sound of Beatlemania in all of its giddy glory. Decades after its original release, its punchy blend of propulsive rhythms, jangly guitars, and infectious, singalong melodies is remarkably fresh. There's something intrinsically exciting in the sound of the album itself, something to keep the record vital years after it was recorded. Even more impressive are the songs themselves. Not only are the melodies forceful and memorable, but Lennon and McCartney have found a number of variations to their basic Merseybeat style, from the brash "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Any Time at All" through the gentle "If I Fell" to the tough folk-rock of "I'll Cry Instead." It's possible to hear both songwriters develop their own distinctive voices on the album, but, overall, A Hard Day's Night stands as a testament to their collaborative powers — never again did they write together so well or so easily, choosing to pursue their own routes. John and Paul must have known how strong the material is — they threw the pleasant trifle "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" to George and didn't give anything to Ringo to sing. That may have been a little selfish, but it hardly hurts the album, since everything on the record is performed with genuine glee and excitement. It's the pinnacle of their early years.

 

 

Tracks

 

1 A Hard Day's Night Lennon, McCartney 2:32

2 I Should Have Known Better Lennon, McCartney 2:44

3 If I Fell Lennon, McCartney 2:22

4 I'm Happy Just to Dance With You Lennon, McCartney 1:58

5 And I Love Her Lennon, McCartney 2:31

6 Tell Me Why Lennon, McCartney 2:10

7 Can't Buy Me Love Lennon, McCartney 2:14

8 Any Time at All Lennon, McCartney 2:13

9 I'll Cry Instead Lennon, McCartney 1:47

10 Things We Said Today Lennon, McCartney 2:38

11 When I Get Home Lennon, McCartney 2:18

12 You Can't Do That Lennon, McCartney 2:37

13 I'll Be Back Lennon, McCartney 2:20

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c52911wb7h0.jpg

Album : Beatles for Sale

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Dec 4, 1964

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

It was inevitable that the constant grind of touring, writing, promoting, and recording would grate on the Beatles, but the weariness of Beatles for Sale comes as something of a shock. Only five months before, the group released the joyous A Hard Day's Night. Now, they sound beaten, worn, and, in Lennon's case, bitter and self-loathing. His opening trilogy ("No Reply," "I'm a Loser," "Baby's in Black") is the darkest sequence on any Beatles record, setting the tone for the album. Moments of joy pop up now and again, mainly in the forms of covers and the dynamic "Eight Days a Week," but the very presence of six covers after the triumphant all-original A Hard Day's Night feels like an admission of defeat or at least a regression. (It doesn't help that Lennon's cover of his beloved obscurity "Mr. Moonlight" winds up as arguably the worst thing the group ever recorded.) Beneath those surface suspicions, however, there are some important changes on Beatles for Sale, most notably Lennon's discovery of Bob Dylan and folk-rock. The opening three songs, along with "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," are implicitly confessional and all quite bleak, which is a new development. This spirit winds up overshadowing McCartney's cheery "I'll Follow the Sun" or the thundering covers of "Rock & Roll Music," "Honey Don't," and "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!," and the weariness creeps up in unexpected places — "Every Little Thing," "What You're Doing," even George's cover of Carl Perkins' "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" — leaving the impression that Beatlemania may have been fun but now the group is exhausted. That exhaustion results in the group's most uneven album, but its best moments find them moving from Merseybeat to the sophisticated pop/rock they developed in mid-career.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 No Reply Lennon, McCartney 2:17

2 I'm a Loser Lennon, McCartney 2:33

3 Baby's in Black Lennon, McCartney 2:07

4 Rock & Roll Music Berry 2:33

5 I'll Follow the Sun Lennon, McCartney 1:51

6 Mr. Moonlight Johnson 2:37

7 Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! [medley] Lieber, Penniman, Stoller 2:33

8 Eight Days a Week Lennon, McCartney 2:45

9 Words of Love Holly 2:14

10 Honey Don't Perkins 2:59

11 Every Little Thing Lennon, McCartney 2:04

12 I Don't Want to Spoil the Party Lennon, McCartney 2:36

13 What You're Doing Lennon, McCartney 2:34

14 Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby Perkins 2:23

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c5291792v42.jpg

Album : Help! [uK]

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Aug 6, 1965

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

Considering that Help! functions as the Beatles' fifth album and as the soundtrack to their second film — while filming, they continued to release non-LP singles on a regular basis — it's not entirely surprising that it still has some of the weariness of Beatles for Sale. Again, they pad the album with covers, but the Bakersfield bounce of "Act Naturally" adds new flavor (along with an ideal showcase for Ringo's amiable vocals) and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" gives John an opportunity to flex his rock & roll muscle. George is writing again and if his two contributions don't touch Lennon and McCartney's originals, they hold their own against much of their British pop peers. Since Lennon wrote a third more songs than McCartney, it's easy to forgive a pair of minor numbers ("It's Only Love," "Tell Me What You See"), especially since they're overshadowed by four great songs. His Dylan infatuation holds strong, particularly on the plaintive "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" and the title track, where the brash arrangement disguises Lennon's desperation. Driven by an indelible 12-string guitar, "Ticket to Ride" is another masterpiece and "You're Going to Lose That Girl" is the kind of song McCartney effortlessly tosses off — which he does with the jaunty "The Night Before" and "Another Girl," two very fine tunes that simply update his melodic signature. He did much better with "I've Just Seen a Face," an irresistible folk-rock gem, and "Yesterday," a simple, beautiful ballad whose arrangement — an acoustic guitar supported by a string quartet — and composition suggested much more sophisticated and adventurous musical territory, which the group immediately began exploring with Rubber Soul.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Help! 2:21

2 The Night Before 2:36

3 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away 2:11

4 I Need You 2:31

5 Another Girl 2:08

6 You're Gonna Lose That Girl 2:20

7 Ticket to Ride 3:12

8 Act Naturally 2:33

9 It's Only Love 1:58

10 You Like Me Too Much 2:38

11 Tell Me What You See 2:39

12 I've Just Seen a Face 2:07

13 Yesterday 2:07

14 Dizzy Miss Lizzy 2:54

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c529430cq18.jpg

Album : Rubber Soul [uK]

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Dec 3, 1965

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

While the Beatles still largely stuck to love songs on Rubber Soul, the lyrics represented a quantum leap in terms of thoughtfulness, maturity, and complex ambiguities. Musically, too, it was a substantial leap forward, with intricate folk-rock arrangements that reflected the increasing influence of Dylan and the Byrds. The group and George Martin were also beginning to expand the conventional instrumental parameters of the rock group, using a sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," Greek-like guitar lines on "Michelle" and "Girl," fuzz bass on "Think for Yourself," and a piano made to sound like a harpsichord on the instrumental break of "In My Life." While John and Paul were beginning to carve separate songwriting identities at this point, the album is full of great tunes, from "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" and "Michelle" to "Girl," "I'm Looking Through You," "You Won't See Me," "Drive My Car," and "Nowhere Man" (the last of which was the first Beatle song to move beyond romantic themes entirely). George Harrison was also developing into a fine songwriter with his two contributions, "Think for Yourself" and the Byrds-ish "If I Needed Someone."

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Drive My Car Lennon, McCartney 2:30

2 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) Lennon, McCartney 2:05

3 You Won't See Me Lennon, McCartney 3:22

4 Nowhere Man Lennon, McCartney 2:44

5 Think for Yourself Harrison 2:19

6 The Word Lennon, McCartney 2:43

7 Michelle Lennon, McCartney 2:42

8 What Goes On Lennon, McCartney 2:50

9 Girl Lennon, McCartney 2:33

10 I'm Looking Through You Lennon, McCartney 2:27

11 In My Life Lennon, McCartney 2:27

12 Wait Lennon, McCartney 2:16

13 If I Needed Someone Harrison 2:23

14 Run for Your Life Lennon, McCartney 2:18

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c529398u89k.jpg

Album : Revolver [uK]

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Aug 5, 1966

 

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

All the rules fell by the wayside with Revolver, as the Beatles began exploring new sonic territory, lyrical subjects, and styles of composition. It wasn't just Lennon and McCartney, either — Harrison staked out his own dark territory with the tightly wound, cynical rocker "Taxman"; the jaunty yet dissonant "I Want to Tell You"; and "Love You To," George's first and best foray into Indian music. Such explorations were bold, yet they were eclipsed by Lennon's trippy kaleidoscopes of sound. His most straightforward number was "Doctor Robert," an ode to his dealer, and things just got stranger from there as he buried "And Your Bird Can Sing" in a maze of multi-tracked guitars, gave Ringo a charmingly hallucinogenic slice of childhood whimsy in "Yellow Submarine," and then capped it off with a triptych of bad trips: the spiraling "She Said She Said"; the crawling, druggy "I'm Only Sleeping"; and "Tomorrow Never Knows," a pure nightmare where John sang portions of the Tibetan Book of the Dead into a suspended microphone over Ringo's thundering, menacing drumbeats and layers of overdubbed, phased guitars and tape loops. McCartney's experiments were formal, as he tried on every pop style from chamber pop to soul, and when placed alongside Lennon's and Harrison's outright experimentations, McCartney's songcraft becomes all the more impressive. The biggest miracle of Revolver may be that the Beatles covered so much new stylistic ground and executed it perfectly on one record, or it may be that all of it holds together perfectly. Either way, its daring sonic adventures and consistently stunning songcraft set the standard for what pop/rock could achieve. Even after Sgt. Pepper, Revolver stands as the ultimate modern pop album and it's still as emulated as it was upon its original release.

 

 

Tracks

 

1 Taxman Harrison 2:39

2 Eleanor Rigby Lennon, McCartney 2:07

3 I'm Only Sleeping Lennon, McCartney 3:01

4 Love You To Harrison 3:01

5 Here, There and Everywhere Lennon, McCartney 2:25

6 Yellow Submarine Lennon, McCartney 2:40

7 She Said She Said Lennon, McCartney 2:37

8 Good Day Sunshine Lennon, McCartney 2:09

9 And Your Bird Can Sing Lennon, McCartney 2:01

10 For No One Lennon, McCartney 2:01

11 Doctor Robert Lennon, McCartney 2:15

12 I Want to Tell You Harrison 2:29

13 Got to Get You into My Life Lennon, McCartney 2:30

14 Tomorrow Never Knows Lennon, McCartney 2:57

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c5293648k41.jpg

Album : Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Jun 1, 1967

Recording Date :Dec 6, 1966-Apr 1, 1967

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

With Revolver, the Beatles made the Great Leap Forward, reaching a previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless experimentation. Sgt. Pepper, in many ways, refines that breakthrough, as the Beatles consciously synthesized such disparate influences as psychedelia, art-song, classical music, rock & roll, and music hall, often in the course of one song. Not once does the diversity seem forced — the genius of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita." There's no discounting the individual contributions of each member or their producer, George Martin, but the preponderance of whimsy and self-conscious art gives the impression that Paul McCartney is the leader of the Lonely Hearts Club Band. He dominates the album in terms of compositions, setting the tone for the album with his unabashed melodicism and deviously clever arrangements. In comparison, Lennon's contributions seem fewer, and a couple of them are a little slight but his major statements are stunning. "With a Little Help From My Friends" is the ideal Ringo tune, a rolling, friendly pop song that hides genuine Lennon anguish, à la "Help!"; "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" remains one of the touchstones of British psychedelia; and he's the mastermind behind the bulk of "A Day in the Life," a haunting number that skillfully blends Lennon's verse and chorus with McCartney's bridge. It's possible to argue that there are better Beatles albums, yet no album is as historically important as this. After Sgt. Pepper, there were no rules to follow — rock and pop bands could try anything, for better or worse. Ironically, few tried to achieve the sweeping, all-encompassing embrace of music as the Beatles did here.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Lennon, McCartney 2:02

2 With a Little Help from My Friends Lennon, McCartney 2:44

3 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds Lennon, McCartney 3:28

4 Getting Better Lennon, McCartney 2:47

5 Fixing a Hole Lennon, McCartney 2:36

6 She's Leaving Home Lennon, McCartney 3:35

7 Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! Lennon, McCartney 2:37

8 Within You Without You Harrison 5:05

9 When I'm Sixty-Four Lennon, McCartney 2:37

10 Lovely Rita Lennon, McCartney 2:42

11 Good Morning Good Morning Lennon, McCartney 2:41

12 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) Lennon, McCartney 1:18

13 A Day in the Life Lennon, McCartney 5:33

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c471/c471437v4ev.jpg

 

Album : Magical Mystery Tour

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date (USA) : Nov 27, 1967

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

The U.S. version of the soundtrack for the Beatles' ill-fated British television special embellished the six songs that were found on the British Magical Mystery Tour double EP with five other cuts from their 1967 singles. (The CD version of the record has now been standardized worldwide as the 11 tracks found on the American version.) The psychedelic sound is very much in the vein of Sgt. Pepper, and even spacier in parts (especially the sound collages of "I Am the Walrus"). Unlike Sgt. Pepper, there's no vague overall conceptual/thematic unity to the material, which has made Magical Mystery Tour suffer slightly in comparison. Still, the music is mostly great, and "Penny Lane," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "All You Need Is Love," and "Hello Goodbye" were all huge, glorious, and innovative singles. The ballad "The Fool on the Hill," though only a part of the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack, is also one of the most popular Beatle tunes from the era.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Magical Mystery Tour Lennon, McCartney 2:51

2 The Fool on the Hill Lennon, McCartney 3:00

3 Flying Harrison, Lennon, McCartney, Starr 2:16

4 Blue Jay Way Harrison 3:56

5 Your Mother Should Know Lennon, McCartney 2:29

6 I Am the Walrus Lennon, McCartney 4:37

7 Hello Goodbye Lennon, McCartney 3:31

8 Strawberry Fields Forever Lennon, McCartney 4:10

9 Penny Lane Lennon, McCartney 3:03

10 Baby You're a Rich Man Lennon, McCartney 3:03

11 All You Need Is Love Lennon, McCartney 3:48

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c461/c46141rq3et.jpg

Album : The Beatles [White Album]

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Nov 22, 1968

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

Each song on the sprawling double album The Beatles is an entity to itself, as the band touches on anything and everything it can. This makes for a frustratingly scattershot record or a singularly gripping musical experience, depending on your view, but what makes the so-called White Album interesting is its mess. Never before had a rock record been so self-reflective, or so ironic; the Beach Boys send-up "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the British blooze parody "Yer Blues" are delivered straight-faced, so it's never clear if these are affectionate tributes or wicked satires. Lennon turns in two of his best ballads with "Dear Prudence" and "Julia"; scours the Abbey Road vaults for the musique concrète collage "Revolution 9"; pours on the schmaltz for Ringo's closing number, "Good Night"; celebrates the Beatles cult with "Glass Onion"; and, with "Cry Baby Cry," rivals Syd Barrett. McCartney doesn't reach quite as far, yet his songs are stunning — the music hall romp "Honey Pie," the mock country of "Rocky Raccoon," the ska-inflected "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and the proto-metal roar of "Helter Skelter." Clearly, the Beatles' two main songwriting forces were no longer on the same page, but neither were George and Ringo. Harrison still had just two songs per LP, but it's clear from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," the canned soul of "Savoy Truffle," the haunting "Long, Long, Long," and even the silly "Piggies" that he had developed into a songwriter who deserved wider exposure. And Ringo turns in a delight with his first original, the lumbering country-carnival stomp "Don't Pass Me By." None of it sounds like it was meant to share album space together, but somehow The Beatles creates its own style and sound through its mess.

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Back in the U.S.S.R. Lennon, McCartney 2:43

2 Dear Prudence Lennon, McCartney 3:56

3 Glass Onion Lennon, McCartney 2:17

4 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Lennon, McCartney 3:08

5 Wild Honey Pie Lennon, McCartney :52

6 The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill Lennon, McCartney 3:14

7 While My Guitar Gently Weeps Harrison 4:45

8 Happiness Is a Warm Gun Lennon, McCartney 2:43

9 Martha My Dear Lennon, McCartney 2:28

10 I'm So Tired Lennon, McCartney 2:03

11 Blackbird Lennon, McCartney 2:18

12 Piggies Harrison 2:04

13 Rocky Raccoon Lennon, McCartney 3:32

14 Don't Pass Me By Starr 3:50

15 Why Don't We Do It in the Road? Lennon, McCartney 1:41

16 I Will Lennon, McCartney 1:46

17 Julia Lennon, McCartney 2:54

18 Birthday Lennon, McCartney 2:42

19 Yer Blues Lennon, McCartney 4:01

20 Mother Nature's Son Lennon, McCartney 2:48

21 Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey Lennon, McCartney 2:24

22 Sexy Sadie Lennon, McCartney 3:15

23 Helter Skelter Lennon, McCartney 4:29

24 Long, Long, Long Harrison 3:04

25 Revolution 1 Lennon, McCartney 4:15

26 Honey Pie Lennon, McCartney 2:41

27 Savoy Truffle Harrison 2:54

28 Cry Baby Cry Lennon, McCartney 3:01

29 Revolution 9 Lennon, McCartney 8:22

30 Good Night Lennon, McCartney 3:11

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c573/c5733852196.jpg

Album : Yellow Submarine

Rating : 3 Stars ( 6 out of 10)

Release Date : Jan 13, 1969

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

The only Beatles album that could really be classified as inessential, mostly because it wasn't really a proper album at all, but a soundtrack that only utilized four new Beatles songs. (The rest of the album was filled out with "Yellow Submarine," "All You Need Is Love," and a George Martin score that held little appeal to rock listeners.) What's more, the four new tracks were little more than pleasant throwaways that had been recorded during 1967 and early 1968. These aren't all that bad; "All Together Now" is a kiddieish singalong, "Hey Bulldog" has some mild Lennon nastiness, and Harrison's "It's All Too Much" is highlighted by some tidal waves of feedback guitar. It would have been far better value if it had been released as a four-song EP (an idea the Beatles even considered at one point, with the addition of a bonus track in "Across the Universe," but ultimately discarded).

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Yellow Submarine Lennon, McCartney 2:42

2 Only a Northern Song Harrison 3:27

3 All Together Now Lennon, McCartney 2:13

4 Hey Bulldog Lennon, McCartney 3:14

5 It's All Too Much Harrison 6:28

6 All You Need Is Love Lennon, McCartney 3:52

7 Pepperland Martin 2:23

8 Sea of Time Martin 3:00

9 Sea of Holes Martin 2:20

10 Sea of Monsters Martin 3:39

11 March of the Meanies Martin 2:22

12 Pepperland Laid Waste Martin 2:15

13 Yellow Submarine in Pepperland Lennon, McCartney 2:10

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c529812jfk7.jpg

Album : Abbey Road

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Sep 26, 1969

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

The last Beatles album to be recorded (although Let It Be was the last to be released), Abbey Road was a fitting swan song for the group, echoing some of the faux-conceptual forms of Sgt. Pepper, but featuring stronger compositions and more rock-oriented ensemble work. The group was still pushing forward in all facets of its art, whether devising some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record (especially on "Because"), constructing a medley of songs/vignettes that covered much of side two, adding subtle touches of Moog synthesizer, or crafting furious guitar-heavy rock ("The End," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," "Come Together"). George Harrison also blossomed into a major songwriter, contributing the buoyant "Here Comes the Sun" and the supremely melodic ballad "Something," the latter of which became the first Harrison-penned Beatles hit. Whether Abbey Road is the Beatles' best work is debatable, but it's certainly the most immaculately produced (with the possible exception of Sgt. Pepper) and most tightly constructed.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Come Together Lennon, McCartney 4:20

2 Something Harrison 3:03

3 Maxwell's Silver Hammer Lennon, McCartney 3:27

4 Oh! Darling Lennon, McCartney 3:26

5 Octopus's Garden Starr 2:51

6 I Want You (She's So Heavy) Lennon, McCartney 7:47

7 Here Comes the Sun Harrison 3:05

8 Because Lennon, McCartney 2:45

9 You Never Give Me Your Money Lennon, McCartney 4:02

10 Sun King Lennon, McCartney 2:26

11 Mean Mr. Mustard Lennon, McCartney 1:06

12 Polythene Pam Lennon, McCartney 1:12

13 She Came in Through the Bathroom Window Lennon, McCartney 1:57

14 Golden Slumbers Lennon, McCartney 1:31

15 Carry That Weight Lennon, McCartney 1:36

16 The End Lennon, McCartney 2:19

17 Her Majesty Lennon, McCartney :23

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc500/c529/c5298632s13.jpg

Album : Let It Be

Rating : 4.5 Stars (9 out of 10)

Release Date : May 8, 1970

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

The only Beatles album to occasion negative, even hostile reviews, there are few other rock records as controversial as Let It Be. First off, several facts need to be explained: although released in May 1970, this was not their final album, but largely recorded in early 1969, way before Abbey Road. Phil Spector was enlisted in early 1970 to do some post-production mixing and overdubs, but he did not work with the band as a unit. And, although his use of strings has generated much criticism, by and large he left the original performances to stand as is: only "The Long and Winding Road" and (to a lesser degree) "Across the Universe" and "I Me Mine" get the Wall of Sound treatment. The main problem was that the material wasn't uniformly strong, and that the Beatles themselves were in fairly lousy moods due to intergroup tension. All that said, the album is on the whole underrated, even discounting the fact that a substandard Beatles record is better than almost any other group's best work. McCartney in particular offers several gems: the gospel-ish "Let It Be," which has some of his best lyrics; "Get Back," one of his hardest rockers; and the melodic "The Long and Winding Road," ruined by Spector's heavy-handed overdubs. The folky "Two of Us," with John and Paul harmonizing together, was also a highlight. Most of the rest of the material, by contrast, was going through the motions to some degree, although there are some good moments of straight hard rock in "I've Got a Feeling" and "Dig a Pony." As flawed and bumpy as it is, it's an album well worth having, as when the Beatles were in top form here, they were as good as ever. [in November 2003, the Beatles released an alternate version of Let It Be called Let It Be... Naked, which mixed out Spector's contributions and deleted snippets of conversation scattered throughout the album. "Dig It" and "Maggie Mae" were cut from the record in favor of "Don't Let Me Down," which was placed in the middle of an album that now had a considerably different sequencing than the originally released version of Let It Be.]

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Two of Us 3:36

2 Dig a Pony 3:54

3 Across the Universe 3:48

4 I Me Mine 2:25

5 Dig It :50

6 Let It Be 4:03

7 Maggie Mae :40

8 I've Got a Feeling 3:37

9 One After 909 2:55

10 The Long and Winding Road 3:37

11 For You Blue 2:32

12 Get Back 3:07

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c469/c469647199m.jpg

Album : Past Masters, Vol. 1

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Mar 7, 1988

Recording Date : Sep 4, 1962-May 14, 1965

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

When Capitol decided to release the original British editions of the Beatles' albums instead of the bast*rdized American versions, they were left with a bit of a quandary. Since the Beatles had an enormous number of non-LP singles, some of their greatest hits — from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" through "Hey Jude" — would not be included on disc if Capitol simply served up straight reissues. They had two options: they could add the singles as bonus tracks to the appropriate CDs, or they could release a compilation of all the non-LP tracks. It should come as no surprise that they chose the latter. In fact, they took it one further, issuing two separate compilations of non-LP tracks, which is fairly appropriate since the Beatles released far more singles and EPs in the first two years of their recording career than they did in the last five. Past Masters, Vol. 1 covers those first two years and, to be fair, there are some cuts that are unnecessary for anyone outside of the hardcore — only a handful of people will be able to spot the difference in the alternate "Love Me Do," while German versions of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" aren't even good for a chuckle. Still, the sheer number of astounding singles makes this essential, even with its faults. These 17 songs capture the exuberance of Beatlemania while confirming their talents as popcraftsmen ("This Boy," "Yes It Is") and proving that they could rock really, really hard ("I Feel Fine," "She's a Woman," the peerless "I'm Down"). Apart from the cuts that are merely rarities, this is a near-perfect compilation that captures the energy and spirit of the Beatles' early years.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Love Me Do Lennon, McCartney 2:23

2 From Me to You Lennon, McCartney 1:57

3 Thank You Girl Lennon, McCartney 2:04

4 She Loves You Lennon, McCartney 2:21

5 I'll Get You Lennon, McCartney 2:05

6 I Want to Hold Your Hand Lennon, McCartney 2:26

7 This Boy Lennon, McCartney 2:16

8 Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand Lennon, McCartney 2:26

9 Sie Liebt Dich Lennon, McCartney 2:19

10 Long Tall Sally Blackwell, Johnson, Little Richard 2:03

11 I Call Your Name Lennon, McCartney 2:09

12 Slow Down Williams 2:56

13 Matchbox Perkins 1:58

14 I Feel Fine Lennon, McCartney 2:19

15 She's a Woman Lennon, McCartney 3:03

16 Bad Boy Williams 2:20

17 Yes It Is Lennon, McCartney 2:42

18 I'm Down Lennon, McCartney 2:31

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c469/c469552crx1.jpg

Album : Past Masters, Vol. 2

Rating : 5 Stars

Release Date : Mar 7, 1988

Recording Date : Oct 20, 1965-Apr 18, 1969

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

Picking up in 1965 where Past Masters, Vol. 1 left off, Past Masters, Vol. 2 collects the 15 non-LP tracks that the Beatles released in the last five years of their career (not counting the singles that were released on Magical Mystery Tour). If Vol. 2 is more eclectic than its predecessor, it isn't quite as thematically consistent, but it does hit greater highs with a greater frequency. Indeed, some of the greatest singles in pop history are here: "Day Tripper," "We Can Work It Out," "Paperback Writer," "Rain," "Lady Madonna," "Hey Jude," "Revolution," "Don't Let Me Down," and "The Ballad of John and Yoko." All of the aforementioned are staples in the Lennon/McCartney canon, and while George Harrison's two contributions aren't as familiar, "The Inner Light" is arguably his best Indian excursion and "Old Brown Shoe" is a charmingly jaunty tune that points toward his solo career. In the middle of all this, single versions of "Get Back" and "Let It Be" appear (the former is stiffer than the LP version, the latter is better than its counterpart), along with the alternate (and superior) "Across the Universe" and the silly yet strangely irresistible "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)." Overall, the compilation feels a little disjointed, mainly because it covers so much ground so quickly, but that takes nothing away from the quality of the music, since many of these songs rank among the best, most inventive recordings of the pop/rock era.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Day Tripper Lennon, McCartney 2:49

2 We Can Work It Out Lennon, McCartney 2:15

3 Paperback Writer Lennon, McCartney 2:18

4 Rain Lennon, McCartney 3:02

5 Lady Madonna Lennon, McCartney 2:17

6 The Inner Light Harrison 2:36

7 Hey Jude Lennon, McCartney 7:08

8 Revolution Lennon, McCartney 3:24

9 Get Back Lennon, McCartney 3:14

10 Don't Let Me Down Lennon, McCartney 3:34

11 The Ballad of John and Yoko Lennon, McCartney 3:00

12 Old Brown Shoe Harrison 3:18

13 Across the Universe [version] Lennon, McCartney 3:49

14 Let It Be Lennon, McCartney 3:50

15 You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) Lennon, McCartney 4:19

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd200/d237/d23748s3q84.jpg

Album : Anthology 1

Rating : 3 Stars

Release Date : Nov 21, 1995

Recording Date : 1958-Nov 1994

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

The first in a series of three double-CD sets of previously unreleased and rare Beatles material, released in conjunction with the mammoth Anthology video documentary. This covers the late '50s to the end of 1964, mixing studio outtakes, live performances, primitive recordings from the Quarrymen/Silver Beatles days, excerpts from the famous 1962 Decca audition, the most notable 1961 Tony Sheridan-era recordings, and brief spoken bits from interviews. Although this material is undeniably of vast historical importance, it can't be placed in the same company as the Beatles' proper albums, in either cohesion or quality. While the studio outtakes (many never even heard on bootleg) are the most enticing items, these are almost exclusively alternate versions of songs they placed on their official releases (the most notable exceptions being the 1964 R&B cover "Leave My Kitten Alone," the 1962 demo "How Do You Do It," and the unimpressive 1964 Harrison original "You Know What to Do"). Sometimes the differences are quite interesting (a much more electric-oriented version of "And I Love Her," for example), but the alternates also illustrate how the group were virtually unerring in selecting the best arrangement and take of their songs for the final versions. The pre-1962 items are sometimes taken from private rehearsal tapes of primitive fidelity and are really of archival value only. One could go on at great length about the many curiosities and finds unearthed by this compilation, but for most general consumers, two observations may suffice. It does not stand up to the Beatles' fully conceived albums (even Live at the BBC), but the Beatles' scraps and leavings are more interesting than over 95 percent of other performers' best work. By that standard, this must be judged a worthwhile collection, especially (but not solely) for dedicated Beatles fans.

 

 

Tracks

 

1 Free as a Bird Lennon 4:24

2 We Were Four Guys...That's All [interview] :12

Composed by:

Performed by: John Lennon, Jann Wenner

3 That'll Be the Day Allison, Holly, Petty 2:07

4 In Spite of All the Danger Harrison, McCartney 2:44

5 Sometimes I'd Borrow...Those Still Exist [interview] :17

Composed by:

Performed by: Paul McCartney, Mark Lewisohn

6 Hallelujah, I Love Her So Charles 1:13

7 You'll Be Mine Lennon, McCartney 1:38

8 Cayenne McCartney 1:13

9 First of All...It Didn't Do a Thing Here [interview] :07

Composed by:

Performed by: Paul McCartney, Malcolm Threadgill,

10 My Bonnie Traditional 2:42

11 Ain't She Sweet Ager, Yellen 2:13

12 Cry for a Shadow Harrison, Lennon 2:22

13 Brian Was a Beautiful Guy...He Presented Well [interview] :10

Composed by:

Performed by: John Lennon, David Wigg

14 I Secured Them...A Beatle Drink Even Then [Reading] :18

Composed by:

Performed by: Brian Epstein

15 Searchin' Leiber, Stoller 2:59

16 Three Cool Cats Leiber, Stoller 2:25

17 The Sheik of Araby Smith, Snyder, Wheeler 1:43

18 Like Dreamers Do Lennon, McCartney 2:35

19 Hello Little Girl Lennon, McCartney 1:40

20 Well, the Recording Test...By My Artists [Reading] :32

Composed by:

Performed by: Brian Epstein

21 Besame Mucho Skylar, Velazquez 2:37

22 Love Me Do Lennon, McCartney 2:31

23 How Do You Do It? Murray 1:57

24 Please Please Me Lennon, McCartney 1:59

25 One After 909 [False Starts] Lennon, McCartney 2:23

26 One After 909 [Complete] Lennon, McCartney 2:55

27 Lend Me Your Comb Twomey, Weisman, Wise 1:49

28 I'll Get You Lennon, McCartney 2:08

29 We Were Performers...In Britain [interview] :12

Composed by:

Performed by: John Lennon, Jann Wenner

30 I Saw Her Standing There Lennon, McCartney 2:48

31 From Me to You Lennon, McCartney 2:05

32 Money (That's What I Want) Bradford, Gordy 2:52

33 You Really Got a Hold on Me Robinson 2:58

34 Roll over Beethoven Berry 2:21

35 She Loves You [take] Lennon, McCartney 2:50

36 Till There Was You Willson 2:54

37 Twist and Shout Medley, Russell 3:05

38 This Boy Lennon, McCartney 2:22

39 I Want to Hold Your Hand [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:36

40 Boys, What I Was Thinking... Madden, Wenrich 2:05

41 Moonlight Bay Madden, Wenrich :49

42 Can't Buy Me Love Lennon, McCartney 2:10

43 All My Loving [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:19

44 You Can't Do That Lennon, McCartney 2:42

45 And I Love Her [version] Lennon, McCartney 1:52

46 A Hard Day's Night [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:43

47 I Wanna Be Your Man Lennon, McCartney 1:47

48 Long Tall Sally Blackwell, Johnson, Little Richard 1:45

49 Boys Dixon, Farrell 1:49

50 Shout Isley, Isley, Isley 1:31

51 I'll Be Back [demo version] Lennon, McCartney 1:12

52 I'll Be Back [Take 3] Lennon, McCartney 1:57

53 You Know What to Do Harrison 1:58

54 No Reply [demo version] Lennon, McCartney 1:46

55 Mr. Moonlight Johnson 2:47

56 Leave My Kitten Alone Little Willie John 2:56

57 No Reply [take] Lennon, McCartney 2:29

58 Eight Days a Week [False Starts] Lennon, McCartney 1:25

59 Eight Days a Week [Complete] Lennon, McCartney 2:47

60 Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! Leiber, Little Richard, Stoller 2:44

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd000/d097/d097662x8sd.jpg

Album : Anthology 2

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Release Date : Mar 19, 1996

Recording Date : Jun 15, 1965-Feb 1995

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

As expected, the second installment of the Anthology series reflects the Beatles' increasing use of the studio-as-laboratory during their "middle years." Some live material from 1965 to 1966 appears on the first disc, and the second "reunion" single ("Real Love") leads off the set. But the emphasis is upon alternate takes from early 1965 to early 1968, during which time the group rapidly evolved from post-Merseybeat through folk-rock to psychedelia. As with the first volume, this is nearly always interesting but perhaps thinner on revelations than some might expect. The Help!-era outtakes "If You've Got Troubles" and "That Means a Lot" are on the light side but very fun, especially the latter, which Paul and the group perform much better than P.J. Proby (who covered the song shortly afterward). Some of the alternate takes are extremely different and excellent performances on their own merits: the funkier version of "I'm Looking Through You" and the less mellow arrangement of "Norwegian Wood," a wall-of-drugs reverb for "Tomorrow Never Knows," a very Byrds-like approach to "And Your Bird Can Sing" (with giggle-laden vocals), and an acoustic demo of "Fool on the Hill." The earlier, much more acoustic version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" is the most notable gem. On the other hand, much of the material differs from the official cuts in fairly minute gradations and will be of greater interest to scholars than general listeners (although discoveries like a different solo on "Penny Lane" are fascinating). The seven live tracks on disc one, from the waning days of Beatlemania, are better than many would have assumed, showing the group still capable of generating heat on-stage.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 Real Love Lennon 3:54

2 Yes It Is [version] Lennon, McCartney 1:50

3 I'm Down Lennon, McCartney 2:53

4 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:44

5 If You've Got Trouble Lennon, McCartney 2:48

6 That Means a Lot Lennon, McCartney 2:26

7 Yesterday [take] Lennon, McCartney 2:33

8 It's Only Love [take] Lennon, McCartney 1:58

9 I Feel Fine Lennon, McCartney 2:15

10 Ticket to Ride Lennon, McCartney 2:44

11 Yesterday [take] Lennon, McCartney 2:42

12 Help! [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:54

13 Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby Perkins 2:45

14 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) Lennon, McCartney 1:59

15 I'm Looking Through You Lennon, McCartney 2:53

16 12-Bar Original Harrison, Lennon, McCartney, Starr 2:55

17 Tomorrow Never Knows Lennon, McCartney 3:14

18 Got to Get You into My Life Lennon, McCartney 2:54

19 And Your Bird Can Sing [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:13

20 Taxman Harrison 2:32

21 Eleanor Rigby [strings Only] Lennon, McCartney 2:06

22 I'm Only Sleeping [Rehearsal] Lennon, McCartney :40

23 I'm Only Sleeping [Take 1] Lennon, McCartney 2:59

24 Rock & Roll Music Berry 1:39

25 She's a Woman Lennon, McCartney 2:54

26 Strawberry Fields Forever [Demo Sequence] Lennon, McCartney 1:42

27 Strawberry Fields Forever [Take 1] Lennon, McCartney 2:34

28 Strawberry Fields Forever [Take 7 and Edit Piece] Lennon, McCartney 4:13

29 Penny Lane [take] Lennon, McCartney 3:12

30 A Day in the Life [version] Lennon, McCartney 5:04

31 Good Morning, Good Morning [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:40

32 Only a Northern Song Harrison 2:43

33 Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! [Takes 1 and 2] Lennon, McCartney 1:05

34 Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite [Take 7] Lennon, McCartney 2:33

35 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds [take] Lennon, McCartney 3:05

36 Within You, Without You [instrumental] Harrison 5:27

37 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) [take] Lennon, McCartney 1:27

38 You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) Lennon, McCartney 5:43

39 I Am the Walrus [version] Lennon, McCartney 4:01

40 The Fool on the Hill [demo version] Lennon, McCartney 2:48

41 Your Mother Should Know Lennon, McCartney 3:02

42 The Fool on the Hill [Take 4] Lennon, McCartney 3:44

43 Hello Goodbye [version] Lennon, McCartney 3:17

44 Lady Madonna [take] Lennon, McCartney 2:22

45 Across the Universe [alternate take] Lennon, McCartney 3:28

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc600/c616/c61617894f3.jpg

Album : Anthology 3

Rating : 4 Stars

Release Date : Oct 29, 1996

Recording Date : May 1968-Jan 3, 1970

 

Review by Richie Unterberger

 

The final installment of the Anthology series has two discs of previously unreleased material from the White Album era through the group's demise in early 1970. In terms of sheer listenability, this may be the strongest volume of the three, if only because it focuses almost solely upon studio recordings rather than mixing live concerts/broadcasts and outtakes. Also, by this time the Beatles had perfected their approach to recording, meaning that even the early/alternate versions of many of their cuts were often of outstanding quality. There's some prime stuff here: "unplugged" White Album demos from mid-1968, radically different versions of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Helter Skelter," a stringless "The Long and Winding Road," three beautifully sung and played Harrison solo demos from early 1969, and several songs the Beatles never released, like "All Things Must Pass," "Not Guilty," "Teddy Boy," "Come and Get It," and "Junk." Not everything here is so great that the casual consumer will be fascinated, of course. As on previous Anthology sets, some of these alternates are only very slightly different from the official versions; the oldies covers from the Let It Be era are off-the-cuff jams that aren't up to the group's usual level of brilliance. It's still a fascinating collection, both for the insight it affords you into the group's creative process at the end of their career, and for the considerable excellence of the music itself.

 

 

Tracks

 

 

1 A Beginning Martin :50

2 Happiness Is a Warm Gun Lennon, McCartney 2:14

3 Helter Skelter Lennon, McCartney 4:37

4 Mean Mr. Mustard [take] Lennon, McCartney 1:57

5 Polythene Pam Lennon, McCartney 1:26

6 Glass Onion [version] Lennon, McCartney 1:51

7 Junk [take] McCartney 2:24

8 Piggies Harrison 2:01

9 Honey Pie Lennon, McCartney 1:19

10 Don't Pass Me By Starr 2:42

11 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Lennon, McCartney 2:56

12 Good Night [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:37

13 Cry Baby Cry [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:46

14 Blackbird Lennon, McCartney 2:18

15 Sexy Sadie Lennon, McCartney 4:06

16 While My Guitar Gently Weeps Harrison 3:27

17 Hey Jude Lennon, McCartney 4:21

18 Not Guilty Harrison 3:22

19 Mother Nature's Son [take] Lennon, McCartney 3:17

20 Glass Onion [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:08

21 Rocky Raccoon [take] Lennon, McCartney 4:12

22 What's the New Mary Jane? Lennon, McCartney 6:12

23 Step Inside Love Lennon, McCartney 2:30

24 I'm So Tired Lennon, McCartney 2:14

25 I Will Lennon, McCartney 1:55

26 Why Don't We Do It in the Road? [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:15

27 Julia [take] Lennon, McCartney 1:57

28 I've Got a Feeling [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:49

29 She Came in Through the Bathroom Window Lennon, McCartney 3:36

30 Dig a Pony [version] Lennon, McCartney 4:18

31 Two of Us [take] Lennon, McCartney 3:27

32 For You Blue Harrison 2:22

33 Teddy Boy McCartney 3:18

34 Medley: Rip it up/Shake, Rattle and Roll/Blue Suede Shoes Blackwell, Calhoun etc 3:10

35 The Long and Winding Road Lennon, McCartney 3:40

36 Oh! Darling [take] Lennon, McCartney 4:08

37 All Things Must Pass Harrison 3:05

38 Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues Clayton, Thiele 1:55

39 Get Back Lennon, McCartney 3:08

40 Old Brown Shoe Harrison 3:02

41 Octopus's Garden Starr 2:49

42 Maxwell's Silver Hammer [take] Lennon, McCartney 3:49

43 Something Harrison 3:18

44 Come Together [version] Lennon, McCartney 3:40

45 Come and Get It McCartney 2:29

46 Ain't She Sweet Ager, Yellen 2:08

47 Because [version] Lennon, McCartney 2:23

48 Let It Be Lennon, McCartney 4:05

49 I Me Mine Harrison 1:47

50 The End Lennon, McCartney 2:50

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd600/d625/d625939ymcu.jpg

Album : Yellow Submarine [songtrack]

Rating : 3 Stars

Release Date : Sep 14, 1999

 

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

Admittedly, the soundtrack to Yellow Submarine wasn't one of the highlights in the Beatles' catalog, so providing an official alternate version of it is no big deal. It only contained four new songs — two of which were written by Harrison, which indicates how seriously Lennon and McCartney took the project, if their enjoyable throwaways ("Hey Bulldog" and "All Together Now," respectively) didn't provide enough of a clue — plus two previously released songs ("All You Need Is Love," "Yellow Submarine") and a side of George Martin instrumentals from the film's score. The Beatles never assembled a slighter album while they were active, so it wasn't a sacrilege when their organization decided to assemble a "songtrack" — a soundtrack that featured only the songs in the film, not any of the instrumentals — to coincide with the re-release of the film in 1999. In a way, it's an improvement on the soundtrack since it eliminates dead weight and strengthens the original six songs with nine songs featured in the movie ("Eleanor Rigby," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "Sgt. Pepper," etc.). It's a little jarring not to hear the songs from the soundtrack in a different order on the songtrack, but ultimately the record is entertaining, if a bit familiar. That's not the case with the sound, though. The Beatles (or their managers or their company, since the three surviving members feel as curiously uninvolved with the songtrack as they did with the soundtrack) have decided to make this the first remixed CD in their catalog instead of simply producing a new remastered tape. The differences are slight but never really an improvement, making this an enjoyable but unnecessary addition to the group's catalog.

 

 

Tracks

 

1 Yellow Submarine Lennon, McCartney 2:39

2 Hey Bulldog Lennon, McCartney 3:11

3 Eleanor Rigby Lennon, McCartney 2:05

4 Love You To Harrison 2:58

5 All Together Now Lennon, McCartney 2:10

6 Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds Lennon, McCartney 3:28

7 Think for Yourself Harrison 2:18

8 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Lennon, McCartney 2:01

9 With a Little Help from My Friends Lennon, McCartney 2:45

10 Baby You're a Rich Man Lennon, McCartney 3:00

11 Only a Northern Song Harrison 3:24

12 All You Need Is Love Lennon, McCartney 3:46

13 When I'm Sixty-Four Lennon, McCartney 2:39

14 Nowhere Man Lennon, McCartney 2:42

15 It's All Too Much Harrison 6:25