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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 6, 2022 21:28:05 GMT
I thought of this thread while driving home from work yesterday. The local oldies station goes very deep on Beatles songs. So they spin "Hold Me Tight" from (I'm a US fan) "Meet the Beatles". I've heard it several times on the station, and I think it's by far the weakest track on the album. Paul is singing flat on much of it. It's energetic, as all their music was back then, but the song IMO just goes nowhere. Best song on "Meet the Beatles" - that's much tougher! "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - what a great pop song, including a middle eight that could be a song in itself! "This Boy" - great middle eight vocal by John. He sings his heart out! "All My Loving" - Paul's first "standard". And listen to John's guitar strumming! It's like a banjo!
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Post by kds on Nov 7, 2022 1:18:23 GMT
I'm not as familiar with the early US Beatles albums, but....
Best - All My Loving - I can never hear enough of this song.
Worst - This Boy - There are really no "bad" tracks here, but this is probably the one I listen to the least.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 7, 2022 2:35:10 GMT
I’m a post-1987 Beatles fan, so I’m not familiar with the US albums, listening-wise. Looking closely at the Meet the Beatles tracklist, I can’t help but notice how lopsided it is. Nearly all the best songs are on Side 1. With the Beatles has much better balance. Anyway, I’ll need to listen to a few tracks before deciding. I’ve sort of been taking a break from the Beatles this year after a period of heavy listening. I suspect it won’t last much longer.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 7, 2022 8:08:48 GMT
One thing I love about the Capitol albums is the inclusion of the singles. It may have been "a thing" in 60's England to have separate singles and albums, but the American way has always been to put as many hits on your albums as possible. Imagine, if you will, the early Beach Boys albums MINUS the hit singles. For starters, what would they call Surfin' Safari, Surfin' USA, Surfer Girl and Little Deuce Coupe? Those albums would be a lot weaker without the A's and B's of the singles included. It makes perfect sense to me that Meet the Beatles kicks off with the song that introduced them to most of America, I Want to Hold Your Hand, followed by the b-side of same.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 7, 2022 12:25:03 GMT
Using the US versions threw me for a loop: I am not remotely familiar with them, I've always just known they were a thing. So I had to look at what actually was on the US Meet the Beatles.
Best - I Saw Her Standing There. Hard question! Quite a few great ones, obviously.
Worst - Little Child. It was between this and Hold Me Tight.
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Post by jk on Nov 7, 2022 14:21:13 GMT
"Liverpool, we have a problem!" The problem being the glaring discrepancy between the UK and US versions of early Beatles albums. Our first Beatles album here in Europe was Please Please Me (March 1963). Of that one, the most memorable track (and my second favourite Beatles song) is "There's A Place". It has everything: John's eerie harmonica, the iconic harmonizing between him and Paul, including octaves in the bridge, and conciseness -- it says everything it has to say in 110 seconds! The least memorable (at a pinch) is "I Saw Her Standing There", which unlike Cap'n I've never really warmed to, although I'll concede it's the perfect album opener to one of the finest debut albums ever.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 7, 2022 20:51:10 GMT
"Liverpool, we have a problem!" The problem being the glaring discrepancy between the UK and US versions of early Beatles albums. Our first Beatles album here in Europe was Please Please Me (March 1963). Of that one, the most memorable track (and my second favourite Beatles song) is "There's A Place". It has everything: John's eerie harmonica, the iconic harmonizing between him and Paul, including octaves in the bridge, and conciseness -- it says everything it has to say in 110 seconds! The least memorable (at a pinch) is "I Saw Her Standing There", which unlike Cap'n I've never really warmed to, although I'll concede it's the perfect album opener to one of the finest debut albums ever. In the US, that album - minus two tracks - was released as Introducing the Beatles. This is the infamous Vee-Jay album, with several track variations. Later re-released as Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Beatles, and as half of The Battle of the Century! The Beatles Vs. The 4 Seasons. When Vee-Jay lost the rights to this material, Capitol reissued it as The Early Beatles - but not as a 12 track album! Capitol being Capitol, they made it an 11 track album. The only Beatles albums they released with 12 songs were Meet the Beatles and Rubber Soul - that is, before the album releases became uniform on both sides of the Atlantic. There's a Place was one of the three songs left off The Early Beatles. Capitol finally put it on their Rarities album in 1980. I think it's a great song. Great harmonies from Paul and John, and yes, John's harmonica...it was a real strange experience for me to hear the UK albums when they were released over here in the late 80's. The music I heard as a child is so ingrained in me - I knew those US albums inside and out, backwards and forward. As soon as one song ended, I anticipated the next one. I knew all the lyrics, even the little musical mistakes (like Paul's voice cracking on "If I Fell"). That's why the US albums are still my go-to albums. I put the UK versions on when I want a different listening experience. Was glad the US albums finally made it to CD - in both mono and stereo!
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 7, 2022 20:56:00 GMT
While I'm not as big on harmonica in general, I agree otherwise that "There's a Place" is GREAT! The harmonies are so perfect for a rock/pop song. And while the arrangement is pretty basic as they often were in those early years (in terms of instrumentation and basically live performances), it's really good. I love that they always put some thought into arrangements to take these songs from "strum these chords under the melodies we're singing" to "let's do half-note triplets here; let's drop the harmony there; let's sing in octaves here." Little things that make all the difference in the world.
I totally know what you mean, lonelysummer, about the music of your youth. I suppose we all have that to some degree, those records (or in my case, parents' records and my mostly cassettes) that we knew just perfectly. Every tune, every transition, every word. Even the ones I don't necessarily like now, I still can't help but recognize them fondly. You never forget the music you grew up to, as far as I can tell.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 7, 2022 23:34:12 GMT
There's a Place was one of the three songs left off The Early Beatles. Capitol finally put it on their Rarities album in 1980. I think it's a great song. Wow, I did not realize that. Asinine to the nth degree.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 7, 2022 23:39:26 GMT
So, do we think it would be best to post the tracklist of each album as we discuss it, as apparently most of us aren't too familiar with the US versions?
And is there going to be a schedule, perhaps a new album once or twice a week on certain days? Or are we just winging it? Just wondering...
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 8, 2022 5:09:33 GMT
Okay, from memory" Meet the Beatles!
I Want to Hold Your Hand I Saw Her Standing There This Boy It Won't Be Long All I've Got to Do All My Loving Don't Bother Me Little Child Till There Was You Hold Me Tight I Wanna Be Your Man Not a Second Time
It's basically With the Beatles minus a few tracks. A Hard Days Night is A Hard Days Night, but so is Something New. Beatles '65 is mostly Beatles For Sale. I know, it's confusing!
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Post by jk on Nov 8, 2022 10:37:35 GMT
So, do we think it would be best to post the tracklist of each album as we discuss it, as apparently most of us aren't too familiar with the US versions? And is there going to be a schedule, perhaps a new album once or twice a week on certain days? Or are we just winging it? Just wondering... It's fine if you post the track list of each album. It's going to be difficult for me to rate tracks on albums concocted after the fact but this is a game, so I'll play. So, for Meet The Beatles! (thanks, lonelysummer) I'll choose "I Saw Her Standing There" as most memorable, as it's from the lads' UK debut, and "All My Loving" as least memorable, as I heard it far too often at the time!
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 8, 2022 12:45:36 GMT
Meet The Beatles:
BEST SONG: "I Saw Her Standing There" is not only the BEST SONG on this album, but it might be my all-time favorite Beatles' song, certainly my favorite fast/early song. I love everything about the song - One, two, three, fa!...Paul's vocal, the lyrics, the bridge, George's solo, everything!
WORST SONG: "All I've Got To Do". Meh. Other than John's vocal, just meh. Slightly plodding.
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Post by lonelysummer on Nov 8, 2022 19:46:46 GMT
Meet The Beatles:
BEST SONG: "I Saw Her Standing There" is not only the BEST SONG on this album, but it might be my all-time favorite Beatles' favorite song, certainly my favorite fast/early song. I love everything about the song - One, two, three, fa!...Paul's vocal, the lyrics, the bridge, George's solo, everything!
WORST SONG: "All I've Got To Do". Meh. Other than John's vocal, just meh. Slightly plodding.
The Beatles were often their own harshest critics. IIRC, John called All I've Got to Do their attempt at being Motown. I Saw Her Standing There always sounded to me like a Little Richard song. Well, waddya know, the man himself cut a version. I saw him sing it on the Today show back in 1997.
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Post by B.E. on Nov 9, 2022 2:19:07 GMT
Meet the Beatles:
Best - "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - With "This Boy", "All I've Got To Do", and "All My Loving" up next.
Worst - "Hold Me Tight" - Probably the only amateurish sounding vocals the Beatles ever released. If it weren't for that, I'd probably have gone with "Don't Bother Me". Either way, I like 'em both. Love everything else.
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