Album Summary: Beatles for Sale

Overall, Beatles for Sale was a fantastic album. We're finally getting into the good stuff, in my opinion; the guys are slowly moving away from the classic rock-and-roll and rockabilly songs and migrating towards their own original material. Of course we've already seen a lot of great original stuff, but this album is much more autobiographical, making it better musically, lyrically, and stylistically.

My favorite tracks were "I'm a Loser", "I'll Follow the Sun", "Mr. Moonlight", and "Eight Days a Week". These songs really stuck out to me and my personal tastes. :) I could listen to "I'll Follow the Sun" over and over--the guitar's amazing. And of course, "Eight Days a Week" will forever be a classic and never fails to remind me of how quirky Ringo was (and is).

One particular thing I like about this album that doesn't have much to do with the songs themselves is actually the photo used for the album cover. Wikipedia says, "The downbeat mood of the songs on Beatles for Sale was reflected in the album cover, which shows the unsmiling, weary-looking Beatles in an autumn scene photographed at Hyde Park, London." They do indeed look exhausted; it's as if their somber faces foreshadow the turmoil that will come in the next several years (and decades). Very good photo. :)


That's all for Beatles for Sale... it was a good one! I'll see you tomorrow as we check out a couple songs from the next album, Beatles '65. :)

Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby

Today's song is "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby". Originally by Rex Griffin and performed later by Carl Perkins, The Beatles' version (which is inspired by Perkins' version because the guys didn't know his wasn't the original) features George on vocals. His vocals were processed using the STEED effect, or "send/single tape echo echo delay", which caused the echoes.

To be honest, it's that echoing that put me off the song a bit--it's more difficult to understand the lyrics, and it makes it sound like you're listening to the song at a concert from the nosebleed section. Not really my most favorite thing ever, but oh well. The lyrics are generic, cheerful rock-and-roll fare--the singer's got so much game, even he doesn't know what to do with it all. :P

Coming up is the album summary for Beatles for Sale so I'll keep this post short--luckily I don't have anything else to say about it anyway. :) 

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 66

What You're Doing

"What You're Doing" is one of my favorites from this album, I can tell you that already. :) The confrontational lyrics are directed towards a wayward lover from a singer who asks what she thinks she's doing. Paul wrote the song, and was probably influenced by his deteriorating relationship with Jane Asher. 

Between McCartney and Lennon, McCartney had typically been the more optimistic of the two when it came to songwriting. However, with this song he is expressing feelings of loneliness and doubt in his relationship, a theme he would be forced to develop more over time as his relationship soured...

There are several facets of this song that make it rather unique stylistically and musically. It starts off with a drum intro, instead of guitar or vocals. There's no chorus, just repetitions of "Look, what you're doing / I'm feeling blue and lonely / Would it be too much to ask of you / What you're doing to me?" The rhyming pattern is also unusual and syncopated. "McCartney adds to the rhyme scheme by combining a single, two-syllable word with two one-syllable words (i.e. 'Look what you're doing, I'm feeling blue and lonely...You got me runnin', and there's no fun in it...')". Also, for this song, George played a 12-string guitar, which is just awesome. :P

That's all for today... See you tomorrow, for the last song on Beatles for Sale and the subsequent album summary. :)

Note: Sorry this post is late... I tried to put it up last night, but Blogger seemed to be buggy and it wouldn't let me post it. So here it is!

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 65

I Don't Want to Spoil the Party

"I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" is a wonderfully depressing song. The singer is at a party, but removes himself so his dark mood doesn't affect the other party-goers. He's bummed out because he's waited and waited for his girl to show up, but she fails to, and after a few sips of liquid courage, he decides to go out for a walk to look for her.

Lennon was the primary author of the song, and we can see that "the lyrics revisit Lennon's familiar themes of alienation and inner pain." The sheer disappointed woe spelled out in this tune really makes you feel bad for John, who was capable of such great love and such great sorrow. This song, along with many of his others, give us a glimpse into the constantly-battling dichotomy of light and dark that raged in him. Pretty dramatic, I know, but then again he was a pretty dramatic guy.

I'm fond of this song--it shows us a sentiment many of us can relate to, a feeling of being nothing without that other person. I'm sure most of us have experienced that, making "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" a song filled with vital human emotions.

That's all for today... See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 64

Every Little Thing

"Every Little Thing" is a love song written by Paul, but primarily sung by John, a rarity in the Beatles' repertoire (another example, with the roles reversed, is "Day Tripper"). Paul wrote the song while living at his girlfriend Jane Asher's house, so the song is most likely about her. He'd wanted it to be a single, but evidently the tune "didn't have quite what was required".

I like this one; Ringo's timpani-playing adds some real depth and a unique sound. Apparently the boys had a great deal of fun recording this song, nevermind its "depth". Recording it took them two days, and according to Wikipedia, "The Beatles were enjoying themselves on the second night; take six was aborted due to McCartney burping his vocals, and take seven was finished but ended in loud laughter." I would have liked to hear those takes, for sure. :P

That's all for today... See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 63

Honey Don't

"Honey Don't", a rock-and-roll / rockabilly jam originally written and performed by Carl Perkins, was covered by The Beatles; it was one of the last songs they recorded for Beatles for Sale. One of the best parts about this song is Ringo's two quick spoken parts:

Although John Lennon had previously sung the song live, Ringo Starr performed it for the album, his requisite one lead vocal per album. During the song, he makes self-referential remarks leading into Harrison's guitar riffs, saying, "Rock on George, one time for me!" and then "Rock on, George, for Ringo one time!"

As a Ringo song, this one's got style. George's excellent guitar work paired with Perkins' unusual choice of chord progression makes "Honey Don't" really stand out to me. Normally I'm not too into the rockabilly songs, but this one definitely caught my interest. :) It must have interested the guys as well, because not only did they cover it as The Beatles, but Ringo and John both covered it individually later on in their careers.

Alright, that's all for now... See you guys later. :)

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 62

Words of Love

Today's song, "Words of Love", is a cover of a song by Buddy Holly and features some twangy guitar work (no doubt George's doing). Since John and Paul were great fans of Holly's original, they stuck as close as possible with their harmonies and musical style. Wikipedia tells us that since McCartney actually owns the rights to this song (as well as Holly's entire catalog), it's the only song on Beatles for Sale owned by a Beatle. 

[Note: Who actually owns The Beatles' music is rather confusing, so I looked it up. There's a difference between publishing rights and songwriting rights; Michael Jackson and Sony owned most of the publishing rights (MJ owned most of it at one point, purchasing the rights for $47 million and "trumping a joint bid by McCartney and Yoko Ono", but sold it to Sony to finance his ruinous lifestyle). EMI (The Beatles' distributor) and Apple Corps, Ltd. (The Beatles' own company) own the actual recordings. The guys (or whoever owns/controls their estates) own songwriting rights to the music and are compensated whenever a song is licensed--about 50% of the profit. Also, some individual songs are owned by the Beatle that wrote them; for example, George owned "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Ringo owns "Don't Pass Me By" through his company, Startling Music. See? Very confusing. That's just the short version. You can check out the long version here, under "Song Catalog".]

Back to the song... "Words of Love" is a good contrast to the previous song, "Eight Days a Week". They're both love songs, but they exist in entirely different realms. "Words of Love" is ironically quite concise--there are only two verses, with no real chorus to speak of--unless you want to consider the verses as choruses, in which case there are two repetitions of the chorus and no verses. Either way, it's short. 

My favorite part is the clapping sound, which was actually Ringo playing a packing case to more closely mimic the sound of Holly's original. I actually listened to the original, to see how close the guys got--I think it's spot on. I think for this cover, they weren't trying to exert their own musical influence so much as pay homage to Buddy Holly's. In that light, it's a job very well done. :)

That's all for today. Hope you enjoyed the song! See you guys tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 61

Eight Days a Week

To kick off the B-side of Beatles for Sale, we have a classic song today... one of my favorites for sure. :) "Eight Days a Week" is a cheerful love song. Wikipedia gives us a good quote about the reputed source(s) of the title.

The inspiration of the song has been attributed to at least two different sources by Paul McCartney. In a 1984 interview with Playboy, he credited the title to Ringo Starr, who was noted for his malapropisms, which are credited as the source of other song titles (such as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Tomorrow Never Knows")... However, he has also credited the title to an actual chauffeur who once drove him to Lennon's house in Weybridge.

The guys' stories of how songs began were always changing, so I'm going to say both versions are true. :P

The lyrics are pretty adorable and romantic. The singer has dedicated his time--more than all of it--to loving his partner. Despite the cuteness, apparently the boys weren't altogether charmed by their own song (John called it "lousy") but it was hugely popular in the States and remains so today.

That's it--see you guys tomorrow!

[As a note, I think it's supremely fitting that this is the 8th song on my Heard It Tally. :P ]

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Heard It Tally: 8

Songs Completed: 60

Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!

Today's double feature gives us two rhythm and blues gems: "Kansas City" and "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!".

"Kansas City" was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1952. "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" was written and performed by Little Richard, who was the first to combine it with "Kansas City" during performances. When The Beatles covered the two songs for Beatles for Sale, these two jams were already part of the famous rhythm and blues repertoire. 

Wikipedia's dearth of information regarding The Beatles' version of these songs (which they combined into one for their album, like Little Richard did) drove me to BeatlesEBooks.com. There I found the page for this song, as well as a great quote from Paul.

"In our imaginations back then, John was Buddy (Holly) and I was Little Richard...You're always someone when you start."  This was how Paul McCartney described who Lennon and himself aspired to in their teenage years.  Paul acquired the knack to imitate Little Richard's screaming vocals, which he was proud to display among his peers even before there were Beatles.

It's a great song to tap your foot to, or to get up and dance along with. The lyrics are the basic bluesy type, nothing too deep, but the talented singing and musicianship showcased in the tune are more than worth a good listen. :)

That's it for today... See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 7

Songs Completed: 59

Mr. Moonlight

Just as yesterday's song was sad and about the sun, today's song, "Mr. Moonlight", provides a fitting contrast. The singer praises the moon (traditionally portrayed as female but in this song, referred to as "mister"), claiming the moonlight shining down on himself and his lady helped him seal the deal, as it were. He implores the moon to shine again soon, to send him more good juju and help him with his game. This happens to be the first time I've ever heard a singer using the moon as his wingman. :P

Written by Roy Lee Johnson, "Mr. Moonlight" pairs John's vocals with Ringo's, giving the song a slightly unusual sound, and contains percussion with a distinctly Latin flavor. I first heard this song on the radio just a few weeks ago, and the harmonies during the chorus, when they sing, "Mr. Moonlight", are particularly intriguing. 

Speaking of the vocals, I did find one very interesting quote from The Beatles Bible: "Despite a blistering vocal from John Lennon, Mr Moonlight is held by many Beatles fans as one of the least successful songs in their catalogue." Maybe Beatles fans disliked the group's happier songs, who knows. ;)

That's all for today! See you guys tomorrow. 

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Heard It Tally: 7

Songs Completed: 58

I'll Follow the Sun

Today's song is "I'll Follow the Sun". It couldn't have fallen on a better day--it suits my mood perfectly. Sure, it's a bit depressing and melancholy--the singer's leaving his unappreciative lover, albeit sadly--but not every day can be about butterflies and happiness, as the boys knew well. Paul wrote and sang this one; he may have been going through a rough time, or was just inspired by unpleasant memories (one former fiancée had a miscarriage, causing their breakup; also, his girlfriend from around this time, Jane Asher, broke up with him after he cheated on her). However, it's a bit unlikely he had quite as much drama happening as John always seemed to have. 

Personally, the part that resonated most with me is the aspect of losing a loved one, something we all struggle with unless we're very, very lucky. In particular, the line "But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun" really sticks with me. It seems to say that there's no reason to stick around in the rain when sunshine's just around the corner. The storm could symbolize a bad relationship or even just a bad mood--whatever gets you down. 

Another line, "One day, you'll look to see I've gone", prompts me to embrace a slightly different reading of the lyrics. The reluctance on the part of the singer expands into the fundamental message of the song; he doesn't want to leave, but he's following the sun--at the risk of sounding religious, he's going on to better things. It's bittersweet, and wistfully hopeful at the same time, encouraging us to appreciate the people we love and let them know we care about them while we have the chance.

Maybe if I'd heard this song on a different day, I'd be all about the traditional reading... just not today. At the same time I'm glad it was today's song. It's my therapy. :) See you guys tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 6

Songs Completed: 57

Rock and Roll Music

"Rock and Roll Music" is a great Chuck Berry song that's been covered not only by The Beatles, but by REO Speedwagon and The Beach Boys as well, among others. It's a classic rock-and-roll jam, and Wikipedia gives us a quote that shows us a some of The Beatles' experience with the song and why they chose to cover it:

In late 1964, exhausted from non-stop touring and recording and short of original material, they decided to record several of their old rock and rhythm and blues favorites to fill out their LP release Beatles for Sale. Among these was a version of Berry's tune that eventually became as well-known as the original. The lead vocal in The Beatles' version was performed by John Lennon. In contrast to Berry's even-toned rendition, Lennon sang it as loudly and dynamically as his voice would permit.

If you listen to the song, you'll definitely notice that last part--John's singing at the top of his lungs, really making an extra effort to project the song and the lyrics out there. John's voice and the others' talented instrument playing (including George Martin on piano) really shows us the guys' passion for rock-and-roll, and in turn gives us a song that's actually worth rocking out to at that wedding reception. ;)

Alright, that's all for today. Hope you enjoyed these songs as much as I did, and I'll see you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 6

Songs Completed: 56

Baby's in Black

Sorry for missing a post yesterday! I'll be doing two today to make up for it. :)

Yesterday's song was "Baby's in Black", a mournful tune co-written by John and Paul. It's about a girl grieving for her lost lover, making the singer sad for her. The guys had a real-life inspiration for this song; their friend and photographer Astrid Kirchherr was engaged to Stuart Sutcliffe, artist and original bass player for The Beatles (another fifth Beatle... I'll have to start keeping track). However, Sutcliffe died of an aneurysm before he and Kirchherr could marry, leaving her bereft and prompting the boys to write a song about her grief. Sutcliffe had been great friends with The Beatles, and later on, "Yoko Ono remembered that Lennon mentioned Sutcliffe's name very often, saying that he was '[My] alter ego ... a spirit in his world ... a guiding force'".

The guys often performed this song during their live shows, and Wikipedia gives us a little quote from Paul about it:

McCartney said they introduced the song by saying, "'And now for something different.' ... We used to put that in there, and think, 'Well, they won't know quite what to make of this, but it's cool.'"

As one of their most morose and depressing songs, I'm sure they were often concerned about an audience's reaction to it. However, the song clearly meant a lot to them, so they took that risk--I believe in order to honor their friends.

That's it for this song... now for today's! :)

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Heard It Tally: 6

Songs Completed: 55

I'm a Loser

"I'm a Loser" was written by John Lennon, who sang a remarkably low G considering his range (he was a tenor, whereas the low G is generally solely the realm of baritones and bass singers). The song is about a guy who strikes out with a girl, and tries to put on a brave face even though he's pretty broken up about it.

With this song, we also get another glimpse into John's psyche when he wrote it. "In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon said the song was 'me in my Dylan period' and added, 'Part of me suspects I'm a loser and part of me thinks I'm God Almighty. [Laughs.]'" That feeling of having a dual nature is common to many musicians and artists (as well as politicians, I'm sure :P ). Here again we see that Bob Dylan had a powerful influence on John, an influence that went both ways. 

However, another side to that loser vs. God conflict is revealed in a quote from Paul:

Looking back on it I think songs like 'I'm a Loser' and 'Nowhere Man' were John's cries for help. We used to listen to quite a lot of country and western songs and they are all about sadness and 'I lost my truck' so it was quite acceptable to sing 'I'm a loser' ... It's only later you think, God! I think it was brave of John.

John's personal issues--his marriage to Cynthia was deteriorating (Cynthia claimed caused by his use of LSD); he was physically abusive and actually pretty violent, not only towards his wife but also other people; he was always on the road and rarely saw his wife or his son, Julian, born the previous year; etc.--really bleed through into his music at this point.

According to music critic Richie Unterberger, while the lyrics tell a story of romantic rejection, "I'm a Loser" is one of the first Beatles compositions that "goes beyond young love" including "the hypocrisy of keeping up a happy face when your world's falling down".

So, it's truly with "I'm a Loser" that we get a first (or second) look into John's persona at the time. We'll see more of that later.

That's it for today... Today's song was kind of a Debbie Downer so I'm going to leave you with a couple links for stuff that should cheer you up. :) See you tomorrow.

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Heard It Tally: 6

Songs Completed: 54

No Reply

Today's song is the first on the next album, Beatles for Sale. Wikipedia sums it up pretty nicely: "The album marked a minor turning point in the evolution of Lennon and McCartney as lyricists, John Lennon particularly now showing interest in composing songs of a more autobiographical nature." We'll get to see plenty evidence of that statement as we explore this album. :)

I've actually heard "No Reply" recently, on the radio. It's about a young guy who knocks on his girlfriend's door, knowing she's there and that she's been unfaithful, but she doesn't answer. You can really hear the difference with this song; it really marks a new age in the guys' lyrics as well as their music. Another Wikipedia quote describes the effect this song had on music critic Ian McDonald:

In his book, "Revolution in the Head", Ian MacDonald remarks that the middle eight ("If I were you, I'd realize that I love you more than any other guy; and I'd forgive the lies that I heard before, when you gave me no reply") was the most powerful phrase featured in any Beatles song thus far.

I agree, kinda-sorta. It's certainly a bold leap into the heart-wrenching and brutally honest, and it only gets better. :)

Well, finally my Tally is going up... by one song, but that's okay! Maybe I'll have heard tomorrow's song as well, who knows? See you then!

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Heard It Tally: 6

Songs Completed: 53