Album Summary: The Beatles' Second Album

This album was a fun ride. I'd already listened several songs from it, but there were plenty of great new ones to hear. It's been an interesting journey, to have started with the British albums and then moved on to the American ones--they're often quite similar, but sometimes a new arrangement or the addition of different songs can change the mood of the entire album. Below is a quote from the wiki page for The Beatles' Second Album:

Unlike the contemporaneous British Beatles albums, The Beatles' Second Album is composed exclusively of uptempo numbers, and for this reason is a favorite of some Beatles aficionados and rock critics. "The Beatles' Second Album stands as probably best pure rock & roll album ever issued of the group's music" [sic], wrote Allmusic.

It's hard to go wrong, with covers of classic songs by Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson, Little Richard, and The Marvelettes, all sung in The Beatles' own style but paying tribute to the greatness of the originals, as well as some awesome new material like "She Loves You". :)

Well, tomorrow is a new day, and a new album. I'll see you then. :)

She Loves You

Finally... a song I've heard! It's hard NOT to have heard it, really. After all, it's one of the most classic Beatles songs ever. :) "She Loves You" is ranked by Rolling Stone as the 64th greatest song of all time; it was the first song to be heard by a substantial number of Americans (The Beatles hadn't had too much success in the States beforehand, at least not success comparable to what they later experienced). However, the song itself gained in popularity only after The Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The lyrics are special in that Paul wrote from a perspective outside of the usual "two lovers" theme. Wikipedia tells us more:

Unusually for a love song, the lyrics were written in the third person. This idea was attributed by Lennon to McCartney in 1980: "It was Paul's idea: instead of singing 'I love you' again, we’d have a third party. That kind of little detail is still in his work. He will write a story about someone. I'm more inclined to write about myself".

In addition, the fact they sing "yeah" instead of "yes" was apparently a scandal at the time (how quaint, right?). The "British establishment" found it improper, no doubt, and even Paul's dad, after the boys played him the song for the first time, asked, "Couldn't you sing 'She loves you, yes, yes, yes!'", complaining about the abundance of "Americanisms" in their lyrics. Paul, relating the story, said, "At which point we collapsed in a heap and said 'No, Dad, you don't quite get it!'" Parents just don't understand--wise words from Mr. Smith. It wasn't just Paul's dad, though:

Critics panned the song, dismissing the "yeah, yeah, yeah," as an uncouth slang from a fad band. The "yeah"s were to have a great effect on The Beatles' image — in some parts of Europe, they became known as the Yeah-Yeahs.

The song was wildly successful in England, and remains so today. Below are some facts from Wiki:

It was the best-selling single of 1963, and remains the best-selling Beatles single in Britain today. It was the best-selling single in the United Kingdom for fourteen years until it was surpassed by "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings, (written by that group's lead singer: Paul McCartney).

"She Loves You" was a big stepping-stone for The Beatles. It was part of a fortuitous sequence of events that catapulted them into fame. No doubt we'll see soon just how insane that was for them. :) 

This is the last song from The Beatles' Second Album so I'll be posting an album summary in just a few minutes. See you then!

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Heard It Tally: 2

Songs Completed: 36

I'll Get You

"I'll Get You", originally "I'll Get You In the End", is a quirky song. It's notable in that John and Paul sang together for the entirety of the song, "allowing the few occasions when they do harmonise to stand out." This one's another example of the ongoing disagreement as to who did the majority of the writing; some attribute it solely to Lennon, while McCartney states it was an equal collaboration. In addition, "McCartney recalls using Lennon's Menlove Avenue home as the writing base for the song. This was rare, as Lennon's Aunt Mimi, whom he still lived with at the time, was disapproving of the Beatles."

The lyrics themselves are interesting as well, particularly the choice to begin the song with "imagine", a word that travels a long way with The Beatles as a group as well as the individual guys. Below is a quote from Wikipedia regarding the use of "imagine". 

The song's opening line "Imagine I'm in love with you" was innovative, as it drew the listener immediately into the story. McCartney would cite this as an early example of Lewis Carroll influencing their lyrics; a ploy explored again in later compositions such as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and Lennon's solo "Imagine".

It's definitely a strong word, one that can fill the listener with creative imagery. 

Another neat aspect of this tune is that the guys don't hide their accents. "Reiterating its A-sides' catchphrase ["She Loves You"], and assuming the heavy scouse accents conspicuous in their early records, Lennon and McCartney 'drawl their way through a mock-naïve love lyric'." The Liverpudlian singers didn't always let their accents shine through, however, as we'll hear in future songs. I liked this song--ignoring its slightly stalkerish lyrics, at heart it's a sweet love song. It kind of reminds me of a less intense version of both Blondie's "One Way Or Another" and The Police's "Every Breath You Take". Just... way less creepy. :P

Well guys, that's it for today! See you tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 35

I Call Your Name

Today's song, "I Call Your Name", was written by Lennon before The Beatles. John gave it to his pals, The Dakotas, for their use, but wasn't pleased with their arrangement of the song (and annoyed by the fact they released the song as a B-side on their album rather than an A-side--even though the A-side was another Lennon/McCartney tune, "Bad to Me"). John and the boys recorded it themselves, and were apparently more satisfied with the result. Also, according to Wiki, "the song's middle eight is the Beatles' first attempt at ska." Ska, as a music genre, has a long and interesting history--definitely worth checking out. :) 

I liked "I Call Your Name"--at first glance, it's one of those kind of pathetically, dramatically plaintive tunes that guys tend to sing when they've just been dumped. He's quick to mention he doesn't cry, but states he just can't make it without you. The perfect blend of tough and sensitive. However, at BeatlesEBooks.com, Rybaczewski says that there could be more than just one interpretation of the lyrics, and that even Paul didn't know exactly what John had in mind when he wrote them:

“When I look back at some of these lyrics,” McCartney has stated, “I think: Wait a minute.  What did he mean?  ‘I call your name but you’re not there.’  Is it his mother?  His father?  I must admit I didn’t really see that as we wrote it because we were just a couple of young guys writing.  You didn’t look behind it at the time, it was only later you started analyzing things."

Intriguing... Really, Lennon could've meant just about anybody in the song. The lyrics aren't explicitly romantic, and reading them in new ways gives a great deal more depth and meaning to them. Personally, I'm almost always more interested in the lyrics more than the actual music of a song (not that I don't appreciate some awesome music), so I'm always trying to glimpse those other facets, to see what I can find. :)

That's it for today. See you later!

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 34

Long Tall Sally

"Long Tall Sally" is a cover The Beatles did of a song by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman (aka Little Richard). This bouncy, bluesy number is listed as #56 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and has been covered by hundreds of artists.

Before I start with The Beatles' version, run over to the wiki page for this song (here, if you're too lazy to click the song link above lol) and read the "History" section first. It's actually hilarious and explains who Enotris Johnson is. :)

For information about The Beatles' cover of "Long Tall Sally", I went to BeatlesEBooks.com. The page for the song has a lot of great facts. :) Rybaczewski states that "Long Tall Sally" has a longer history with The Beatles than any of their other songs. It was one of the songs Paul played for John "to impress him" during their first meeting on July 6th, 1957; they played the song often during their time as The Quarrymen; and it was included in their final live concert in Candlestick Park, San Francisco on August 29, 1966. But it didn't die there--Paul also continued to play the song during his tenure with Wings.

Rybaczewski also has nothing but good things to say about the guys' performances during this song, which was recorded in a single live take with no overdubs. They clearly were at the top of their game with this one, being so familiar with it already. Paul sings it higher even than Little Richard did, George's guitar solo is virtually perfect, Ringo's drumming is absolutely devastating, and John (lead guitar solo in the beginning, and then rhythm guitar throughout) and George Martin (piano) provide excellent backup, allowing the rest to shine.

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

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 33

You Can't Do That

Great song today [yesterday! See below]. :) "You Can't Do That" was written by John and Paul (the Wiki page states it was actually written only by John and credited to Lennon/McCartney). It was released as the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love" (we'll get to that one soon!). 

Lennon's inspiration for the lyrics was the theme of jealousy. Robert Sandall, musician, music journalist, and radio presenter, said the song "contradicted the genial tone [of the album] with its tense threats, sexual paranoia and nagging, dragging groove". Semi-autobiographical, the song is accompanied by several of Lennon's other works (like "Run for Your Life" and "Jealous Guy"). Clearly John had experience with the green monster (no, not The Hulk, the other one).

One notable cover of this song was by Harry Nilsson, who including it in his album Pandemonium Shadow Show (1967). I personally know of him from "The Puppy Song" (the song playing during the opening credits of You've Got Mail). Below is a quote from Wikipedia explaining the friendship Nilsson formed with The Beatles after covering "You Can't Do That". 

The track was Nilsson's first hit as a performer; though it stalled at #122 on the US charts, it hit top 10 in Canada. It also (along with the rest of the album) established Nilsson as a favourite performer of the Beatles. Famously, Lennon listened to Pandemonium Shadow Show for 36 hours straight after being given a copy by Derek Taylor; he then called Nilsson to congratulate him, which started a friendship that would last for the rest of Lennon's life. Later, in a 1968 press conference to announce the formation of Apple Corps, Lennon was asked to name his favorite American artist. He replied, "Nilsson". McCartney was then asked to name his favorite American group. He replied, "Nilsson".

That launched a long and storied relationship (you can read about it on Nilsson's wiki page).

Well guys, I think that's about it for this one. I'll see you later!

[Note: I got so busy yesterday with work, errands, dinner, and spending time with my pal that I completely forgot to do this post yesterday. Sorry about that. :) If it makes it better, I'm pretty sure The Beatles are scolding me with today's song. It definitely sounds like an admonition for my forgetfulness lol.]

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 32

Thank You Girl

"Thank You Girl" is from The Beatles' Second Album (we'll be sticking with this one a bit longer than the last few, as there's more than one song here I haven't heard. Yay!). The album was released April 10, 1964; it was their second with Capitol Records and their third in the U.S. "Thank You Girl" was the B-side of "From Me to You". 

It's basically a big shout-out to all of the screaming lady-fans that the guys had out there. From Wikipedia: "McCartney said, 'We knew that if we wrote a song called, 'Thank You Girl', that a lot of the girls who wrote us fan letters would take it as a genuine 'thank you'. So a lot of our songs were directly addressed to the fans.'" This gesture is a common one and examples can be found in many genres of music (the example that comes to my own mind is "Larger Than Life" by The Backstreet Boys, but don't hold that against me).

This song is also the result of a truly equal Lennon/McCartney effort. Below is a quote that talks about that partnership.

Written “eyeball to eyeball", a phrase Lennon and McCartney would later use to describe their early formulaic writing sessions, "Thank You Girl" demonstrates how they were able to produce a song from scratch by working in total partnership. Lyrically, Ian MacDonald suggests that Lennon probably wrote the first line of each verse, allowing McCartney his flair for word play and inner-rhyming in completing it.

So, although for most John & Paul songs you often have one of them saying he did most of the work, or that the other one did, and sometimes you'll have a disagreement over who did what work on the song and when, it seems suitable that "Thank You Girl", the Beatles' love letter to their hysterical fans, was a true collaboration. I liked the song--it was cutesy and inoffensive to my ears, so overall it was a decent experience. Not my most favorite (I always say that... but someday I won't! That day is coming). 

Anyway, see you guys tomorrow. :)

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Heard It Tally: 1

Songs Completed: 31