It also points to the future of pop music as acts more and more began to write their own material, and remains one of the great debut albums.Ī tie-in with the band’s second film, Help! was a considerable improvement on previous album Beatles For Sale, and in truth is a bit of a mixed bag, but the best songs are very good indeed, rising to classic status with “Ticket to Ride”, McCartney’s “Yesterday” – the ultimate Beatles standard – and the title track, which was Lennon’s very real cry for help. Almost half the 14 tracks were cover versions, and as such, Please Please Me is an undeniably raw, but breathless and brilliant rush through the band’s live act of the day, with Ringo proving conclusively that he was the right man for the job. Lennon’s justly lauded, throat-tearing version of “Twist and Shout” bookends the album and in between there’s a mix of originals and covers including a fine Harrison vocal on “Do You Want to Know a Secret” and the first two hits “Love Me Do” and the euphoric title track as the band struck up an immediate rapport with producer George Martin, even if George (Harrison) didn’t like his tie. The tone of the thrilling debut that launched the Fab Four into pop music history is set by Paul on the opening track as he counts in “I Saw Her Standing There” (“One, Two, Three, Four!”). It’s an album largely dominated by Lennon however, and he excels on “It Won’t Be Long” “Not a Second Time” and the aforementioned “Money”. Elsewhere, George, who surprisingly has three solo vocals on the album, as many as Paul, tears up “Roll Over Beethoven” while McCartney’s “All My Loving” is still one of the group’s most loved early songs.
However, with 14 tracks on With the Beatles, the band couldn’t be accused of not giving value for money, even if it duplicated their first album with six covers, including several impressive nods to their love of Motown on “Please Mr Postman”, “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and “Money”.
Between their first and second albums The Beatles had three No 1 singles – “From Me to You”, “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – but the temptation to include any of them on their second long-player was resisted.
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