original title: "Seventeen"
Paul's first (and one of his best) recorded "potboilers". The opening count is from another take, but the rest of this was simply the first take, believe it or not. John changed Paul's "Never been a beauty queen" to the grittier, bluesier, yet more inscrutable "You know what I mean". Ringo is as tight as a three-dollar watch.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
20 February 1963
25 February 1963
Written backstage after a concert and intended for singer Helen Shapiro, this song was neither a great pop construction nor a raveup that worked well on the stage. However, the classical piano filigrees point the way, softly, to further accomplishments.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
A John favorite that doesn't really catch the fire of the Arthur Alexander original; it sounds a little too measured and slow, and it clunks along. Pay attention, though. That stutter-step drum part (taken from the original) would point the way to "Ticket To Ride".
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
A hommage to the Beatles' love of Girl Groups, this cover doesn't really compare with the Cookies' original, but the original wasn't much to look at, either, so no harm, no foul. George's first lead vocal.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
23 August 1964
27 August 1964
Ringo's first vocal appearance, and an example of the Fabs destroying the original (but in a good way). Another girl-group cover, this time of the Shirelles (and the lyrics seem kind of odd as a result), but a great raveup, nonetheless.
Briefly considered as a single by George Martin, but it really isn't even strong enough to be a b-side (which is where it wound up on "Please Please Me"). A Lennon song of dubious lyrical quality. This is indicative of what the music press called "greeting-card lyrics". Not, overall, a horrible tune, by anyone else's standards.
The song that endeared them to their countrymen and kicked off British Beatlemania. Originally intended by John to be a Roy Orbison hommage, but the tempo was pumped up; George Martin claimed it would be a number one hit the minute the final take was over. He was right. This is as pure a distillation of sexual frustration and romantic longing as had ever been made.
Studio sessions
6 June 1962
4 September 1962
11 September 1962
25 February 1963
28 January 1969
Is as simple as "Ask Me Why", simpler, even, but much bluesier and pointed in its attack. Lennon called it "a very funky record". The harmonica was placed on here as a result of John's love for Bruce Chanel's "Hey Baby", and the harp itself had been stolen by John from a music store. Session drummer Andy White is playing, while an unhappy Ringo is reduced to tambourine. The lesser-known version on Past Masters, with Ringo drumming, is inferior, although not due to Ringo per se.
Studio sessions
6 June 1962
11 September 1962
25 February 1963
A stellar early example of Paul being melodic and rocking at once (verse vs. bridge). Probably the only cha-cha ever in the Beatles catalogue; contains incredible harmonies and, ingenious vocal arrangements. The song's actually a two-year-old Hamburg souvenir. Ringo again sits out for Andy White, this time playing maracas.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
20 February 1963
25 February 1963
Yet another girl-group cover, this time of a Bacharach and David song. My money's still on Smith's 1973 version, but oh, well. Inspired by the Shirelles' version.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
A lovely song written for John's first wife, Cynthia. Glows with the possibilities of new love and features one of George's finest vocal moments. Inspired by a passage in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
Another cover but a great example of the Beatles' nascent ability to find the heart of a song. One of the best and most tasteful versions of this evergreen standard, it proves that the lads were every bit as good at interpreting as they were at creating.
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
This song gets a lot of attention as an early lyric example of John's searching, personal later songs like "In My Life" and "Julia". Certainly not in the moon-june-spoon category of romantic songs, but not the best example of this kind of thing. You'd be better off with the above mentioned songs or the Beach Boys' "In My Room".
Studio sessions
11 February 1963
25 February 1963
23 August 1964
27 August 1964
29 August 1965
30 August 1965
An incredible, blistering workout that renders the Isley Brothers' original mute. Another one-take wonder; the caustic sound of John's voice was due to a terrible cold, and, by this point, strained vocal cords. They tried a take 2, probably to get something a little more polished. Thank God they failed!
