Most Important Band of All Time
Some tracks are more well known than others. The author of this web page would never suggest that you obtain a file-sharing programme like WinMX or KaZaA in order to download the tracks you don’t have (of which most are widely available) because that would be illegal and therefore immoral and wrong! Having said that, please enjoy the following retrospective of some of the most important music ever recorded… |
· Please Please Me (Lennon/McCartney) - (The Beatles second single, released 1963, also from the album ‘Please Please Me with Love Me Do and 12 other songs [1963])
I know you never even tried girl
Come on (C’mon!), Come on (C’mon!)
Come on (C’mon!), Come on (C’mon!)
Please please me, wo-oh yeah, like I’ll please you..."
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The Beatles’ first number one single (at least, in three out of four trade papers), Please Please Me was a fitting break-out song, full of a strange kind of energy that was completely foreign to mainstream pop in Britain in late February, 1963. The strange and raucous skiffle-rock & roll-english folk sound (later to be re-named ‘Mersey Beat’) that was beginning to blossom in Liverpool and northern England would soon shake middle class London to it’s core and the rest of the country along with it. Please Please Me would be the trojan horse. The simplicity of the hook and the energetic harmonies infused with a unique sound that was unabashadly loud and cocky often overshadow the originality and inventiveness of the song structure itself. I think the song sums up quite well the formula that the Beatles were just beginning to stumble upon: magical, exciting and slightly abrasive performances of beautifully simple-sounding, yet complex, melodies. Above everything else Please Please Me is a great example of just how far an ear for melody and also an unabashed sympathy for the "Yeah, Yeah", "C’mon, C’mon" catchiness that was an important ingredient in the structure of a pop song (and still is...) goes in being able to string out hit song after hit song, as the Beatles were about to do. It was during the studio sessions for Please Please Me when George Martin famously quipped: "Congratulations lads, you’ve just recorded your first number one!" After Please Please Me the Beatles meteoric rise to the top of the record industry was, if not fully predictable, at least in some way, understandable. |
· From Me To You (Lennon/McCartney) - (The Beatles’ third single, released Apr. 1963)
I've got lips that long to kiss you, and keep you satisfied
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
Just call on me and I'll send it along
With love, from me to you..."
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The Beatles' second number one single, From Me To You is more than just a catchy pop tune (although it most assuredly is that as well); it's a beautifully written melody constructed by master craftsmen at the time when the full scope of their own musical ability is beginning to dawn on them. Again it is the unexpected appearance of a minor chord that is the centerpiece, D minor this time, and it turns the corner into a lovely middle eight that builds up into yet another trademark, head-shaking 'wo-oo' (cue the screams). In this early period in their careers, when the Beatles were constantly becoming bigger and better it is difficult to measure the importance of one particular song in respect to record sales as, I think, the record sales had a lot to do with timing in that the next record always managed to outsell the previous one (difficult to imagine something like this happening nowdays). But, for me, From Me To You is quite possibly the Beatles best song of the period. A great little number with that special blend of English folk melody and American rock and roll, written with great care and performed with wild enthusiasm. From Me To You also demonstrates how well the Beatles could end a song. Throughout all their early material it seems the best parts of their music are often the intros and endings and the bridges and middle eights, the parts of a song that tie everything together. Paul and John display, from the very beginning, an impeccable sense of 'theme' in music and how to steer it. |
· I Want To Hold Your Hand (Lennon/McCartney) - (The Beatles' fifth single, released in Nov. 1963)
It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide..."
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Without a doubt, I Want To Hold Your Hand was the song that really broke the Beatles in the United States. It's easy to hear why. From the instantly recognizable guitar intro to the generic 'poppy' hand-clapping to the climactic 'woo-ing' and head-shaking that endeared them to countless young girls the world over, I Want To Hold Your Hand might still be considered the theme song to what was to become known as 'beatlemania'. And it's a great song in it's own right. From the full-throttle verses and chorus to the delicate D minor bridge, the Beatles display, yet again, an unflinching awareness of what makes a pop song a hit. |
· There's A Place (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'Please Please Me with Love Me Do and 12 other songs' released 1963.)
When I feel low, when I feel blue
And it's my mind, and there's no time
When I'm alone..."
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For all the wonderful things coming out of America, Motown in particular, in the early nineteen-sixties, there was not a melody so inventive and daring in it's novelty as There's A Place. At first listen it seems a fairly typical E major - A major beat song, though with some stellar harmonies from John and Paul. It's when they substitute a G# minor for the E chord that the overlying harmonies take on a very different mood, almost dissonant in quality, but the tightness of the vocals and the way John and Paul's voices blend together so perfectly keeps it sounding fresh and quite pleasing to the ear. I would be surprised if there weren't some reservations among the recording staff at Parlophone about this unique song before recording, I could see this being a less than promising demo actually, but the way they managed to pull this interesting little number together and make it sound just as natural a pop song as anything else is a noteable achievement, and worth a listen. It seems almost to hint at a more progressive agenda in the Beatles songwriting, a tendency that would not come to the forefront until much later. Amazingly, it was only 1963. |
· It Won't Be Long (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'With the Beatles', released 1963)
It won't be long, yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah) yeah (yeah)
It won't be long, yeah (yeah)
'Til I belong to you..."
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Another instance where the Beatles' daring songwriting meshes well with their ear for theme and melody. It Won't Be Long is perhaps the first song where the actual hook is in itself slightly unusual. The E major to C major chord change is unexpected and (dare we say it) highly unorthodox for a 1960's beat group. Actually, this chord change has become something of a standard 'alt rock' cliché nowdays (it only took about 30 years to catch on). Add on top of that the off-rhythm (or missing-beat) splicing of the verses and you have something that is skirting the borders of conventional beat music. Still, it sounds great and after catching people slightly by surprise they deliver the kind of spot-on pop treatment that is now expected of them ("yeah yeah's" and the lot). Clearly their penchant for creativity has not yet trumped their allegiance to catchy, ear-pleasing pop music. They have not yet crossed the line which separates 'adventurous' from 'experimental'. Though more and more, there is a sense that the Beatles are riding a wave that is bound to take them toward that avenue at some point. Of course, it's always easier to spot these things in hindsight... I'd also just like to say I think the change from A major to D#5 with a B flat root while they sing "...'Til I belong to you..." is pretty damn neat. |
· All My Loving (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'with the beatles', released 1963)
Tomorrow I'll miss you, remember I'll always be true
And then while I'm away, I'll write home everyday
And I'll send all my loving, to you..."
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If there was a single moment that represented the pinnacle of 'beatlemania' it was probably the Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan show when they performed All My Loving. A very simple but catchy melody, sung by Paul, on top of some excellent glissando guitar work from George who adds a timely and tasteful solo about halfway through. It is just after that solo when the very simple, but catchy, melody is injected with the sweet, infectious harmony (which is actually not John on the recording but Paul singing a duet with himself) that is the songs climax. I used to listen to this song over and over just waiting for that harmony to kick in on the last verse and this was, inevitably, what sent the crowd in the Ed Sullivan Theatre alight. The screaming reached a pitch so high it actually interfered with the on-stage microphones. Paul looks up at John, looks out at the crowd, smiles sheepishly, and they both keep on singing. What can you do? |
· I Call Your Name (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the 'Long Tall Sally' EP, released 1964)
I don't know who can
I'm not going to make it
I'm not that kind of man..."
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Written by John for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. The Dakotas turned it down and it makes sense that they did. Not every band would have the swagger to pull this one off. The song's basic rhythm & blues feel is a subterfuge. The chord change C+ to B+ (underneath "…I'm not that kind of man…" ) is almost a challenge of bravado. The numerous tempo changes, including a guitar solo which is played in a kind of double-time swing tempo before defiantly switching back to half-time without crescendo, are also noteworthy. In the end it still pulls off the double trick of being a good, catchy, easily-digestable pop song that is also straying slightly off the beaten path. For John it is a milestone in that I think it probably marks his first real foray into the realm of genuine experimentation. A role he will definitely grow into as the decade grows older. |
· I Feel Fine (Lennon/McCartney) - (Single, released Nov. 1964)
She's so glad she's telling all the world
That her baby buys her things, you know
He buys her diamond rings, you know, she said so
She's in love with me and I feel fine..."
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Someone once told me that they thought the Beatles could be described as the first punk rock band. Interesting, I thought. The Beatles 'sound' was certainly a good deal more abrasive than that of, say, the Beach Boys for instance. People hadn't heard loud guitars bristling from snarly Vox amplifiers on this side of the Atlantic. And there was definitely an element of that sort of 'stripped down' aggressiveness in beat music that is in some way parallel to punk rock. Of course in late 1964 the general public's reaction to the Beatles was not on par with punk. People were not especially concerned that the Beatles constituted a legitimate threat to good, Christian Values. Not yet, anyway. I Feel Fine is a landmark for punk rock historians however, as it is the first recorded instance of deliberately coaxed guitar feedback. For a few brief moments in the introduction we are treated to the sound of John's guitar being batted at and allowed to feedback on itself. A harbinger of things to come perhaps. Otherwise, I Feel Fine is just another friendly Beatles pop song. With very nice three-part harmonies. And a very nice R&B guitar riff. And a damn good chorus. And a nice rhythm break about two-thirds of the way through... |
· If I Fell (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the soundtrack to the film 'A Hard Day's Night', released 1964)
Would you promise to be true
And help me understand
Cause I've been in love before
And I found that love was more
Than just holding hands..."
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As good a film as A Hard Day's Night turned out to be, the highlight, in the end, was of course the music. And the highlight of the music, in my opinion, was this oft-overlooked gem, If I Fell. A beautiful serenade about lost love and broken hearts and all that, I'm still enamoured of the chords and the harmonies. The song begins with John singing a beautifully understated introductory verse and then rolls into the beautiful duet. A classic troubadour's ballad, If I Fell is definitely classical in the way that Yesterday was classical. Only, If I Fell is a much more inventive chord progression and it is all the more beautiful for it's fearless harmonies which seem to soar overtop the light, tremelo guitar. The chords are unexpected but sound perfectly natural in that they are guided by the intervals the vocals lay down before it. Beautifully arranged to be at once complex in structure but simple-sounding. If you haven't heard If I Fell , or if you haven't heard it in a while, listen to it again. Of all the early Beatles songs, If I Fell is, in my opinion, the best performed and the most beautiful. |
· No Reply (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'Beatles For Sale', released 1964)
Love you more than any other guy
And I'd forgive the lies that I
Heard before when you gave me no reply..."
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No Reply was another huge step forward, for John in particular, but for the image of the Beatles as well. The lyrics are progressing from bubblegum odes to idyllic love to something more introspective (and perhaps, more honest from John's own point of view). This happened on 'A Hard Day's Night' also (as people like to point out) but I think the spirit of it is best captured in No Reply. From the crashing A minor - E minor chorus onward we are left with, for the first time, a sense of discord that is undeniably at odds with the light-hearted spirit of 'beatlemania'. We are also left with the sense that whatever it is that the Beatles are trying to get across, whatever new sound they come up with, it's going to sound great. No Reply is daring, unexpected, original and is the first clear signal that the Beatles (and John in particular) have a few things they need to get off their chest. |
· Drive My Car (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'Rubber Soul', released 1965)
Yes I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And maybe I love you
(beep beep 'm beep beep, yeah!)
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The first track off Rubber Soul, Drive My Car is the perfect launch to this groundbreaking record (even if the lyrics aren't particularly groundbreaking). From the distorted guitar lick intro and on into the cowbell measured cool groove, Drive My Car is definitely based in blues and rock & roll but is a recording that takes on a whole new style based at least partially in the new style of 'modular' recording that the Beatles (along with George Martin) had undertaken with this new record. George's running lead guitar is the main thrust of the verses but when the chorus pops around he switches to merely sounding out the bass notes while the B minor - G piano riff takes over. At the end of the chorus they switch back again. It is significant to think that from this point onward using guitar chords for the basis of the instrumentation is no longer interesting enough to keep the Beatles' own attention. The songs now must be well arranged and layered so each moment sounds fresh and exciting. What a novelty! |
· Norwegian Wood (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'Rubber Soul', released 1965)
She showed me her room, isn't it good, Norwegian wood..."
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A beautiful melody with some trademark Beatle harmonies in the chorus, Norwegian Wood is an acoustic ballad that is a landmark in two respects: firstly, the story of a sordid sexual encounter and the frank detailing of it was obviously not what people were accustomed to hearing on AM radio in 1965. "She asked me to stay and she told me to sit anywhere…Then I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair…" Pretty tame by today's standards but, retrospectively, by this second track you can tell that Rubber Soul is about to make waves of one kind or another. Norwegian Wood is also quite probably the first use of sitar in recorded pop music. The instrument so often associated with both traditional Indian music and later 60's psychedelia is used to subtle but brilliant effect here. The simple melody played on the sitar gives the song a kind of lurid feel and plays quite well against the 'sordidness' of the lyrics. Interesting to note that George, who performs the sitar part in Norwegian Wood, would later study the instrument in earnest under the guidance of Rhavi Shankar, who himself would later introduce traditional Indian music into Western pop, culminating, perhaps, with his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. |
· Think For Yourself (Harrison) - (from the album 'Rubber Soul', released 1965)
To say about the things that you do
You're telling all those lies
About the good things that we can have if we close our eyes..."
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The first of two George Harrison songs on the album (the second being the fairly straightforward If I Needed Someone) Think For Yourself is a definite standout. The lyrics are, if somewhat ambiguous, arguably the first perceptible attack on Christian mores and a kind of launching pad for George's long career of, may we say, more socially-engaged lyrics and views. It's difficult to say what would have been made of Rubber Soul had John Lennon not famously uttered the quote comparing the popularity of the Beatles with that of Jesus Christ. There is, undeniably, plenty of material on the album capable of stirring up righteous indignation throughout conservative America, which is in no way related to John's ill-advised interview with Maureen Cleave. The Beatles had been traveling in the direction of experimentation both musically and lyrically for some time and, in my view, Think For Yourself was a natural landmark along that particular road. Now as for the song itself; the distorted bass line is really the centerpiece of the arrangement. This is evidence of yet more improvisational playfulness and invention within the growing atmosphere of creative freedom that now followed the Beatles into the studio. The melody is slightly odd, but catchy, typical George Harrison, going all the way back to Don't Bother Me from With The Beatles(1963). Add in some very well-placed three-part harmonies and Think For Yourself is a deserving milestone in the Beatles canon. |
· The Word (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'Rubber Soul', released 1965)
Say the word and be like me
Say the word I'm thinking of
Have you heard the word is 'love'
It's so fine, it's sun-shine, it's the word 'love'..."
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An instantly attractive melody, a fantastic groove and well-wrought, memorable lyrics, The Word is perhaps the best song on the best album of all time. From the upstart piano opening into the jangly-pop verse full of classic Beatle harmonies you get the sense that the Beatles draw on an endless resource of hooks and melodies and that they can turn their attention to writing about anything and it will always sound like the newest and the best thing you've ever heard. Again, the lyrics themselves hint at a different agenda. A kind of 'early-hippie' aesthetic is in evidence here as is John's continuing (and increasingly public) row with organized religion. "Everywhere I go, I hear it said, in the good and the bad books that I have read..." Even the title itself is inherently dissentious. John, I think, is trying to suggest (with some shelter of ambiguity) that The Word is not The Gospel (as it is commonly known), the "word" is "love". A delicious trick of subversion for 1965. The music itself typifies the revolutionary new sound of Rubber Soul : carefully layered guitars, pianos and even a 'harmonium' (played by George). It is also soaked in that particular style of three-part harmony which will subsequently become their trademark (the finest moment of which is when John deftly holds onto a middle F while the chords fall downward from D minor underneath him). Garnished throughout with well-cued shakers and timely tambourine flourishes, the song is so beautifully layered and so well produced that it must stand as one of George Martin's (and the Beatles') finest achievements. |
· Run For Your Life (Lennon/McCartney) - (from the album 'Rubber Soul', released 1965)
than to be with another man
You better keep your head little girl,
or you won't know where I am
You better run for your life if you can little girl
Hide your head in the sand little girl
Catch you with another man, that's the end..."
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The final song off Rubber Soul, Run For Your Life starts off sounding like pretty standard Mersey Beat fare with a nice bluesy guitar lick from George. Before not too long, however, we are treated to a new kind of playfulness and venom from John's rather interesting lyrics. Certainly unprecedented in the Beatles' canon, Run For Your Life is a very defiant culmination to a very defiant record. Beyond this though, once again it is the music and the seemingly endless supply of powerful, catchy melodies that drive the song. The harmonies are again fantastic, three talented vocal improvisers working with enthusiasm and daring at the height of their fame, there always seems to be an extra note Paul can hit that turns a great duet into a heart-stopping, chromatic curiosity. I'd also just like to say that I think John's enthusiastic "Nah-na nah" at the song's end is about the best "Nah-na-nah" I've ever heard. |
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