I'll take your point about making too much of the anthology take of "Love Me Do;" as BlueMeanie says, George Martin's decision about wanting to use a session drummer for The Beatles' studio sessions was based on more than that. You also raise an interesting point: Pete switches tempo in the anthology take, and I wonder if that was the way The Beatles played the song live or was it an attempt to re-arrange the song in the studio? If it was the latter, it might explain why Pete had trouble with it and why John and Paul's vocals sound so tentative on a song they must have known well.
I enjoy this site. Rational point/counterpoint here and there. It's all good.
If LoveMeDo wasn't on Anthology, this discussion probably wouldn't exist, and most casual fans would think.."hey those decca songs sound pretty good...and the Sheridan/Polydor tracks Cry for a Shadow , My Bonnie are as fun and rockin' as anythign else from the time period. Most (except Decca!) would probably say "hey pretty good band...all of them"
That LMD track is incorrectly pointed to by casual fans as being some kind of smoking gun evidence of poor musicianshhip o nthe drummer's part, while the bass player gets a free pass for the shaky vocal. Go figure.
My understanding is they were trying a differnt arrangement and kicking it around. Even heard pete mention that in some interviews. Paul was new on the lovemedo vocal, which is reflected in the shakiness, and also commented in interviews. They both commented on the early take of LMD, but paul gets a pass and pete gets vilified for trying something different mid-take.? Pete was just slapping the rim of the snare for basic time on the first half of the track, as they were trying arrangements. I'd suppose they were trying stuff on an early studio go 'round..and its recorded for posterity. I' dsay raw basic track, while I know other poster above disagreed. That's fine. no problemo.
While I enjoy the discourse and always find i'm learnign different stuff from others, it's really more the myopic fans elsewhere --without ever hearing ANYTHING else--- that point out
"listen to LMD on anthology..that PROVES yadda yadda.." All I'm saying is that LMD proves only one thing: that they actually worked on songs before recording final versions for release, which is only logical, practical, heck it might have even been fun also.
PArt of the fun of Anthology was to show the band working on takes, and various timings and versions of songs, yet the rawness of LMD take is singled out. LMD on Anth was a simple early track they were trying some ideas on..just because it was committed to tape doesn't mean that THAT specific take was intended for release and they said "
good god we can't release THIS one..it's AWFUL". lol.. And the Anth track certainly doesn't reflect the sum total of any bandmember's total talent, especially if it was also macca's first shot at the "lovemedo" vocal.
Of course, there were other basic tracks not on Anthology when george's guitar work was off, or Ringo's drumming was mediocre..or whatever. By the same token re: Anthology 1, Paul flubbed the bass on "One after 909" a few times..certainly didn't mean he wasn't a capable bass player although 1after909 didn't get released (and reworked) until the Let it Be album. However, legions of fans would likely rush to defend how and rationalize why Paul goofed up the bass lines on 1 after 909 no matter what the story is. It's no big deal..they were kickign it around in the studio..that's where that stuff is supposed to happen anyway.
It's all in the past though...but it's fun to yap about it respectfully. Of note, the recording engineers had commented LMD on the '05 pete best of the beatles dvd, and then again the decca fokls said "guitar groups are on the way out"...so, heck, people made mistakes and judgment arrors back way back. It's sll jus tso much history now..bu fun to chat about.
The most popular band in Liverpool at the time. Certainly all the musicians had chops; it was the live setting that got them noticed. I'll refer back to Cry for Shadow of even My Bonnie, and give a listen to the drumming there. It kicks arse. It's all good fun though...thanks for the thread and the respectful discourse.
Meanwhile, click here http://www.lightyear.com/ see "Music" in the middle of the screen, and click on the black/green album to hear 3 full tracks.
Enjoy.