Beatles For Sale

[stevie]

Hi guys. Ok, I could fairly say that this would be the least popular Beatle album?
Anyway, yesterday i was drving to pick up my daughter from school, and on a whim, decided to tak this CD. Hadn't listened to it for AGES!!

WOW, No Reply? how good is that song? You forget, don't you?  Great song to sing along too, LOUD.

ok, skipped a few then 'side 2'... i don't want to spoil the party, yeah, not bad. then I listened properly to What You're Doing. some really nifty things goin' on in that song! little guitar fills in the BG.

it isn't funny how you can continually 'rediscover' the Beatles?

[tkitna]

ok, skipped a few then 'side 2'...

Lol, this is why its pretty much accepted as being their weakest (with Let It Be). lots of filler and covers. I know what you mean though, its good to break stuff out you havent heard in awhile and a lot of the times you come away with different opinions than you originally had.

then I listened properly to What You're Doing. some really nifty things goin' on in that song! little guitar fills in the BG.

Love the song but it honestly has one of the worst guitar solos in it ever. George hacked that one.

[Hello Goodbye]

I'm happy to hear you've rediscovered Beatles For Sale, stevie.  I've always liked that album and regard it as a pivotal album for them.  In many ways, Beatles For Sale heralded Rubber Soul.....

[peterbell1]

I never noticed that those two photos were so similar!

[Nelson_Wilbury]

I think that the less popular album is Yellow Submarine, but anyway...

There's the same number of covers that in "Please, please me" and "With the beatles", but are better that them for me. "Kansas City", "Everybody's trying...", "Honey don't" and "Rock and roll music" blow my mind.
And you can find "No reply", "I'm a loser", "Baby's in black" or "Eight days a week". All of them could be a single.

And I love "What you're doing" too. The Paul's voice sound very, very "McCartney" here  ha2ha

[Yarvelling]

Ahhh...'No Reply'; what a way to start an album!  One of my favourites!  One of my favourite albums too; a real changing point in sound, for me-really opens the door for the more 'mature' sounding Help!, and especially Rubber Soul. I'm not too bothered by the covers either, they're more in keeping with the overall sound of where Lennon & McCartney were going-to me!
But oh! 'No Reply'.......what a song! One of those I can just listen to over and over!
Cheers,
Steve.

[tkitna]

'No Reply' is kind of a neutral song for me. It annoys me if i hear it to often, but its decent every now and then.

[Normandie]

I've always had a soft spot for Beatles for Sale, so I was happy to come across this article today: https://americansongwriter.com/making-the-case-for-the-beatles-unheralded-1964-album-beatles-for-sale/

Ahhh...'No Reply'; what a way to start an album! 

Totally agree!

[Hello Goodbye]

I've always had a soft spot for Beatles for Sale...

Me too.  As i mentioned all those years ago, in many ways Beatles For Sale heralded Rubber Soul.....











Rubber Soul has always been my favorite Beatles album.

[Moogmodule]

I think the originals on Beatles for Sale are great. No Reply is a terrific opener straight off the bat. And yes some of them could fit on Rubber Soul comfortably.

The covers are beginning to sound a bit like a throwback to their earlier years but they're mostly still a good listen. 

So I'm more than happy to throw BfS on the turntable (or streaming device)

[Normandie]

I think the originals on Beatles for Sale are great. No Reply is a terrific opener straight off the bat. And yes some of them could fit on Rubber Soul comfortably.

The covers are beginning to sound a bit like a throwback to their earlier years but they're mostly still a good listen. 

I agree on all these points. I prefer the originals on Beatles for Sale to the covers. The only original I've never been too keen on is What You're Doing. And I'm repeating myself, but yeah, No Reply is such a fantastic opener. One of the best off any album, in my opinion. 

[Hello Goodbye]

The only original I've never been too keen on is What You're Doing.

It's reported that Paul wasn't too fond of this song either and described it as "filler."  But he wrote the song alone and most likely Jane Asher was his muse.

I happen to like this song a lot because of its simplicity and similar personal experiences...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sba2LbhkVY#


Isolated studio instrumental tracks have been blocked but this fellow recreates the full instrumental perfectly...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRe0CS3GQiU#

George Martin played piano in the studio.


And here are the isolated the isolated vocals...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBdnWgWfrus#
4:52

Maybe Paul has changed his mind about this song as his monthly newsletter is called "What's That You're Doing?"

[Hello Goodbye]

Oh, and here are some early takes during the What You're Doing and No Reply Sessions (29-30 September and 26 October 1964)...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65gssFapBdo#

[Moogmodule]

I've always liked What You're Doing. Maybe not as weighty as No Reply or I'll Follow the Sun but it's got a nice feel.

[nimrod]

I think the originals on Beatles for Sale are great. No Reply is a terrific opener straight off the bat. And yes some of them could fit on Rubber Soul comfortably.

The covers are beginning to sound a bit like a throwback to their earlier years but they're mostly still a good listen. 

So I'm more than happy to throw BfS on the turntable (or streaming device)

I too play BFS quite often. It's an album that kind of annoys me though. On the one hand I think the originals are awesome, very awesome ! But I don't really like the covers. It annoys me that they had other original songs they could've worked on more put on BFS, but they needed an album out fast and covers it was.

As I say I put the originals on a par with Rubber Soul, Every Little Thing being my favourite, the refrain...."If I Were You, I'd Realize that I" to me is mind numbingly brilliant, those vocals of John & Paul send shivers down my spine.

I'm A Loser is one of John's first incredibly great songs imo.
Eight Days A Week should've been a single in the UK. A No 1 for sure.

After the high jinx of She Loves You, A Hard Days Night and I Wanna Hold Your Hand they became more subdued and introspective, more acoustic. Those songs are timeless.........

But I don't like the covers.


Love the cover though