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Beatles forums => Albums => Topic started by: Bobber on September 05, 2006, 12:16:43 PM

Title: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Bobber on September 05, 2006, 12:16:43 PM
Raxo and I have been into this discussion before. But I keep coming back to it. It's about the coversongs The Beatles recorded to make the Beatles For Sale album. Positions: Bobber says they recorded them because they lacked original material, Raxo states that they wanted to record these songs because they loved them. And we don't agree...


Quote from: 297
Curious to me ...

Let's take a view to their ... their classic covers? (I mean those that they performed on stage during most of their tours and gigs) ... and to the weird ones too ...

from Please Please Me :

1. Twist And Shout (John) (Hamburg till the end)
... and no more 'cos Boys was played just a few times ...

from Wth The Guys:

1. Roll Over Beethoven (George) (Hamburg till mid 60s)
2. Money (That's All I Want) (John) (lots of times)
... and no more 'cos Till There Was You and You Really Got A Hold On Me (on stage by late 63 ... till mid 64?)

from Guys For Sale:

1. Rock And Roll Music (John)
2. Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Paul)
3. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (George)
... all of these well-known classics till the end ...

--------------------

They also loved obscure covers, didn't they ...

from Please Please Me could be:

Chains, A Taste Of Honey, Anna (Go To Him)

from Wth The Beatles:




Devil In Her Heart, Till There Was You

from Beatles For Sale:

Mr. Moonlight, Words Of Love



What I'm trying to say is that they recorded some classics and some obscure covers on each album till mid-60s: Rubber Soul, right? (except for A Hard Day's Night -because they cheated including the 4 songs of the singles, ... they'd only got 9 songs for that album, only one more than usual-) ...

... but it seems that the album that contains the most classics of their repertoire and the less-east weird ones is precisely[/i] Beatles For Sale ...

... a different thing is if you like those covers ... but at least those audiences seemed to do it ... and The Beatles themselves (how many times John, Paul and George played Rock And Roll Music (John), Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Paul) and Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (George)?) ...

After all, their original songs on With The Beatles are not as great as the ones on other albums and that's the week-east point for it ...
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Bobber on September 05, 2006, 12:21:15 PM
Now, The Beatles recorded six covers for Beatles For Sale: Rock And Roll Music, Mr Moonlight, Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey, Honey Don't, Words Of Love and Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby. Songs from their Hamburg/Cavern days. They started to play three of them again after releasing the album. In my opinion, they picked covers that were certainly not the best ones of their old days, although a lot of people like RARM and KC. But Ringo's version of Honey Don't is forgettable, Words Of Love lacks the brilliance of other songs from that period and ETTBMB is quite repetitive (sp?). Mr Moonlight is ranked among the worst songs they ever recorded. Listening to the Hamburg Tapes and the BBC stuff, I feel there were much better songs they could have picked. What's your opinion on this?
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on September 05, 2006, 01:37:16 PM
I agree with Raxo on this one. Other than AHDN Beatle albums were a mix of covers and originals. These covers are mostly favourities from their stage shows. Up until Beatles For Sale the covers sat quite nicely with the originals. But by BFS their originals were progressing, leaving the covers sounding incongrous. Same for Help! In my book Dizzy Miss Lizzie and Act Naturally don't sound right next to the originals. By '65 their style had dated
So I think - the covers stayed to standard, but the originals changed, making the covers seem out of place.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Bobber on September 05, 2006, 02:15:44 PM
Quote from: 185
So I think - the covers stayed to standard, but the originals changed, making the covers seem out of place.

Mmm, I never looked at it that way. Interesting thought. Somehow that could mean that their covers could be randomly placed on the albums up till Help!
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on September 05, 2006, 04:09:17 PM
Quote from: 63

Mmm, I never looked at it that way. Interesting thought. Somehow that could mean that their covers could be randomly placed on the albums up till Help!

Pretty much. Though I can't imagine Chains on Help!, but I think the general idea is right. Am I right in that all their covers predate '62?
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: tkitna on September 05, 2006, 11:38:25 PM
I'm with Bobber on this. Rush job with not enough original material equals covers. None of the covers on BFS are great in my opinion. Although I enjoy listening to pretty much all Beatle material, if those covers never existed, I wouldnt miss them.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on September 06, 2006, 11:59:34 AM
But but but.......Please Please Me had six covers. With The Beatles had seven. (at a time when they were handing out chart-topping originals to other acts like hotcakes)Beatles For Sale had six. If you discount A Hard Days Night as a special project (being a soundtrack) then Beatles For Sale stops being an oddity and becomes just another Beatle album.
I think the inclusion of covers was a deliberate decision, not forced on them by lack of original material.
Certainly they might have made a better choice on the covers they chose, but can we really put that down to laziness or time pressure?
Bobber - what other covers would you have put on BFS?
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: SallyG on September 07, 2006, 12:10:55 AM
Take into consideration what kind of year they had in 1964: Coming to America, touring the world twice, TV appearances, and recordings up the wazoo, I mean, by the time they got to 'Beatles for Sale', they must have been tapped, so in addition to some brilliant originals, they probably just fell back on some old standbys. I don't know how they got through '64 without having a collective nervous breakdown.
I'm pretty sure the last cover they did was 'Act Naturally' which was on Y & T here in the States.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Bobber on September 07, 2006, 09:31:36 AM
Quote from: 185
Certainly they might have made a better choice on the covers they chose, but can we really put that down to laziness or time pressure?
Bobber - what other covers would you have put on BFS?


I always felt that I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You sounded somewhat like I Don't Want To Spoil The Party. I Got A Woman is another favourite. The Honeymoon Song. Don't Ever Change. I need two more...
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Wayne L. on September 08, 2006, 06:33:50 PM
Beatles For Sale is a great classic rock album in its own right, even though it's partly ignored because it's mostly covers.  
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: The End on September 09, 2006, 02:31:17 PM
Quote from: 63


I always felt that I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Cry Over You sounded somewhat like I Don't Want To Spoil The Party. I Got A Woman is another favourite. The Honeymoon Song. Don't Ever Change. I need two more...

How about Leave My Kitten Alone and Soldier of Love
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Bobber on September 09, 2006, 06:13:03 PM
I can't see Leave My Kitten Alone fit in nicely within the other tracks. Soldier Of Love might do that.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Wayne L. on September 09, 2006, 07:05:13 PM
Three Cool Cats from their Decca demo sessions would have been a great song to include on the album.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on September 29, 2006, 09:53:49 AM
Quote from: 395
Beatles For Sale is a great classic rock album in its own right, even though it's partly ignored because it's mostly covers.  

But to labour the point, Please Please Me and With The Beatles are also "mostly covers", and noone pans them because of it.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: zipp on September 29, 2006, 05:07:46 PM
Beatles For Sale is a great album and I don't mind the covers when they're good.
It suffers from two or three bad decisions.

First Mr Moonlight which should have been ditched for Kitten.
Second ETTBMB which should have been at the end of side one and without all that awful echo.It needs to be crisp and upbeat but they almost managed to ruin it entirely.
And lastly they should have put Kansas City at the end of side two to go out with  rocker.Plus all those Bye-byes would have been more appropriate at the end.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Bobber on October 13, 2009, 06:27:09 PM
Still, funny how this album sounds much better when the covers are programmed out on the cd-player...
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: peterbell1 on October 13, 2009, 11:10:43 PM
An interesting thread, raising some points that I'd never considered before - like how the covers were all pre-1962 songs which they played in Liverpool/Hamburg, so the standard of the covers stayed at one level while the Beatles' own songwriting and recording improved dramatically from album to album.

I personally don't think BFS is any worse than PPM or WTB, though I admit I'd probably put those three behind all other albums apart from YS. I know Mr Moonlight gets slated but it has never bothered me - certainly not one of my favourite Beatle tracks but I can think of quite a few I like less (Honey Don't being one of them!). I think Kansas City and Rock n Roll Music are great rocking songs and I've always liked Words of Love (probably because I like Buddy Holly). Everybody's Trying to be my Baby is nothing special but it's not terrible either (and they needed a George vocal on the album to please the George fans). Leave My Kitten Alone is one of my favourite Beatles covers and I think it would have gone well on BFS but they already had a John rocker with RARM.

I sometimes wonder if the reason that BFS is never higher up peoples' lists of favourite albums (including my own) is not because of the covers but because the original songs are predominantly "down" songs - I'm a Loser, I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go, Baby's in black and I'm feeling blue, I nearly died, One day you'll find that I have gone, I'm feeling blue and lonely. The lyrics to Every Little Thing are positive, but the music does have a downbeat feel. Only Eight Days a Week out of the originals could truly be said to be an upbeat song. I think the covers (most of them) at least inject some fun into the proceedings, even if they are beginning to sound outdated when compared to the originals.

I do think that BFS is something of a step backwards for The Beatles after AHDN - and the covers contribute to this - but given the year that they'd had it's not a surprise. They must have been struggling for original material and wanted to get an album out in time for Christmas so had to pick a few of their favourite oldies to make up the numbers. Plus it's an unfair comparison anyway because AHDN contains two A-sides and 2 great B-sides. If they'd dropped Honey Don't and Mr Moonlight from BFS and added the single tracks I Feel Fine and She's a Woman it would have made it a much stronger album (and more upbeat), yet they were trying to give value for money to fans by not putting their singles onto LPs.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: tkitna on October 14, 2009, 01:06:29 AM
Still, funny how this album sounds much better when the covers are programmed out on the cd-player...

I agree. I said it before in this thread that I always thought the covers were pretty lousy.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: tkitna on October 14, 2009, 01:11:13 AM
I sometimes wonder if the reason that BFS is never higher up peoples' lists of favourite albums (including my own) is not because of the covers but because the original songs are predominantly "down" songs - I'm a Loser, I don't want to spoil the party so I'll go, Baby's in black and I'm feeling blue, I nearly died, One day you'll find that I have gone, I'm feeling blue and lonely. The lyrics to Every Little Thing are positive, but the music does have a downbeat feel. Only Eight Days a Week out of the originals could truly be said to be an upbeat song. I think the covers (most of them) at least inject some fun into the proceedings, even if they are beginning to sound outdated when compared to the originals.

You might be right with that theory, but to be honest, 'I'm A Loser', 'I'll Follow The Sun', 'Every Little Thing' and even 'What Your Doing' have always been favorites of mine so who knows.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on October 14, 2009, 08:50:20 AM
I do think that BFS is something of a step backwards for The Beatles after AHDN - and the covers contribute to this - but given the year that they'd had it's not a surprise. They must have been struggling for original material and wanted to get an album out in time for Christmas so had to pick a few of their favourite oldies to make up the numbers.
That's an assumption I have trouble with. Apart from AHDN all Beatle albums had covers. It was how pre 66 Beatle albums were made, whether they were rushed or not. They put Dizzie Miss Lizzie on Help! when we know they had enough original material to hold over for RS. They released EP's of covers. The two EP's from BFS both contain a cover, even though  they had enough originals not to bother. It's just what they did.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: NowhereMan on October 14, 2009, 11:04:30 AM
For me Beatles For Sale was the first country/ folk rock hybrid.

 8)

Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: BlueMeanie on October 14, 2009, 11:16:02 AM
For me Beatles For Sale was the first country/ folk rock hybrid.

 8)

Because they use acoustic guitars doesn't make it folk. And there was always the odd country influence floating about; I'll Cry Instead from AHDN for example. If you want country/rock hybrids you don't have to look too much further than Bill Haley, Elvis or any number of early Rock 'n' Roll stars.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on October 14, 2009, 01:34:48 PM
Hi Nowhere Man. Like your posts.
The old folk rock number. I used to put this down to The Beatles Invented The Wheel Syndrome. But....
Everything seems to hinge on whether you consider I'm A Loser folk (or folk inspired).
It's definately got a Dylanesque vocal, and maybe the resurrected harmonica is a nod to him as well. And the lyric is Dylanish.
I'm having a hard time finding out exactly what folk is. But I feel confident that none of these things on their own (and probably together) equal a folk song.
Is it folk rock? Allmusic says: "Folk-Rock takes the simple, direct songwriting style of folk music and melds it to a prominent rock & roll backbeat. One of the most distinctive elements of folk-rock is the chiming, ringing guitar hooks, coupled with clear vocal harmonies."
I think I'd have to say Im A Loser is a Dylan inspired song rather than a folk song. And I'm not sure anyway if one song makes a hybrid. Nor am I sure we can know it's the first. Who knows what's tucked way out there (if we're saying one song on an album is enough.)
Ooh oooh and Elvis's GI Blues album has "Wooden Heart" on it, which is based on a (admittedly German) folk song. Does that make it a hybrid?
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: NowhereMan on October 14, 2009, 01:45:59 PM
I wouldn't just class I'm Loser a 'folk', for me we some other country sounding offerings off Beatles For Sale: I Don't Wanna Spoil the Party, What Your'e Doing, I'll Follow the Sun.

In addition, the lyrics in I'm Loser may be Lennon's attempt at a Dylan song, and the harmonica may also be, but we must remember that Love Me Do, From Me To You, Please Please Me etc all included periods of the harmonica. :P

Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on October 14, 2009, 02:00:31 PM
I wouldn't just class I'm Loser a 'folk', for me we some other country sounding offerings off Beatles For Sale: I Don't Wanna Spoil the Party, What Your'e Doing, I'll Follow the Sun.

In addition, the lyrics in I'm Loser may be Lennon's attempt at a Dylan song, and the harmonica may also be, but we must remember that Love Me Do, From Me To You, Please Please Me etc all included periods of the harmonica. :P



Yep. But country and folk aren't the same thing. As BlueMeanie Rock had been in bed with country since the dinosaurs. Howzabout Rockabilly?
Lennon's low growl on I'm A Loser definately sounds Dylanish to me. Had he sung a lead vocal at such a low register before?
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: BlueMeanie on October 14, 2009, 04:00:03 PM
Yep. But country and folk aren't the same thing. As BlueMeanie Rock had been in bed with country since the dinosaurs. Howzabout Rockabilly?
Lennon's low growl on I'm A Loser definately sounds Dylanish to me. Had he sung a lead vocal at such a low register before?

It's the great misunderstanding of the term 'folk music' all over again: it's got acoustic guitars so it must be folk. Wrong. Dylan was obviously inspired by some of the great folk artists of the 20th century. But being inspired by Dylan alone does make you a folk artist.
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Kevin on November 13, 2009, 04:10:09 PM
For me Beatles For Sale was the first country/ folk rock hybrid.

Found this in a  review of The Four Seasons Feburary 1964 album Born to Wander:
 "typical mid-1960s Four Seasons album with a folkier feel to the production, and a few genuine folk tunes amidst a program largely comprised of material penned or co-penned by the Seasons' Bob Gaudio. The harmonies are nice and the presentation gutsier than, say, the Kingston Trio. But it's still much more of a polite folk-pop album -- the kind you could find everywhere in 1963  -- than a folk-rock one."

A definition of folk-pop (again Allmusic):
"Folk-Pop falls into two categories. Either it is folk songs with large, sweeping pop arrangements, or pop songs with intimate, acoustic-based folk arrangements. Folk-pop began to evolve in the early '60s, but it came into full force after folk-rock became a sensation in the mid-'60s. Folk-pop doesn't have ringing guitars and rougher edges of folk-rock; instead, it is softer, gentler, and more pop-oriented."

Although this constant labelling irks me, and sometimes music doesn't slip into neat catagories, and given this is all I know about folk-pop, it would seem some Beatles For Sales songs fit nicely into the second defination, so is not untypical of the music of the day.


Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: BlueMeanie on November 13, 2009, 04:18:33 PM

Although this constant labelling irks me, and sometimes music doesn't slip into neat catagories, and given this is all I know about folk-pop, it would seem some Beatles For Sales songs fit nicely into the second defination, so is not untypical of the music of the day.


Another myth busted?
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Mairi on November 13, 2009, 05:14:33 PM
Beatles For Sale is so not folk-pop. It's just rock with some Dylan influences.

Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Nelson_Wilbury on November 13, 2009, 09:17:38 PM
for a start, I've got a special feeling about this album. This was the first cassette that I hear in the earlys 80's and always love "Baby's in black".
OK, the covers

Rock and roll music: One of the more exiting John/s vocals. A solid backing group and a very nice piano played for George Martin (The sleeve notes said that John and Paul play with Martin in one piano but this is a lie)

MR.Moolight: Maybe the weakest, but with a part harmony lovely

Kansas City: The same that RARM. Paul singing like a wolf and George playing an unusual rhythm guitar. The savage rock and roll of the 50s rise a high level

Words of love: This is a song with a double interpretation for me. You can say that is weak, and maybe you were right, but in the other hand, here the beatles show the ability to recreated the Holly's style.

Honey don't: It's rock and roll, baby! Just that. I love the Ringo's voice (The "honey don't" of the chorus sometimes is out of tune, but I think that that made it unique)

Everybody's trying to be my baby: Like Honey don't, in this song George can show his arsenal of rockabilly and country guitar riffs, and pay tribute to his Master, Carl Perkins.


I think that in this album the covers sound strongest that on the other albums 'cos they were a strong band.
And the fact that they choose this songs is to do they favourite period of rock and roll, the 50s
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Matildamother on February 11, 2010, 06:01:20 PM
For me Beatles For Sale was the first country/ folk rock hybrid.

 8)



    Oh it was intentional as the Beatles called Beatles For Sale their Country and Western Album.

One of the reasons why the Beatles appealed to people like the Byrds and other folk acts is they incorporated British Skiffle into rock and roll so it's kind of easy to hear folk influences. The Beatles "I'm A Loser" is definitely a hybrid of folk/rock with some country influence. "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" is basically sounds like a blue-print for the early Eagles. "Baby In Black" another country influences song was novel in it's approach to vocal harmony using intervals of 4ths and 5ths instead of the conventional 3rds and 6ths.

It's not that the Beatles or the Byrds invented folk rock but the Beatles were huge in starting the trend of folk-rock. David Crosby and Roger McGuinn got the idea of folk rock via the Beatles folk chord changes and rock and roll style. Roger McGuinn based his arpeggios 12 string sound on the fade-out of "A Hard Day's Night" though George was more of a flat-picker than Roger. You have to give credit where it's due
Title: Re: Beatles 4 Sale Cover Songs
Post by: Almighty Doer of Stuff on February 11, 2010, 07:51:56 PM
I guess it's all a matter of opinion, because not only do I love the covers on Beatles For Sale, but I like Beatles For Sale better than the first three albums, Help!, and either version of Let It Be. It's a great album and it's one of my favorites.

Actually, I think I'll post in that other thread about ranking albums.