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[tkitna]

Please Please Me

Ok, lets get on with the first proper album.

1. I Saw Her Standing There - Nice early rocker, but I admit that I get tired of this song easily for some reason. First thing I noticed are the handclaps throughout the whole song. Not needed. They sound weird and off somehow. George’s guitar solo was passable. I liked John’s rhythm guitar sound and playing throughout. Ringo was tight as usual. Pauls voice was good and I like the constant moving bass. Decent song.

2. Misery - Not one of my favorites and not a lot to say about it. I think the piano sounds stupid in it and should have been a guitar, but that’s just me. Song has good harmonies and tight playing. Really not much else to add.

3. Anna (Go To Him) - I hate, I mean absolutely hate the backgound Anna’s in this song. They sound almost comical. Like long and drawn out burps before you puke dumb if you can get my meaning. In the same breath, the AH’s are nice and the polar opposite. John’s voice was decent enough for the song and Ringo was solid again.

4. Chains - Nice Ringo shuffle throughout. George’s voice is nice here. Good song for him. John’s rhythm guitar has a neat distorted sound to it. Sounds almost like a fuzz bass in my opinion. Paul’s higher background harmonies works on this song too. 1:28 John or George say something like Wow or something else. I couldn’t quite pick exactly what it was out, but its neat.

5. Boys - 0:31 I like Pauls scream. Thought George’s guitar sound and playing was kind or shaky throughout. Like the busy bass again. Background  vocals are nice. Ringo does alright for what it is (singing that is).

6. Ask Me Why - Woo Woo Woo’s annoy me bad. George and Paul sound good in the background together on this one. 0:51 mark the voices don’t mesh together. Not a whole lot more to add. it’s a decent enough song, but the ending sucks. They should have been able to come with something better than that.

7. Please Please Me - I’ve always liked this song. I don’t like the harmonica and guitar together part though. Just me though. Ringo kills on the skins. Backgrounds are good. 1:19 George ends the bar with a high note on the guitar. Really nice. Never noticed it before. 1:27 mark, obvious screw up with John and Pauls vocals. 1:33 mark, John sings the ’Come On’s’ half laughingly and with authority. Sounds funny. Wonder if it was due to the mess up at 1:27? At the 1:44 mark you can hear the song being played on top of  a slower version and its awful. Its really obvious. I don’t know if its due to the remasters or if it’s a studio blunder. I havent listened to the other version to find out.

8. Love Me Do - Tighter version than the Pastmasters version. Andy White must have had them on their best behavior.

9. PS I Love You - Another song I’ve liked forever. Pauls voice just sounds suited for this tune. He does a nice job. It doesn’t get much better than when Paul, John, and George takes a turn at the vocals. Love it. One thing that bothered me was the shaker throughout the song. Get rid of that and add some hi hats and I’m good to go.

10. Baby Its You - Love John’s ‘Uh Oh’s’ in this song. Don’t know why, but he nails that. George and Pauls backgrounds are good. Like the rhythm guitar sound. The xylephone (SP?) or whatever the hell it was during the solo kills the song. I seriously think it’s the reason why I never liked this version better.

11. Do You Want To Know A Secret - I like the guitar playing and tone on this one. I know I’m going to be crucified for this, but I think George’s voice is weak here. He does a fine job, it just feels weak to me. I cant explain it any better than that so I’m sure its only me. Moving on, the ‘Do Dah Do’s’ are silly sounding. Song killer for me. Probably could have done without the woodblock or drumstick tapping together at the 1:08 break too.

12. A Taste Of Honey - Here their voices together do not sound good in my opinion. I realize it’s a cover, but I think it’s a bad choice for them. Pauls voice on its own is good though. Go figure. Like the time change at 0:42. Did not like the messed up guitar strum at 1:14 mark. Don’t know if its George or John, but whoever it was tried to get fancy here and add another note or two and blew it. Not real noticeable, but its there. Backgrounds are good. Like Ringos use of  the brushes.

13. There’s A Place - Not a fan of that harmonica. Pauls higher background voice is nice on this one. George’s voice sounds kind of monotone throughout. Ringo plays well throughout but I hate his ending fill at 1:40 where he goes to the toms. Sounds dumb. A very average, vanilla song in my opinion.

14. Twist And Shout - The Beatles made this cover song their own. Johns voice gets a lot of credit on this song, but its deserving. George and Pauls backgrounds are good together. 1:09 mark, I like what Pauls doing with the bass line. Sweet. 1:23 Paul gives the bass 3 short stabs to end the bar. Very cool. Guitars are solid and sound good. At 2:09 theres that song on top of a song effect again. You can hear the echo of the the song being played at a different speed beneath the original again. It stops at the 2:18 mark though. Its not as bad as Please Please Me, but its there. Studio or remaster issue. Probably the latter.

[nyfan(41)]

good post  

@saw her standing - was this one of the first rock songs with the bass taking such a driving role?

@misery - enjoyable to me mostly because of john's vocal and what's common knowledge now about his life and childhood - also the falsetto near the end

@anna - come on man -  -this song creeeeps up on you so cool and sly. ringo is super syncopated

@ask me why - see, those woo woo woos are what i like -> they have this album showing diverse roots and influences. this is kind of like a showtune to be honest

@please please me - yeah, the tone of voice on john's later 'come on's make the song intelligent

@love me do/andywhite.... disagree - i think they had just played/practiced it more times by the andy white take

@psiloveyou - this song is everything i like about the beatles. it's like an old time song.. a bassonova,,, a gleeclub singalong... it's like nothing else, when pauls sings "you know i want you to" in a high voice at 1:27 . . . it's his musicality in a nutshell

@babyit'syou - the bbc version is a far better vocal take in my opinion. check it out

@do you want to kno a secret - i think this song lyrically carved a niche for george female fans and depicted him 'shy guy'..... when he sings 'for a week or two'... it's abstactly atonal.

@taste of honey - sounds tongue in cheek to me ala mr.moonlight

@there's a place - weird harmonies on one part . . introspective lyrics for such an early song .... and..... i think the beau brummels stole the sound of this song for 'laugh laugh'  . . . . and 'in my room' by the beach boys was influenced by it as well

@twist and shout
call the priest, build the casket, dig the hole...... all competition is officially dead !  


my only criticism of your posts thusfar is that some of the things you don't like can be attributed to the times, the music industry, recording conditions, the state of rock when it came out etc
-
but hey -> at the end of the days it's all about the ears!!

[Hombre_de_ningun_lugar]

In "Do You Want To Know A Secret", the bridge that says "I've got a secret for a week or two, nobody knows just we two", John wrote the lyric using the same word ("two") twice to make the rhyme. A little "sin" of him, but it actually works.

[Gary910]

From your comments you are reviewing the Stereo version.

I have always admired the drums in 'Boys'. I think it is one of Ringo's best performances. He rocks.

'Please Please Me' does not have harmonica (What are you smoking, Gary...) It is a mouth organ. Slightly different. I wish I could find the reference, but there is speculation out there that Ringo did not play drums here or on 'Ask Me Why'.

I admire John's vocal in 'Twist And Shout', but it isn't a song I am in love with. I do think it is amazing that John did such a good job in only two takes. I like John's cough/gag at the end. You can just feel his sore throat.

[7 of 13]

1. I Saw Her Standing There

floor rocker and a half. i don't think enough good things can be said about this song, the rocking bass line, the perfect harmonies, the trademark beatles chords and lyrics. a deceptively simple boy-meets-girl tale, exhuberant and sweet, to the point. it doesn't slow down, a bluesy offering with the trademark falsettos throughout. a masterpiece.

[nimrod]

2. Misery - Not one of my favorites and not a lot to say about it. I think the piano sounds stupid in it and should have been a guitar, but that’s just me. Song has good harmonies and tight playing. Really not much else to add.

I think there is quite a lot to say about misery  ...the solemn intro is a bit misleading as it then continues to bump along in a G  major kind of happy beat   so its like john is miserable but he's telling us in a happy almost perky way. (imagine listening to the verses without the vocals)

Now heres a little quiz guys....was this the first melisma (ba-aaa-ad and dr-aaa-ag)) on a beatle song ? ( i like melisma's)  
 
Also theres an interesting kind of key change in the middle section "i remember all the little things weve done" is a descending dorian e minor as opposed to the happy g major of the verse (the sadder dorian fits beautifully with the lyric) so thats a very interesting move by john, a forerunner if you like to his later songs that change key (and time signature)

A fine song IMO and enhanced by the little piano riffs that come in to give an accentuated feel to the 2 middle sections, i can imagine john & paul polishing this one off in about 30 minutes  

[Hello Goodbye]

9. PS I Love You - Another song I’ve liked forever. Pauls voice just sounds suited for this tune. He does a nice job. It doesn’t get much better than when Paul, John, and George takes a turn at the vocals. Love it. One thing that bothered me was the shaker throughout the song. Get rid of that and add some hi hats and I’m good to go.

As I write this letter (Oh)
Send my love to you (you know I want you to)
Remember that I'll always (yeah)
Be in love with you.


I love when Paul did that.  I love this song!

[tkitna]

From your comments you are reviewing the Stereo version.

That’s correct. I didn’t buy the mono set because I prefer stereo.

'Please Please Me' does not have harmonica (What are you smoking, Gary...) It is a mouth organ. Slightly different.

Hmm, interesting. I was unaware of that nor do I even know what that instrument is.

I wish I could find the reference, but there is speculation out there that Ringo did not play drums here or on 'Ask Me Why'.

I never heard this, but I’m glad you brought it up. I forgot to mention that Andy White played the drums on ‘PS I Love You’.

I admire John's vocal in 'Twist And Shout', but it isn't a song I am in love with.

Yeah, me either.

[tkitna]

I think there is quite a lot to say about misery  ...the solemn intro is a bit misleading as it then continues to bump along in a G  major kind of happy beat   so its like john is miserable but he's telling us in a happy almost perky way. (imagine listening to the verses without the vocals)

Now heres a little quiz guys....was this the first melisma (ba-aaa-ad and dr-aaa-ag)) on a beatle song ? ( i like melisma's)  
 
Also theres an interesting kind of key change in the middle section "i remember all the little things weve done" is a descending dorian e minor as opposed to the happy g major of the verse (the sadder dorian fits beautifully with the lyric) so thats a very interesting move by john, a forerunner if you like to his later songs that change key (and time signature)

A fine song IMO and enhanced by the little piano riffs that come in to give an accentuated feel to the 2 middle sections, i can imagine john & paul polishing this one off in about 30 minutes  

Now thats technical. I'm only a drummer so your speaking beyond me, but I do agree they probably finished that one off in 30 minutes or less.  

[7 of 13]

11. Do You Want To Know A Secret

pure. heaven.

[Hello Goodbye]

Now heres a little quiz guys....was this the first melisma (ba-aaa-ad and dr-aaa-ag)) on a beatle song ? ( i like melisma's)  

Ther...r...r...r...re......There's A Place and Misery were both recorded on 11 February 1963.

[tkitna]

my only criticism of your posts thusfar is that some of the things you don't like can be attributed to the times, the music industry, recording conditions, the state of rock when it came out etc
-
but hey -> at the end of the days it's all about the ears!!

Yes I suppose I am guilty of this now that you mention it. Your 100% right and I cant deny it.

[nimrod]

i'm a tad dissapointed that we have moved on from past masters as i was going to listen to it this weekend and comment, maybe the mods could make each album have its own thread ?

and maybe a spell checker  

[tkitna]

Listen to it, we'll talk about it.

[Hello Goodbye]

'Please Please Me' does not have harmonica (What are you smoking, Gary...) It is a mouth organ. Slightly different.

I had to look that one up and found that a mouth organ has two reeds per note with a set vibrato.  A harmonica has one high quality reed per note that allows the player to create his own vibrato at a speed that suits the music being played.

[nimrod]

Ther...r...r...r...re......There's A Place and Misery were both recorded on 11 February 1963.

haha which was written first ?

[Hello Goodbye]

i'm a tad dissapointed that we have moved on from past masters as i was going to listen to it this weekend and comment, maybe the mods could make each album have its own thread ?

and maybe a spell checker  

Done, but no spell checker.  

[nimrod]

Done, but no spell checker.  

thanks HG, my spellings always been very bad  

[Hello Goodbye]

haha which was written first ?

Looks like they were both written in January 1963.

[Hello Goodbye]

Note to all - The edits by me which appear at the bottom of everyone's posts are just my changing the thread topic name.

Todd, let me know if you'd like your Beatles under the microscope threads to be moved to "Albums."