The Beatles
Capitol ST 2108
1964
Another example of the typically shoddy treatment of the early Beatles albums by Capitol Records. This is largely drawn from the British version of "A Hard Day's Night" which in my opinion is the best Beatles album prior to "Rubber Soul." American Beatles fans had to buy two albums to get the contents of the British album, this one and the soundtrack album to "A Hard Day's Night" on United Artists. This record has 8 of the 13 songs on the British album and shares 5 titles with the soundtrack album. The remainder of this skimpy album is fleshed out with "Matchbox," "Slow Down" and "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" which is of course the German language version of "I Want To Hold Your Hand." I bought this album late in my Beatles collecting history. I resisted it a long time because I had the infinitely superior British album and because it irritated me to give Capitol money for it. When I finally bought one, I picked up a used one just to make sure Capitol didn't get a dime from me for it. I criticize this album, but only because of the packaging. It is still a Beatles album and all the songs on it aside from the German one are worthwhile. "Matchbox" is my favorite of all their many Carl Perkins covers (I count 7 officially released ones including the ones on "Live at the BBC" and the "Anthology" albums.) The song is a perfect fit for the lead vocalist, Ringo. The cover of Larry Williams' "Slow Down" shows what an excellent rock and roll band the Beatles were. "And I Love Her" may be corny but it displays McCartney's growing musical sophistication as does "If I Fell" for Lennon. The country flavored "I'll Cry Instead" demonstrates their amazing versatility and shows the personal quality Lennon was bringing to his lyrics as he grew as a songwriter. Its desperation foreshadows his brilliant lyrics in "Help" the following year. "Things We Said Today" has long been one of my favorite early Beatles songs. This is a consistently stimulating record, but you probably don't need it. Stick with the British version. Recommended for Beatles fanatics only.
I still have a place in my heart for this album, since it was among the earliest Beatles albums I owned, well before buying the British equivalents, and the place I first heard most of the songs on Side 1. There's also something about the cover that I've always appreciated, although again that might just be due to sentimental attachments to the album.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the cover. I remember it jumping out at me when I first saw it leafing through the Beatles bin in the record store. It is a very striking photo and the album is worth having for the cover alone.
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