Please Please Me (1963)

 

Please Please Me

Artist: The Beatles
Release Year: 1963

Rating: 7/10

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Track Listing: 1) I Saw Her Standing There; 2) Misery; 3) Anna (Go to Him); 4) Chains; 5) Boys; 6) Ask Me Why; 7) Please Please Me; 8) Love Me Do; 9) PS I Love You; 10) Baby It's You; 11) Do You Want to Know a Secret; 12) A Taste of Honey; 13) There's a Place; 14) Twist and Shout.

Here it is, the very first Beatles record, from a time before anyone knew what they would become, and I don't find it odd to summarize it as "charming, but quaint".  There's a certain…well, "dustiness" isn't quite the word, but it is close.  It's clear that although the Beatles had established their studio prowess and songwriting expertise right from the beginning, they hadn't yet fully stood apart from their contemporaries in terms of style.  This album sure sounds like 1963, and is probably the one that still sounds the most dated today.  Listen to the stretch from "Love Me Do" to "A Taste of Honey" and try telling me that no one else could have done those (well, technically, some of those are covers, so someone else literally did do those).  So why don't I color those tracks red?  Because the Beatles still make them sound so damned good!

Yeah, we find a whole six covers on this album, which is typical for 1963, but still somewhat of a damper-- but that's not to say that the harbingers of future greatness cannot be heard here.  "I Saw Her Standing There" is just about the best way they could have announced themselves to the world, from the opening count-in to the earnest delivery of the verses, to the weird "miii-IIIINE" falsetto in the pre-chorus that could only fly before about 1966, to the frantic, swaggering rockabilly solo delivered by a very young George.  "Misery" and the title track, on the other hand, are much more traditional sounding, but no less likeable, with all the same boyish energy and harmony going into those immaculate hooks from the beginning-- not to mention the double entendres in the title track that set the stage for John's usual wit later on.  And of course, there's the cover of "Twist and Shout" that manages to out-rock the original so much as to eclipse it.  

The best part of this album, though, is the incredible, professional quality control and consistency displayed by the band from the very beginning.  There are no stupid outtakes like The Beach Boys were including at the time, for instance.  Just fourteen solid tracks, all lain down in a single marathon session on a cold day while everyone was sick.  Sometimes tenacity does pay off, doesn't it?  At least when you've got George Martin on your side from the beginning.