With the Beatles

Story Behind the Album

The Beatles during the making of this, their second album, are considered the greatest band in England and  most of Europe, they are a British phenomenon.  However, America the king of rock and roll, stood firm in it's belief that they are the only country that produced good rock and roll and the British do not know what they are talking about.  They rejected previous Beatle hits such as "From Me To You" and "She Loves You", which were put out in America by small labels, Swan and Veejay.  However, the next single was to overcome even America's barrier.  "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was a complete hit in England and also became the Beatles first number one in America.  From that point on a continous love affair would exist between America and the Beatles, and it was noticable from the moment their jet landed at JFK airport. To keep a good product out, Capitol records, EMI's American company released an edited version of "With the Beatles" called "Meet the Beatles", but the original is by far better.  It opens with John Lennon's upbeat song, "It Won't Be Long", which was the first song to have double tracked vocals and part way through the album, Paul provides one of his greatest compostions so far, "All My Loving". Like the Please Please Me, the previous album, there is no weak spot in the album.  Also like Please Please Me, the songs on the album were recorded very quickly because of their great demand in tours, and there was no distinct order or reason for performing those songs, it was that these were songs they knew how to play and they weren't as strong as the singles.  Keeping with tradition George and Ringo each get their allotted spotlight as George sings his own compostion "Don't Bother Me" and Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven", and Ringo sings a Lennon/McCartney compostion "I Wanna Be Your Man" which was to be covered by another hot British group, The Rolling Stones.  John closes the album again with a rocker like "Twist and Shout" as he gives his all in "Money (That's What I Want)".

Track Listing

1. It Won't Be Long 2. All I've Got to Do 3. All My Loving 4. Don't Bother Me [Harrison] 5. Little Child 6. Til There Was You [Willson] 7. Please Mr. Postman [Dobbin/Garrett/Garmen/Brianbert] 8. Roll Over Beethoven [Berry] 9. Hold Me Tight 10. You Really Got A Hold On Me [Robinson] 11. I Wanna Be Your Man 12. Devil In Her Heart [Drapkin] 13. Not A Second Time 14. Money (That's What I Want) [Bradfort/Gordy]

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