A Review of the Beatles' With the Beatles Album
The Fab Four's Follow-up to their Debut LP
Aug 14, 2009
Originally released in November 1963 in the UK, With the Beatles was issued just six months after the band's debut LP. In many ways it is a partner to the first album, featuring the same ratio of eight originals against six cover versions. However, unlike the previous album, the album contains no singles, a major first for any pop/rock act and one of the first signs of the sheer talent and productivity of the Lennon/McCartney writing team.
Key Beatles Songs
"It Won’t Be Long" opens the album and demonstrates the group’s advance as songwriters. In the hands of any other group it would have been a single. The harmonies, along with the call and response of the title brought a level of excitement to vinyl that was already apparent in the band's live performances.
"All My Loving" was the first Beatles song to become a standard. Early versions include one by British crooner Matt Monro who saw beyond the "beat" style of the recording to its melodic heart. However, for many Americans the track's greatest significance is that it was the first song performed by the group on their debut performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
"Don’t Bother Me" was the first released song credited to George Harrison. It may not be one of his strongest efforts - with hindsight it's pretty pedestrian - but it was further evidence of the band's artistic depth. Three writers and four singers in the same group was a format that was already re-writing the pop music rule book.
Another significant track is the rocker, "I Wanna Be Your Man" - sung on the album by Ringo. It was originally given by John and Paul to the Rolling Stones who were in desperate need of a single after their first release had stalled in the lower reaches of the charts. When they released it, it became their first UK top ten hit. It was the beginning of the slight stigma that the Stones always acted in the Beatles' shadow.
The album finishes on a high, with a high-voltage cover of "Money". Clearly intended to fill the space that "Twist and Shout" took on the first album, John’s vocals are raw on what remains one of the band’s best cover versions.
Beginnings of Beatlemania
For many people in the UK, With the Beatles was their first Beatles’ album. A presence in hundreds of thousands of Christmas stockings, the album was released between two classic singles: "She Loves You "and "I Want To Hold Your Hand".
With the Beatles was released around the time the band performed at the Royal Variety Show, during which Paul sang the album's ballad "Till There Was You", introducing it as being, "by our favourite American band, Peggy Lee."
The iconic cover features a black and white photograph taken by Robert Freeman, showing the four Beatles in black polo-necks. It was much imitated by bands as varied as the Ruttles and Genesis.
American Version
As with the group's debut album, Capitol Records (the American arm of EMI) were again not interested in the album. However, early the following year after "When I Want to Hold Your Hand" had become another UK number one single, Capitol finally relented and issued the album in America in a repackaged version. They included the recent British hit single (and oddly "I Saw Her Standing There" from the first album) and renamed the LP, Meet the Beatles. The album had a different running order, although this time it had a similar cover.
Chart Success
With the Beatles made number one and stayed at that position for 22 weeks. In the UK it displaced the band’s first album, meaning that the Beatles held the top spot for one week short of a full year. The American version, Meet the Beatles also made number one and opened the floodgates to US Beatlemania, even more fervent than in their home country.
2009 Re-Mastered Version
The album is due to be issued on 09/09/09 in mono along with the first stereo mix on CD. It will include the original UK track listing: It Won’t Be Long/All I’ve Got To Do/All My Loving/Don’t Bother Me/Little Child/Till There Was You/Please Mister Postman/Roll Over Beethoven/Hold Me Tight/You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me/I Wanna Be Your Man/Devil In Her Heart/Not A Second Time/Money.
Summary
With the Beatles is the album that confirmed the group's ascendance to the premier position in the UK where it became the first pop LP to sell a million copies. It also formed the base for conquering America and the rest of the world.
Today, the vitality of the performances are still capable of taking the listener's breath away and despite the fact that the group would go on to make more sophisticated albums, the LP remains a cornerstone in the history of pop and rock music.
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