With The Beatles, the second British LP by the Fab Four, arrived in November 1963, exactly eight months to the day following their debut Please Please Me. Despite the hectic pace they were keeping at the time, they still were able to crank out a 14-song album pretty much devoid of any time-wasters.
Although there were no singles released from the record, it still contains many songs that have become extremely popular parts of the group’s catalog. Let’s take a look at the finest five songs to be found on With The Beatles.
5. “Till There Was You”
In many ways, this was quite an important song for the group. Granted, it was just a cover, as they needed a few of those because John Lennon and Paul McCartney weren’t quite able to crank out enough material for an entire album. But it was a choice of cover that showed that the group was quite eclectic in the kinds of material that influenced them. They didn’t hesitate to interpret a song that had first been heard in the Broadway musical The Music Man. It also didn’t hurt that McCartney delivered an utterly charming vocal performance to put it across.
4. “Not a Second Time”
There isn’t a lot to “Not a Second Time,” in that it’s just one verse and a chorus repeated twice, along with a brief piano solo by producer George Martin that’s utilized as an instrumental break. But it indicated the band’s willingness to change it up with a song featuring a somewhat somber tone. The melody spins off in unexpected directions, as John Lennon sinks into the guise of a guy who has been hurt once before by a girl and senses she just might do it again to him. His vocal offers some real anguish on a song that would act as a kind of dry run for future heartsick ballads to come from the band.
3. “Money (That’s What I Want)”
The Beatles thrived by choosing an uptempo cover of an R&B hit to be the last track on Please Please Me, as “Twist and Shout” proved to be the perfect exhilarating closer on that record. Why not do it again, and as it turned out, hit it out of the park again? “Money (That’s What I Want)” allowed them to dive into a bluesier groove, with Paul McCartney’s bass, doubled with Martin’s smoky piano part and Ringo Starr’s snappy beat, keeping the bottom end swinging. George Harrison comes through with some stinging licks, while John Lennon once again gives a sweaty, screaming vocal performance that brings the house down.
2. “It Won’t Be Long”
On the one hand, this is a blast of unfettered energy, the ideal way to open up a record. That chorus is quite apropos as well. After all, even though it was only eight months, the wait for the Beatlemaniacs on a new Fab Four album must have seemed like forever—and John Lennon’s refrain played into that anticipation. Beyond that, “It Won’t Be Long” is a sneaky one, as Lennon does some interesting things in the run-up to that chorus, slyly changing the structure of the song from the first verse to the second in an innovative twist that makes this one a riveting listen every time.
1. “All My Loving”
This is the song from With The Beatles that stands largest in their legend, as it was the one they played first when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in America. It’s a studio performance where their chemistry pushes what’s otherwise a pretty straightforward concoction to another level. John Lennon’s rhythm guitar, always such an underrated element of the group’s output, does wonders here in giving the song a certain swagger. Add that to Paul McCartney’s ability to devise lyrics that just pop out of the melody he’s constructed, and you have a song that’s an absolute can’t-miss.
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Photo by David Redfern/Redferns
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