So in the new faster moving more streamlined ‘I want to get through all the songs before 2014’ style here’s the first overview of chapter 2 of the Beatles catalogue.
She Loves You
is a classic, which I’ve already covered in great detail here.
B-side
I’ll Get You
is an aimless song with no real spark at all.
Update 29/06/10 - I do like the minor 5 chord (Ticket 44) on "it's not like me to pre - tend" and some of the melody flows really nicely, but it's all too fragmented...
It’s also a strong contender for the top 10 worst Beatles lyrics (watch out for that post!).
Onto the 6 cover versions.
The Hot
Motown songs Money (That’s What I Want) and You Really Got A Hold On Me and Broadway show tune Till There Was You are all classics & though the first two may not yield much we can steal, songwriting wise, the latter is fascinating. It sounds like something McCartney could have written himself a few years later, all clever melodic cleverness and twee lyrics. Definitely one to pick over at a later date.
The Not
Chuck Berry’s was the Beatles most covered artist (after Elvis) but Roll Over Beethoven is pretty unremarkable, as is Please Mr Postman. Whereas Harrison’s soloing on Till There Was You sounds effortlessly classy, his cack handed attempt at the Roll Over Beethoven intro makes an average song cringeworthy.
Devil In Her Heart is a totally stock doo wop effort notable mainly for the occurrence of the 4, m4, 1 chord change that the Beatles used so often in their own songs.
Overall the Beatles are covering some better crafted songs than they tackled on Please Please Me.
Next time we’ll look at the original tunes.
A bit harsh on I'll Get You! I like the vocal harmony, the chord structure and even the mistake where one Beatle sings
ReplyDelete"There's gonna be a time when I'm gonna change your mind"
and the other sings "when I'm gonna make you mine", resulting in it sounding like "when I'm gonna mange your mind" ...
@David - A bit harsh (but not much) - I'll amend the post - there are a few little sparks in I'll Get You, but if I'm not careful I'll write essays on every 4 bars and never get to Revolver!
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