I'm 39 and have loved the Beatles all my life...I think later gen Beatles fans realize at a certain point that early Beatles are underrated...they are happy, they all sing together, they play great and it's pure joy...while later Beatles are great for obvious reasons, in the end you begin to wish they could have just been young and happy forever vs. the growing apart years and early Beatles gives you that fantasy.
You've accurately described The Beatles experience for many of us. The pure joy of the early records is precious while the progressive song writing of the mid to later period speaks for itself. It's funny they named their pivotal album Revolver as it's the album that ends the early period and begins the second half of their careers. Revolving out of the early into Pepper and so on.
This was an excellent video. I saw the Beatles in 64 in Milwaukee. I was dragged there because my older sister had to watch me. My dad said to my sister he goes or you don’t go. It was 2 hours of screaming but since then I have listen to Beatles at least every week. I am now 70. Beatles are the best ever.
i’m sure I’ve bought every album in the American collection at least three times, 33 1/3, cassettes, DVD, etc. they made a lot of money off of people like me, but we got a lot more enjoyment out of those four boys than they got money out of us🎵🎵🎵
As a kid in '63-'64, I remember "Two Way Family Favourites" with Cliff Michelmore and Jean Metcalfe at Sunday lunch time. Families would always request "It Won't Be Long" for their loved ones, soldiers posted overseas in Germany or wherever. Very poignant. That song could easily have been a single, but then again so could loads of others. Memories...thanks once again Andrew.
Amazing! I taped an episode of Fanily Facourites circa 1978 - and It Won't Be Long - all thise years later - was still one of the requests on the show!
@@lamper2 It was a popular and long-running radio show here where you could send a message and appropriate song to a friend or loved one (in the days long before emails and Zoom). It was most usually sent by a family to a member of the armed forces based overseas.
My Dad was serving in Hong Kong in the early 60s and mum & me listened to the show. My Dad requested ‘All My Loving’ for mum. All these years later it’s still a great memory to have.
Rubber Soul is the most perfect Beatles album. Song by song, each one a mini masterpiece of simplity. It’s the pinnacle of the first era, then Revolver is a shift up in gears with complexity and maturity. It has some of their best songs on it and paved the way for the second era to the end which was an incredibly artistic and creative period.
@@mavenofmacau6391Nice Try at Trolling 🧌 but you failed. You gave me a good laugh though. Kelp, Rubber Ball, Revolve Me, Lieutenant Lepers Homely Heads Club Band, the Grey Album and Abbey Toad are still the greatest Albums of all time.
I agree.....I was in 8th grade when I got a copy of that on cassette. I think my uncle gave it to me for Christmas. "Being a guitar player I just love the acoustic guitar on "I'm looking thru you". Hard to believe John didn't write the lyrics....sounds like his mind. Not many bands I've ever liked and had their releases I could listen to without skipping songs.
With The Beatles was the first Beatles album to move me to tears. It was a Sunday, I was slightly hung over from a very raucous party the previous night and by the time You Really Got A Hold On Me came on I started crying over how much someone could love something so seemingly trivial as a silly little piece of music. There is something about the exuberant, unleashed joy captured on this album that makes it special to me.
I'm convinced that certain people's voices, when harmonized, do something truly special. There's just a tone that sometimes comes out of two particular voices that just becomes magical. Lennon & McCartney had it. Simon & Garfunkel had it. But very few others.
As a 2023 new Beatles fan who has now consumed basically every single piece of media available from the four lads I've got to say that With The Beatles was the perfect way to introduce me to their music and still remains as one of their finest albums for me, certainly the most underrated one out there
welcome to the beatles club! good to have you aboard. now its up to you to pass on your love of the beatles to others at every opportunity. i did this decades ago. and for years people thanked me for turning them onto this remarkable phenomenon known as the beatles!
@@cjmacq-vg8um well said I am gradually introducing my 7 year old slowly slowly to the Beatles, via the red and blue albums to be followed up by the extended versions in due course. Spread the word and keep the spirit of the music and the 60s alive.
An electrifying sound and you get to know their dynamic, energetic music style and their vocals are crystal I know I was a Beatlemania boy and loved this band. No wonder they were already selling millions early on.. the fantastic 🪲🪲🪲🪲= Beatles+🪲 Mal Evans 🍏❤
And you or your kids, if you have any, can enjoy The Beatles movies together. I saw my first Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night, in 1964 at a movie theater near where I lived in lower state New York. We were screaming! I know it would still be fun to watch and suitable for almost all ages.❤🎉❤
@@v.2080 ... i sure wish they'd rerelease the original "let it be." i bought a copy when it was first released on video tape. i bought the beta-max version. i bought MMT on beta at the same time. i remember turning my wife's neice onto "yellow submarine." she just loved it. for years the release of "hard day's night" and "help" were tied up in litigation and weren't available to the public. "help" is a really fun movie and "a hard day's night" is a veritable classic. i have them both on dvd. along with a new version of MMT. but i sure miss the original "let it be" movie.
Rosemary Wilson has stated that Meredith Wilson's estate received more royalties from The Beatles' recording of "Till There Was You" than they did from the stage production. It's one of my favorite Paul ballads and they do it beautifully.
The Canadian version "Beatlemania! With The Beatles" was released on November 25, 1963, making it the first Beatles album released in North America. That gives it huge historic significance IMHO. Beatlemania! was made from the original EMI master tapes. It was pressed by RCA at their Smith Falls pressing plant, and sounds as good as the original UK pressings. A handful of copies were pressed on the "Green Target" label in the early 70's making it one of the rarest Canadian Beatles albums.
At 70, I’m a first generation Beatles enthusiast. I honestly enjoy your commentary on the early work of the Beatles. Your research is quite thorough and the overall presentation is impressive.
i agree. this album isn't only a very important beatle album, it launched beatlemania around the world, its a damned good album as well. in the states it was called "meet the beatles" and it included "i want to hold your hand" and "i saw her standing there." the beatles' first u. s. single. but it left off some really good covers like "You Really Got a Hold on Me," "money" and "roll over beethoven," my favorite beatle cover. and other singles and b-sides that were included on capitol's "the beatles 2nd album." my older brother bought "meet the beatles" when it first came out and was quickly passed down to my possession. i had that album and my buddy, across the street, had "the 2nd album" so it was all good! at that time i didn't now the official english releases were different. i still consider "meet the beatles" ("with the beatles") the quintessential original beatles sound. i definately still listen to it today. in fact, i usually listen to beatles music in chronological order. its much more fun that way.
This has always been my favourite Beatles album. I may have liked their later stuff when I was younger, but at some point, I started appreciating the early albums more and more. And today, I much prefer them, not only because they contain great songs, but perhaps even more because the Beatles were still playing together as a unit, and the sheer energy and camaraderie on display is awe-inspiring! They lost that later on. The giddy excitement had been replaced with cynicism and exhaustion. Anyway, all the originals are great on this album, and the covers are arguably the best they ever did. Especially John peaked here as a singer, I feel. His take on "You Really Got a Hold on Me" is superior to the original, in my opinion, and "It Won't Be Long" is my favourite Beatles song of them all. It's just insanely good! Hell, I even love George's song. A lot of people don't think it was that special, this early on, but it's both musically and lyrically really interesting. A very grumpy lyric set to a very unusual melody. What's not to love?
I remember laying on the living room floor and staring at the front & back covers. I think that front shot is a classic. Of course, I was looking at the Capitol release, but it meant the world to me. Later on, when I saw the British release, With The Beatles, I was surprised by all the extra songs. I still have a soft spot for Meet The Beatles. This is a joyous album full of life and energy. I love it. Pure Beatle joy. Have to go with mono on this one. Thx Andrew...
Meet The Beatles came out when I was 3 1/2 and I was hooked immediately! I had six older siblings. As a kid I loved looking at the album covers and even the albums themselves, especially the labels. The labels and the covers were like little pieces of art to me. And back then there was usually a short little 'story' on the back. I must have read that blurb on 'Meet...' hundreds of times.
I have never understood why 'Not A Second Time' doesn't get a lot of love for the most part. That was one of the songs from Meet The Beatles that such a profound impact on me as a kid, especially effective as the album's closer. The same goes for 'I'll Be Back' (another early Lennon fave of mine) as the last track on Beatles '65. Quite moving. 'Little Child is pure zesty fun.
Couldn’t agree with you more! “Not A Second Time” is an awesome but underrated song! The instrumental bridge early in the track is unique featuring the drum solo leading into the piano sets this song up for success. I wonder how often it was played in concerts?
That's my story too. I listened that album to death as a kid. My parents were in R & R bands from 1959-1965, so they bought that album to learn some of the songs. "Not a Second Time" is my favorite on that album too, and works perfectly as the last track, much better than "Money" on the UK album.
Me too. "Not a second time" I always loved. There's something about the unique melody , seemingly befitting of some lush arrangement, but they just rock it , as if they didn't think about it or rehearse it but there was only 5 minutes for one take. Maybe I'm a little odd, but I also have always loved "Little Child".
To receive broadcast-quality documentary content on a weekly basis is a true gift. Thank you for your efforts in keeping the flame burning! Also, I love hearing actual clips from the records you discuss! A needed touch!
I was always proud that as a canadian, Capital Records here released this fine album first before America did a month earlier. I still have my copy, as it was called "Beatlemania with the Beatles". It was the only Beatle record on Capital Records Canada to release it the same way it was released in the UK. America's version "Meet The Beatles" only had 12 tracks along with adding the Hit "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with I Saw Her Standing There and This Boy. ... 3 songs that would be on Canada's 3rd release ... the Long Tall Sally album.
What gets me I'd that when they talk about the best Beatles albums no one ever mentioned With the Beatles. It's perfect and it captures the best essence of the group before they began to "mature" as artists
Im 33, a second gen Beatles fan in my family, but the age of a 3rd gen. “With the Beatles” is among my favorite records of all time. I believe it is the purest British Rock n Roll record ever recorded. ✌️❤️
WTB was a Christmas present in 1963 when I was 7. I thought at the time that it was a sensational record compared to another record I received 'Ready Steady Go' on Decca that Christmas. It was never off the record player back in the day, oh that sound. When I was older and got the stereo version I thought that it was cool to unplug one of the speakers and sing to the instrumental track or just listen to the vocals, brilliant times. Every track for me is a gem and I'd go as far to say that it must be the most played LP that I've ever owned. Thanks for yet another great video, keep up the good work.
Exactly. I was 8 at that Christmas and my feelings are the same as yours. Mine was the mono version and, despite having all the subsequent versions in mono and stereo, that original pressing still gets played the most. It, and the original mono Rubber Soul, are clearly at the top of my all-time, most played list.
To me this album captured the “raw-ness” of the Beatles. I’m in Western Canada 🇨🇦 and purchased “Beatlemania” in early 1977. I was 15 and played this album quite often to the point that it annoyed my Mother and two siblings immensely. I loved all of the tracks. “Money” had me hooked right from the intro. “Please Mr. Postman” is probably one of many underrated Beatles songs of all time even if it is a cover. I recently turned 62 and will never stop listening to Beatles music. Thank you so much for a very interesting and thorough review of this album!
I'm also in Western Canada, and like you, I was listening to the 'back catalogue' of the Beatles in high school. By 1980, on a trip to NYC, I managed to get them all on Japanese vinyl. Which sounded 'cleaner' in those days. The few I didn't find (Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour) I picked up as German pressings 2 years later. It never crossed my mind to get a few UK titles (though I bought the Long Tall Sally EP in London). I always listen to the first four albums 'together'. And 'For Sale' (not released in North America) is probably my favorite because it has more obscure tracks (Lennon on 'Mr Moonlight', for example). "Hard Days Night" is hard to beat. And what I admire most about "Please Please Me" was the length of time spent recording it in the studio. It is for all practical matters a 'live album'. So, I have a Japanese pressing of 'Beatlemania', as it happens. In either version, I have to agree with you- the sound is raw and fresh.
Also in Western Canada. Born in 1960. One of my first memories is watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in Feb, 1964. I was 4. I can still remember what it felt like to hear new Beatles songs for the first time. They were magical.
Oh yeah...the "Beatlemania With The Beatles" album...! Outside of Canada, a most fascinating little variation to all things this album. Especially from a European perspective...I am from Germany, and we had a very interesting variant as well: our Beatle cover photo was black and blue (as with the US Meet The Beatles) instead of black and white, while the stripe alongside the upper edge was green, not white. That's how I prefer it 😉
In 1976, I was 14 years old when I first listened to "Meet the Beatles" and was hooked for life. My favorite songs from the album were, and still are: "It Won't Be Long," "Hold Me Tight," "Don't Bother Me," and "I Saw Her Standing There."
In the U.S. the album called “Meet The Beatles” was released in January 1964, 3 months shy of my 5th birthday. My brother is 10 years older than me and everything he listened to I listened to. At this young age I fell in love with the Beatles. And yes, I still love this album as well.
For me in the US, it was Meet the Beatles! I was introduced to it by a neighbor friend, summer, 1974. That December I received my own copy for my birthday. It was the album which started my lifelong love of the Beatles and their music.
My mum (no longer with us) was a member of the Cavern Club just before and as the Beatles (and Gerry and the Pacemakers) were becoming famous. She bought With The Beatles as soon as it came out. My dad still has that copy. I’ve always considered With The Beatles as one of my lesser favourite albums but Andrew’s video has given me new appreciation for this album and the magical time that was 1963. Time for me to show this album some love.
In my opinion, out of the first four albums, With The Beatles is the best as a whole album. While there are some great songs on Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale, the energy, tightness and sheer joy of With The Beatles cannot be matched for that period.
With the Beatles. My older sister got it for Christmas 1963 and a 9 year old me just loved it. I had a Hornby Dublo trainset for Christmas that year. The sound of my new Golden Fleece loco engine rattling round the track, combined with the music from this brilliant album, are combined in my head as the sound of that happy family Christmas. I have my own vinyl copy of the album now and, yes, I still have the loco which I'll keep till the day I die.
My favorite album of theirs because of the second opening track.. “All I’ve Got To Do” John’s vocals are loud and rich. Paul’s bass is deep & heavy toned. George’s guitar sounds like charms sparking in the background. Ringo’s drums specifically those hi-hat hits holds it all together. then the record goes right into “All My Loving” perfectly executed. I went thru 8 copies of this album on wax until getting ahold of a XEX -1N cut it really is perfect sounding and prefer it over the 2014 mono, So warm but loud! side note: I was interested about side 2’s “Roll Over Beethoven” going to have the that rumored skip on -1N but it played all the way through on my LP120, rocked the speakers.
Perhaps I’m alone in this, but I truly enjoy the 1963 STEREO mix of this album. I first heard it when the 2009 remasters came out, and I remember being taken aback at how lifelike it sounded! And who’s to say everything has to be mixed the same way, with vocals, drums and bass in the middle? I have no problems with voices coming out of one side, and I’m a headphone listener primarily. Thanks for another well-made video! ❤
Growing with the bad sounding mono CD from 1987, the 2009 stereo remaster for me was a revelation, more clearer vocals and instruments, i don't understand the "hate" from Steve Hoffman's forum audiophiles for the stereo mixes
@@alancruzdominguez5074 Have you listened lately to the 1987 CD on a good system? It sounds pretty good actually, not that different from the 2009 mono…
With the Beatles and please please me are my favourite albums by the Beatles. It was a great time in the history of British pop music, so different to anything else being recorded back then.
As always, I very much appreciate and enjoy the research you put into your posts. I just finished reading "The Beatles and the Historians," which demonstrates that while everyone has an "opinion" about pop culture, some are worth more than others, depending on their understanding of the historical context and the perspectives of the sources and reliability of their memories. I'm glad you respect that. Please forgive me for this wordy comment, but you've inspired me to ruminate, so here are a few more footnotes I'd like to contribute to the discussion: 1) You're absolutely right that these records were mixed primarily for mono reproduction because that's the way most of the audience heard them: on car radios, portable AM "transistor radios," and single-speaker phonographs. Not "hi-fi" equipment! The original "Loudness Wars" happened in the 1960s to make singles "pop" on the radio and the record player, long before the compression and volume boosting we know from LWII in the latter years of the CD era. (I'm reminded that the folks at Motown used to record a song and then play it on a car radio before deciding on the final mix so they'd hear it the way most of their audience would.) 2) One reason that stereo images were panned to the left and right was to show off the new two-channel stereo technology on popular console equipment, pieces of furniture with both sets of speakers built into the same wooden enclosure. The speakers were only a few feet apart, and the sound was projected from a single location out into the room. Later, "hi-fi" stereo sets put speakers in separate boxes that could be arranged to suit your design or audio preferences, and to create a more "realistic" soundstage. 3) But I have to laugh when I see people saying of pop records made back in the 1960s that a recording makes it sound as though you're "right there in the room" with the musicians, since in many cases what you're hearing was never recorded in one sitting with all the musicians in the same room! Not only was the recording not engineered to modern "audiophile" specs, much of the music was created with individual miking, mixing, acoustic baffles and multitracking. This is especially true of Beatles records from "Revolver" on -- and Paul got in the habit of adding his bass line as the very last element recorded after everyone else was done. So, the finished "performance" existed ONLY on the record and could never have been heard any other way! There was no single original take that was "captured" on tape, but a collection of bits and pieces all spliced and mixed (and remixed and edited and re-recorded) together. 4) What you say about the difference between a 22-year-old and a 33-year-old in 1963 is right on. It wouldn't be long before those on the younger side of the "Generation Gap" would be saying, "Never trust anyone over 30!" I remember thinking about how distant, for example, World War II and swing music seemed to me (as a 10-year-old) in the 1967 "Summer of Love." But the distance between 1967 and 1944 is the same as between 2023 and 2000. What was the toppermost of the poppermost in 2000? Santana, Eminem, and The Beatles ("1")!
❤well done... I wish we had gotten this album in the USA but believe me we had no idea and we were very happy obviously with what we had. I love listening to the UK early Beatles albums. I can't choose a favorite... I do love Beatles For Sale and play it a lot!!! Thanks for this great rewind!
As a die hard Beatles fan this IS the true sound of the Beatles. The early records are where my heart lives. I like the later ones too but I grew up with my dad going to cruise ins and car shows and him playing this album, along with Beatles for Sale, Please Please Me and Past Masters 1 in his hot rod. I love the first 5 albums more than anything and this one might be my all time favorite album. Thanks for defending this underrated album. We need a video on Beatles for Sale! Cheers!
In the early days of the Beatles' UK journey, they were almost universally adored for their loud, harmonious, fresh & spine-tingling sound. Their second single, Please Please Me, hit the UK #1 spot in January of 1963. It didn't hit the US until a year later, as the band had not yet had US exposure in '63.
Oh, Andrew: thank you! I bought the Canadian pressing in 1979. I used to rush home at lunch, and to my mum’s bemusement , put this on in the listening room whilst eating. It’s easily the most exciting record The Beatles have ever released, bar none. The song craft, however, is so staggering that one wonders where to begin! “It Won’t be Long” is still in my top five songs of theirs because (apart from the sheer excitement and joy of it) the chord structure and harmonics are just killer!!! I won’t bore with the rest of my assessment save for the fact that Lennon’s vocal on “Money…” is possibly the most riveting rock vocal I have ever heard. Its only competitor to my ear is “Bad Boy” and “Great Balls of Fire.” This record not only proved that the Beatles were superb craftsmen in their own right, but were also capable at beating the original artists on songs they covered (Smokey was equaled to be fair). See? I’m second Gen and cannot say enough good about one of the very best records.
No, I would say that "Please Please Me" was a much more exciting album (and why it is usually rated higher), but this is a better quality album, with better sound and better songs.
Yes it does capture that early Beatles sound, and the vocals and harmonies are great. Iconic cover. Some great tunes, yet patchy IMO by their forthcoming unreal standards. Great video as always, Andrew.
When I was a kid in the 90s, My dad always used to play this album in car rides. I don’t listen to this as much as an adult preferring other Beatles albums but all these songs are nostalgic for me, they remind me of my childhood
i'm 50, and i just discovered recently that all first albums sounds abolutely terrific in MONO, and that was the real Beatles sound! Took me ages to realize that. Geeeee... It perturbates me that i listened to those records in stereo all my life... anyway, it's just the way to go. MONO !!! IS !!!!!! GOOOD !!!!
My dad is 76, 16 when this was released and it’s still his favourite Beatle record to this day. Like you said if you were there at the time it holds a special place in your heart as opposed to comparing it to their whole body of work.
I have always loved this album and especially its recording technique. It is precisely the stereophony of this album that made me passionate about high fidelity. The separate voices, although not usual in conventional recordings, in my opinion give a sense of detail and physical presence of the singer that is not achieved in today's traditional recordings. . I spent hours listening to the record first on the right channel and then on the left channel and all the details that are usually lost in current conventional recordings come out.
I'm 54 years old. I was born in 1969 and started listening to the Beatles when I was 6 years old in 1975. I love music from their entire career as a group, but I would have to say that I prefer their earlier music. This is a great album. I also love their first album, Please, Please Me, and A Hard Days Night. Beatles For Sale, Help, and Rubber Soul. As I said I love their later music as well, but I'm more of a fan of these early years.
Same here, born in 1969 and my favourites are all those you have listed. While I was never a Beatles fan, and only knew the more famous songs, during Covid, when I hit my 50's I bought the entire album collection on itunes and am a huge fan now! Sae Paul McArtney in concert just a couple of months ago. It was awesome!
Love this album! Bought it as a kid in the 80's, a stereo release from Odeon that had a green background for the top area of the cover. I loved the sound of it, compressed and hyped, lots of energy. It also had the hihat count-in on All my loving.
I was there. All the Beatle years. No one ever asks questions. I can tell you a great deal. Beatlemania was fantastic!!! The first album which seemed very different and not as good was Rubber Soul. The American version. And by the way, it sold less than the previous ones. Before that was the stupid Help! album with songs we had in singles and the sound track recordings. 😡 In America we had Yesterday and Today (better than rubber soul) which led me to believe that we’d never really have the Beatles playing as they did before that live on tv again. The songs were different. Then Revolver. Which was very different but really interesting. Then, they vanished. I mean it. They were not in the news anymore. No word on them. No articles in the fan magazine. I’m telling you Beatlemania was over. The tv show the Monkees came on. That was huge. Kids in school all who knew that I was the huge Beatle fan lifted up bands who were on Sullivan each week and the Monkees. I bought some Monkees 45s and lps. A few tracks were ok. A few were actually good. Mike was talented. Micky could sing. The girls forgot Paul and raved about Davy. And even I tuned out Batman most often to watch the Monkees. Sgt Pepper came out. No explanation (like you all have today). It was just in the Beatles record bin in the stores. I looked at it. I had seen their new look on The Hollywood Palace. I had the 45 of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields (which I loved and identified as the first psychedelic record. I played it a lot. How different)! I can give you a lot Beatle history.
It has become my fav album since I've bought it and heard it for the first time. It's IMHO the album which defines The Beatles' style. English isn't my mother tongue and All My Loving was their first song I could fully understand. All I've Got to Do is criminally underrated, it's a great song.
I was born in April of’61 with older siblings. MEET THE BEATLES was a constant staple in our home. I loved listening to this album all my life and still do. Along with my mother’s Elvis & Herb Alpert records, dad’s Johnny Cash and our hundreds is 45s, music was spectacular. This album was the linchpin of my early musical education. Remember…”Well she was just 17, and you know what I mean!”
My favorite Beatles album, hands down. I suppose much of my love for this record is due to unabashed nostalgia as I was 6 years old when I received a copy (my first LP) for Christmas, 1963. I remember how the music exploded from the family record player on Christmas morning. It just seemed so exciting and fresh.
I turned eleven in the summer of 1963 and was a big fan of the Beatles as I grew up. This was the fist Beatles LP that I bought and is still one of my favourite albums. Unless you lived through it you may not be able to imagine how fantastic it was to hear this type of music for the first time. As an eleven year old I had never heard the original versions of the six 'covers' that they performed such as "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Money (That's What I Want)" and most probably thought that they were all original Beatles songs. When pop music was Cliff Richards & The Shadows or Adam Faith nothing can compare to hearing the Beatles for the first time.
When I was 15 in 1964, I had a friend that played the mono "Meet the Beatles" album on his amateur radio station that broadcast only several blocks. It was soon my favorite record. These songs were full of fantasy and emotionally gripping. To me, the mono has incredible appeal and transports me back 60 years with the excitement it generates. The way these songs were mixed takes me on an emotional fantasy trip. The group changed so much after 1965, I lost track of them until 1970 when a girl in college reintroduced me to their more recent albums, and I began to buy all their albums.
I adore this album. I have an old mono copy. To me, the early albums showcase Lennon’s voice at his best. The energy bursts off this. I love the later stuff but this, to me, is unbeatable!
American millennial here and this was the first Beatles album I heard and was obsessed with both it and A Hard Day's Night when my parents had them on the '87 CD issues that favored the original UK track listings.
Great video as always, Andrew. You mentioned that Beatles fans of the time - especially younger ones - would likely choose With the Beatles or another early album as their favorite. That's my own personal experience too. I grew up listening to my parents' Beatles records and, as a child, all my favs were the earlier albums. I found them to be far more accessible up and including Revolver. Pepper, The White Album, Abbey Road and Let it Be were all albums my parents had but I had a much harder time getting into them. I suppose that makes sense...they are, in a way, more sophisticated albums. Much too good for children. ;) It was only when I was older that I completely flipped and now prefer the Beatles' later work, though the early stuff is still brilliant of course.
I’ve been a fan of The Beatles since 1963. My aunt, who was a McCartney family nanny in her hometown of Liverpool, had British copies of The Beatles albums sent to her by the McCartney’s. She saw how I reacted to listening to them so she gave me The Beatles and With The Beatles. And, sent me all of the other albums shortly after she received them. My Aunt Joyce came to the States when she married my mom’s brother, Paul. He was a Merchant Marine ships Captain, who she met when he was ferrying loads to Liverpool. My aunt’s family lived across the street from the McCartney’s. Each one of my albums has its original jacket and liner sleeve. No one other than myself has ever been allowed to play the records. One other thing, I’m a bigger fan of the pre-India recordings than after. Oh, and this was an excellent video you put together. I’ve subscribed.
With the Please Please Me album, it was a case of " Whooh ! Can you believe this ! How advanced is this ? ", and from then on it was a recurring process of hanging out for their next album. And, With The Beatles did not disappoint. Nor any other of their LPs [ long plays ] for the rest of that decade. But the Please Please Me album is vastly superior to With The Beatles. Although With The Beatles does feature some masterclass, such as the first two tracks as well as Hold Me Tight.
"With The Beatles" was the first Beatles record I ever heard. "It Won't Be Long" just knocked me out when I first heard the song- the first track on side 1. Also, because of the credits on the back cover, I learned to distinguish the "lead" guitar from the "rhythm" guitar, from the bass guitar from the drums- it was excellent ear-training for me.
The Canadian ''Beatlemania ! With The Beatles'' was one of the first Beatles albums I have bought back in 1981, and it's still on my top 3 favorite albums. I could not stop listening to it ! it's a fantastic Rock and Roll album. I much prefer the stereo mix, and it's one of the few albums I play from start to finish !
I’m American almost 73 and I could never pick a favorite Beatles song but I can say the White Album is my favorite. Meet The Beatles was like all their albums meaning it was fantastic. The first album where you didn’t have to move the needle to skip a song.
My sister and I got this album in I think 1964. It was our introduction to the Beatles beyond what was on the radio. My parents were divorced and we had two stereos -- yes, stereos -- to play it on. Dad was 35 and Mom was 32, practically middle-aged as you say. Our copy was stereo. The instruments were on one side and the vocals were on the other. Mom's stereo didn't have a balance knob but Dad's did. We took the album to his apartment on Sunday visits and would turn the balance knob to the instrument side and then my sister and I sang along. I think that was the only album I ever had with that kind of mix. Later of course I got an electric guitar and my buddies and I started a moderately famous (in our neighborhood) garage band. It was great fun. Even later I got an acoustic guitar and started playing folk songs and the singer-songwriter music of the 60s and 70s. This was a great time to come of age.
Often overlooked, With the Beatles has some of my favourite early John songs: It Won’t Be Long, All I’ve Gotta Do, and Not A Second Time. Their cover of Please Mister Postman is also a triumph, and tops the original. I remember listening to my dad’s stereo copy for the first time, and being fascinated moving back and forth to hear the instruments on one side and their voices on the other. As for today, I was lucky enough to find a nice conditioned -1 pressing for a good price. I’ve noticed how the cover also appears much darker and their faces more detailed. Anyone know the reason for this?
@@jadebel7006 I have to disagree - it is an odd song to be sure, more like a modal folk ballad in form. But I like traditional folk, so I suppose that's why it appeals to me. 😄 "Don't Bother Me" is a similar vibe in that regard.
Another great video. It's a bonus how you always change the background to match the records you are talking about. I have over 500 vinyl lps in my Beatles collection, not counting cds as well as cassettes. Can't wait for next week.
Hi Andrew, and thanks for another wonderful and comprehensive review. I can still remember how fascinating the UK "With The Beatles" looked to me when I first purchased it around 1980 at a local record store in my hometown of New Orleans. Up to that point, nearly all of my Beatles records were the dreaded Capital "cash grab" pressings and I already owned an older copy of "Meet The Beatles" that had been given to me by an uncle of mine. Now however, I was educating myself and seeking the "real" early Beatles albums and I was really taken with the dramatic monochrome of the UK import. I lost this copy along with my entire collection due to the flooding of Hurricane Katrina, but as you are aware ... I've been collecting again for years since. I have the UK BC13 and German BC13 stereo pressings and the 2014 Mono box as well, so I'm quite satisfied, but I really wish I still had that first one I purchased back in 1980.
I was 6 years old when I found my love for music. I’m 23 now but the kickstart to my love of music was at 6 when I found “Help!” I still find that once a year I’m crawling back to the Beatles catalogue finding new songs I cherish and love as much as the ones I loved before. This alone proves to me that the Beatles are timeless. With music almost 3x my age I can relate and love their music and grow with it. It’s insane to me how timeless their music is and I truly believe they will stand unbeaten as the greatest group of all time.
Thanks for sharing! I was 7 years old and discovered them when John was murdered in 1980. "Mr Postman" and "Please Please Me" were my favourites in the beginning.
In the US, it was marketed as Meet the Beatles and was given to me in 1964 on my 7th birthday, and it was when I became a huge fan of the Beatles. 60+ years later, I'm still a huge fan!🙂
@@WildHorses9958 I turned seven in April of 1964. My first introduction to the Beatles was in February of 1964 with their performance on the Ed Sullivan show. I immediately became a huge fan. So for my birthday my parents got me Meet the Beatles and a rubber drum practice pad and sticks. I still have that album but it's in rough shape. I played it to death like I did all their albums. I've recently gotten back into vinyl and am slowly building up my new collection. I've got the stereo remastered White album and Abbey Road. But I still enjoy my 2009 mono and stereo cd box sets. I had problems getting the DVD anthology box set a few months ago. Two copies and both were fakes. But I used the best of both to create one full, decent quality set.
Hi Andrew: This is Mick in San Diego. Just caught your video on With The Beatles. Your work is OUTSTANDING! Thank you for the time and energy you put into constructing this video essay perfectly. Your style of producing is excellent and your photography is superb. You obviously do a fair amount of research before going in front of the camera. What's especially nice is that you break down the album history in terms of the time when it was produced and recorded as well as technical facts and critical reviews during that period. Absolutely excellent! As a long time Beatles fan, student, collector and scholar (maybe!) I'm learning things in your video that I didn't know before and that.. is your own personal legacy here Andrew.. Your ability to inform and your keen insight is amazing! Thank you again for your brilliant analysis of With The Beatles. Will look for your Band On The Run review in the new year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Mick 👉 👍👍
I was nine when this album came out and an uncle of mine, who was a sailor on a submarine based in England, brought me a copy. I lived in a ghetto and was the only kid with this album. To this day I've never been more famous or liked.
When I bought all the CDs of the British releases, I quickly recognized how good this album was. It is THE BEATLES. It's definitely in my top 4: 1. Rubber Soul & Revolver (tie) 3. Abbey Road 4. With the Beatles 5. Help!
I taught Guitar in universities for 32 years, and the most impressive guitar part, HANDS DOWN, is John triplet rhythm part in All My Lovin'! No contest! You have to be a guitarist to understand.
Agree with you about Revolver and Rubber Soul. Personally I never really liked Abbey Road - although another 'early' album which is much underrated is the soundtrack to A Hard Days Night. Play the CD on a good well set-up separates hi-fi and it's superb. Best track is Paul McCartney singing 'Things We Said Today' imo. As one critic has pointed out about this album - these are classic guitar-driven love songs from a boy-band. Yet they were released back in 1964 ! 1964 1964
Another memory I have from the '60s is going to the kids movies on Saturday morning. As part of it, if you took a record with you and gave it to them, they would play it over the cinema loudspeakers. For a 14 year old boy, hearing Hold me Tight over several hundred watts of high quality cinema speakers made my skin tingle. In fact just remembering it does that now . . . .
I am a first generation Beatles beneficiary. An unique journey that cannot be replicated. It was the very freshness of the sound that was unlike anything ever heard before. (There was also Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys and early Tamala in those early 60's years, all had that freshness to the ears. 'Never heard anything like it in my life' quality.) It was the production values that were new. Especially in the non Beatles tune 'Till There was You'. The up-close vocals, guitars and congas on 'Till there was you' was the most intimate, clean, instrumentally distinct thing ever. Music now had seperate elements, wasn't soup, however delicious. I just played it again to check, that freshness, those production values, the clarity of each part, the separation, the up front sound of each part had never been brought out to the ears in quite that way before.
To really understand the Beatles, one must go back in time before Epstein invented the Fabs. They were working class rockers who played the toughest bars in the world, while performing all night gigs fueled by drugs and alcohol. Epstein cleaned & dressed them up, crafted a new image and literally packaged them for sale. But the talent, drive and utter fluency as a band always remained if one looks past the hype and simply focuses on the what, 200 songs they produced?
Being a 7yr old Yank, I first heard the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in Feb '64. I went bonkers for them and became a musician. Yes, times were simpler, but not less complicated. My house was a black cloud during Christmas and afterward losing my beloved hero John Kennedy. My tears turned to rejoicing. I imitated John and my friend imitated Paul Beatles every recess. The energy and joy from this album and their comraderie is unmatched in my opinion.
Hi Andrew, there is something magical about everything released in 1963. The astonishing rise of the quality of musicianship and songwriting tends to put the earlier albums a long way down the rankings as people think songs on Rubber Soul and beyond are far better. But this album and definitely Please Please Me capture the raw excitement of Beatlemania the way the 1963 fans heard it so in a way these records are timeless and capture something very special so for me they will always have a special place in my heart. I played the Please Please Me and With the Beatles albums to death when I became a fan in 1980 and remember picking up early copies for just a few pounds in decent condition. The best sounding version for me is definitely the 1st pressing in Mono, unbeatable! great upload as always. Cheers Tim
"Not A Second Time" has always been my favorite track on this album: Purchased new on the day it came out in the states by my sister, we wore it out listening to all the cuts, but "Not A Second Time" has always stopped us with its power and sexiness...!
I remember you talking about this album in a previous video and how you believed it especially captured the JOY AND ENERGY the young Beatles were bringing as they were trying to impress the universe. As I have mentioned in previous comments, this has become my favorite Beatles album BY FAR because of the effect it has on my mood and because, as a result of that, I cannot seem to tire of it, as I can with their other records, amazing as they are. I must confess, though, I have not viewed your video yet, as I am too amped up just thinking about it. I adore every track on “With the Beatles”, except perhaps, “Little Child” (boring melody) and “Money” (combination of evil lyrics and John’s begging voice amplifying said message). I know: I’m weird. It’s okay. 😉 Thanks again Andrew! ❤
Near the beginning and again near the end of this video a blue circle flashes in the upper right corner of the screen. That kind of thing usually indicates to a projectionist the end of a film reel and the start of a new one.
Andrew does it again. Really enjoyed this trip back to late 1963. He is very respectful of the two contemporary 'age different' reviews of With The Beatles and it's really nice that he acknowledges how the LP landed with differences in North America (Canada/USA) and Australia. He adds good background to its November 1963 release. Last year, I asked Beatles researcher/author Mark Lewisohn to comment on the '63 mono With The Beatles Parlophone UK LP ... and he wrote this: "Some bands fail the "second album" test. Not this one !" The Beatles' second UK LP clearly was a huge leap forward from the Please Please Me debut LP. With each new disc, The Beatles would come to always deliver "better than ever before". As Andrew mentions in this fine Parlogram episode, the LP has yet to receive the box set treatment it surely deserves, as With The Beatles was certainly the one Beatles LP that introduced them to the larger markets around the world. Thank you Andrew.
Hi Andrew. Great video, shining a light on a Beatle album often overlooked and underrated, in my opinion. In October 1978, on the Friday before breaking up for half term at school, me and a friend popped off to the original Penny Lane Records to see what we could find. I'd been into the Beatles since 1974 so I was still building up my collect at that point. I can't remember which LP my friend got but I plummed for "With The Beatles", possible taken with Freeman's exotic cover. We then walked to Mossley Hill train station, which took about half an hour, and we then met some more school friends on the platform. We were showing them what we had bought when one of the lads told a rather scary story : he told us that he had bought an LP in town (Liverpool), took it home where he took the record out of its sleeve and gasped when he noticed it was not the LP he had just bought but some completely unrelated artist. He said he had to wait til the following week before his parents could take him back into town and change the disc to the correct album. I quickly glanced at my mate and we both had the same thought : he immediately took out his record and checked it ! "Phew!!" he said, "it's OK. Your turn Tim !" I popped mine out of the bag, then carefully removed the sleeve and took out the vinyl. "Argh !!! It's "Revolver !! Blast ! I already have that, and, funnily enough I had to wait a week before I could take it back and change it as it stuck on "Here, There and Everywhere" !!! Now I looked up at the clock on the platform and realised that my train was due to arrive in the next 10 minutes. I faced a dilemma - do I go home or do I go back to the record shop and get it changed now; that would mean an hour round trip to the shop and then I'd be on my own on the train ? To be honest, I knew almost immediately that I would return to the shop there and then as it was not too late. So, I told my friends goodbye and said I would see them after the half term break and went back to Penny Lane Records. It was worth it because, once I got home, I played "With The Beatles" non-stop all week because it was FAB !! I bought a stereo copy and, to my ears, it was perfect ! When I compare my top 10 Beatles LPs with Beatle fans, I am always puzzled by their rather negative reaction to this album. I mean, the first 3 tracks are just classics ! And my all time favourite Beatles cover is "You Really Got A Hold On Me" which features one of Lennon's finest vocal performances ever ! I would say that "Hold Me Tight" and "Little Child" ate the weakest cuts but otherwise you can hear their energy and enthusiasm on every track. And the iconic cover just seals the deal. For me it is better that The White album, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road and Let It Be !! Cheers Tim
It's a great hybrid of their sound. Covers and originals performed nicely and tight. The group was learning the studio, but still keeping their "Cavern" sound.
Many thanks for this video Andrew, It was great to hear some of the background to one of the Beatles most overlooked albums (Beatles For Sale coming a close second in these stakes) I love this album, to me it's the Beatles "Motown" album where a lot of those influences come to the fore in their songwriting, arranging and performance, kicking it off with It Won't Be Long was inspired genius, they really hit a groove with this one with tight harmonies and Lennon hitting the ground running with his vocal. I loved it all, though I must admit to not being so keen on 'til there was you, surely there was another original song they could've used instead. I have multiple copies of this in mono, stereo, cassette, cd and download. Released on the day that both JFK and Aldous Huxley died and the day before we got to meet a mysterious traveller in a blue box who called himself the Doctor, for me this album marks when the sixties truly started to swing...
Thanks Andrew! Being in Canada, the BEATLEMANIA! with the Beatles album is the one in my heart. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, My sister, who is a few years older than me, never actually got that album, so the first time I really heard it was when my parents and I went over to visit friends of theirs. While they talked in the kitchen I was allowed to look through there record collection and there it was! They let me play it on their record player and it was pure heaven. I must have listened to that record 5 times that night! Once I had some of my own money that was one of the first albums I bought on the orange capitol label several years later. Of course I still have it along with an original rainbow capitol pressing (Bought on ebay) which I have proudly displayed in an album frame hanging in my music room where my friends and I do recordings of our own. Talk about a good inspiration! Thanks again Andrew....you rock. :)
This is what I cemented their UK prominence. It also help, in another form Meet the Beatles, kick in the doors of the US and everywhere else. I still have it on tape, unfortunately in stereo. Still need to get it on mono and not the 1987 CD. A great review Andrew
Hi Andrew. I like your presentation of the facts linked to the album With The Beatles. I didn't have a chance to listen the mono version, original or reissue, I grew up listening to the stereo version from, I think, mid 80s. To me it was amazing experience to hear only vocals 1:14 in I wanna be your man, during the fade out ( and Paul's screams). Later on I realised that the stereo didn't give the right impression, but somehow I learnt to accept it. Truly the album that shaped up The Beatles for the coming years. Thanks again Andrew
Great overview, I love how your videos are so niche and yet still so detailed. It’s what makes you one of the best Beatles content creators. I like the scripted format as well. No rambling, just packed with well researched information and a dash of subjectivity. Some more Beach Boys and Kinks videos would be more than welcome too. Thank you for all your great work
Andrew, Beatlemania: with the Beatles is the first Beatles album I heard in Canada, and it has stayed with me through thick and thin for 60 years. I have a pristine mono copy that I play when I need a bit of a lift. I enjoy your presentations very much. Good job!
It’s what brought me to them in the first place. In it, you hear exactly what drew everyone to the magic. It revealed the raw talent that had been forged by months of performing.
You are nothing if not guaranteed to put out consistently great content. Very few can compete in that arena. But I first acquired this as the 1987 mono CD issue (I was 12 and on a buying spree of the Beatles CD's...Pepper being the first CD I ever bought ...June 1, 1987). I essentially bought backwards from there, so it was a month or two until I came across this one. "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" were already favorites, but of the first four mono CD's, "With The Beatles" was far and away a standout and remains my favorite, closely followed by the woefully underrated and underappreciated "Beatles For Sale". Pretty much all of this was new to me, my having acquired the Red and the Blue years earlier, and those alone convinced me I needed everything in the catalog.
I LOVE this album! It has such a great early Beatles energy. I have an original 1963 -5/-6 mono; an Australian -1/-1 mono; a 70’s -5/-5 stereo; and the 2014 mono. All sound outstanding. Keep up the great work Andrew!
Excellent episode! For us in the States it was Introducing The Beatles for that first listen to this English group…when Meet The Beatles came out, if you were in the loop, you begged your parents for $2.98 (mono) then several weeks later $3.98 (stereo)! I for one was knocked out by the stereo. It’s what made my decision to become a drummer! I could hear sections better….and I wore out the grooves to my mono copy. I agree, fully, that either “With…” or “Meet…” I can still rock out on these two versions hands down. Thanks for pointing out the 4 versions as well. Til next time! Brilliant as always
I can’t listen to this album without smiling. Just like I can’t watch A Hard Day’s Night without smiling. In the USA Meet the Beatles was what we bought. As soon as it came out. And played a million times.
My parents brought “with” back to us (6 of us) in the states after a visit to London in 1963. “Everybody over there is crazy about the Beatles.” My 3 older sisters were, of course, into Elvis and my two older brothers were into sports, not music. I was 10 & I wound up with it. I still have it. I am truly a “life long” Beatles fan. Nice effort on this video. Very interesting. Thanks!
I hate that the “early” albums get relatively little respect. EVERYTHING about them is just as impactful as “mid” and “late.”
I'm 39 and have loved the Beatles all my life...I think later gen Beatles fans realize at a certain point that early Beatles are underrated...they are happy, they all sing together, they play great and it's pure joy...while later Beatles are great for obvious reasons, in the end you begin to wish they could have just been young and happy forever vs. the growing apart years and early Beatles gives you that fantasy.
You've accurately described The Beatles experience for many of us. The pure joy of the early records is precious while the progressive song writing of the mid to later period speaks for itself. It's funny they named their pivotal album Revolver as it's the album that ends the early period and begins the second half of their careers. Revolving out of the early into Pepper and so on.
@@ponzo1967 I'm the biggest Beatle genius there is! (deep cut ref - lol)
Well said
I think life is a voyage of discovery and discovering The Beatles is a happy path to be on. Happiness is where you find it.
I agree. Too many Beatles fans seem to be embarrassed by their first 4 albums. I love them all
This was an excellent video. I saw the Beatles in 64 in Milwaukee. I was dragged there because my older sister had to watch me. My dad said to my sister he goes or you don’t go. It was 2 hours of screaming but since then I have listen to Beatles at least every week. I am now 70. Beatles are the best ever.
Thank you for watching. Great memories!
September 4th, 1964 - My mom was there too.
You were ' dragged ' ? 🤣
Two hours of screaming? Beatles only played 30 minute concerts from 1964-66. What was the other 1:30 min of screaming about?
@@robomaster4882 l
I bought this album in 1964 and all the rest. WHAT A GROUP!
THE BEATLES just got better and better.
i’m sure I’ve bought every album in the American collection at least three times, 33 1/3, cassettes, DVD, etc. they made a lot of money off of people like me, but we got a lot more enjoyment out of those four boys than they got money out of us🎵🎵🎵
As a kid in '63-'64, I remember "Two Way Family Favourites" with Cliff Michelmore and Jean Metcalfe at Sunday lunch time. Families would always request "It Won't Be Long" for their loved ones, soldiers posted overseas in Germany or wherever. Very poignant. That song could easily have been a single, but then again so could loads of others. Memories...thanks once again Andrew.
Great memories, Steve!
Amazing! I taped an episode of Fanily Facourites circa 1978 - and It Won't Be Long - all thise years later - was still one of the requests on the show!
@@lamper2 It was a popular and long-running radio show here where you could send a message and appropriate song to a friend or loved one (in the days long before emails and Zoom). It was most usually sent by a family to a member of the armed forces based overseas.
My Dad was serving in Hong Kong in the early 60s and mum & me listened to the show. My Dad requested ‘All My Loving’ for mum. All these years later it’s still a great memory to have.
Great story. Thank you.
Rubber Soul is the most perfect Beatles album. Song by song, each one a mini masterpiece of simplity. It’s the pinnacle of the first era, then Revolver is a shift up in gears with complexity and maturity. It has some of their best songs on it and paved the way for the second era to the end which was an incredibly artistic and creative period.
rubber soul has aged like ass and sucks. beatles never made a great album top to bottom
@@mavenofmacau6391good to know.
@@mavenofmacau6391Nice Try at Trolling 🧌 but you failed. You gave me a good laugh though.
Kelp, Rubber Ball, Revolve Me, Lieutenant Lepers Homely Heads Club Band, the Grey Album and Abbey Toad are still the greatest Albums of all time.
@@mavenofmacau6391 then why are you here?
I agree.....I was in 8th grade when I got a copy of that on cassette. I think my uncle gave it to me for Christmas. "Being a guitar player I just love the acoustic guitar on "I'm looking thru you". Hard to believe John didn't write the lyrics....sounds like his mind. Not many bands I've ever liked and had their releases I could listen to without skipping songs.
With The Beatles was the first Beatles album to move me to tears. It was a Sunday, I was slightly hung over from a very raucous party the previous night and by the time You Really Got A Hold On Me came on I started crying over how much someone could love something so seemingly trivial as a silly little piece of music. There is something about the exuberant, unleashed joy captured on this album that makes it special to me.
You've hit my heart-strings with your emotive words. Thank you!
I had no idea a Beatles album Wes released the exact same day as the November 22nd 1963 assassination of President Kennedy.
“You really got a hold on me” - brilliant.
I'm convinced that certain people's voices, when harmonized, do something truly special. There's just a tone that sometimes comes out of two particular voices that just becomes magical. Lennon & McCartney had it. Simon & Garfunkel had it. But very few others.
As a 2023 new Beatles fan who has now consumed basically every single piece of media available from the four lads I've got to say that With The Beatles was the perfect way to introduce me to their music and still remains as one of their finest albums for me, certainly the most underrated one out there
welcome to the beatles club! good to have you aboard. now its up to you to pass on your love of the beatles to others at every opportunity. i did this decades ago. and for years people thanked me for turning them onto this remarkable phenomenon known as the beatles!
@@cjmacq-vg8um well said
I am gradually introducing my 7 year old slowly slowly to the Beatles, via the red and blue albums to be followed up by the extended versions in due course.
Spread the word and keep the spirit of the music and the 60s alive.
An electrifying sound and you get to know their dynamic, energetic music style and their vocals are crystal I know I was a Beatlemania boy and loved this band. No wonder they were already selling millions early on.. the fantastic 🪲🪲🪲🪲= Beatles+🪲 Mal Evans 🍏❤
And you or your kids, if you have any, can enjoy The Beatles movies together. I saw my first Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night, in 1964 at a movie theater near where I lived in lower state New York. We were screaming! I know it would still be fun to watch and suitable for almost all ages.❤🎉❤
@@v.2080 ... i sure wish they'd rerelease the original "let it be." i bought a copy when it was first released on video tape. i bought the beta-max version. i bought MMT on beta at the same time.
i remember turning my wife's neice onto "yellow submarine." she just loved it. for years the release of "hard day's night" and "help" were tied up in litigation and weren't available to the public. "help" is a really fun movie and "a hard day's night" is a veritable classic. i have them both on dvd. along with a new version of MMT. but i sure miss the original "let it be" movie.
Rosemary Wilson has stated that Meredith Wilson's estate received more royalties from The Beatles' recording of "Till There Was You" than they did from the stage production. It's one of my favorite Paul ballads and they do it beautifully.
I think it's the best song on the album. The guitar is exquisite.
He sang it on their iconic first Ed Sullivan appearance
The Canadian version "Beatlemania! With The Beatles" was released on November 25, 1963, making it the first Beatles album released in North America. That gives it huge historic significance IMHO. Beatlemania! was made from the original EMI master tapes. It was pressed by RCA at their Smith Falls pressing plant, and sounds as good as the original UK pressings. A handful of copies were pressed on the "Green Target" label in the early 70's making it one of the rarest Canadian Beatles albums.
Spot on!
Yeah, but it's Canada...
@@mikeymutual5489 Best country in North America, BY FAR!
@@fittobetiedyed5315 Very true….
That was the version I had (in Toronto) at the age of 11. Played it to death!!! Sadly, it got left behind when my family moved to California in 1965.
At 70, I’m a first generation Beatles enthusiast. I honestly enjoy your commentary on the early work of the Beatles. Your research is quite thorough and the overall presentation is impressive.
i agree. this album isn't only a very important beatle album, it launched beatlemania around the world, its a damned good album as well. in the states it was called "meet the beatles" and it included "i want to hold your hand" and "i saw her standing there." the beatles' first u. s. single. but it left off some really good covers like "You Really Got a Hold on Me," "money" and "roll over beethoven," my favorite beatle cover. and other singles and b-sides that were included on capitol's "the beatles 2nd album."
my older brother bought "meet the beatles" when it first came out and was quickly passed down to my possession. i had that album and my buddy, across the street, had "the 2nd album" so it was all good! at that time i didn't now the official english releases were different. i still consider "meet the beatles" ("with the beatles") the quintessential original beatles sound. i definately still listen to it today. in fact, i usually listen to beatles music in chronological order. its much more fun that way.
This has always been my favourite Beatles album. I may have liked their later stuff when I was younger, but at some point, I started appreciating
the early albums more and more. And today, I much prefer them, not only because they contain great songs, but perhaps even more because
the Beatles were still playing together as a unit, and the sheer energy and camaraderie on display is awe-inspiring!
They lost that later on. The giddy excitement had been replaced with cynicism and exhaustion.
Anyway, all the originals are great on this album, and the covers are arguably the best they ever did. Especially John peaked here as a singer, I feel.
His take on "You Really Got a Hold on Me" is superior to the original, in my opinion, and "It Won't Be Long" is my favourite Beatles song of them all.
It's just insanely good! Hell, I even love George's song. A lot of people don't think it was that special, this early on, but it's both musically and
lyrically really interesting. A very grumpy lyric set to a very unusual melody. What's not to love?
My personal experience is that the older I get I prefer the Revolver-and-before than Peppers-and-after Beatles
I remember laying on the living room floor and staring at the front & back covers. I think that front shot is a classic. Of course, I was looking at the Capitol release, but it meant the world to me. Later on, when I saw the British release, With The Beatles, I was surprised by all the extra songs. I still have a soft spot for Meet The Beatles. This is a joyous album full of life and energy. I love it. Pure Beatle joy. Have to go with mono on this one. Thx Andrew...
Meet The Beatles came out when I was 3 1/2 and I was hooked immediately! I had six older siblings. As a kid I loved looking at the album covers and even the albums themselves, especially the labels. The labels and the covers were like little pieces of art to me. And back then there was usually a short little 'story' on the back. I must have read that blurb on 'Meet...' hundreds of times.
I have never understood why 'Not A Second Time' doesn't get a lot of love for the most part. That was one of the songs from Meet The Beatles that such a profound impact on me as a kid, especially effective as the album's closer. The same goes for 'I'll Be Back' (another early Lennon fave of mine) as the last track on Beatles '65. Quite moving. 'Little Child is pure zesty fun.
"Not a second time" is a great song!
Couldn’t agree with you more! “Not A Second Time” is an awesome but underrated song! The instrumental bridge early in the track is unique featuring the drum solo leading into the piano sets this song up for success. I wonder how often it was played in concerts?
That's my story too. I listened that album to death as a kid. My parents were in R & R bands from 1959-1965, so they bought that album to learn some of the songs. "Not a Second Time" is my favorite on that album too, and works perfectly as the last track, much better than "Money" on the UK album.
Me too. "Not a second time" I always loved. There's something about the unique melody , seemingly befitting of some lush arrangement, but they just rock it , as if they didn't think about it or rehearse it but there was only 5 minutes for one take. Maybe I'm a little odd, but I also have always loved "Little Child".
My favorite Beatles song.
A never leave it off of my playlists.
To receive broadcast-quality documentary content on a weekly basis is a true gift. Thank you for your efforts in keeping the flame burning!
Also, I love hearing actual clips from the records you discuss! A needed touch!
Here here!!
Thank you, Richard!
Very well said, Richard. These videos are incredible, Andrew.
I was always proud that as a canadian, Capital Records here released this fine album first before America did a month earlier. I still have my copy, as it was called "Beatlemania with the Beatles". It was the only Beatle record on Capital Records Canada to release it the same way it was released in the UK. America's version "Meet The Beatles" only had 12 tracks along with adding the Hit "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with I Saw Her Standing There and This Boy. ... 3 songs that would be on Canada's 3rd release ... the Long Tall Sally album.
Yes...I had the original "Meet The Beatles" album...I played it so much that I wore it out...
Here in Mexico the songs from With The Beatles are displaced in three albums, Meet The Beatles (different from the US version) Vol. 2 and Vol. 3
What gets me I'd that when they talk about the best Beatles albums no one ever mentioned With the Beatles. It's perfect and it captures the best essence of the group before they began to "mature" as artists
I'm all about the group's raw enthusiasm and high youthful energy of their early music. So talented at such a young age. Nothing like it
Im 33, a second gen Beatles fan in my family, but the age of a 3rd gen. “With the Beatles” is among my favorite records of all time. I believe it is the purest British Rock n Roll record ever recorded. ✌️❤️
WTB was a Christmas present in 1963 when I was 7. I thought at the time that it was a sensational record compared to another record I received 'Ready Steady Go' on Decca that Christmas. It was never off the record player back in the day, oh that sound. When I was older and got the stereo version I thought that it was cool to unplug one of the speakers and sing to the instrumental track or just listen to the vocals, brilliant times. Every track for me is a gem and I'd go as far to say that it must be the most played LP that I've ever owned. Thanks for yet another great video, keep up the good work.
Thanks Chris. Will do!
Exactly. I was 8 at that Christmas and my feelings are the same as yours. Mine was the mono version and, despite having all the subsequent versions in mono and stereo, that original pressing still gets played the most. It, and the original mono Rubber Soul, are clearly at the top of my all-time, most played list.
To me this album captured the “raw-ness” of the Beatles. I’m in Western Canada 🇨🇦 and purchased “Beatlemania” in early 1977. I was 15 and played this album quite often to the point that it annoyed my Mother and two siblings immensely. I loved all of the tracks. “Money” had me hooked right from the intro. “Please Mr. Postman” is probably one of many underrated Beatles songs of all time even if it is a cover. I recently turned 62 and will never stop listening to Beatles music. Thank you so much for a very interesting and thorough review of this album!
I'm also in Western Canada, and like you, I was listening to the 'back catalogue' of the Beatles in high school. By 1980, on a trip to NYC, I managed to get them all on Japanese vinyl. Which sounded 'cleaner' in those days. The few I didn't find (Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour) I picked up as German pressings 2 years later. It never crossed my mind to get a few UK titles (though I bought the Long Tall Sally EP in London). I always listen to the first four albums 'together'. And 'For Sale' (not released in North America) is probably my favorite because it has more obscure tracks (Lennon on 'Mr Moonlight', for example). "Hard Days Night" is hard to beat. And what I admire most about "Please Please Me" was the length of time spent recording it in the studio. It is for all practical matters a 'live album'. So, I have a Japanese pressing of 'Beatlemania', as it happens. In either version, I have to agree with you- the sound is raw and fresh.
Also in Western Canada. Born in 1960. One of my first memories is watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in Feb, 1964. I was 4. I can still remember what it felt like to hear new Beatles songs for the first time. They were magical.
Oh yeah...the "Beatlemania With The Beatles" album...! Outside of Canada, a most fascinating little variation to all things this album. Especially from a European perspective...I am from Germany, and we had a very interesting variant as well: our Beatle cover photo was black and blue (as with the US Meet The Beatles) instead of black and white, while the stripe alongside the upper edge was green, not white. That's how I prefer it 😉
In 1976, I was 14 years old when I first listened to "Meet the Beatles" and was hooked for life. My favorite songs from the album were, and still are: "It Won't Be Long," "Hold Me Tight," "Don't Bother Me," and "I Saw Her Standing There."
Personally, I think the greatest thing about that album was Paul's and John's harmonies. That must be the sweetest sounds on earth.
In the U.S. the album called “Meet The Beatles” was released in January 1964, 3 months shy of my 5th birthday. My brother is 10 years older than me and everything he listened to I listened to. At this young age I fell in love with the Beatles. And yes, I still love this album as well.
Not the same album though.
right you are
I was about your age and we had “Meet The Beatles,” and I fell in love with Paul! I guess we all did 💕
@@peteterry2877 what is the difference ?
For me in the US, it was Meet the Beatles! I was introduced to it by a neighbor friend, summer, 1974. That December I received my own copy for my birthday. It was the album which started my lifelong love of the Beatles and their music.
For a band that were only writing songs for eight years, their music evolved beyond imagination. Pop music, as a whole, is still catching up. ❤
My mum (no longer with us) was a member of the Cavern Club just before and as the Beatles (and Gerry and the Pacemakers) were becoming famous. She bought With The Beatles as soon as it came out. My dad still has that copy. I’ve always considered With The Beatles as one of my lesser favourite albums but Andrew’s video has given me new appreciation for this album and the magical time that was 1963. Time for me to show this album some love.
Precious memories, Kevin.
In my opinion, out of the first four albums, With The Beatles is the best as a whole album. While there are some great songs on Please Please Me, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale, the energy, tightness and sheer joy of With The Beatles cannot be matched for that period.
Oh yeah definitely an out of this world (from a futuristic mars?) band sounds and mindblowingly catchy and joyful
With the Beatles. My older sister got it for Christmas 1963 and a 9 year old me just loved it. I had a Hornby Dublo trainset for Christmas that year. The sound of my new Golden Fleece loco engine rattling round the track, combined with the music from this brilliant album, are combined in my head as the sound of that happy family Christmas. I have my own vinyl copy of the album now and, yes, I still have the loco which I'll keep till the day I die.
My favorite album of theirs because of the second opening track.. “All I’ve Got To Do”
John’s vocals are loud and rich.
Paul’s bass is deep & heavy toned.
George’s guitar sounds like charms sparking in the background.
Ringo’s drums specifically those hi-hat hits holds it all together.
then the record goes right into “All My Loving” perfectly executed.
I went thru 8 copies of this album on wax until getting ahold of a XEX -1N cut it really is perfect sounding and prefer it over the 2014 mono,
So warm but loud!
side note: I was interested about side 2’s “Roll Over Beethoven” going to have the that rumored skip on -1N but it played all the way through on my LP120, rocked the speakers.
Just that opening chord alone is fantastic! Another of their many, many underappreciated songs.
Perhaps I’m alone in this, but I truly enjoy the 1963 STEREO mix of this album. I first heard it when the 2009 remasters came out, and I remember being taken aback at how lifelike it sounded! And who’s to say everything has to be mixed the same way, with vocals, drums and bass in the middle? I have no problems with voices coming out of one side, and I’m a headphone listener primarily. Thanks for another well-made video! ❤
I grew up with the 2009 stereo version, and even then I enjoyed the album! The backing tracks are so tight and energetic and clean too.
1 1 1
Growing with the bad sounding mono CD from 1987, the 2009 stereo remaster for me was a revelation, more clearer vocals and instruments, i don't understand the "hate" from Steve Hoffman's forum audiophiles for the stereo mixes
@@alancruzdominguez5074 Have you listened lately to the 1987 CD on a good system? It sounds pretty good actually, not that different from the 2009 mono…
@@vinylarchaeologisti don't have the 1987 CD anymore
With the Beatles and please please me are my favourite albums by the Beatles. It was a great time in the history of British pop music, so different to anything else being recorded back then.
As always, I very much appreciate and enjoy the research you put into your posts. I just finished reading "The Beatles and the Historians," which demonstrates that while everyone has an "opinion" about pop culture, some are worth more than others, depending on their understanding of the historical context and the perspectives of the sources and reliability of their memories. I'm glad you respect that. Please forgive me for this wordy comment, but you've inspired me to ruminate, so here are a few more footnotes I'd like to contribute to the discussion:
1) You're absolutely right that these records were mixed primarily for mono reproduction because that's the way most of the audience heard them: on car radios, portable AM "transistor radios," and single-speaker phonographs. Not "hi-fi" equipment! The original "Loudness Wars" happened in the 1960s to make singles "pop" on the radio and the record player, long before the compression and volume boosting we know from LWII in the latter years of the CD era. (I'm reminded that the folks at Motown used to record a song and then play it on a car radio before deciding on the final mix so they'd hear it the way most of their audience would.)
2) One reason that stereo images were panned to the left and right was to show off the new two-channel stereo technology on popular console equipment, pieces of furniture with both sets of speakers built into the same wooden enclosure. The speakers were only a few feet apart, and the sound was projected from a single location out into the room. Later, "hi-fi" stereo sets put speakers in separate boxes that could be arranged to suit your design or audio preferences, and to create a more "realistic" soundstage.
3) But I have to laugh when I see people saying of pop records made back in the 1960s that a recording makes it sound as though you're "right there in the room" with the musicians, since in many cases what you're hearing was never recorded in one sitting with all the musicians in the same room! Not only was the recording not engineered to modern "audiophile" specs, much of the music was created with individual miking, mixing, acoustic baffles and multitracking. This is especially true of Beatles records from "Revolver" on -- and Paul got in the habit of adding his bass line as the very last element recorded after everyone else was done. So, the finished "performance" existed ONLY on the record and could never have been heard any other way! There was no single original take that was "captured" on tape, but a collection of bits and pieces all spliced and mixed (and remixed and edited and re-recorded) together.
4) What you say about the difference between a 22-year-old and a 33-year-old in 1963 is right on. It wouldn't be long before those on the younger side of the "Generation Gap" would be saying, "Never trust anyone over 30!" I remember thinking about how distant, for example, World War II and swing music seemed to me (as a 10-year-old) in the 1967 "Summer of Love." But the distance between 1967 and 1944 is the same as between 2023 and 2000. What was the toppermost of the poppermost in 2000? Santana, Eminem, and The Beatles ("1")!
❤well done... I wish we had gotten this album in the USA but believe me we had no idea and we were very happy obviously with what we had. I love listening to the UK early Beatles albums. I can't choose a favorite... I do love Beatles For Sale and play it a lot!!! Thanks for this great rewind!
As a die hard Beatles fan this IS the true sound of the Beatles. The early records are where my heart lives. I like the later ones too but I grew up with my dad going to cruise ins and car shows and him playing this album, along with Beatles for Sale, Please Please Me and Past Masters 1 in his hot rod. I love the first 5 albums more than anything and this one might be my all time favorite album. Thanks for defending this underrated album. We need a video on Beatles for Sale! Cheers!
In the early days of the Beatles' UK journey, they were almost universally adored for their loud, harmonious, fresh & spine-tingling sound. Their second single, Please Please Me, hit the UK #1 spot in January of 1963. It didn't hit the US until a year later, as the band had not yet had US exposure in '63.
Oh, Andrew: thank you! I bought the Canadian pressing in 1979. I used to rush home at lunch, and to my mum’s bemusement , put this on in the listening room whilst eating.
It’s easily the most exciting record The Beatles have ever released, bar none. The song craft, however, is so staggering that one wonders where to begin! “It Won’t be Long” is still in my top five songs of theirs because (apart from the sheer excitement and joy of it) the chord structure and harmonics are just killer!!!
I won’t bore with the rest of my assessment save for the fact that Lennon’s vocal on “Money…” is possibly the most riveting rock vocal I have ever heard. Its only competitor to my ear is “Bad Boy” and “Great Balls of Fire.”
This record not only proved that the Beatles were superb craftsmen in their own right, but were also capable at beating the original artists on songs they covered (Smokey was equaled to be fair). See? I’m second Gen and cannot say enough good about one of the very best records.
No, I would say that "Please Please Me" was a much more exciting album (and why it is usually rated higher), but this is a better quality album, with better sound and better songs.
Yes it does capture that early Beatles sound, and the vocals and harmonies are great. Iconic cover. Some great tunes, yet patchy IMO by their forthcoming unreal standards. Great video as always, Andrew.
When I was a kid in the 90s, My dad always used to play this album in car rides. I don’t listen to this as much as an adult preferring other Beatles albums but all these songs are nostalgic for me, they remind me of my childhood
I'm more for Rubber Soul onwards but the early era of The Beatles is very good
i'm 50, and i just discovered recently that all first albums sounds abolutely terrific in MONO, and that was the real Beatles sound! Took me ages to realize that. Geeeee... It perturbates me that i listened to those records in stereo all my life... anyway, it's just the way to go. MONO !!! IS !!!!!! GOOOD !!!!
My dad is 76, 16 when this was released and it’s still his favourite Beatle record to this day. Like you said if you were there at the time it holds a special place in your heart as opposed to comparing it to their whole body of work.
"With the Beatles" is an underappreciated album.
I have always loved this album and especially its recording technique. It is precisely the stereophony of this album that made me passionate about high fidelity. The separate voices, although not usual in conventional recordings, in my opinion give a sense of detail and physical presence of the singer that is not achieved in today's traditional recordings. .
I spent hours listening to the record first on the right channel and then on the left channel and all the details that are usually lost in current conventional recordings come out.
I'm 54 years old. I was born in 1969 and started listening to the Beatles when I was 6 years old in 1975. I love music from their entire career as a group, but I would have to say that I prefer their earlier music. This is a great album. I also love their first album, Please, Please Me, and A Hard Days Night. Beatles For Sale, Help, and Rubber Soul. As I said I love their later music as well, but I'm more of a fan of these early years.
Same here, born in 1969 and my favourites are all those you have listed. While I was never a Beatles fan, and only knew the more famous songs, during Covid, when I hit my 50's I bought the entire album collection on itunes and am a huge fan now! Sae Paul McArtney in concert just a couple of months ago. It was awesome!
Love this album! Bought it as a kid in the 80's, a stereo release from Odeon that had a green background for the top area of the cover. I loved the sound of it, compressed and hyped, lots of energy. It also had the hihat count-in on All my loving.
I was there. All the Beatle years. No one ever asks questions.
I can tell you a great deal. Beatlemania was fantastic!!!
The first album which seemed very different and not as good was Rubber Soul. The American version. And by the way, it sold less than the previous ones.
Before that was the stupid Help! album with songs we had in singles and the sound track recordings. 😡
In America we had Yesterday and Today (better than rubber soul) which led me to believe that we’d never really have the Beatles playing as they did before that live on tv again. The songs were different.
Then Revolver. Which was very different but really interesting.
Then, they vanished. I mean it. They were not in the news anymore. No word on them. No articles in the fan magazine. I’m telling you Beatlemania was over.
The tv show the Monkees came on. That was huge. Kids in school all who knew that I was the huge Beatle fan lifted up bands who were on Sullivan each week and the Monkees.
I bought some Monkees 45s and lps. A few tracks were ok. A few were actually good. Mike was talented. Micky could sing. The girls forgot Paul and raved about Davy. And even I tuned out Batman most often to watch the Monkees.
Sgt Pepper came out. No explanation (like you all have today). It was just in the Beatles record bin in the stores. I looked at it. I had seen their new look on The Hollywood Palace. I had the 45 of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields (which I loved and identified as the first psychedelic record. I played it a lot. How different)!
I can give you a lot Beatle history.
It has become my fav album since I've bought it and heard it for the first time.
It's IMHO the album which defines The Beatles' style.
English isn't my mother tongue and All My Loving was their first song I could fully understand.
All I've Got to Do is criminally underrated, it's a great song.
I was born in April of’61 with older siblings. MEET THE BEATLES was a constant staple in our home. I loved listening to this album all my life and still do. Along with my mother’s Elvis & Herb Alpert records, dad’s Johnny Cash and our hundreds is 45s, music was spectacular. This album was the linchpin of my early musical education. Remember…”Well she was just 17, and you know what I mean!”
My favorite Beatles album, hands down. I suppose much of my love for this record is due to unabashed nostalgia as I was 6 years old when I received a copy (my first LP) for Christmas, 1963. I remember how the music exploded from the family record player on Christmas morning. It just seemed so exciting and fresh.
I turned eleven in the summer of 1963 and was a big fan of the Beatles as I grew up. This was the fist Beatles LP that I bought and is still one of my favourite albums. Unless you lived through it you may not be able to imagine how fantastic it was to hear this type of music for the first time. As an eleven year old I had never heard the original versions of the six 'covers' that they performed such as "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Money (That's What I Want)" and most probably thought that they were all original Beatles songs. When pop music was Cliff Richards & The Shadows or Adam Faith nothing can compare to hearing the Beatles for the first time.
Indeed...."With The Beatles" was and remains an ASTONISHING album...!! 😃
When I was 15 in 1964, I had a friend that played the mono "Meet the Beatles" album on his amateur radio station that broadcast only several blocks. It was soon my favorite record. These songs were full of fantasy and emotionally gripping. To me, the mono has incredible appeal and transports me back 60 years with the excitement it generates. The way these songs were mixed takes me on an emotional fantasy trip. The group changed so much after 1965, I lost track of them until 1970 when a girl in college reintroduced me to their more recent albums, and I began to buy all their albums.
I adore this album. I have an old mono copy. To me, the early albums showcase Lennon’s voice at his best. The energy bursts off this. I love the later stuff but this, to me, is unbeatable!
American millennial here and this was the first Beatles album I heard and was obsessed with both it and A Hard Day's Night when my parents had them on the '87 CD issues that favored the original UK track listings.
Great video as always, Andrew. You mentioned that Beatles fans of the time - especially younger ones - would likely choose With the Beatles or another early album as their favorite. That's my own personal experience too. I grew up listening to my parents' Beatles records and, as a child, all my favs were the earlier albums. I found them to be far more accessible up and including Revolver. Pepper, The White Album, Abbey Road and Let it Be were all albums my parents had but I had a much harder time getting into them. I suppose that makes sense...they are, in a way, more sophisticated albums. Much too good for children. ;) It was only when I was older that I completely flipped and now prefer the Beatles' later work, though the early stuff is still brilliant of course.
I’ve been a fan of The Beatles since 1963. My aunt, who was a McCartney family nanny in her hometown of Liverpool, had British copies of The Beatles albums sent to her by the McCartney’s. She saw how I reacted to listening to them so she gave me The Beatles and With The Beatles. And, sent me all of the other albums shortly after she received them. My Aunt Joyce came to the States when she married my mom’s brother, Paul. He was a Merchant Marine ships Captain, who she met when he was ferrying loads to Liverpool. My aunt’s family lived across the street from the McCartney’s. Each one of my albums has its original jacket and liner sleeve. No one other than myself has ever been allowed to play the records. One other thing, I’m a bigger fan of the pre-India recordings than after. Oh, and this was an excellent video you put together. I’ve subscribed.
Great story, Thomas and welcome aboard!
With the Please Please Me album, it was a case of " Whooh ! Can you believe this ! How advanced is this ? ", and from then on it was a recurring process of hanging out for their next album. And, With The Beatles did not disappoint. Nor any other of their LPs [ long plays ] for the rest of that decade. But the Please Please Me album is vastly superior to With The Beatles. Although With The Beatles does feature some masterclass, such as the first two tracks as well as Hold Me Tight.
"With The Beatles" was the first Beatles record I ever heard. "It Won't Be Long" just knocked me out when I first heard the song- the first track on side 1. Also, because of the credits on the back cover, I learned to distinguish the "lead" guitar from the "rhythm" guitar, from the bass guitar from the drums- it was excellent ear-training for me.
Magnificent album. One of my most favorite album from The Beatles ever
The Canadian ''Beatlemania ! With The Beatles'' was one of the first Beatles albums I have bought back in 1981, and it's still on my top 3 favorite albums. I could not stop listening to it ! it's a fantastic Rock and Roll album. I much prefer the stereo mix, and it's one of the few albums I play from start to finish !
It's a magically brilliant album ... that's why ...
Loved the video as usual. Thanks much Andrew !
Thanks Scott. Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m American almost 73 and I could never pick a favorite Beatles song but I can say the White Album is my favorite. Meet The Beatles was like all their albums meaning it was fantastic. The first album where you didn’t have to move the needle to skip a song.
My sister and I got this album in I think 1964. It was our introduction to the Beatles beyond what was on the radio. My parents were divorced and we had two stereos -- yes, stereos -- to play it on. Dad was 35 and Mom was 32, practically middle-aged as you say. Our copy was stereo. The instruments were on one side and the vocals were on the other. Mom's stereo didn't have a balance knob but Dad's did. We took the album to his apartment on Sunday visits and would turn the balance knob to the instrument side and then my sister and I sang along. I think that was the only album I ever had with that kind of mix. Later of course I got an electric guitar and my buddies and I started a moderately famous (in our neighborhood) garage band. It was great fun. Even later I got an acoustic guitar and started playing folk songs and the singer-songwriter music of the 60s and 70s. This was a great time to come of age.
yeah, they were really ancient. weren't they.....that is pretty wild about the stereo mix..... very creative of you to do that...
Often overlooked, With the Beatles has some of my favourite early John songs: It Won’t Be Long, All I’ve Gotta Do, and Not A Second Time. Their cover of Please Mister Postman is also a triumph, and tops the original.
I remember listening to my dad’s stereo copy for the first time, and being fascinated moving back and forth to hear the instruments on one side and their voices on the other. As for today, I was lucky enough to find a nice conditioned -1 pressing for a good price. I’ve noticed how the cover also appears much darker and their faces more detailed. Anyone know the reason for this?
@@jadebel7006 I have to disagree - it is an odd song to be sure, more like a modal folk ballad in form. But I like traditional folk, so I suppose that's why it appeals to me. 😄 "Don't Bother Me" is a similar vibe in that regard.
@@jadebel7006That’s not you spell Hold Me Tight 😂
@@jadebel7006If anything, Ringo's songs have that honour!
Another great video. It's a bonus how you always change the background to match the records you are talking about. I have over 500 vinyl lps in my Beatles collection, not counting cds as well as cassettes. Can't wait for next week.
Yep.....this is my 'go to' Beatles album when i'm in a 'Beatles' mood ❤️
Me too Buster 👍🏻
Hi Andrew, and thanks for another wonderful and comprehensive review. I can still remember how fascinating the UK "With The Beatles" looked to me when I first purchased it around 1980 at a local record store in my hometown of New Orleans. Up to that point, nearly all of my Beatles records were the dreaded Capital "cash grab" pressings and I already owned an older copy of "Meet The Beatles" that had been given to me by an uncle of mine. Now however, I was educating myself and seeking the "real" early Beatles albums and I was really taken with the dramatic monochrome of the UK import. I lost this copy along with my entire collection due to the flooding of Hurricane Katrina, but as you are aware ... I've been collecting again for years since. I have the UK BC13 and German BC13 stereo pressings and the 2014 Mono box as well, so I'm quite satisfied, but I really wish I still had that first one I purchased back in 1980.
I was 6 years old when I found my love for music. I’m 23 now but the kickstart to my love of music was at 6 when I found “Help!” I still find that once a year I’m crawling back to the Beatles catalogue finding new songs I cherish and love as much as the ones I loved before. This alone proves to me that the Beatles are timeless. With music almost 3x my age I can relate and love their music and grow with it. It’s insane to me how timeless their music is and I truly believe they will stand unbeaten as the greatest group of all time.
Thanks for sharing! I was 7 years old and discovered them when John was murdered in 1980. "Mr Postman" and "Please Please Me" were my favourites in the beginning.
In the US, it was marketed as Meet the Beatles and was given to me in 1964 on my 7th birthday, and it was when I became a huge fan of the Beatles. 60+ years later, I'm still a huge fan!🙂
@@WildHorses9958 I turned seven in April of 1964. My first introduction to the Beatles was in February of 1964 with their performance on the Ed Sullivan show. I immediately became a huge fan. So for my birthday my parents got me Meet the Beatles and a rubber drum practice pad and sticks. I still have that album but it's in rough shape. I played it to death like I did all their albums. I've recently gotten back into vinyl and am slowly building up my new collection. I've got the stereo remastered White album and Abbey Road.
But I still enjoy my 2009 mono and stereo cd box sets. I had problems getting the DVD anthology box set a few months ago. Two copies and both were fakes. But I used the best of both to create one full, decent quality set.
Hi Andrew:
This is Mick in San Diego.
Just caught your video on With The Beatles. Your work is OUTSTANDING! Thank you for the time and energy you put into constructing this video essay perfectly. Your style of producing is excellent and your photography is superb. You obviously do a fair amount of research before going in front of the camera. What's especially nice is that you break down the album history in terms of the time when it was produced and recorded as well as technical facts and critical reviews during that period. Absolutely excellent!
As a long time Beatles fan, student, collector and scholar (maybe!) I'm learning things in your video that I didn't know before and that.. is your own personal legacy here Andrew.. Your ability to inform and your keen insight is amazing!
Thank you again for your brilliant analysis of With The Beatles. Will look for your Band On The Run review in the new year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mick 👉
👍👍
Thank you so much, Mick. Wishing you the same too! 👍😎
I was nine when this album came out and an uncle of mine, who was a sailor on a submarine based in England, brought me a copy. I lived in a ghetto and was the only kid with this album. To this day I've never been more famous or liked.
When I bought all the CDs of the British releases, I quickly recognized how good this album was. It is THE BEATLES.
It's definitely in my top 4:
1. Rubber Soul & Revolver (tie)
3. Abbey Road
4. With the Beatles
5. Help!
I taught Guitar in universities for 32 years, and the most impressive guitar part, HANDS DOWN, is John triplet rhythm part in All My Lovin'!
No contest!
You have to be a guitarist to understand.
Agree with you about Revolver and Rubber Soul. Personally I never really liked Abbey Road - although another 'early' album which is much underrated is the soundtrack to A Hard Days Night. Play the CD on a good well set-up separates hi-fi and it's superb. Best track is Paul McCartney singing 'Things We Said Today' imo. As one critic has pointed out about this album - these are classic guitar-driven love songs from a boy-band. Yet they were released back in 1964 !
1964 1964
Another memory I have from the '60s is going to the kids movies on Saturday morning. As part of it, if you took a record with you and gave it to them, they would play it over the cinema loudspeakers. For a 14 year old boy, hearing Hold me Tight over several hundred watts of high quality cinema speakers made my skin tingle. In fact just remembering it does that now . . . .
Great memories!
November 22, 1963 , the death of JFK and the Beatles became the cathartic release for youth who saw him as a lost progressive,young leader.
I am a first generation Beatles beneficiary. An unique journey that cannot be replicated. It was the very freshness of the sound that was unlike anything ever heard before. (There was also Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys and early Tamala in those early 60's years, all had that freshness to the ears. 'Never heard anything like it in my life' quality.) It was the production values that were new. Especially in the non Beatles tune 'Till There was You'. The up-close vocals, guitars and congas on 'Till there was you' was the most intimate, clean, instrumentally distinct thing ever. Music now had seperate elements, wasn't soup, however delicious. I just played it again to check, that freshness, those production values, the clarity of each part, the separation, the up front sound of each part had never been brought out to the ears in quite that way before.
Were they congas, or was this when Ringo p[ayed on packing cases? Maybe someone can correct me.
To really understand the Beatles, one must go back in time before Epstein invented the Fabs.
They were working class rockers who played the toughest bars in the world, while performing all night gigs fueled by drugs and alcohol.
Epstein cleaned & dressed them up, crafted a new image and literally packaged them for sale.
But the talent, drive and utter fluency as a band always remained if one looks past the hype and simply focuses on the what, 200 songs they produced?
Being a 7yr old Yank, I first heard the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in Feb '64. I went bonkers for them and became a musician. Yes, times were simpler, but not less complicated. My house was a black cloud during Christmas and afterward losing my beloved hero John Kennedy. My tears turned to rejoicing. I imitated John and my friend imitated Paul Beatles every recess. The energy and joy from this album and their comraderie is unmatched in my opinion.
Hi Andrew, there is something magical about everything released in 1963. The astonishing rise of the quality of musicianship and songwriting tends to put the earlier albums a long way down the rankings as people think songs on Rubber Soul and beyond are far better. But this album and definitely Please Please Me capture the raw excitement of Beatlemania the way the 1963 fans heard it so in a way these records are timeless and capture something very special so for me they will always have a special place in my heart. I played the Please Please Me and With the Beatles albums to death when I became a fan in 1980 and remember picking up early copies for just a few pounds in decent condition. The best sounding version for me is definitely the 1st pressing in Mono, unbeatable! great upload as always. Cheers Tim
Cheers Tim. Glad you enjoyed it!
😃Hello Tim, thank you for the first sentence. I was born in 1963.
"Not A Second Time" has always been my favorite track on this album: Purchased new on the day it came out in the states by my sister, we wore it out listening to all the cuts, but "Not A Second Time" has always stopped us with its power and sexiness...!
Agree, this album is currently my favourite one at this point. Thanks to their cover of The Miracle's You Really Got A Hold On Me.
I remember you talking about this album in a previous video and how you believed it especially captured the JOY AND ENERGY the young Beatles were bringing as they were trying to impress the universe.
As I have mentioned in previous comments, this has become my favorite Beatles album BY FAR because of the effect it has on my mood and because, as a result of that, I cannot seem to tire of it, as I can with their other records, amazing as they are.
I must confess, though, I have not viewed your video yet, as I am too amped up just thinking about it.
I adore every track on “With the Beatles”, except perhaps, “Little Child” (boring melody) and “Money” (combination of evil lyrics and John’s begging voice amplifying said message).
I know: I’m weird. It’s okay. 😉
Thanks again Andrew! ❤
Near the beginning and again near the end of this video a blue circle flashes in the upper right corner of the screen. That kind of thing usually indicates to a projectionist the end of a film reel and the start of a new one.
Amazing show as always, thanks Andrew! And can't wait for the BOTR episode, LOVE that album!
Andrew does it again. Really enjoyed this trip back to late 1963. He is very respectful of the two contemporary 'age different' reviews of With The Beatles and it's really nice that he acknowledges how the LP landed with differences in North America (Canada/USA) and Australia. He adds good background to its November 1963 release. Last year, I asked Beatles researcher/author Mark Lewisohn to comment on the '63 mono With The Beatles Parlophone UK LP ... and he wrote this: "Some bands fail the "second album" test. Not this one !" The Beatles' second UK LP clearly was a huge leap forward from the Please Please Me debut LP. With each new disc, The Beatles would come to always deliver "better than ever before". As Andrew mentions in this fine Parlogram episode, the LP has yet to receive the box set treatment it surely deserves, as With The Beatles was certainly the one Beatles LP that introduced them to the larger markets around the world. Thank you Andrew.
Thank you, Piers. Much appreciated!
Hi Andrew. Great video, shining a light on a Beatle album often overlooked and underrated, in my opinion. In October 1978, on the Friday before breaking up for half term at school, me and a friend popped off to the original Penny Lane Records to see what we could find. I'd been into the Beatles since 1974 so I was still building up my collect at that point. I can't remember which LP my friend got but I plummed for "With The Beatles", possible taken with Freeman's exotic cover. We then walked to Mossley Hill train station, which took about half an hour, and we then met some more school friends on the platform. We were showing them what we had bought when one of the lads told a rather scary story : he told us that he had bought an LP in town (Liverpool), took it home where he took the record out of its sleeve and gasped when he noticed it was not the LP he had just bought but some completely unrelated artist. He said he had to wait til the following week before his parents could take him back into town and change the disc to the correct album. I quickly glanced at my mate and we both had the same thought : he immediately took out his record and checked it ! "Phew!!" he said, "it's OK. Your turn Tim !" I popped mine out of the bag, then carefully removed the sleeve and took out the vinyl. "Argh !!! It's "Revolver !! Blast ! I already have that, and, funnily enough I had to wait a week before I could take it back and change it as it stuck on "Here, There and Everywhere" !!! Now I looked up at the clock on the platform and realised that my train was due to arrive in the next 10 minutes. I faced a dilemma - do I go home or do I go back to the record shop and get it changed now; that would mean an hour round trip to the shop and then I'd be on my own on the train ? To be honest, I knew almost immediately that I would return to the shop there and then as it was not too late. So, I told my friends goodbye and said I would see them after the half term break and went back to Penny Lane Records. It was worth it because, once I got home, I played "With The Beatles" non-stop all week because it was FAB !! I bought a stereo copy and, to my ears, it was perfect ! When I compare my top 10 Beatles LPs with Beatle fans, I am always puzzled by their rather negative reaction to this album. I mean, the first 3 tracks are just classics ! And my all time favourite Beatles cover is "You Really Got A Hold On Me" which features one of Lennon's finest vocal performances ever ! I would say that "Hold Me Tight" and "Little Child" ate the weakest cuts but otherwise you can hear their energy and enthusiasm on every track. And the iconic cover just seals the deal. For me it is better that The White album, Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road and Let It Be !! Cheers Tim
Cheers Tim. Great memories!
It's a great hybrid of their sound. Covers and originals performed nicely and tight. The group was learning the studio, but still keeping their "Cavern" sound.
Many thanks for this video Andrew, It was great to hear some of the background to one of the Beatles most overlooked albums (Beatles For Sale coming a close second in these stakes) I love this album, to me it's the Beatles "Motown" album where a lot of those influences come to the fore in their songwriting, arranging and performance, kicking it off with It Won't Be Long was inspired genius, they really hit a groove with this one with tight harmonies and Lennon hitting the ground running with his vocal. I loved it all, though I must admit to not being so keen on 'til there was you, surely there was another original song they could've used instead. I have multiple copies of this in mono, stereo, cassette, cd and download. Released on the day that both JFK and Aldous Huxley died and the day before we got to meet a mysterious traveller in a blue box who called himself the Doctor, for me this album marks when the sixties truly started to swing...
Glad you enjoyed it, Terry!
Thanks Andrew! Being in Canada, the BEATLEMANIA! with the Beatles album is the one in my heart. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, My sister, who is a few years older than me, never actually got that album, so the first time I really heard it was when my parents and I went over to visit friends of theirs. While they talked in the kitchen I was allowed to look through there record collection and there it was! They let me play it on their record player and it was pure heaven. I must have listened to that record 5 times that night! Once I had some of my own money that was one of the first albums I bought on the orange capitol label several years later. Of course I still have it along with an original rainbow capitol pressing (Bought on ebay) which I have proudly displayed in an album frame hanging in my music room where my friends and I do recordings of our own. Talk about a good inspiration! Thanks again Andrew....you rock. :)
Cheers Kev! 😎
This is what I cemented their UK prominence. It also help, in another form Meet the Beatles, kick in the doors of the US and everywhere else. I still have it on tape, unfortunately in stereo. Still need to get it on mono and not the 1987 CD. A great review Andrew
Thanks Michael. Gald you enjoyed it!
Hi Andrew. I like your presentation of the facts linked to the album With The Beatles. I didn't have a chance to listen the mono version, original or reissue, I grew up listening to the stereo version from, I think, mid 80s. To me it was amazing experience to hear only vocals 1:14 in I wanna be your man, during the fade out ( and Paul's screams). Later on I realised that the stereo didn't give the right impression, but somehow I learnt to accept it. Truly the album that shaped up The Beatles for the coming years. Thanks again Andrew
Great overview, I love how your videos are so niche and yet still so detailed. It’s what makes you one of the best Beatles content creators. I like the scripted format as well. No rambling, just packed with well researched information and a dash of subjectivity. Some more Beach Boys and Kinks videos would be more than welcome too. Thank you for all your great work
Thank you. Much appreciated!
Andrew, Beatlemania: with the Beatles is the first Beatles album I heard in Canada, and it has stayed with me through thick and thin for 60 years.
I have a pristine mono copy that I play when I need a bit of a lift.
I enjoy your presentations very much.
Good job!
Thank you, Robert. Glad you enjoyed them.
It’s what brought me to them in the first place.
In it, you hear exactly what drew everyone to the magic.
It revealed the raw talent that had been forged by months of performing.
You are nothing if not guaranteed to put out consistently great content. Very few can compete in that arena. But I first acquired this as the 1987 mono CD issue (I was 12 and on a buying spree of the Beatles CD's...Pepper being the first CD I ever bought ...June 1, 1987). I essentially bought backwards from there, so it was a month or two until I came across this one. "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" were already favorites, but of the first four mono CD's, "With The Beatles" was far and away a standout and remains my favorite, closely followed by the woefully underrated and underappreciated "Beatles For Sale". Pretty much all of this was new to me, my having acquired the Red and the Blue years earlier, and those alone convinced me I needed everything in the catalog.
I LOVE this album! It has such a great early Beatles energy. I have an original 1963 -5/-6 mono; an Australian -1/-1 mono; a 70’s -5/-5 stereo; and the 2014 mono. All sound outstanding. Keep up the great work Andrew!
Excellent episode!
For us in the States it was Introducing The Beatles for that first listen to this English group…when Meet The Beatles came out, if you were in the loop, you begged your parents for $2.98 (mono) then several weeks later $3.98 (stereo)! I for one was knocked out by the stereo. It’s what made my decision to become a drummer! I could hear sections better….and I wore out the grooves to my mono copy.
I agree, fully, that either “With…” or “Meet…” I can still rock out on these two versions hands down.
Thanks for pointing out the 4 versions as well.
Til next time! Brilliant as always
Great memories, Brian!
I can’t listen to this album without smiling. Just like I can’t watch A Hard Day’s Night without smiling.
In the USA Meet the Beatles was what we bought. As soon as it came out. And played a million times.
My parents brought “with” back to us (6 of us) in the states after a visit to London in 1963. “Everybody over there is crazy about the Beatles.” My 3 older sisters were, of course, into Elvis and my two older brothers were into sports, not music. I was 10 & I wound up with it. I still have it. I am truly a “life long” Beatles fan. Nice effort on this video. Very interesting. Thanks!