That scream in "Can't Buy Me Love" is also the influence of a 1950s African-American Rock and Roller, Little Richard. Big influence on the Beatles, along with Chuck Berry and Smokey Robinson, all of whose songs they covered in their earliest albums
Took my wife, then age 34, to see McCartney in the early '90s and the moment he launched into CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, she stood up and started jumping and screaming. Looking around I saw a number of women about her age in all the surrounding sections doing the same! When the song ended, she sat down, breathing heavily, and said to me, "What the HELL was THAT??!!" It gave me a whole new understanding of Beatlemania at its peak!
Want a perfect description of The Beatles? I heard this comment many years ago, & I still think it says it best: John was the Mind, Paul was the Heart, George was the Soul, and Ringo was the Body of the Beatles. And together, they created the greatest musical group in the history of music!!! I think it's great you're listening to them chronologically, appreciating the miraculous explosion of talent they thrust upon the world in a very short period of time. I was 9 when The Beatles first came to the USA so I've been lucky enough to have their music as the centerpiece of the soundtrack of my life.
It's a good description, but kind of does McCartney a disservice. Reading about how well-read and intelligent McCartney was is really something. His easygoing and down-to-earth manner can fool you there, but he was the one listening to avantgarde music and reading and keeping up with literature in the late 60s, around Revolver. Lennon had a lot of ambitious ideas, but I'm not so sure he actually cared that much to read about them. That's the sense I get at least after reading Revolution in the head, for example.
For me it's totally wrong... Not just for me tho... George was a clever mind and subtle soul but not the soul of the Beatles wich was JL instead... Paul McCartney was well described by Ringo Starr when he said PM was workoholic, thanks to him, Ringo said, they did a lot of work! I'd rather listened what the Beatles or Georg Martin had said about the Fab Four...
This description from the Rolling Stone Album Guide is perfect IMO: "The importance of the Beatles cannot be overstated. Transforming rock & roll from a rebel yell and a lover's whisper into the most comprehensive music of the century, they blazed through a breathtaking succession of creative periods whose ultimate end was the severing of the line between high art and popular entertainment. As the world's best-loved band, they determined, too, that the sensibility of their period would mirror their own - and, indeed, the rock & roll of the '60s was predominantly Beatles-spirited: celebratory, omnivorous in its appetite for diverse influence, politically expansive, and spiritually open. The interchange of their personalities created the perfect band - John Lennon (rebel genius), Paul McCartney (perfectionist craftsman), George Harrison (mystic) and Ringo Starr (clown). Finally, the Beatles were arguably the last band that everyone from Leonard Bernstein to school children embraced. Theirs is the final, great consensus in popular music - not liking them is as perverse as not liking the sun."
@@steveullrich7737 I was too young to appreciate it at the time (born in 1963)... but my cot was next to the radio and according to my mum my first words were "yeah yeah yeah" :)
This song was written in Paris when they were doing a whole bunch of gigs there. It was written on a piano that was brought to their room. Also the only song that was recorded outside the UK.
Find a word other than "underrated," because it was not. Local Top 40 AM radio stations played EVERY track from EVERY LP through "Sgt. Pepper's", the result being that their entire LPs were usually #1 on BOTH LP and SINGLES charts.
@@scalisque5403 It isn't the fault of "The Beatles" that "fans" only listen to a few of the best known hits, while not bothering to actually listen to more than are recommended by others who know next to nothing about them.
Youll get lots of " you MUST listen to these next!!"comments. Here's my two cents worth, "AndI Love Her", one of McCartney's absolute best ballads, & Lennon's " If I Fell "... stunning structure & harmonies.. both quite sophisticated & showing huge leaps forward.
You can't miss out on two of their most beautiful ballads, "And I Love Her" and "If I Fell". From this point there are just too many good songs on every album to skip anything. Trust me.
Second this big time. You want to hear EVERY track as they progress. It would be an absolute shame if you missed a lot of upcoming tracks and would totally undermine why you're doing this in the first place.
Don't forget that their audience was also growing up, getting more mature. They would have lost their audience if they didn't change and grow. But, they did. Their first albums were perfect for thirteen-year-old girls. In a very real way, we grew up along with the Beatles.
uh, excuse me, but I was 16/17 and so were most of my friends when the Beatles early albums came out and they were PERFECT for US too, and we weren't 13. I still knew 13 year old girls that were not interested in the Beatles and still playing with Barbie dolls It was a different time and many of us were still naive, parents never talked about sex, no "sex-ed" in schools, and a lot of us didn't have boyfriends either. So really can't compare teens back then with teens today (not that you did, but you may have been thinking how teens are today) YES we grew up with them, by time their last albums came out in 1969 and early 1970, I was 22 and 23 years old, and I was STILL a fan, and STILL am now at age 76. Once you are 'bitten by the bug" and suffer from "Beatlemania" there IS no "cure" and you DON'T WANT to be "cured"! 😊
How cool! It’s probably been over 50 years since I’ve heard “You Can’t Do That”. And I remember it being one of my favorite early Beatles songs. Using allot of blues progressions in the chords, mixed with a great swing beat and dissonant harmonies. You can really see growth in this song.
@@crimson1193 He keeps referring to early Beatles song as simple and not sophisticated and that their song writing is improving and that is false .He equates love songs as simple and not deep and complex while songs on social issues and angst and woe as higher writing . That is what I was referring to . Some people listen to music emotionally which I do and some people listen to music from a cerebral aspect and mistake this preference as superior . I listen to Jazz and Classical and modern minimal music for my cerebral fix and Rock for the emotion that it creates . Complex chord structures and so called deep lyrics do not make a better song than Highway To Hell Or Can't Buy Me Love .
@@KenBlair-jp5nz It doesn't make it better. Can't by me love just has more straightforward lyrics than something like Wish You Were Here or Hallelujah. The latter is somewhat of a love song but way more complex lyrically. I think Beatles definitely became more complex as time went on? That doesn't equate to a song being better but it seems rather unanimously agreed upon.
You have to do "And I Love Her" and "If I Fell" next. Two stand out tracks on this album. That's John playing the lead guitar solo on You can't Do That and you can hear George on the background vocals.
It's John Lennon playing the lead guitar on "You Can't Do That." using his Rickenbacker 325. Rickenbacker made this 12-string guitar specifically for him.There's a great live version of this song on UA-cam.
The smile on your face as soon as the track started up is what made the Beatles so popular. Their music is catchy, melodic, perfectly performed and quite frankly fun to listen to. Their melodies stick in your head and if you've been a fan forever you toe tap and sing along like a school girl. What more can be said.
It was actually less than 2 years between the recording of the Beatles' 1st and 3rd albums. Most of the Please Please Me album was recorded in February 1963. A Hard Day's Night was recorded January - June 1964.
Things We Said Today❤️ And I Love Her❤️ Please do these songs next!! Starting with this album, it would be wise to do every track. Every song is a winner! No filler!
Totally agree with those selections. Things We Said Today is a fave of mine...brilliantly structured song. Also, And I Love Her is one of the Beatles most lovely and eloquent songs. I also believe going forward, ALL the tracks on the coming albums should be evaluated, with the exception of the White Album (cuz 30 tracks would be a tremendous undertaking!)
"If I Fell" and "And I Love Her" are must listens from this album. I would recommend that you start listening to every song once you get to the album "Help!".
Two more tracks of this album? I hope you're going to react to 'If I Fell' and 'And I Love Her' - two standouts of the album, with Lennon on lead vocals on the first song, and McCartney on the second one.
Harrison used a 12 string Rickenbacker on many songs on this album and he used it on various songs throughout 65. It has a definite distinct jangle sound.
The 12-string has a great sound (my own weapon of choice is a semi-acoustic 12-string). The high-toned pairs of strings are simply doubled, the low-toned pairs are an octave apart - so you've got a much richer low end and a more chiming top. Harrison was one of the first to use a 12-string in rock. That influenced the Byrds' Roger McGuinn to use one, and he made it that band's trademark (and much imitated) sound.
AMEN, but Syed doesn't KNOW that yet, if he ever gets around to listening to some of Paul's songs where he DOES SCREAM and sing in a gritty /rough voice.
Syed, I really like what you're doing here: reacting to innovative, important artists in chronological order. By doing that, you're experiencing their work and metamorphosis in the same way as their original audience did. And with artists as innovative as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Who, etc, that innovation happens at warp speed, and is even more amazing compared with their origins. Great stuff. Thanks for having me along, and allow me to re-experience the music I love. I enjoy your insights and enthusiasm. All the best. 🙏
The only drawback is he is not familiar with the OTHER music from that time, so he could understand why the Beatles became SO POPULAR, so QUICKLY and that was their EARLY stuff. Without that comparison, people that weren't around then, or knew the other music at that time, won't be able to understand it.
@@patticrichton1135 Hi Patti, thanks for joining the conversation. Yes, I agree that today's artists/reactors tend to have less knowledge of the music contemporary to older songs, and that limits their understanding of how those songs were different and appealing at the time. Though, I suppose the best way to understand context would be to learn contemporary music, that's a lot of work. But at least listening to the artist chronologically gives *some* idea of context, and certainly reveals the artist's roots and innovation. For Syed's benefit: I remember at the time reviewers talking about the new "Merseybeat" sound that the Beatles used, and how stunningly talented and creative they were. American music was stale at the time, with original Rock and Roll pioneers Elvis/Little Richard/Jerry Lee Lewis/Chuck Berry having faded, and pop music turned sappy and formulaic. The Beatles landed on that scene like a bomb, and transformed it, inspiring legions of new bands. Tom Petty spoke of seeing the Beatles on tv, thinking "I could do that" , and forming the garage band that would be The Hearbreakers. Thanks, and all the best.
Fun fact. John and Paul wrote this album over 10 days in their hotel in Paris when touring there. Any of the songs could have been a hot single. Other bands could only hope to produce one of these songs whilst John and Paul just churned them out non stop.
Couldn't agree more about your perception that McCartney's purpose quite often at this stage was to elicit crowd reactions, particularly the overwhelming majority female contingent. The coalescing of the successful formulae components was obvious even to me at seven years of age. I was already devoted to, and much preferred Lennon's contributions, while acknowledging McCartney's melodic facility and skill in assembling pop confections. 'You Can't Do That' was a favourite of mine to perform as a solo performer, whether in bars or busking, or with my own band, or chiming in on missing harmonies at jam sessions in clubs. 😊😅🎶❤✨️🕊
I may have mentioned this already, but my 14 year old is the biggest Beatles fan and got me to start watching your You Tube reviews. You are doing an awesome job! Thanks!
Just to let you know the history of the two songs... They were released together as the group's new single on March 16th, 1964 in the US - and "Can't Buy Me Love" was #1 in the US for 5 weeks. "You Can't Do That" peaked at #48 in the US.
"Can't Buy Me Love" was the Beatles' next single after "I Want to Hold Your Hand". It was used in the film _A Hard Day's NIght_ to accompany a scene where the group "breaks free" from their "confinement" so they can just "have fun"!
and while analyzing the music and how they progressed, don't forget the audience they were aiming for, teeny-boppers... and as they grew up, their first audience did as well...as did the world around them..it was a crazy time but fun for the most part!
Remember, the fab four, were listening to Elvis, little Richard, Fats Dominoes, Chuck Berry, as children, bootlegged across the pond. In early 60s,..they took that music to another level in 64..then kept raising the Bar till 70
It sound like you don’t know that John was married in 1962, so had a wife at home. John made up songs from different scenarios, and many of his songs are not biographical. As he said later, “they are just songs”, and we don’t need to read into them and find secret meanings in them. This is true with many of his songs, and then you get to Help, and that was biographical, but no one around him realised, as they all were working so hard. If you watch the Get Back documentary, you will see the brilliance of their writing. Lennon/McCartney we’re song writing geniuses (Paul still is), and then George started to become one too by the time the documentary was filmed.
"You Can't Do That" was intended to be in AHDN but someone decided it was a little too out of character to the tone they were trying to convey in the movie, so it moved to the 'B' (in this case, non-soundtrack) side of the album. I always enjoyed learning to imitate the sound of The Beatles voices (fancying myself to be an above average singer). This is one that I worked on pretty hard because I couldn't consistently hit what I felt were some of the correct notes. This was also true of "Please Please Me" though some of that was possibly due to the back-and-forth voice switching of Lennon and McCartney. When I was able to do a reasonably good self-performance of the ascending "c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon" chorus of that song I was quite happy with myself. It is Lennon's voice that can be hard to match because he often sings what, to me, are difficult note sequences to hit.
You're understanding and seeing the evolution of their music and in turn how they profoundly influenced rock music and a whole generation in the process. Understanding their influence outside music however might be harder unless you delve into the history of the 1960s both politically, socially and culturally and how the attitudes and messages of the Beatles inside and outside of their music are known especially John Lennon's voice. They spoke to a generation like no one else since. No one compares with their output of great songs and their genius for melodies and lyrics.
She loves you and I want to hold your hand are peak early Beatles . There biggest hits of the decade apart from hey jude. Both songs massive ground breaking , invented ower pop
It’s a very rockabillyesque track (CBML); you can hear the 50s in it. I also get a little “gonna buy you a diamond ring” vibe. For the time, this song was NOISY.
Lennon played the solo in You Can't Do That - speaking of this song, Ringo on the bongo's and cowbell is very uniquely original in early rock n roll. But this song were The Beatles creating a "funky sound", that wasn't heard before rock n roll, you can hear it in the rhythm, they would go on in the early years to do other "funky" songs, such as I Call Your Name, The Word, Taxman...to which by the late 60's The Stones modeled their sound around that funky sound.
Can't buy me love, it was the first transgenerational rock song, wich made the Beatles like their parents too (a highly revolutionary thing at the time of the "youth revolution" where parents and all their previous culture was suddenly cut off) and wich gave the Beatles enormous popularity compared to before. This like other songs (especially by McCartney) transformed the Beatles into cultural phenomenology due to their incredible popularity and music as art (we also think Eleanor Rigby who transformed rock into real art, comparable to Dickensian texts and English literature).
At least some of the increased polish that you refer to is because EMI is now giving them all the time they want in the studio and are probably taking greater care when engineering their recordings.
Watch the movie A Hard Day’s Night to see Liverpudlian humor on full display. And you own it to yourself to watch videos of their early-60’s live performances, including the appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show (legend has it that as the girls were screaming in their seats, rivers of urine were streaming down the floor in the theater), as well as earlier UK concerts. Then you might better understand the true meaning of BEATLEMANIA.
I don't know WHERE These "rumors" came from. There was NO "rivers of urine coming down the floor" of the Ed Sullivan Theatre! Believe it or not we teen girls had control of our bladders! Geez. That would have been all over the newspapers. I was at both concerts that the Beatles did in '64 and '66 in Cleveland, and I never saw any urine on the floor, or smelled any. I don't know of anyone else that I knew who had seen them live in person, saying that either. When you are a Beatles' fan from that period and you meet other fans through the years, from all over the country and the world (especially now on social media) it's easy to ask if they experienced that, and so far, ones I have talked to, said the same thing....didn't see it, didn't smell it. It's so ridiculous.
Syed, great songs, great reaction. Brother, I gotta ask, if you can't do the whole album, then please, for the love of all that's good and decent, please do these songs: "And I Love Her", "Things We Said Today" (two totally awesome Paul McCartney songs), "When I Get Home" (total WALL OF SOUND Rocker; Paul's Bass is just deep and deadly), and "I'll Be Back". I'll Be Back is a darkly gorgeous song. I mean, you talk about develpment and maturing of song-writing skill, "I'll Be Back" will set you straight. The Beatles were for REAL in 1964. AHDN is an absolute statement of dominance by The Beatles! Those idiots who thought they would be a "summer time fling" and were already looking past them in 1963 and into 1964 had Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr shut them up tighrk So, please check out at least these other songs, I've mentioned here. Just Rock & Roll GOLD, bro! Dig it!
Can't Buy Me Love was a number one single backed by You Can't Do That in spring of 1964. You Can't Do That was going to be included in the movie Hard Days night, but the director and producer thought they had too many tunes in the TV concert section at the end of the film, so they cut it. Someone else mentioned it also did not fit the character of the movie they were trying to convey. There is a clip of it somewhere from the movie on youtube. The assumption that McCartney was simplistic is ridiculous, he and John knew exactly what they were doing, writing to a teenage girl average age 13/14 audience. That's how they broke the door down in the USA market. They KNEW what they had to do to be a success. Can't Buy Me Love is a more of rocker written by McCartney. Lennon and McCartney would write together or separately and had an agreement they would credit both names to the songs at the time. Lennon would write songs like This Boy, If I Fell, and many other soft "lovey dovey" songs as well. You're letting your musical preference show and cloud your judgement of their material without seeing the whole picture yet. Skipping songs does not help either. If you did not "live" the history it is too easy to dismiss songs out of musical preference or selective hearing rather than historical value. It was a different world back then as well. Like building a bridge without all the intricate parts that hold it up. I was a school music teacher , have a music degree....
Although George deserves props for his guitar playing (especially during this era when he used his new 12 string Rickenbacker extensively), John played the guitar solo on You Can’t Do That.
If you listen carefully to George's guitar solo in "Can't But Me Love", you can just about hear a previous guitar part that was wiped over but not entirely. Paul didn't like George's original guitar solo and actually told George exactly what he wanted. That's why at that one point, you hear George's first solo in the background.
I agree that "thINGS WE SAID TODAY" is the best song on the album. I don't think he will play it, because it's a Paul song, and he probably won't think it's up to snuff, sadly. I LOVE it, and WISH someone would react to it!!
Wait! Yes, George Harrison was bold/burning on the lead for "Can't Buy Me Love" but JOHN LENNON did the lead stuff on "You Can't Do That"! In fact, Lennon was a hidden badass on lead guitar, as far as I could tell. He just deferred to George because that was his piece of the pie, you know? But Lennon claimed the lead on this song because...i guess because he wrote the song and he wanted to do the lead. It's a pretty aggressive work and less "precise" that Harrison would have done it, I feel. John just wanted to rip it!
There are many key tracks you can miss by just doing select tracks from the albums. There are some tracks on this album you might skip that are better than the best songs in other bands entire careers. If I fell, and i love her, things we said today, I'll be back are all essential listening, I know love songs are not the vibe youre into but the music itself is some of the finest ever created.
They hit their original peak during this album with everyone thinking that’s about as great as it’s gonna get, but then weariness from constant work, another movie and album soundtrack in Help! (Lennons actual cry for help as he was drowning in fatigue and insecurities) brought them to even greater heights of musical prowess and beginning to be very introspective leading to the Rubber Soul/Revolver time period. They are a master class in incredible growth in such a short 8 year period. Once your done, review their 3 best tracks from album one and compare to the medley on Abbey Road. It’s two totally different universes. That’s what makes them the greatest of all time and will never be even remotely approached!
Funny listening to this 60 years later, I really think this would be a hit today if it came out, obviously updating the production and maybe making the lyrics a little more modern day (or maybe not?).
Don’t skip YOU KNOW MY NAME (LOOK UP THE NUMBER) when you get to the end of your Beatles journey. It’s on past masters volume 2. Compare the growth from their first single to the B side of one of their last.
I had a feeling you would like you can't do that. Fun fact about that song. The guitar solo was played by John Lennon and not George Harrison. As good of a guitar player George Harrison was, John Lennon was very good as well and so was Paul McCartney for that matter. This album was definitely a jump. The Beatles showed off their confidence and competence as amazing songwriters. They showed growth, maturity and wit, but kept the formula simple which was to put out hit after hit. This album was meant to be a movie soundtrack, but also an LP and one can only imagine how tough it was to write these songs, get them edited, mixed and produced as well as figuring out what songs would feature on the film. Huge shout outs to George Martin for his brilliant studio work as their producer, and Brian Epstein who as their manager, set the schedules, handled all the legal paperwork, acted as the middle man between the film studio and production team and the record label and of course the constant that kept the Beatles as grounded as could be despite their insane touring schedule and the heavy toll that was Beatlemania. For your next two songs, I highly suggest if I fell, and the song and I love her. Both were love songs but each if I fell was written by John Lennon, while and I love her was written by Paul McCartney. These two songs really show off both Lennon and McCartney's talents as songwriters and between the two you'll see the difference in their writing styles when writing ballads.
Compared to other stuff at the time, it really sounds rough and edgy to me. But it's so fun. But I would say the overall composition of it is super tight for sure. And I always love George Harrison since the earliest recordings for his ability to play with so much energy and yet really stridently and really sparsely. And he just got ever better at it plus the Recording Technology increased.
Syed would have been a hell of a late night FM DJ. I agree about George Harrison. To my mind, the most talented Beatle. I will be sure to tune in when you get to "Norwegian Wood" and "Something". BTW no less than Frank Sinatra declared "Something", written and performed by George, asthe best romantic ballad of the 20th century. I can only agree.
it's true that money can't buy you love however it is also true that if you want to treat your girl or keep her safe and take her places, then it does help to have money. If you're broke, you're significantly restricted in terms of what you can do.
You gotta see the film. And please don't pass by ""If I Fell". It's a great example of the growing sophistication of the Beatles even at this early point. It also illustrates the creative reach of the boys. Yup, McCartney is more positive. That's why the duo were so good together.
I love how at that point somebody in the studio figured out the drum sound... Ringo's drum is so crisp!!
That scream in "Can't Buy Me Love" is also the influence of a 1950s African-American Rock and Roller, Little Richard. Big influence on the Beatles, along with Chuck Berry and Smokey Robinson, all of whose songs they covered in their earliest albums
"Things We Said Today" is the hidden gem on this album. You need to hit that one.
Help album goes to another level,then Rubber Soul was released.
A real WOW moment on first listen.
They were maturing.
GOAT’s for a reason.
Can't Buy Me Love is a lasting feeling of what it felt like to hear Beatlemania on the radio in the sixties...
Took my wife, then age 34, to see McCartney in the early '90s and the moment he launched into CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, she stood up and started jumping and screaming. Looking around I saw a number of women about her age in all the surrounding sections doing the same! When the song ended, she sat down, breathing heavily, and said to me, "What the HELL was THAT??!!" It gave me a whole new understanding of Beatlemania at its peak!
I'd like to say I wouldn't do that.
But I so would.
@@DawnSuttonfabfour You can't do that
Was she was barely a toddler during the Beatlemania era?
Same thing just a year ago, an audience of all ages going wild in a full arena the moment the song started!
Want a perfect description of The Beatles? I heard this comment many years ago, & I still think it says it best:
John was the Mind, Paul was the Heart, George was the Soul, and Ringo was the Body of the Beatles. And together, they created the greatest musical group in the history of music!!!
I think it's great you're listening to them chronologically, appreciating the miraculous explosion of talent they thrust upon the world in a very short period of time. I was 9 when The Beatles first came to the USA so I've been lucky enough to have their music as the centerpiece of the soundtrack of my life.
It's a good description, but kind of does McCartney a disservice. Reading about how well-read and intelligent McCartney was is really something. His easygoing and down-to-earth manner can fool you there, but he was the one listening to avantgarde music and reading and keeping up with literature in the late 60s, around Revolver. Lennon had a lot of ambitious ideas, but I'm not so sure he actually cared that much to read about them. That's the sense I get at least after reading Revolution in the head, for example.
For me it's totally wrong... Not just for me tho... George was a clever mind and subtle soul but not the soul of the Beatles wich was JL instead... Paul McCartney was well described by Ringo Starr when he said PM was workoholic, thanks to him, Ringo said, they did a lot of work! I'd rather listened what the Beatles or Georg Martin had said about the Fab Four...
This description from the Rolling Stone Album Guide is perfect IMO: "The importance of the Beatles cannot be overstated. Transforming rock & roll from a rebel yell and a lover's whisper into the most comprehensive music of the century, they blazed through a breathtaking succession of creative periods whose ultimate end was the severing of the line between high art and popular entertainment. As the world's best-loved band, they determined, too, that the sensibility of their period would mirror their own - and, indeed, the rock & roll of the '60s was predominantly Beatles-spirited: celebratory, omnivorous in its appetite for diverse influence, politically expansive, and spiritually open. The interchange of their personalities created the perfect band - John Lennon (rebel genius), Paul McCartney (perfectionist craftsman), George Harrison (mystic) and Ringo Starr (clown). Finally, the Beatles were arguably the last band that everyone from Leonard Bernstein to school children embraced. Theirs is the final, great consensus in popular music - not liking them is as perverse as not liking the sun."
@@jamesdignanmusic2765 A great description especially for those who weren't alive during this period which I fortunately was.
@@steveullrich7737 I was too young to appreciate it at the time (born in 1963)... but my cot was next to the radio and according to my mum my first words were "yeah yeah yeah" :)
This song was written in Paris when they were doing a whole bunch of gigs there. It was written on a piano that was brought to their room. Also the only song that was recorded outside the UK.
Except for the early German songs
You can’t do that is one of the most underrated Beatles songs. Everytime they performed it live they killed it. Brought the energy
What's the rating?
Find a word other than "underrated," because it was not.
Local Top 40 AM radio stations played EVERY track from EVERY LP through "Sgt. Pepper's", the result being that their entire LPs were usually #1 on BOTH LP and SINGLES charts.
@@jnagarya519 we are talking about Beatles songs that are super popular today. No one listens to AM radio
@@scalisque5403 It isn't the fault of "The Beatles" that "fans" only listen to a few of the best known hits, while not bothering to actually listen to more than are recommended by others who know next to nothing about them.
It's incredible. I grew up hearing the studio recording but I absolutely loved it.
In a rare instance, John plays the lead on Can’t Do That
Youll get lots of " you MUST listen to these next!!"comments. Here's my two cents worth, "AndI Love Her", one of McCartney's absolute best ballads, & Lennon's " If I Fell "... stunning structure & harmonies.. both quite sophisticated & showing huge leaps forward.
John plays lead on 'You Can't Do That ' as George is busy playing the riff. Keep this stuff coming - you're doing great!
After you play this Album YOU MUST see THE MOVIE !!!!
not a must imo
You gotta check "If I Fell" from this album as part of the IMPROVEMENT JOURNEY
Agree. "If I fell" is a gem.
As of the late seventies, the single Can’t Buy me Love had the most advanced sales before release. It was in the Guinness Book of World Records.
You can't miss out on two of their most beautiful ballads, "And I Love Her" and "If I Fell". From this point there are just too many good songs on every album to skip anything. Trust me.
I 2nd that, you're absolutely right.
Second this big time. You want to hear EVERY track as they progress. It would be an absolute shame if you missed a lot of upcoming tracks and would totally undermine why you're doing this in the first place.
Don't forget that their audience was also growing up, getting more mature. They would have lost their audience if they didn't change and grow. But, they did. Their first albums were perfect for thirteen-year-old girls. In a very real way, we grew up along with the Beatles.
uh, excuse me, but I was 16/17 and so were most of my friends when the Beatles early albums came out and they were PERFECT for US too, and we weren't 13. I still knew 13 year old girls that were not interested in the Beatles and still playing with Barbie dolls It was a different time and many of us were still naive, parents never talked about sex, no "sex-ed" in schools, and a lot of us didn't have boyfriends either. So really can't compare teens back then with teens today (not that you did, but you may have been thinking how teens are today) YES we grew up with them, by time their last albums came out in 1969 and early 1970, I was 22 and 23 years old, and I was STILL a fan, and STILL am now at age 76. Once you are 'bitten by the bug" and suffer from "Beatlemania" there IS no "cure" and you DON'T WANT to be "cured"! 😊
Pretty good for teenage BOYS also!...I grew up with their evolution in music. It was ( and still is!) the music of my life.
How cool! It’s probably been over 50 years since I’ve heard “You Can’t Do That”. And I remember it being one of my favorite early Beatles songs. Using allot of blues progressions in the chords, mixed with a great swing beat and dissonant harmonies. You can really see growth in this song.
Love songs are not basic and simple .They are the hardest songs to write .
I mean... it depends. Some love songs are simple and some are complex...
@@crimson1193 He keeps referring to early Beatles song as simple and not sophisticated and that their song writing is improving and that is false .He equates love songs as simple and not deep and complex while songs on social issues and angst and woe as higher writing . That is what I was referring to . Some people listen to music emotionally which I do and some people listen to music from a cerebral aspect and mistake this preference as superior . I listen to Jazz and Classical and modern minimal music for my cerebral fix and Rock for the emotion that it creates . Complex chord structures and so called deep lyrics do not make a better song than Highway To Hell Or Can't Buy Me Love .
@@KenBlair-jp5nz It doesn't make it better. Can't by me love just has more straightforward lyrics than something like Wish You Were Here or Hallelujah. The latter is somewhat of a love song but way more complex lyrically.
I think Beatles definitely became more complex as time went on? That doesn't equate to a song being better but it seems rather unanimously agreed upon.
They just made it look simple.
The good ones are not easy or simple.
You have to do "And I Love Her" and "If I Fell" next. Two stand out tracks on this album. That's John playing the lead guitar solo on You can't Do That and you can hear George on the background vocals.
Paul is also on the background vocals with George.
It's John Lennon playing the lead guitar on "You Can't Do That." using his Rickenbacker 325. Rickenbacker made this 12-string guitar specifically for him.There's a great live version of this song on UA-cam.
The smile on your face as soon as the track started up is what made the Beatles so popular. Their music is catchy, melodic, perfectly performed and quite frankly fun to listen to. Their melodies stick in your head and if you've been a fan forever you toe tap and sing along like a school girl. What more can be said.
“You Can’t Do That” may have been the B-side to “Can’t Buy Me Love,” but I find it much more interesting musically.
It was actually less than 2 years between the recording of the Beatles' 1st and 3rd albums. Most of the Please Please Me album was recorded in February 1963. A Hard Day's Night was recorded January - June 1964.
Things We Said Today❤️
And I Love Her❤️
Please do these songs next!!
Starting with this album, it would be wise to do every track. Every song is a winner! No filler!
Totally agree with those selections. Things We Said Today is a fave of mine...brilliantly structured song. Also, And I Love Her is one of the Beatles most lovely and eloquent songs.
I also believe going forward, ALL the tracks on the coming albums should be evaluated, with the exception of the White Album (cuz 30 tracks would be a tremendous undertaking!)
@@tracyyork1428 I certainly hope as all of these songs are great.
"If I Fell" and "And I Love Her" are must listens from this album. I would recommend that you start listening to every song once you get to the album "Help!".
Two more tracks of this album? I hope you're going to react to 'If I Fell' and 'And I Love Her' - two standouts of the album, with Lennon on lead vocals on the first song, and McCartney on the second one.
It’s co-lead vocals the whole time for If I Fell
I love your reactions to my fave band. Been a beatles fan since 1964. Keep going!
Harrison used a 12 string Rickenbacker on many songs on this album and he used it on various songs throughout 65. It has a definite distinct jangle sound.
The 12-string has a great sound (my own weapon of choice is a semi-acoustic 12-string). The high-toned pairs of strings are simply doubled, the low-toned pairs are an octave apart - so you've got a much richer low end and a more chiming top. Harrison was one of the first to use a 12-string in rock. That influenced the Byrds' Roger McGuinn to use one, and he made it that band's trademark (and much imitated) sound.
Nobody can scream better than Paul.
AMEN, but Syed doesn't KNOW that yet, if he ever gets around to listening to some of Paul's songs where he DOES SCREAM and sing in a gritty /rough voice.
Do all song of this album please
Syed, I really like what you're doing here: reacting to innovative, important artists in chronological order. By doing that, you're experiencing their work and metamorphosis in the same way as their original audience did. And with artists as innovative as The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Who, etc, that innovation happens at warp speed, and is even more amazing compared with their origins. Great stuff.
Thanks for having me along, and allow me to re-experience the music I love. I enjoy your insights and enthusiasm. All the best.
🙏
The only drawback is he is not familiar with the OTHER music from that time, so he could understand why the Beatles became SO POPULAR, so QUICKLY and that was their EARLY stuff. Without that comparison, people that weren't around then, or knew the other music at that time, won't be able to understand it.
@@patticrichton1135 Hi Patti, thanks for joining the conversation. Yes, I agree that today's artists/reactors tend to have less knowledge of the music contemporary to older songs, and that limits their understanding of how those songs were different and appealing at the time.
Though, I suppose the best way to understand context would be to learn contemporary music, that's a lot of work. But at least listening to the artist chronologically gives *some* idea of context, and certainly reveals the artist's roots and innovation.
For Syed's benefit:
I remember at the time reviewers talking about the new "Merseybeat" sound that the Beatles used, and how stunningly talented and creative they were. American music was stale at the time, with original Rock and Roll pioneers Elvis/Little Richard/Jerry Lee Lewis/Chuck Berry having faded, and pop music turned sappy and formulaic. The Beatles landed on that scene like a bomb, and transformed it, inspiring legions of new bands.
Tom Petty spoke of seeing the Beatles on tv, thinking "I could do that" , and forming the garage band that would be The Hearbreakers.
Thanks, and all the best.
The best way to appreciate is a song you've never heard before is to keep pausing it and talking about it.
This is absolutely one of my favorite Beatles songs.
Fun fact. John and Paul wrote this album over 10 days in their hotel in Paris when touring there. Any of the songs could have been a hot single. Other bands could only hope to produce one of these songs whilst John and Paul just churned them out non stop.
I can't hear this song without seeing them being chased at the begining of the Film! .... So much Energy, so much Fun!
Couldn't agree more about your perception that McCartney's purpose quite often at this stage was to elicit crowd reactions, particularly the overwhelming majority female contingent. The coalescing of the successful formulae components was obvious even to me at seven years of age. I was already devoted to, and much preferred Lennon's contributions, while acknowledging McCartney's melodic facility and skill in assembling pop confections. 'You Can't Do That' was a favourite of mine to perform as a solo performer, whether in bars or busking, or with my own band, or chiming in on missing harmonies at jam sessions in clubs.
😊😅🎶❤✨️🕊
I've heard Paul talking about shaking his head to excite the audience
I may have mentioned this already, but my 14 year old is the biggest Beatles fan and got me to start watching your You Tube reviews. You are doing an awesome job! Thanks!
At this point, George is still finding his guitar sound. But it is a distinct sound in this era.
Just to let you know the history of the two songs... They were released together as the group's new single on March 16th, 1964 in the US - and "Can't Buy Me Love" was #1 in the US for 5 weeks. "You Can't Do That" peaked at #48 in the US.
"Can't Buy Me Love" was the Beatles' next single after "I Want to Hold Your Hand". It was used in the film _A Hard Day's NIght_ to accompany a scene where the group "breaks free" from their "confinement" so they can just "have fun"!
and while analyzing the music and how they progressed, don't forget the audience they were aiming for, teeny-boppers... and as they grew up, their first audience did as well...as did the world around them..it was a crazy time but fun for the most part!
John's song is so much grittier, soulful, powerful.
Thank you so much for continuing your ride with the Beatles. I grew up with them.
Remember, the fab four, were listening to Elvis, little Richard, Fats Dominoes, Chuck Berry, as children, bootlegged across the pond. In early 60s,..they took that music to another level in 64..then kept raising the Bar till 70
What makes them extraordinary, is that out of all the compositions, no two are the same😃
Your insight and thoughts are fantastic. Keep it up! You really make an effort to understand the music and lyrics.
It sound like you don’t know that John was married in 1962, so had a wife at home.
John made up songs from different scenarios, and many of his songs are not biographical. As he said later, “they are just songs”, and we don’t need to read into them and find secret meanings in them. This is true with many of his songs, and then you get to Help, and that was biographical, but no one around him realised, as they all were working so hard.
If you watch the Get Back documentary, you will see the brilliance of their writing. Lennon/McCartney we’re song writing geniuses (Paul still is), and then George started to become one too by the time the documentary was filmed.
"You Can't Do That" was intended to be in AHDN but someone decided it was a little too out of character to the tone they were trying to convey in the movie, so it moved to the 'B' (in this case, non-soundtrack) side of the album. I always enjoyed learning to imitate the sound of The Beatles voices (fancying myself to be an above average singer). This is one that I worked on pretty hard because I couldn't consistently hit what I felt were some of the correct notes. This was also true of "Please Please Me" though some of that was possibly due to the back-and-forth voice switching of Lennon and McCartney. When I was able to do a reasonably good self-performance of the ascending "c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon" chorus of that song I was quite happy with myself. It is Lennon's voice that can be hard to match because he often sings what, to me, are difficult note sequences to hit.
You're understanding and seeing the evolution of their music and in turn how they profoundly influenced rock music and a whole generation in the process. Understanding their influence outside music however might be harder unless you delve into the history of the 1960s both politically, socially and culturally and how the attitudes and messages of the Beatles inside and outside of their music are known especially John Lennon's voice. They spoke to a generation like no one else since. No one compares with their output of great songs and their genius for melodies and lyrics.
Another great song with good drive, vocals and guitar sounds!
These boys are amazing.
And I Love Her (McCartney) and Tell Me Why (Lennon) next
John was married... BEFORE they became famous (before they even recorded their first single in 1962).
I love the format you are doing this in😎✌
I hope you go through this entire LP, because things begin to really take off here.
You've given a great analysis, my man. Keep it up.
She loves you and I want to hold your hand are peak early Beatles . There biggest hits of the decade apart from hey jude. Both songs massive ground breaking , invented ower pop
It’s a very rockabillyesque track (CBML); you can hear the 50s in it. I also get a little “gonna buy you a diamond ring” vibe. For the time, this song was NOISY.
Enjoying this, keep it going!
By this stage John Lennon was married and had a child (Julian).
You should listen to the other pop music of 1964. You'll appreciate the Beatles more.
A very John song and love his guitar.
John Lennon plays guitar solo in "you can't do that"
Lennon played the solo in You Can't Do That - speaking of this song, Ringo on the bongo's and cowbell is very uniquely original in early rock n roll. But this song were The Beatles creating a "funky sound", that wasn't heard before rock n roll, you can hear it in the rhythm, they would go on in the early years to do other "funky" songs, such as I Call Your Name, The Word, Taxman...to which by the late 60's The Stones modeled their sound around that funky sound.
John performed the solo on "You Cant Do That".
Can't buy me love, it was the first transgenerational rock song, wich made the Beatles like their parents too (a highly revolutionary thing at the time of the "youth revolution" where parents and all their previous culture was suddenly cut off) and wich gave the Beatles enormous popularity compared to before.
This like other songs (especially by McCartney) transformed the Beatles into cultural phenomenology due to their incredible popularity and music as art (we also think Eleanor Rigby who transformed rock into real art, comparable to Dickensian texts and English literature).
They really didn't have loads of recording time. They wrote and recorded while making a movie between an incredible touring schedule.
At least some of the increased polish that you refer to is because EMI is now giving them all the time they want in the studio and are probably taking greater care when engineering their recordings.
Watch the movie A Hard Day’s Night to see Liverpudlian humor on full display. And you own it to yourself to watch videos of their early-60’s live performances, including the appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show (legend has it that as the girls were screaming in their seats, rivers of urine were streaming down the floor in the theater), as well as earlier UK concerts. Then you might better understand the true meaning of BEATLEMANIA.
I don't know WHERE These "rumors" came from. There was NO "rivers of urine coming down the floor" of the Ed Sullivan Theatre! Believe it or not we teen girls had control of our bladders! Geez. That would have been all over the newspapers. I was at both concerts that the Beatles did in '64 and '66 in Cleveland, and I never saw any urine on the floor, or smelled any. I don't know of anyone else that I knew who had seen them live in person, saying that either. When you are a Beatles' fan from that period and you meet other fans through the years, from all over the country and the world (especially now on social media) it's easy to ask if they experienced that, and so far, ones I have talked to, said the same thing....didn't see it, didn't smell it. It's so ridiculous.
Syed, great songs, great reaction. Brother, I gotta ask, if you can't do the whole album, then please, for the love of all that's good and decent, please do these songs: "And I Love Her", "Things We Said Today" (two totally awesome Paul McCartney songs), "When I Get Home" (total WALL OF SOUND Rocker; Paul's Bass is just deep and deadly), and "I'll Be Back". I'll Be Back is a darkly gorgeous song. I mean, you talk about develpment and maturing of song-writing skill, "I'll Be Back" will set you straight. The Beatles were for REAL in 1964. AHDN is an absolute statement of dominance by The Beatles! Those idiots who thought they would be a "summer time fling" and were already looking past them in 1963 and into 1964 had Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr shut them up tighrk So, please check out at least these other songs, I've mentioned here. Just Rock & Roll GOLD, bro! Dig it!
In his own words he was "just a jealous guy"
Can't Buy Me Love was a number one single backed by You Can't Do That in spring of 1964. You Can't Do That was going to be included in the movie Hard Days night, but the director and producer thought they had too many tunes in the TV concert section at the end of the film, so they cut it. Someone else mentioned it also did not fit the character of the movie they were trying to convey. There is a clip of it somewhere from the movie on youtube. The assumption that McCartney was simplistic is ridiculous, he and John knew exactly what they were doing, writing to a teenage girl average age 13/14 audience. That's how they broke the door down in the USA market. They KNEW what they had to do to be a success. Can't Buy Me Love is a more of rocker written by McCartney. Lennon and McCartney would write together or separately and had an agreement they would credit both names to the songs at the time. Lennon would write songs like This Boy, If I Fell, and many other soft "lovey dovey" songs as well. You're letting your musical preference show and cloud your judgement of their material without seeing the whole picture yet. Skipping songs does not help either. If you did not "live" the history it is too easy to dismiss songs out of musical preference or selective hearing rather than historical value. It was a different world back then as well. Like building a bridge without all the intricate parts that hold it up. I was a school music teacher , have a music degree....
Just wait til you get to the plastic ono Lennon solo album 1970. Darker than any beatle album and a 5 star album.
Although George deserves props for his guitar playing (especially during this era when he used his new 12 string Rickenbacker extensively), John played the guitar solo on You Can’t Do That.
This was the first album (LP) that I ever got. I played the grooves off it as you can imagine 🤣
You Can’t Do That, the 1st “More Cowbell “ song.😎
If you listen carefully to George's guitar solo in "Can't But Me Love", you can just about hear a previous guitar part that was wiped over but not entirely. Paul didn't like George's original guitar solo and actually told George exactly what he wanted. That's why at that one point, you hear George's first solo in the background.
Only 2 more?? You have to listen to “Things We Said Today.” Best song on the album!
That's one of my 2 favorite songs on the album, along with the title song.
@@otisdylan9532 Right? It’s one of my favorite Beatles songs, in general.
I agree that "thINGS WE SAID TODAY" is the best song on the album. I don't think he will play it, because it's a Paul song, and he probably won't think it's up to snuff, sadly. I LOVE it, and WISH someone would react to it!!
@@patticrichton1135 Yeah, there seems to be a bit of that happening, unfortunately 😏
Ringo!
Wait! Yes, George Harrison was bold/burning on the lead for "Can't Buy Me Love" but JOHN LENNON did the lead stuff on "You Can't Do That"! In fact, Lennon was a hidden badass on lead guitar, as far as I could tell. He just deferred to George because that was his piece of the pie, you know? But Lennon claimed the lead on this song because...i guess because he wrote the song and he wanted to do the lead. It's a pretty aggressive work and less "precise" that Harrison would have done it, I feel. John just wanted to rip it!
Paul was also "bad ass" on lead guitar. ALL 3 were!
There are many key tracks you can miss by just doing select tracks from the albums. There are some tracks on this album you might skip that are better than the best songs in other bands entire careers.
If I fell, and i love her, things we said today, I'll be back are all essential listening, I know love songs are not the vibe youre into but the music itself is some of the finest ever created.
Yeah, guitarists will have their own signature sounds, even from other guitarists in the same band
They hit their original peak during this album with everyone thinking that’s about as great as it’s gonna get, but then weariness from constant work, another movie and album soundtrack in Help! (Lennons actual cry for help as he was drowning in fatigue and insecurities) brought them to even greater heights of musical prowess and beginning to be very introspective leading to the Rubber Soul/Revolver time period. They are a master class in incredible growth in such a short 8 year period. Once your done, review their 3 best tracks from album one and compare to the medley on Abbey Road. It’s two totally different universes. That’s what makes them the greatest of all time and will never be even remotely approached!
Paul added "I'm Down" as the B side to the "Help" single.
Funny listening to this 60 years later, I really think this would be a hit today if it came out, obviously updating the production and maybe making the lyrics a little more modern day (or maybe not?).
Don’t skip YOU KNOW MY NAME (LOOK UP THE NUMBER) when you get to the end of your Beatles journey. It’s on past masters volume 2. Compare the growth from their first single to the B side of one of their last.
LENNON PLAYED THE SOLO ON THIS................saw them live !
I had a feeling you would like you can't do that. Fun fact about that song. The guitar solo was played by John Lennon and not George Harrison. As good of a guitar player George Harrison was, John Lennon was very good as well and so was Paul McCartney for that matter. This album was definitely a jump. The Beatles showed off their confidence and competence as amazing songwriters. They showed growth, maturity and wit, but kept the formula simple which was to put out hit after hit. This album was meant to be a movie soundtrack, but also an LP and one can only imagine how tough it was to write these songs, get them edited, mixed and produced as well as figuring out what songs would feature on the film. Huge shout outs to George Martin for his brilliant studio work as their producer, and Brian Epstein who as their manager, set the schedules, handled all the legal paperwork, acted as the middle man between the film studio and production team and the record label and of course the constant that kept the Beatles as grounded as could be despite their insane touring schedule and the heavy toll that was Beatlemania. For your next two songs, I highly suggest if I fell, and the song and I love her. Both were love songs but each if I fell was written by John Lennon, while and I love her was written by Paul McCartney. These two songs really show off both Lennon and McCartney's talents as songwriters and between the two you'll see the difference in their writing styles when writing ballads.
Compared to other stuff at the time, it really sounds rough and edgy to me. But it's so fun. But I would say the overall composition of it is super tight for sure. And I always love George Harrison since the earliest recordings for his ability to play with so much energy and yet really stridently and really sparsely. And he just got ever better at it plus the Recording Technology increased.
John plays the Lead on You can't do that .
You could pick any song off this album to be a number one single.
Syed would have been a hell of a late night FM DJ. I agree about George Harrison. To my mind, the most talented Beatle. I will be sure to tune in when you get to "Norwegian Wood" and "Something". BTW no less than Frank Sinatra declared "Something", written and performed by George, asthe best romantic ballad of the 20th century. I can only agree.
You Can't Do That wasn't a single man.
Have to hear full album. Want to hear both developing at least listen to “and I love her” “if I fell” and “things we said today”
"Can't buy me love" was Paul McCartneys first no 1 song. The previous four Beatles hits were penned by John Lennon.
John was married to Cynthia Lennon from 1962-1968.
it's true that money can't buy you love however it is also true that if you want to treat your girl or keep her safe and take her places, then it does help to have money. If you're broke, you're significantly restricted in terms of what you can do.
You gotta see the film. And please don't pass by ""If I Fell". It's a great example of the growing sophistication of the Beatles even at this early point. It also illustrates the creative reach of the boys. Yup, McCartney is more positive. That's why the duo were so good together.
Lennon on lead guitar on You can’t do that 😊