Re short song lengths, the Beatles were actually one of the first bands to challenge the record industry standard of about 3 minutes max, when they released Hey Jude in 1968 as a single. It's over 7 minutes long, and their label was worried that radio stations wouldn't play it. But John and Paul said, "If it's us, they will." They did play it, and it was a huge hit.
I’m 64 and was 4 years old when this album was released. My brother was 14 and I listened to everything he listened to. I was a huge Beatles fan from that early age. Don’t Bother Me was the first song George wrote and he did it as an exercise to see if he could write a song. He always said that he thought it was a crappy song. Crazy, I always liked it.
Tom Petty said it was a favorite of his when he was with George he said the song "Don't Bother Me" was his favorite Beatles song and George shook his head and said not a very good song!! I agree more with Tom than George!!
There’s something about “Don’t Bother Me” that I’ve loved since I first heard it in the early ‘60s. It has a rockin’ London sound to it that I always loved. And the guitar solo sound was soooo cool.
My older brother John (rip) bought this album. He had to hide it because The Beatles were forbidden in our military household. I was 8. For some reason I heard the bass lines though I couldn’t articulate it. All My Loving bass line started it all for me. Later I bought a $25 bass and although not knowing I thing about keys or chords, I taught myself to play. I got to travel America in my younger days playing bass in bands. I’m down to just 3 basses and 2 guitars now, but I love throwing this album on and playing along!
My mom was 13 when The Beatles became popular in America and her dad was SO mad that she watched them on Ed Sullivan. And I LOVE that you're reacting to my favorite band!
This entire album was recorded live in one day. Notice the unique take on the drumming by Ringo. He was a genius IMO. Songs were shorter because radio was really the only outlet at the time and the songs had to leave room for commercials.
To this day, "All My Lovin" is still one of my very favorite songs. The double-time of the guitar is such an iconic sound. The chord progressions are so smart. The vocal harmony is beautifully done. It's just one of those "perfect" pop songs, in my opinion. ❤
It is one of the very best songs of the 60s!! To think that McCartney had the words first - then wrote the beautiful melody - then came up with that astounding chord progression to put it all together. And the instrumentation really should not work - a rth guitar in triplets, a country style guitar solo, a walking bassline. But it works perfectly.
John says: "They were starting to become big at this point" (when their second LP was released on November 22, 1963). John - Their first album was #1 for 30 consecutive weeks on the UK album chart - and it remained #1 until their second album (the one you are listening to in this video) replaced it at the top of the charts. Then this second album stayed at #1 for another 20 weeks. They held the #1 spot on the UK album chart for almost a full year - right out of the box. They also had many singles top the various UK charts BEFORE their second album was released... "Please Please Me" was the #1 single on two of the UK charts for two weeks at the end of February 1963. "From Me To You" was #1 for SEVEN weeks beginning in May of 1963. "Do You Want To Know A Secret" (a Lennon-McCartney song - released by Billy J. Kramer) was #1 for 2 weeks in June of 1963. "Bad To Me" (a Lennon-Mccartney song - released by Billy J. Kramer) was #1 for 3 weeks in August 1963. "She Loves You" was #1 for 6 weeks beginning in September of 1963. So... The Beatles were HUGE in the UK - well before they released their second album on November 22, 1963.
This album was released in the UK on November 22, 1963, the same day That U.S. president John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. From that day forward, much of the Western world was in shock from the gruesome news of the young president's death. 2-1/2 months later, on February 9, 1964, the Beatles first appeared on American TV on the Ed Sullivan Show. On that day, they singlehandedly dispelled the emotional depression and inspired a new, young, vibrant energy in both young and old Americans.
Agree. The emotional release after the grieving we went through carried them on a tidal wave. But if there was no talent behind the beginning they would’ve quickly faded away. They were the first to write most of their music, which inspired many US songwriters like Carol King to start recording their own compositions.
Yo everyone hope you enjoy the reaction to the beginning of this classic album. We have a ton of more Beatles stuff on Patreon so go and check that out! What's your favorite Beatles song?
That was fun to listen to these again with you. There are a lot of factors in songs getting longer in the early seventies but one of the primary things was the advent of FM radio. It had much better bandwidth and stability and could travel much further distances than am radio. And so in the 70s there was this explosion of AOR rock, album-oriented rock, and then it was off to the races.
Very cool to see you reacting to The Beatles,bro--especially their early stuff. They began their existence in the UK skiffle scene- the poular trend at that time. But they were SO prolific as songwriters,and just kept banging out great albums. And the way they grew as writers as the 60's progressed it remarkable to hear and note. Enjoy the journey,dude-- you'll love it! T
When the Beatles debuted in the US on the Ed Sullivan Show, they opened with All My Loving, Till There was You and She Loves You. The first two songs were on their debut American album Meet the Beatles. They returned later in the show to perform I Saw Her Standing There and I Want to Hold Your Hand, songs from their first album in the UK, Please Please Me but included on the American Meet the Beatles.
The USA version of With The Beatles was Capital Records' "Meet the Beatles," same cover photo, but songs left off, and the single and flip side "I Want to Hold Your Hand and "I Saw Her Standing There." We didn't even know about "With The Beatles" until the 1970's...the purpose of shorter songs was not necessarily to get more songs over the radio play, but to have more advertisement time in an hour. FM radio stations did not really have very many at the time, were not in stereo in general. This was all AM radio and mono records were used...for radio play all over the country. Stereo was for those who had stereo record players back then, it was very new and expensive. You could get record albums in stereo or mono generally but most were mono.
I was 11 yrs old in 1963,and this was the first album I bought. I still love it. Songs were always less than 3 minutes then or the radio stations would not play them. That was the case for several years afterwards. In the early 70's I discovered what were called "underground" FM radio stations which played songs from albums which were much longer. There were bands who refused to release 3 minute versions of their songs. This meant very limited exposure,thus fewer sales of their albums. I got to hear performers like America,David Bowie,Alice Cooper,Yes,Jethro Tull,Wishbone Ash,Shawn Phillips,and many others,just by listening to the underground FM stations. I bought all of their albums and saw them in concert when I was in the Air Force in San Antonio,TX. Those were the days.... The Beatles stopped touring because fans would scream so loud their singing could not be heard. It was discouraging. The short story is they disbanded shortly after John Lennon hooked up with Yoko Ono.
John, keep in mind that The Beatles had different releases in the U.K. than they did in the U.S.A.. The U.S. releases have different song lists/sequencing, different album titles, and different pictures, for the most part. That said, the Beatles authorized the U.K. releases, whereas the U.S. release were done without the band's input. I grew up with "Meet The Beatles", which started with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "This Boy", before going into the running order of songs 1-6 on With The Beatles. You should check out those songs as well, along with the other singles (such as "She Loves You") and EPs that they released!
In an achievement unlikely to ever be equalled, for the week of 4 April 1964 The Beatles occupied the top five positions of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In all they had 12 places on the US chart. The chart placings were as follows: 1: ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ 2: ‘Twist And Shout’ 3: ‘She Loves You’ 4: ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ 5: ‘Please Please Me’ 31: ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ 41: ‘From Me To You’ 46: ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’ 58: ‘All My Loving’ 65: ‘You Can’t Do That’ 68: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ 79: ‘Thank You Girl’
I was 10 in '64 and they made a huge impact on both music and culture from the start. You have to consider the context of how '50s rock and roll music had become almost completely bland. There had been nothing like their sound before and it was like they woke up rock and roll and led the way throughout the 60s in influencing what the next level of rock would become. They inspired a generation of musicians from Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath to Billy Joel. When they arrived here we loved their attitude and they represented freedom from the ultra-conservative world we were living in.
When the Beatles started, radio play was mostly on AM radio, and short songs were standard. When Zep stated, college and underground music stations were experimenting on FM, which had better fidelity. Most cars still only had AM. College/underground radio was moving away from short pop tracks and playing entire album sides and deep cuts. Zeppelin made a specific decision to try to release only albums, not singles. They had few singles. That's how people got to know the whole album.
The Beatles had been together 24/7 since teenagers. They grew up together. George was the youngest of the four. Paul and John were a songwriting team. George didn’t write songs in the beginning, but he started and never stopped. He got better and better. They started by giving him one song on the albums. Later, they gave him two and then three. But he started writing quite a bit when they all went to India for several months. By the time they did the Let it Be album, he had about 400 songs in his inventory. He told John he had so many, he might want to do a solo album just to get rid of them. This conversation was on the Get Back documentary on Disney. But Paul never heard this conversation until much later. He wished he had. The last album, Abbey Road, George had three songs…all very wonderful songs. John and Paul talked about doing another album and both decided that each of them should have 4 songs each and give Ringo two songs. Alas, they never made another album, because they broke up. George put out a double album for his first solo album, All Things Must Pass album. The boys loved each other like brothers, their whole lives. Did they get annoyed with each other? Yes. Like siblings do. But even though they all got married and went their separate ways, having do careers, they did visit each other when they were in the same place at the same time. They sometimes played on each others albums. George was annoyed toward the end before they broke up that he had so many songs and nowhere to put them. Paul became the de facto manager when their manager died from a drug overdose. He didn’t want to be the manager, but he lived closer to the studio than the others, so when decisions had to be made, he went over. Ringo says Paul is a workaholic and he would ring up the others and encourage them to come to the studio and work. He said, if it hadn’t been for Paul, they wouldn’t have put out so many albums after Brian, their manager, had died. George was sometimes annoyed by that. But when asked about his relationship with Paul, he always denied there was a problem. George, John and Ringo were all angry with Paul when he suddenly quit the band, breaking up the Beatles. Paul was upset that they had coerced him to sign a contract with Alan Klein to be their new manager. Paul didn’t like the contract. He said it gave too much away to Klein. 20%! And also he got a cut from every Beatles song, too, all the way back to the early stuff! The only way to break the contract was to quit being The Beatles. Paul quit! They spent 11 years in and out of court. They all sued Paul. Paul was beside himself. But it was just business. And in the end, Alan Klein went to jail for tax fraud. And they all knew Paul “saved” the Beatles fortunes and futures by quitting. They all admitted they loved each other like brothers. Anytime they were asked. When John was killed, they were all devastated. A few years later, George, Paul and Ringo got together and created The Beatles Anthology documentary. It was a 10 VHS video doc… later made into a 5 disc dvd package. They asked John’s wife, Yoko Ono, if John had any songs they could use to create a couple Beatles songs. She gave them 3 songs. And they created two out of three, adding their 3 parts and background vocals and harmonies to accompany that doc. In fact, they had worked on all three, but they didn’t finish the third one. Luckily, George laid down his lead guitar part before they abandoned it. Guess what? Paul and Ringo just finished this song. It should be released soon. It will be the very LAST Beatles song, EVER, to be released. Incredible! Not only are they music geniuses, all 4 of them, but they have always been marketing geniuses, too. They still outsell other bands, and they were only together for 8 years and have been broken up since 1970!
And the most important thing about the Beatles, whether it be their early simpler stuff, or their later more intricate stuff, is that it always left you with a serious high. It's such a sense of excitement and joy. It's hard to explain, you just have to feel it.
"All My Loving" was the first song they performed on their very first appearance in the U.S. on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW on Feb. 9, 1964. I was watching as millions were across the country. I was 16 that night. I have been loving this album for the last 60 years (as of January 2024) since I bought it back in January 1964.
The songs were so short because it was the custom of the day. To answer your other question, no they didn't really get on well towards the very end, but that's why it was the end. John was the one who announced to the other Beatles was leaving, but Paul was the one who announced it to the world. You asked what we thought of your reaction. Imagine having known some music and performers intimately all your life since childhood and many decades later watching someone hear it who doesn't know it at all. Sometimes the person's discussion seems very ignorant to me, although I do understand that it only means that the person was born much later than I was. But this wasn't really my reaction to your reaction and discussion. Given that it's all new to you, I found your reaction to be very intelligent and perceptive. Keep up the good work.
I’ve heard Paul refer to several songs as Work Job songs. As songwriters they knew which songs had hit potential, many ending up as singles, while other songs were considered “filler” or “work job” material that ended up padding their albums. I believe that is what Paul means by that expression.
On another note, The Beatles didn't record their hit singles from 1963-1965 on an album until the compilation albums called Past Masters Vol. I. They did it again, with Past Masters Vol. II, The Red Album, The Blue Album and The Beatles Anthology Vol. I, II and III and "Hey Jude" for later missing singles and songs, including their last three singles recorded in the 90's and the new 2023 song.
Till There Was You was a cover of the live song from the musical The Music Man, sung in the movie by Shirley Jones, who played Marion the Librarian, and later become the Partridge family mom.
Please Mr. Postman was a good song to start... But the Beatles took it to a new level. So much better than the original. I was 10 when the American version of this album came out... Meet the Beatles. Their music was so new and refreshing. And every album they made after it was another leap forward in their incredible evolution.
Radio stations, at that time, would not play anything longer than 3 minutes because anything longer wouldn’t fit their format. They had to toss that rule in 1971 when Don McLean released “American Pie”. 😂. The Beatles were a force of nature unlike anything we had seen. They would sometimes be numbers one, two and three on the charts. It must have been discouraging for other artists. One thing you can count on is that the next Beatles song you hear will never sound like the last one you heard. Enjoy your journey with the greatest band of all time. 🌺✌️ As I listen to these, I remember that the great harmonica licks are from John. I thought he looked so “cute” playing it. I hope you will eventually react to “If I Fell” from the Hard day’s Night album. It’s a gorgeous song with amazing harmonies. 🌸 One thing to consider when comparing John and Paul is that PM has had an entire lifetime more than John to perfect his craft. John’s life was ended at age 40. Now he has been dead longer than he was alive. Paul has continued to hone his genius for an additional 43 years. He is an amazingly talented guy, no question. I bow to Sir Paul McCartney 🇬🇧
When "HEY JUDE" was released in the U.S. in 1968, it was the FIRST time the radios played a longer song than 3 minutes, as "Hey Jude" was 7 minutes long. At least that is what the radio stations I listened to here in Cleveland back in the '60s did. They didn't fade it out or edit it. That was 3 years before "American Pie"
In 1968, This Guy's in Love with You by Herb Alpert was 3:55, Honey by Bobby Goldsboro was 3:58, Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel was 4:00. In 1967, Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry was 4:13. These were all #1 songs. Now, in 1964 the longest #1 song was in fact exactly 3 minutes long. Ringo by Lorne Greene (the actor from the Bonanza TV show) The longest #1 song before Hey Jude was in 1959 - El Paso by Marty Robbins was 4:40
Remember George was the youngest of what started as a teenage band. They spent years on top of each other and they burnt out. George liked to play and he couldn’t with the Beatles because the fans made it impossible. He played with many greats invested in Monty Python and started the supergroup The Traveling Willburys . They all said they cared about each other but they grew up and out of the band
And a shout out to George Martin, their producer, who took these new kids seriously and produced them that way. BTW: The short song thing, it is amazing how much greatness they were able to pack into a 3 min. song. But as you will find later, when they wanted to release the song Hey Jude there was some pushback because of its length. Radio stations, even FM, were hesitant to play it because of it's length. But it was the Beatles, so they did and that opened up the market for other long songs to be played, especially FM radio, which became a haven for longer songs.
All pop music songs were kept at 3 minutes and under for radio air play. Back in the 50s and most of the 60s AM radio was fast paced and if they had 5 or 6 minutes for records they'd play two songs in a row. Even Bob Dylan was unable to break that tradition when he released "Like A Rolling Stone" as it was divided into two parts. The Beatles finally changed it when they released Hey Jude and when it became their best selling single the radio industry finally understood the public had more than a 3 minute attention span. Until then the only stations that played longer songs or album cuts were certain FM stations back when FM rock was in its infancy.
Enjoyed it? No. Absolutely loved it! Please continue! My only comment is that with these guys it makes sense to start with the very first album Please Please Me (With The Beatles is their 2nd album) and then go on the wonderful Beatles journey, the nest one being Hard Day's Night, etc. And thanks, by the way, for picking the British version With The Beatles, not the American Meet the Beatles. Thanks and God Bless!
All songs on the radio were about 3 minutes long in the 60’s. When the Beatles recorded Hey,Jude a few years later, they were SO hot, hot, hot popular by then. It was 7 minutes long. The producers encouraged them to do an edited version for the radio stations, fearful that it would not get air play. The Beatles said NO! Paul said, “We’re the fucking Beatles! You think they won’t play this? Yes, they will!” And they did! So the Beatles broke that mold. They made several songs after that which were longer than 3 minutes. And other great rock and roll bands followed them! That’s when music started to get interesting…more progressive.
11:38 Short songs had been the norm for many years due to the limitations of 78 rpm records, which could only hold up to 03:30 of music per side. These 10 inch shellac-based records spun more than twice as fast as a long-playing vinyl, and the methods of cutting the grooves to receive a steel needle included wider grooves. These factors started to fall away, with the rise of both 45 rpm single records which replaced the heavy 10 inch 78s (but with similar time restraints), and the birth of the 33 1/3 microgroove "modern" vinyl discs. The latter allowed music of lengths up to 30 minutes per side, though many early albums (including all the early Beatles records) were hardly longer than 30 minutes in total.
I think what people of today, don't quite get about this Beatles album, is that modern rock wasn't really happening elsewhere at this time. Rock was dying and music was dull. The Beatles were fresh and had a new sound and attitude. They kept revolving each year from 1965-1970, starting new trends in music. "With The Beatles" was the first of four 'Beatlemania' albums, from late 63 to late 64. The fans were going wild and at one point they had multiple singles, battling for the top spot on the radio!
George Harrison’s voice was doubled as we’re all the Beatles’s voices, they would take the doubled voice, and vary speed it. That’s what gave it that trippy sound.
RE: short songs. Radio would not play longer songs back in the day. It disrupted the number of commercials they could air in an hour. I think longer tracks became more popular in 1965 when Bob Dylan scored a hit with "Like a Rolling Stone" (nearly 6 minutes long) and The Rolling Stones with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (close to 4 minutes long).
John and Paul didn’t write this song. It’s from a Broadway show from the 50s and since the Beatles were a cover band first they could virtually play any style of music. This song was a huge hit. They actually played it on Ed Sullivan.
Dude, you gotta hear these songs live. John always said when we were really going, we could rock it out better than anybody no one could touch us. You should check out some live cuts from the early days.
John, as a matter of fact, The Beatles do have some songs that might be considered "unpalatable", especially later in their career. But that's only because one of the lads was taking the piss out of someone or something about society that needs to be shredded. :)
The cover for With the Beatles was notable for it's use of shadow. That Australian cover seemed to just cut out their heads from news articles and slap it on a cover. I'm really surprised that Capitol let that go (though I suppose at the time they probably thought they would last about two years tops, so milk whatever money they could). Fun fact that newer fans might not know: There were usually two versions of each album. A British release, and a US release and the US release had a couple more songs on it than the British release. There was also usually a slight twist to the title ("Meet the Beatles" as compared to the British "With the Beatles" for example). This might have stopped around the time of Rubber Soul, cause as much effort as they took with their music before, The Beatles really started to write songs that challenged the studio production or what could be done in the studio. They're a fascinating group, not only for their music, but for how they changed the game when it came to studio recording. They were all incredibly talented and inventive, but there is no doubt that the amazing success they had gave the, the power to experiment in ways that perhaps they wouldn't have been allowed to if they weren't proven money makers. And they put that power to good use, opening creative doors that other bands later would be able to move through. The most incredible thing about the Beatles is where they went, considering where they came from. They were together for about ten years, four guys who could't even read music, yet what they produced in those ten years, I don't think can be equaled.
In the early 60s, AM radio was king, and all these songs had to be short to accommodate radio airplay. This was before FM radio became the norm for longer songs.
Songs were limited in length to fit the AM radio format - the suits insisted on short snappy tunes to help the jocks get to the ads. Lotsa hair gel and zit cream to sell.
I prefer the original album cover and the American version called ‘Meet the Beatles’. It had less cover songs. Paul said his father didn’t like them saying yeah instead of a proper yes. Sounded too American. A hell of a good little rock and roll band. Radio required short songs. Ringo is such a tasty drummer.
It would be a good exercise to continue doing the albums in chronological order. You'll be amazed to see the development over their just 7-1/2 year recording career. Hell, nowadays bands take 5 years between albums.
Standard AM radio 45rpm chart singles were all under 3 minutes. The Beatles shattered this standard when they released “Hey Jude”. (7 min. 11sec)Who was going to tell the Beatles they couldn’t do that?
Okay, I am all set to hear you play the Beatles Album and you decide to take a huge toke on your vape. As a Respiratory Therapist for over 4 decades, I have seen my share of patients with lung disease caused by smoking. Vape is just as harmful and possibly even more harmful. Time will tell. So go ahead with your channel, but I do hope that fans do not pick up the habit from seeing you doing the vape. So with that said, on with the Beatles.
I like short songs. They are better than Bullshit longer songs that to me are self masterbation. We get it without splitting in our eyes. Short and sweet is all it takes to get into a deep longer experience. Yes, i meant this musically and sexually. If you don't know that by now, you need to practice. The Beatles Rule! Rock and Roll is Dead! Long live Rock!
Love your reaction, John. This is obviously The Beatl;es' early boy-girl phase. Many of my friends prefer this 'innocent' version of the band. I love all The Beatles' records but I prefer the later albums as the band develops.
Re short song lengths, the Beatles were actually one of the first bands to challenge the record industry standard of about 3 minutes max, when they released Hey Jude in 1968 as a single. It's over 7 minutes long, and their label was worried that radio stations wouldn't play it. But John and Paul said, "If it's us, they will." They did play it, and it was a huge hit.
I’m 64 and was 4 years old when this album was released. My brother was 14 and I listened to everything he listened to. I was a huge Beatles fan from that early age. Don’t Bother Me was the first song George wrote and he did it as an exercise to see if he could write a song. He always said that he thought it was a crappy song. Crazy, I always liked it.
Tom Petty said it was a favorite of his when he was with George he said the song "Don't Bother Me" was his favorite Beatles song and George shook his head and said not a very good song!! I agree more with Tom than George!!
I agree, I LOVE "DON'T BOTHER ME" I don't understand WHY George didn't like it!!
There’s something about “Don’t Bother Me” that I’ve loved since I first heard it in the early ‘60s. It has a rockin’ London sound to it that I always loved. And the guitar solo sound was soooo cool.
One of my favorite George songs.
@@Richard2003 MINE TOO!! I don't understand why he was not happy with it!
My older brother John (rip) bought this album. He had to hide it because The Beatles were forbidden in our military household. I was 8. For some reason I heard the bass lines though I couldn’t articulate it. All My Loving bass line started it all for me. Later I bought a $25 bass and although not knowing I thing about keys or chords, I taught myself to play. I got to travel America in my younger days playing bass in bands. I’m down to just 3 basses and 2 guitars now, but I love throwing this album on and playing along!
My mom was 13 when The Beatles became popular in America and her dad was SO mad that she watched them on Ed Sullivan. And I LOVE that you're reacting to my favorite band!
This entire album was recorded live in one day. Notice the unique take on the drumming by Ringo. He was a genius IMO. Songs were shorter because radio was really the only outlet at the time and the songs had to leave room for commercials.
Actually, it's the previous album that was recorded in one day. This one was recorded over seven sessions across three months
@@brandonflorida1092 and not even that one was recorded all in one day👍
To this day, "All My Lovin" is still one of my very favorite songs. The double-time of the guitar is such an iconic sound. The chord progressions are so smart. The vocal harmony is beautifully done. It's just one of those "perfect" pop songs, in my opinion. ❤
It is one of the very best songs of the 60s!! To think that McCartney had the words first - then wrote the beautiful melody - then came up with that astounding chord progression to put it all together. And the instrumentation really should not work - a rth guitar in triplets, a country style guitar solo, a walking bassline. But it works perfectly.
@@TigerRogers0660 well said. Agreed! Quite the sophisticated little tune, right?
It's a cruel test of a guitarist to see if they can play John Lennon's guitar part on this song.
John shines on this one. Probably his most distinctive "rhythm guitar" track. Makes the song.
@@sourisvoleur4854 John was stingy in his praise for most Beatles songs. However, he called this song "a damn fine piece of work" !!
John says: "They were starting to become big at this point" (when their second LP was released on November 22, 1963).
John - Their first album was #1 for 30 consecutive weeks on the UK album chart - and it remained #1 until their second album (the one you are listening to in this video) replaced it at the top of the charts. Then this second album stayed at #1 for another 20 weeks. They held the #1 spot on the UK album chart for almost a full year - right out of the box.
They also had many singles top the various UK charts BEFORE their second album was released...
"Please Please Me" was the #1 single on two of the UK charts for two weeks at the end of February 1963.
"From Me To You" was #1 for SEVEN weeks beginning in May of 1963.
"Do You Want To Know A Secret" (a Lennon-McCartney song - released by Billy J. Kramer) was #1 for 2 weeks in June of 1963.
"Bad To Me" (a Lennon-Mccartney song - released by Billy J. Kramer) was #1 for 3 weeks in August 1963.
"She Loves You" was #1 for 6 weeks beginning in September of 1963.
So... The Beatles were HUGE in the UK - well before they released their second album on November 22, 1963.
I’ve always liked John’s play on words on It Won’t Be Long… “It won’t be long till I belong to you”
This album was released in the UK on November 22, 1963, the same day That U.S. president John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. From that day forward, much of the Western world was in shock from the gruesome news of the young president's death. 2-1/2 months later, on February 9, 1964, the Beatles first appeared on American TV on the Ed Sullivan Show. On that day, they singlehandedly dispelled the emotional depression and inspired a new, young, vibrant energy in both young and old Americans.
Agree. The emotional release after the grieving we went through carried them on a tidal wave. But if there was no talent behind the beginning they would’ve quickly faded away. They were the first to write most of their music, which inspired many US songwriters like Carol King to start recording their own compositions.
The Beatles were exactly what we needed in early 1964. I was ten years old and from that time on, my adolescence had a wonderful soundtrack 😁
Some of the bass lines and playing on later albums is fantastic and underrated.
Yo everyone hope you enjoy the reaction to the beginning of this classic album. We have a ton of more Beatles stuff on Patreon so go and check that out! What's your favorite Beatles song?
That was fun to listen to these again with you. There are a lot of factors in songs getting longer in the early seventies but one of the primary things was the advent of FM radio. It had much better bandwidth and stability and could travel much further distances than am radio. And so in the 70s there was this explosion of AOR rock, album-oriented rock, and then it was off to the races.
Very cool to see you reacting to The Beatles,bro--especially their early stuff. They began their existence in the UK skiffle scene- the poular trend at that time. But they were SO prolific as songwriters,and just kept banging out great albums. And the way they grew as writers as the 60's progressed it remarkable to hear and note. Enjoy the journey,dude-- you'll love it! T
I absolutely love it when you young people discover this ROCK GROUP.
When the Beatles debuted in the US on the Ed Sullivan Show, they opened with All My Loving, Till There was You and She Loves You. The first two songs were on their debut American album Meet the Beatles. They returned later in the show to perform I Saw Her Standing There and I Want to Hold Your Hand, songs from their first album in the UK, Please Please Me but included on the American Meet the Beatles.
The USA version of With The Beatles was Capital Records' "Meet the Beatles," same cover photo, but songs left off, and the single and flip side "I Want to Hold Your Hand and "I Saw Her Standing There." We didn't even know about "With The Beatles" until the 1970's...the purpose of shorter songs was not necessarily to get more songs over the radio play, but to have more advertisement time in an hour. FM radio stations did not really have very many at the time, were not in stereo in general. This was all AM radio and mono records were used...for radio play all over the country. Stereo was for those who had stereo record players back then, it was very new and expensive. You could get record albums in stereo or mono generally but most were mono.
I was 11 yrs old in 1963,and this was the first album I bought. I still love it.
Songs were always less than 3 minutes then or the radio stations would not play them. That was the case for several years afterwards. In the early 70's I discovered what were called "underground" FM radio stations which played songs from albums which were much longer. There were bands who refused to release 3 minute versions of their songs. This meant very limited exposure,thus fewer sales of their albums. I got to hear performers like America,David Bowie,Alice Cooper,Yes,Jethro Tull,Wishbone Ash,Shawn Phillips,and many others,just by listening to the underground FM stations. I bought all of their albums and saw them in concert when I was in the Air Force in San Antonio,TX. Those were the days....
The Beatles stopped touring because fans would scream so loud their singing could not be heard. It was discouraging.
The short story is they disbanded shortly after John Lennon hooked up with Yoko Ono.
Till there was you is taken from a musical called The music Man dad had played on Broadway in the movie with Shirley Jones
John, keep in mind that The Beatles had different releases in the U.K. than they did in the U.S.A.. The U.S. releases have different song lists/sequencing, different album titles, and different pictures, for the most part. That said, the Beatles authorized the U.K. releases, whereas the U.S. release were done without the band's input. I grew up with "Meet The Beatles", which started with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "This Boy", before going into the running order of songs 1-6 on With The Beatles. You should check out those songs as well, along with the other singles (such as "She Loves You") and EPs that they released!
In an achievement unlikely to ever be equalled, for the week of 4 April 1964 The Beatles occupied the top five positions of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In all they had 12 places on the US chart.
The chart placings were as follows:
1: ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’
2: ‘Twist And Shout’
3: ‘She Loves You’
4: ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’
5: ‘Please Please Me’
31: ‘I Saw Her Standing There’
41: ‘From Me To You’
46: ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’
58: ‘All My Loving’
65: ‘You Can’t Do That’
68: ‘Roll Over Beethoven’
79: ‘Thank You Girl’
You can hear the influence of Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
I was 10 in '64 and they made a huge impact on both music and culture from the start. You have to consider the context of how '50s rock and roll music had become almost completely bland. There had been nothing like their sound before and it was like they woke up rock and roll and led the way throughout the 60s in influencing what the next level of rock would become. They inspired a generation of musicians from Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath to Billy Joel. When they arrived here we loved their attitude and they represented freedom from the ultra-conservative world we were living in.
Born in the 50s.....this was the soundtrack of our boy/girl parties....dancing...sock hop Friday’s in the gym after school
They are the one who broke the 3 minutes rule with Hey Jude, 7 minutes! In 1967.
I think they have a future as a musical group!
When the Beatles started, radio play was mostly on AM radio, and short songs were standard. When Zep stated, college and underground music stations were experimenting on FM, which had better fidelity. Most cars still only had AM. College/underground radio was moving away from short pop tracks and playing entire album sides and deep cuts. Zeppelin made a specific decision to try to release only albums, not singles. They had few singles. That's how people got to know the whole album.
John slop thank you for playing that. Brought back great memories, loved your reaction. Their throwaway songs were everybody else's hits
The Beatles had been together 24/7 since teenagers. They grew up together. George was the youngest of the four. Paul and John were a songwriting team. George didn’t write songs in the beginning, but he started and never stopped. He got better and better. They started by giving him one song on the albums. Later, they gave him two and then three. But he started writing quite a bit when they all went to India for several months. By the time they did the Let it Be album, he had about 400 songs in his inventory. He told John he had so many, he might want to do a solo album just to get rid of them. This conversation was on the Get Back documentary on Disney. But Paul never heard this conversation until much later. He wished he had. The last album, Abbey Road, George had three songs…all very wonderful songs. John and Paul talked about doing another album and both decided that each of them should have 4 songs each and give Ringo two songs. Alas, they never made another album, because they broke up. George put out a double album for his first solo album, All Things Must Pass album.
The boys loved each other like brothers, their whole lives. Did they get annoyed with each other? Yes. Like siblings do. But even though they all got married and went their separate ways, having do careers, they did visit each other when they were in the same place at the same time. They sometimes played on each others albums. George was annoyed toward the end before they broke up that he had so many songs and nowhere to put them. Paul became the de facto manager when their manager died from a drug overdose. He didn’t want to be the manager, but he lived closer to the studio than the others, so when decisions had to be made, he went over. Ringo says Paul is a workaholic and he would ring up the others and encourage them to come to the studio and work. He said, if it hadn’t been for Paul, they wouldn’t have put out so many albums after Brian, their manager, had died. George was sometimes annoyed by that. But when asked about his relationship with Paul, he always denied there was a problem. George, John and Ringo were all angry with Paul when he suddenly quit the band, breaking up the Beatles. Paul was upset that they had coerced him to sign a contract with Alan Klein to be their new manager. Paul didn’t like the contract. He said it gave too much away to Klein. 20%! And also he got a cut from every Beatles song, too, all the way back to the early stuff! The only way to break the contract was to quit being The Beatles. Paul quit! They spent 11 years in and out of court. They all sued Paul. Paul was beside himself. But it was just business. And in the end, Alan Klein went to jail for tax fraud. And they all knew Paul “saved” the Beatles fortunes and futures by quitting.
They all admitted they loved each other like brothers. Anytime they were asked. When John was killed, they were all devastated. A few years later, George, Paul and Ringo got together and created The Beatles Anthology documentary. It was a 10 VHS video doc… later made into a 5 disc dvd package. They asked John’s wife, Yoko Ono, if John had any songs they could use to create a couple Beatles songs. She gave them 3 songs. And they created two out of three, adding their 3 parts and background vocals and harmonies to accompany that doc. In fact, they had worked on all three, but they didn’t finish the third one. Luckily, George laid down his lead guitar part before they abandoned it. Guess what? Paul and Ringo just finished this song. It should be released soon. It will be the very LAST Beatles song, EVER, to be released. Incredible!
Not only are they music geniuses, all 4 of them, but they have always been marketing geniuses, too. They still outsell other bands, and they were only together for 8 years and have been broken up since 1970!
And the most important thing about the Beatles, whether it be their early simpler stuff, or their later more intricate stuff, is that it always left you with a serious high. It's such a sense of excitement and joy. It's hard to explain, you just have to feel it.
"All My Loving" was the first song they performed on their very first appearance in the U.S. on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW on Feb. 9, 1964. I was watching as millions were across the country. I was 16 that night. I have been loving this album for the last 60 years (as of January 2024) since I bought it back in January 1964.
listen to John playing the guitar, in double time - on the third track "All My Loving" , he's a genius for sure!
The songs were so short because it was the custom of the day.
To answer your other question, no they didn't really get on well towards the very end, but that's why it was the end. John was the one who announced to the other Beatles was leaving, but Paul was the one who announced it to the world.
You asked what we thought of your reaction. Imagine having known some music and performers intimately all your life since childhood and many decades later watching someone hear it who doesn't know it at all. Sometimes the person's discussion seems very ignorant to me, although I do understand that it only means that the person was born much later than I was. But this wasn't really my reaction to your reaction and discussion. Given that it's all new to you, I found your reaction to be very intelligent and perceptive. Keep up the good work.
My brother and I used to crack up when Paul sang "I never 'sar' them winging." 😂 Love me some Beatles
I’ve heard Paul refer to several songs as Work Job songs. As songwriters they knew which songs had hit potential, many ending up as singles, while other songs were considered “filler” or “work job” material that ended up padding their albums. I believe that is what Paul means by that expression.
I’m 68 and have only ever met one person who saw the Beatles live. That was my sister, and she saw them twice, Toronto and Montreal.
Radio airplay! Exactly. That was the culture. The songs were brilliantly crafted.
On another note, The Beatles didn't record their hit singles from 1963-1965 on an album until the compilation albums called Past Masters Vol. I. They did it again, with Past Masters Vol. II, The Red Album, The Blue Album and The Beatles Anthology Vol. I, II and III and "Hey Jude" for later missing singles and songs, including their last three singles recorded in the 90's and the new 2023 song.
Till There Was You was a cover of the live song from the musical The Music Man, sung in the movie by Shirley Jones, who played Marion the Librarian, and later become the Partridge family mom.
Please Mr. Postman was a good song to start... But the Beatles took it to a new level. So much better than the original. I was 10 when the American version of this album came out... Meet the Beatles. Their music was so new and refreshing. And every album they made after it was another leap forward in their incredible evolution.
Most of these songs can be heard on their groundbreaking film - A Hard Day's Night(1964) which you should watch and react to
Radio stations, at that time, would not play anything longer than 3 minutes because anything longer wouldn’t fit their format. They had to toss that rule in 1971 when Don McLean released “American Pie”. 😂. The Beatles were a force of nature unlike anything we had seen. They would sometimes be numbers one, two and three on the charts. It must have been discouraging for other artists. One thing you can count on is that the next Beatles song you hear will never sound like the last one you heard. Enjoy your journey with the greatest band of all time. 🌺✌️
As I listen to these, I remember that the great harmonica licks are from John. I thought he looked so “cute” playing it. I hope you will eventually react to “If I Fell” from the Hard day’s Night album. It’s a gorgeous song with amazing harmonies. 🌸
One thing to consider when comparing John and Paul is that PM has had an entire lifetime more than John to perfect his craft. John’s life was ended at age 40. Now he has been dead longer than he was alive. Paul has continued to hone his genius for an additional 43 years. He is an amazingly talented guy, no question. I bow to Sir Paul McCartney 🇬🇧
When "HEY JUDE" was released in the U.S. in 1968, it was the FIRST time the radios played a longer song than 3 minutes, as "Hey Jude" was 7 minutes long. At least that is what the radio stations I listened to here in Cleveland back in the '60s did. They didn't fade it out or edit it. That was 3 years before "American Pie"
In 1968, This Guy's in Love with You by Herb Alpert was 3:55, Honey by Bobby Goldsboro was 3:58, Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel was 4:00.
In 1967, Ode to Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry was 4:13.
These were all #1 songs.
Now, in 1964 the longest #1 song was in fact exactly 3 minutes long. Ringo by Lorne Greene (the actor from the Bonanza TV show)
The longest #1 song before Hey Jude was in 1959 - El Paso by Marty Robbins was 4:40
Remember George was the youngest of what started as a teenage band. They spent years on top of each other and they burnt out. George liked to play and he couldn’t with the Beatles because the fans made it impossible. He played with many greats invested in Monty Python and started the supergroup The Traveling Willburys . They all said they cared about each other but they grew up and out of the band
Short songs = radio play. period.
I saw the Beatles live in September 1964 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Tickets were $5.99....
"Which came first?" Anything the Beatles did.
And a shout out to George Martin, their producer, who took these new kids seriously and produced them that way.
BTW: The short song thing, it is amazing how much greatness they were able to pack into a 3 min. song. But as you will find later, when they wanted to release the song Hey Jude there was some pushback because of its length. Radio stations, even FM, were hesitant to play it because of it's length. But it was the Beatles, so they did and that opened up the market for other long songs to be played, especially FM radio, which became a haven for longer songs.
All pop music songs were kept at 3 minutes and under for radio air play. Back in the 50s and most of the 60s AM radio was fast paced and if they had 5 or 6 minutes for records they'd play two songs in a row. Even Bob Dylan was unable to break that tradition when he released "Like A Rolling Stone" as it was divided into two parts. The Beatles finally changed it when they released Hey Jude and when it became their best selling single the radio industry finally understood the public had more than a 3 minute attention span. Until then the only stations that played longer songs or album cuts were certain FM stations back when FM rock was in its infancy.
Length of songs was about radio airplay restrictions.
"Time of the Seasons" was 1968 "Zombies".
Tastey vocals, great guitar hooks!
Enjoyed it? No. Absolutely loved it! Please continue! My only comment is that with these guys it makes sense to start with the very first album Please Please Me (With The Beatles is their 2nd album) and then go on the wonderful Beatles journey, the nest one being Hard Day's Night, etc. And thanks, by the way, for picking the British version With The Beatles, not the American Meet the Beatles. Thanks and God Bless!
All songs on the radio were about 3 minutes long in the 60’s. When the Beatles recorded Hey,Jude a few years later, they were SO hot, hot, hot popular by then. It was 7 minutes long. The producers encouraged them to do an edited version for the radio stations, fearful that it would not get air play. The Beatles said NO! Paul said, “We’re the fucking Beatles! You think they won’t play this? Yes, they will!” And they did! So the Beatles broke that mold. They made several songs after that which were longer than 3 minutes. And other great rock and roll bands followed them! That’s when music started to get interesting…more progressive.
"Till There was You" -- listen to the musicianship -- the off-notes and nuance. Amazing skill -- and ears.
Song is written by Meredith Wilson for the musical The Music Man.
@@thomastimlin1724 Yes. But listen to how sophisticated the musicianship of "The Beatles" in the playing of it. Not only McCartney's voice.
11:38 Short songs had been the norm for many years due to the limitations of 78 rpm records, which could only hold up to 03:30 of music per side. These 10 inch shellac-based records spun more than twice as fast as a long-playing vinyl, and the methods of cutting the grooves to receive a steel needle included wider grooves. These factors started to fall away, with the rise of both 45 rpm single records which replaced the heavy 10 inch 78s (but with similar time restraints), and the birth of the 33 1/3 microgroove "modern" vinyl discs. The latter allowed music of lengths up to 30 minutes per side, though many early albums (including all the early Beatles records) were hardly longer than 30 minutes in total.
I think what people of today, don't quite get about this Beatles album, is that modern rock wasn't really happening elsewhere at this time. Rock was dying and music was dull. The Beatles were fresh and had a new sound and attitude. They kept revolving each year from 1965-1970, starting new trends in music. "With The Beatles" was the first of four 'Beatlemania' albums, from late 63 to late 64. The fans were going wild and at one point they had multiple singles, battling for the top spot on the radio!
I'm 70 and I still can't catch up to the genius of each Beatle , try Old Brown Shoe , Harrison sung and Paul's bass playing is out standing
Billie Joe and the whole Green Day band were HUGE Beatles fans! Of Course!
Till Their Was You listen again....to just George's guitar work. And he was barely 21.
That’s what radio called for. Most songs were no longer than 220 or 230.
George Harrison’s voice was doubled as we’re all the Beatles’s voices, they would take the doubled voice, and vary speed it. That’s what gave it that trippy sound.
John is playing triplets on rhythm guitar. Fantastic.
RE: short songs. Radio would not play longer songs back in the day. It disrupted the number of commercials they could air in an hour. I think longer tracks became more popular in 1965 when Bob Dylan scored a hit with "Like a Rolling Stone" (nearly 6 minutes long) and The Rolling Stones with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (close to 4 minutes long).
John and Paul didn’t write this song. It’s from a Broadway show from the 50s and since the Beatles were a cover band first they could virtually play any style of music. This song was a huge hit. They actually played it on Ed Sullivan.
Dude, you gotta hear these songs live. John always said when we were really going, we could rock it out better than anybody no one could touch us. You should check out some live cuts from the early days.
John, as a matter of fact, The Beatles do have some songs that might be considered "unpalatable", especially later in their career. But that's only because one of the lads was taking the piss out of someone or something about society that needs to be shredded. :)
The cover for With the Beatles was notable for it's use of shadow. That Australian cover seemed to just cut out their heads from news articles and slap it on a cover. I'm really surprised that Capitol let that go (though I suppose at the time they probably thought they would last about two years tops, so milk whatever money they could). Fun fact that newer fans might not know: There were usually two versions of each album. A British release, and a US release and the US release had a couple more songs on it than the British release. There was also usually a slight twist to the title ("Meet the Beatles" as compared to the British "With the Beatles" for example). This might have stopped around the time of Rubber Soul, cause as much effort as they took with their music before, The Beatles really started to write songs that challenged the studio production or what could be done in the studio. They're a fascinating group, not only for their music, but for how they changed the game when it came to studio recording. They were all incredibly talented and inventive, but there is no doubt that the amazing success they had gave the, the power to experiment in ways that perhaps they wouldn't have been allowed to if they weren't proven money makers. And they put that power to good use, opening creative doors that other bands later would be able to move through. The most incredible thing about the Beatles is where they went, considering where they came from. They were together for about ten years, four guys who could't even read music, yet what they produced in those ten years, I don't think can be equaled.
Nah, no comparison between those covers. One is art. The other looks like standard practice from the time.
The songs were around two minutes to fit radio guidelines at the time
Don't forget 45 RPM releases. That was one reason. up to 5 minutes on 7″ diameter..
It's not that the world was smaller, it just felt that way because we were closer than people today. Not interchangeable.
In the early 60s, AM radio was king, and all these songs had to be short to accommodate radio airplay. This was before FM radio became the norm for longer songs.
Harrison was double-tracked. Yes, that was his song. Great song! Totally dark, burner!
Songs were limited in length to fit the AM radio format - the suits insisted on short snappy tunes to help the jocks get to the ads. Lotsa hair gel and zit cream to sell.
Beatles before Zombies. 😁
I prefer the original album cover and the American version called ‘Meet the Beatles’. It had less cover songs.
Paul said his father didn’t like them saying yeah instead of a proper yes. Sounded too American.
A hell of a good little rock and roll band.
Radio required short songs.
Ringo is such a tasty drummer.
was that collection produced by Parlophone?
I hope you do the other albums too A hard day's Night next album
There has never been anyone like them
They really love Detroit Music The girl groups With the vocal harmonies
The shortness was due to playing them on the radio, making room for commercials.
The Beatles Anthology is the Beatles bible. The Get Back film done by Peter Jackson gives you a really good insight into the band.
Don’t forget, back then the hit singles were not included on the albums. I know that sounds strange, but that’s how it was.
Atta boy, Bob!
George was the youngest of the four, so less experience with song writing, but coming on...
Thaks for the video
It would be a good exercise to continue doing the albums in chronological order. You'll be amazed to see the development over their just 7-1/2 year recording career. Hell, nowadays bands take 5 years between albums.
Play it loud.
In these early days/albums, Paul was the "cute" one but John was, undeniably, the SEX GOD of the band! Badass!
Excellent👍🏻
Standard AM radio 45rpm chart singles were all under 3 minutes. The Beatles shattered this standard when they released “Hey Jude”. (7 min. 11sec)Who was going to tell the Beatles they couldn’t do that?
Almost sounds like a song from 1963
It’s funny how the Beatles can cover a song being very careful to be true to the original and they still make it their own.
The beetles were the kings of the cover versions Money twist and shout Please mister postman You really gotta hold on Me
the original 'Funk' Band of 'Motor City' / Motown...just saying:)
On little child when Paul and John sing “I’m so sad and lonely” they’re copying the Everly Brothers. John plays the harmonica.
Don’t bother me is George Harrison’s very first composition.
First solo composition, right.
It Won't Be Long...one of their Reggae songs before Reggae
Okay, I am all set to hear you play the Beatles Album and you decide to take a huge toke on your vape. As a Respiratory Therapist for over 4 decades, I have seen my share of patients with lung disease caused by smoking. Vape is just as harmful and possibly even more harmful. Time will tell. So go ahead with your channel, but I do hope that fans do not pick up the habit from seeing you doing the vape. So with that said, on with the Beatles.
Respiratory therapists know the truth and speak the truth.
Yeah my teeth started going rotten too. Smoking is bad news.
I like short songs.
They are better than Bullshit longer songs that to me are self masterbation.
We get it without splitting in our eyes.
Short and sweet is all it takes to get into a deep longer experience.
Yes, i meant this musically and sexually.
If you don't know that by now, you need to practice.
The Beatles Rule!
Rock and Roll is Dead!
Long live Rock!
Love your reaction, John. This is obviously The Beatl;es' early boy-girl phase. Many of my friends prefer this 'innocent' version of the band. I love all The Beatles' records but I prefer the later albums as the band develops.