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SIDE ONE "It Won't Be Long" "All I've Got to Do" "All My Loving" "Don't Bother Me" "Little Child" "Till There Was You" "Please Mr. Postman"
SIDE TWO "Roll Over Beethoven" "Hold Me Tight" "You Really Got a Hold on Me" "I Wanna Be Your Man" "Devil in Her Heart" "Not a Second Time" "Money (That's What I Want)"
Another rocker, WITH THE BEATLES was the second Beatles album. It went to #1 for 21 weeks and stayed at #2 for another 10 weeks. Again, the group featured new material along with some favorite American records of theirs, not only showing a love for early Motown but also a bit of Broadway schmaltz in the form of "Till There Was You". While George Harrison did have a vocal spot on PLEASE PLEASE ME ("Do You Want To Know A Secret"), he offered his first composition in the form of "Don't Bother Me", complete with a thick Liverpudlian accent and massive layered vocals that were in honor of those American sides he loved. Ringo Starr wasn't ready to offer his own material yet, but knowing the power of giving the drummer some, he sings on "I Wanna Be Your Man", a Lennon/McCartney composition that was actually given to, recorded and released by The Rolling Stones *first*. The Rolling Stones' version came out on November 1st, exactly three weeks before The Beatles came out with theirs. Lennon and McCartney were instructed on the power of publishing, something that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards would also learn as they made a switch from blues classics to their own songs.
Oddly enough, the album as is was not released in the U.S. but WAS brought into the U.S. through Capitol of Canada, who released the album as BEATLEMANIA WITH THE BEATLES on November 25th. Perhaps Capitol in the U.S. were still unsure on whether or not signing the group was a good idea, so they decided to release it up north and see what the results were. Was it a tactic done specifically for marketing purposes? While "All My Loving" was not released as a single in the U.S., it was in Canada, and enough people bought the Canadian 45 to where it forced Billboard to put it on the charts AND pushing the radio to give the song airplay. Of course, by February of 1964, it would be impossible to not hear Beatles music on the radio.
The album would be a hint of what was to come on both sides of the Atlantic, but little did they know how big things would become. Bigger than Jesus? Mmmmaybe.
JOHN BOOK'S MYSPACE http://www.myspace.com/crutmusic
THE RUN-OFF GROOVE http://www.musicforamerica.org/node/114473
BOOK'S MUSIC Podcast http://booksmusic.podomatic.com/
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND http://www.allmanbrothersband.com/index.php?vst=45730
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