ALBUM REVIEW: The Beatles - Please Please Me

    Usually before I get into the meat and potatoes of a review, I like to give some contextualization when available to warm up - get yourself into the story at hand, y'know? With The Beatles, however (pun slightly intended), I feel as though the story is so played out and known that it may not be necessary; we all know the story of a rambunctious John Lennon eager to be like Elvis Presley meeting an equally wide-eyed Paul McCartney after improvising words to "Come Go With Me"; we also know about George Harrison's perfect playing of "Raunchy" on the top deck of a bus, getting into the then-named Quarrymen. From Liverpool to Hamburg, Cavern to Kaiserkeller to Star, from Best to Starr, The Beatles' early days are decently well-known, and yet it never ceases to be fascinating, especially knowing what would follow. Please Please Me, though, is still before all the fame - sure, they had a Top 2 single, but they weren't quite Fab yet. Instead, what's present on this debut is the group at possibly their most alive, from the blistering covers to the sweetly originals. While it certainly isn't as polished as even their following album, few can argue that the group has ever been more galvanized than on this album.

    The category of songs when it comes to Please Please Me, and really a good chunk of their super early albums, can be split into two categories - Lennon/McCartney songs and covers, both things that would change with George Harrison's major contributions and the dropping of most covers by 1965's Help!, but that's a story for another day. While hearing the boys blow through "Boys" certainly is a thrill through the fingertips, it was the Lennon/McCartney songs (or McCartney/Lennon on this album) that are what gave The Beatles their bread and butter. It's hard to think that it was The Beatles that began the idea of the self-contained group, not reliant on session playing or outside songwriters, but in a sense they were the ones to break that mold, and one listen of their new material on here shows how they were able to get so far. Even with the musical landscape maturing as much as it has (and would, even just four years after this album), it's hard to deny the pure rush of energy on a song like "I Saw Her Standing There" that opens the album,  where you can practically hear the life in their playing. While "I Saw Her Standing There" is regularly singled out, let's not be hasty - both of their previous singles end up on this album, and while "Love Me Do" is perhaps a bit old-fashioned, "Please Please Me" and the accompanying "Ask Me Why" still give thrills decades later. George's vocal on "Do You Want to Know a Secret" may be twee, but it's this kind of simple happy pop that is the charm of the album, and the same can be said for the thematically downbeat "There's a Place" or "Misery", even if the latter probably stands as one of the weakest songs on the album.

    With cover versions, The Beatles showcase a different breed of talent - the ability to take songs and make them their own. One may be surprised to find a lack of any old rock standards on the album - no Chuck Berry? Heresy! In its place is a remarkable love for black music in America, mainly from the soul artists of the day - Arthur Alexander, The Cookies, The Shirelles, and The Isley Brothers all get a big cut of the pie when it comes to the covers on this here album, and The Beatles more than succeed at doing their own thing. "Anna" goes from a fine enough soul-laden piano ballad and becomes an impassioned and earnest performance from John Lennon. "Boys" has just as much energy as the original, and the mood is captured strangely well in Ringo's slightly off-note performance, as is the charming three-part harmonies on the George-led rendition of "Chains". All of these succeed brilliantly in their remolding from their R&B originals into mid-tempo rockers, and the occasional fast-paced rocker in the case of "Boys". There's also the slow and mysterious rendition of "A Taste of Honey", which is admittedly a favorite of mine, even with the knowledge that it's one of the more unpopular numbers on this album - really only "Baby It's You" misses the mark, lacking as much of a punch as the other numbers. It's all worth it at the end, however, with the screaming finale of "Twist and Shout", which probably easily takes home the award for the most iconic Beatles' cover, and rightfully so - this one-take rendition of The Isley Brothers is practically about to explode with life, dominated by Lennon's howling voice and the lads' spirited backing voice (although perhaps the only thing about to explode was John's vocal chords). It's a worthy finale, and one that they'd try to emulate two times over on later albums - more on that in the future, though.

     Please Please Me was rightfully a success when it first came out in 1963, and it wouldn't be The Beatles' last success - the month following the album, their "From Me to You" single became their first to top the UK charts, certainly making them stars across all of Britain. In time, as I'm sure we all know, their success would become worldwide, but taken as it was, Please Please Me is an ideal snapshot of the group at this early stage. The writing is admittedly simple and sometimes sugary, and there's a very scrappy energy to it all, but is that not the appeal? Few groups sound so spirited and roaring on a debut as The Beatles do here, and it's that very distinction that would be the launchpad for their success. Even in the face of their mid to late 60s work, Please Please Me can hold its own.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Please Please Me.