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2010 9 Mar

The Beatles 2nd LP: With The Beatles (1963)

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With The Beatles is not among my favorite Beatles albums, in fact I think it’s arguably their least great LP. That is not to say I do not enjoy hearing this early album in it’s new fabulous remastered format nor is it to say that this album does not have any groovy songs on it because that’s not the case.

But I do think that when looking at only the eight original songs on the record, it is probably the least inspiring selection of original compositions the Fab Four ever put out on a record (the underrated Beatles For Sale (1964) has a much better selection of eight originals) on the other hand, the covers on this album are quite good (better than the six covers on Beatles For Sale, which was their fourth album.)

My most favorite Beatles originals to listen to on the With The Beatles Remastered CDs are the first 3 tracks. In particular I have been loving song number two, “All I’ve Got To Do” in the remastered mono.

Another original song that has actually been growing on me a bit is song #9, “Hold Me Tight.” Paul wrote and sang lead vocals on this one and he’s dismissed it as being a “work song”. And while I’ll agree the song isn’t perfect, I think it is a good time.

“Till There Was You” is my favorite cover on the album. It’s a very sickly sweet ballad but I think in some strange way it works because of that. The LP’s last song, “Money” is a great way to end the album. When I listen closely to the remastered mono version I realize that the song rocks much harder than I ever realized. It’s a great reminder of how hard The Beatles could rock the house even in 1963.

For most of the albums I do prefer the The Beatles Stereo Box Set mixes (particularly with the mid to late 60s albums) when it comes 2009 Beatles box sets but I do think that this particular album sounds a bit better in mono than in stereo.

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2010 5 Feb

Here, There, And Everywhere: My Life Recording The Beatles

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Geoff Emerick’s Here, There, and Everywhere is perhaps my favorite Beatles related book. Why? Because it offers such an interesting perspective on the recording of The Beatles classic LPs.

I like that the book is concentrated on what was going on in the studio rather than what the members of the band were doing personally as far as who they were dating and all of that kind of stuff. In comparison other books like this are far too centered on the biography of The Beatles and not enough on the music that made them famous. It’s because of their albums that anyone is interested in their biography in the first place!

The book is not entirely about The Beatles, it’s really a Geoff Emerick autobiography (with an obvious focus on his time recording The Beatles) but if you’re thinking that that may make it not as interesting, I really do not think that is true. I actually believe it helps make his stories about The Beatles seem more “real.”

In fact the book’s “realness” is one of the best things about it. I have read a heap of books on the band but most of them seem kind of clinical in comparison. They’re often like a bunch of trivia pieced together. With Here, There, and Everywhere I really felt like I was there at Abbey Road in the ’60s. Like a fly on the wall.

This book offers a nice look into The Beatles as musicians there’s actually a series of books called The Beatles as Musicians which goes into that more indepth.) We get a glimpse at Paul McCartney working tirelessly to get his bass guitar parts on Sgt. Pepper just right and we see George greatly improve his guitar playing abilities through the decade.

Emerick was a very vital part of the band’s sound during their most creative period. Amazingly on his initial full day as lead recording engineer he came up with concepts which helped make the last track on Revolver, “Tomorrow Never Knows,” sound so futuristic.

If you’re interested in buying this book you are not stuck with shopping for it on old fashioned paper, you’ll also obtain it for your Kindle. If you don’t have a Kindle yet then I suggest shopping for the Kindle DX because of it’s greater size, it makes it far easier to read. If you reside outside of the States, you will need to order a Kindle with Global Wireless.

Of course, as much as I love reading about The Beatles, I love listening to their albums even more than that. I think it’s a fantastic idea to have the new remastered versions of The Beatles back catalog around to listen to while you are reading this very interesting book. I particularly suggest buying The Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set since Emerick mentions on several occasions in the book how much he prefers the mono mixes (specifically in relation to Pepper.)

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