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"Please Please Me"
Memories of the Beatles
2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the Parlophone/EMI/Capitol album,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Obviously, this is a milestone for all Beatles fans. Many have worshipped this album ever since it was released in June of 1967.But is there a need for so much recycling of this album? There are four separate releases of this 1967 album this year. How about a 6-disc set including a DVD for over $150? This seems like another cash grab for companies that keep recycling this music by the Beatles, who still remain popular many years after they disbanded as a group. They are, after all, considered by many to be the most popular rock band from the past.
As a songwriter who began in the 1960s, I'm impressed with the creative evolution of Beatles songs.
They progressed from relatively simple songs like "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me" to more sophisticated and sensitive songs like "She's Leaving Home" and "A Day in the Life." Their recordings have a growth in terms of performance originality and recorded technology. That is largely due to their brilliant producer, George Martin, who had a keen ear for quality and sound experimentation in studio productions.
I remember buying the original LP album and not being very impressed with the total album but especially enjoying a few songs which I have listed below. At that time I worked in the audio-visual department at the local public library. I was very surprised when my boss, Mr. Jackson, a classical music lover who adored Mahler's classical music, told me he loved the Sgt. Pepper's album. I told him I had preferred the previous Beatles album, Revolver, and my favorite song on that album was "Here, There and Everywhere."
Yet, I agree that Sgt. Pepper had the greatest impact of any rock album from the 1960s and I still enjoy listening to it.
So on its 50th anniversary, I offer my favorites from the Sgt. Pepper's album listed in order of my preference:
1 -- "A DAY IN THE LIFE" -- one of the best Beatles songs builds to a powerful ending with long sustained E chord.
2 -- "SHE'S LEAVING HOME" - a sad melancholy song beautifully accompanied.
3 -- "WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR" -- funny nostalgic song with clever lyrics.
4 -- "WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS" - song with an upbeat message.
5 -- "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS" - not about drugs but based on a little boy's drawing
More about the early Beatles and a song inspired by their music...
1961
The music from the UK was exciting to listen to for someone like me who had been raised on American rock n' roll of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and others.
Of all the songs I wrote during the early 1960s, the one that pleases me the most is “The Soho Serenade.” I
began the song in October of 1961 after hearing a Polydor 45 RPM record with two old standards: “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” on the A side and "The Saints (When The Saints Go Marching In)" on the B side. The songs were released on a Polydor record with a solo by Tony Sheridan,
From The Complete Beatles Chronicle
by Mark Lewisohn (1992/2004)
“My Bonnie” was a big hit in Frankfurt where I was stationed in the US Army. It was mainly because of the Twist dance then in vogue in Germany as well as in the States. But it was also a good solid up-tempo record. I was impressed by the backup group for “My Bonnie,” but didn't know their name at that time. The lead singer, Tony Sheridan, was very good and his use of the "woo" shout on records like "When The Saints Go Marching In" (recorded in Hamburg in 1961) was a forerunner of the same shout used later by The Beatles in songs like "She Loves You."
1962
Front entrance of The Star-Club in Hamburg
In August of 1962, I was on vacation on my way to Copenhagen and stopped off for a few days in Hamburg, Germany. One night with an Army buddy, we went to the Reeperbahn, the notorious district filled with strip clubs, bar girls, drunks and rock n' roll venues. One of the best known was The Star-Club where the Beatles had played in 1961 and 1962. As George Harrison said in a 1969 interview:
And probably, in my opinion anyway, we reached our stage peak in Hamburg. That was well before we were famous, and so the people who came to see us were drawn by our music, or whatever atmosphere we created...we got very tight as a band in Hamburg.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear them in Hamburg but did hear their name mentioned by a young German rock n' roll fan we talked to there. He said: "this group playing here isn't as good as the Beatles." That was the first time I had heard their name.
Later on, in 1963, I heard the first two Beatles hit records, "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me." These songs were played a lot at a favorite club I went to in Frankfurt. It was fascinating to hear their unusual vocal harmonies and the prominent use of the harmonica. As quoted in Chris Ingham's informative The Rough Guide To The Beatles (3rd edition), their brilliant record producer, George Martin, said this about "Love Me Do," recorded in September of 1962:
It was John's harmonica that gave it its appeal.
The same was true for for "Please Please Me" which I especially liked with the harmonica intro and those pleading lyrics of "come on, come on, come on, come on " followed by the pleading words: "Please please me oh yeah like I please you." I thought this was more sophisticated songwriting than most rock n' roll groups were singing at that time.
1963
I had listened to a lot of pop singers from the UK on Radio Luxembourg including Adam Faith and Cliff Richard. I even purchased the Epic LP album which had four songs by Cliff Richard and The Shadows from the film, SUMMER HOLIDAY (1963), which I saw at the local cinema. I also heard one of the UK groups at The Rocket Club. They were called Sonny Stewart and The Dominos and they were a great sounding group.
When I returned to the U.S. after being discharged from the Army in 1963 I told my friends about the Beatles. All they could say was -- "never heard of them. Who are they?" I told them to just wait until the Beatles get some attention in the U.S.
1964
That attention came along in a hurry when they came for their American television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. I was out there watching with millions of others on TV as The Beatles captured the hearts of young and old alike.
During that same year I copyrighted my early song, "The Soho Serenade," which had been inspired by the early Beatles songs I heard while stationed in the Army in Germany. I had a demo record made in 1965 and here I am proudly holding that framed 45 RPM record:
Fifty years later and finally released.
Listen and you can here a time capsule of London's Soho district in the 1960s at the beginning of Beatlemania too.--Roger Hall, 2014
"The Soho Serenade" is available on the AMRC CD, "Gentle Peace" -- click here
"Till There Was You" - A Personal Remembrance of Paul McCartney
If you have any comments about any Beatles songs or albums, send them in -- click here
There are early Beatles recordings on these CDs...
The Beatles featuring Tony Sheridan
In The Beginning
The Beatles With Tony Sheridan: First Recordings
(50th Anniversary Edition)
Also this DVD:
The Beatles with Tony Sheridan -
The Beginnings in Hamburg
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