Celebrating The Beatles, Please Please Me Turns 50

[Tusk]

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/03/22...-turns-50/

It might be hard to believe, but Please Please Me, The Beatles’ debut album, was released 50 years ago today. It was March 22, 1963, when the LP was rushed out by Parlaphone, and it went on to spend thirty weeks in the UK album charts. This would be the start of a phenomenon few could have anticipated: within 18 months the band had not only conquered Europe and America, but much of the world

[My Alter Ego]

^^

"Please, please me -- oh, yah -- as I please you."

Thanks, Tusk, my friend, for reminding me that I'm as old as Methuselah -- perhaps, older.

On the one hand, it does make me feel even older (than I already feel) that these early Beatles tunes that I knew as a kid are now "50 years old."

On the other hand, there's a certain gratification that something I said, probably around 30 years ago, a statement that, at the time, may have come across as a desperate defense, was actually accurate.

[john]

A couple years ago Rolling Stone came up with a list of the Beatles Top 100 songs. While I have LOTS of disagreements with their rankings of many songs the list clearly shows the incredible depth of the Fab 4's catalogue.

A sampling with the RS ranking:

#86 Lady Madonna


81 songs were rated higher than She's Leaving Home (#82)


#67 Oh! Darling


#61 With a Little Help From My Friends


#34 Eight Days a Week



#28 Here Comes the Sun

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[Tusk]

It is the depth of their song writing that means there will never be a 'definitive' and correct ranking of their songs. Anyone who grew up as the Liverpool Lads evolved connected with different songs depending on when or what those songs happened in their lives.

The generation before mine probably attached to the 'simpler times' Beatles songs, the Ed Sullivan generation. While, I attached to the "Sgt Peppers/Rubber Soul/Revolver/Let it Be" era.

They were the friend that grew with us as we grew

Thnx for bringing up the RS list so I can look it up. Hard to argue with "A Day In The Life" as Number one....

In truth, the song was far too intense musically and emotionally for regular radio play. It wasn't really until the Eighties, after Lennon's murder, that "A Day in the Life" became recognized as the band's masterwork. In this song, as in so many other ways, the Beatles were way ahead of everyone else.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/...s-20110919

I enjoyed reading the forward to the list by Elvis Costello

I was exactly the right age to be hit by them full-on. My experience — seizing on every picture, saving money for singles and EPs, catching them on a local news show — was repeated over and over again around the world. It wasn't the first time anything like this had happened, but the Beatles achieved a level of fame and recognition known previously only to Charlie Chaplin, Brigitte Bardot and Elvis Presley, along with a little of the airless exclusivity of astronauts, former presidents and other heavyweight champions.

Every record was a shock. Compared to rabid R&B evangelists like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles arrived sounding like nothing else. They had already absorbed Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry, but they were also writing their own songs. They made writing your own material expected, rather than exceptional.

[john]

It is the depth of their song writing that means there will never be a 'definitive' and correct ranking of their songs. Anyone who grew up as the Liverpool Lads evolved connected with different songs depending on when or what those songs happened in their lives.

I agree that there will never be a definitive list. Ranking the Beatles songs is difficult for a lot of reasons. I was struggling with the notion of how one might even do that. I suppose that one way is to select the songs you would want on a deserted island, or perhaps, in your playlist. But the context of the song, when it was written and released is also important. The context. The early songs reflect a time and place, and they were written by a couple of novice songwriters. But they matured quickly, as did the band.

1964
I Want To Hold Your Hand (#1 single on Billboard for the year)


1965
The #1 single that year was Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and Pharaohs (wow). Meanwhile the Beatles focus less on pop and dig on folks like Bob Dylan. They release Rubber Soul, and introduce us to the Sitar.

Norwegian Wood


1966
#1 Billboard single: The Ballad of the Green Berets by SSG Barry Sadler
The Beatles release this...(We're a long ways from Love Me Do, Dorothy)


1967
#1 Billboard is To Sir with Love by Lulu
Beatles?



Trivia question: Which popular song by the Beatles does not feature them playing any of the instruments (zero)?

[Haleylvr4evr]

Trivia question: Which popular song by the Beatles does not feature them playing any of the instruments (zero)?

LOVE version of "Because"!