Heading back to Please Please Me by The Beatles is like cracking rocks together to make fire. Sure, there is some charm remaining in the first outing of the Fab Four, but why have plain noodles when the hog roast is down the hall? This is more a historical document now than a truly great album. Or is it? Please Please Me is a roaring bit of fun. Light works from a band which was not quite ready to nail down those all-time lyrical greats. Their instrumental flavour, however, is staggering. A few dark horses certainly appear in this debut from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Suspend what you know about The Beatles, about Wings or The Traveling Wilburys to follow, and dive into Please Please Me at its plainest. There are obvious highs like opener I Saw Her Standing There and Twist and Shout, as well as deep cuts like Anna (Go to Him) which feels horridly overlooked still.
Do nostalgic ears and a love for history make Please Please Me better than it is, or is it truly that good? It is tricky to tell. What The Beatles were doing at the time of this release, irrespective of the quality of their writing here, is beyond compare. There is nobody quite like the Fab Four and they proved it from song one. They had to. Very early pop fare would not cut through as it does now and the instrumental joys to behold here are the main reason The Beatles leaves an impression. Starr is the key to unlocking all this, replacing Pete Best before they ever made it big and finding the duties of timekeeping and tempo not a burden but a chance to display his exceptional understanding of the little subtleties which make The Beatles’ work to follow all the better. Is our love for the classics on here overshadowing what is, in turn, very solid pop work? Maybe so.
Because when you cover a song like Twist and Shout and make it so thoroughly your own, it is not like the rest of the material around it stands a chance. Please Please Me is an awkward album in hindsight because it hosts ample pop material and a few hits which still define the band, the latter outshining everything preceding it. That imbalance is hard to get around but listen to the likes of Anna (Go to Him) and hear some of the finest instrumental progressions in music history. Something so primitive yet complex in its emotional depth is the core of Please Please Me. It does not stop the likes of Chains from sounding incredibly cheesy, but such is the lyrical experience of the times. Loved-up, doe-eyed charmers with a chance to tell some nameless face they are infatuated. Such is the point of pop music at the time, and The Beatles were no exception to this rule.
Vocal intonations and the quality of the listening experience are never in doubt. But the lyrical portions of Ask Me Why or P.S. I Love You range from flippant to whining crawls through teenage loves. Nothing soppy or heartwarming about it, just very generic pangs of loved-up writings which are rightly bashed when performed by other artists. Tremendously important songs like Love Me Do overshadow A Taste of Honey and There’s a Place because it is superior. Not just in lyrical complexity but in instrumental choice, articulation of the point and showcasing the joys The Beatles would make good on just a few albums later. Please Please Me remains an essential offering – not least because it is the Fab Four. But it also offers a pop experience of the times which does not grate the ears as others may do with their questionable reflections on life and love.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
