The first Beatles album I purchased was for 99 cents in a discount bin. It was a monaural record meaning it wasn’t stereo. It was “Meet the Beatles,” the Beatles first album. It is hard to fathom today that there were records that were not stereo.
My point however is that the Beatles initially, at least in the United States, did not come with trumpets. It was more word of mouth and ultimately the push of DJ’s.
“Meet the Beatles” laid the groundwork for The Beatles’ second album named appropriately “The Beatles’ Second Album.” This Album did two things. It brought the image of The Beatles” to a high level and went back and re-introduced some of their songs on a more formal basis. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” became one of their trademark songs.
“The Beatles’ Second Album (1964 April, Capital T 2080 and ST 2080 (Stereo)) reflects even more the African-American influence on The Beatles starting with “Roll Over Beethoven.” It is taken from Chuck Berry. Interestingly it is sung by George but the rest of the album is dominated by John showing his leadership and also affiliation with “down and dirty soul.” As an aside I have linked to Chuck Berry and note if you will how unfamiliar the young white kids were with that type of music.
Once again in the song “Thank You Girl” you will hear Buddy Holly’s “Ow-Ow” and tight secondary tight harmonies. The drum work is right out of Holly’s work as well.
John’s singing is powerful as he sings and The Beatles perform several “soul” songs such as “Money,” You Really Got a Hold a Hold on Me” and “You Can’t Do That.” As I mentioned before Paul as a performer before being “discovered was a screamer and shows it in the song “Long Tall Sally.”
The Beatles worked in Liverpool in clubs and especially The Cavern. However it is important to remember that they went into Germany and in fact even released German records. That is why it is difficult to track their work.
However in this second album there was a hint of the special quality The Beatles had. They used three-part harmony and they had begun writing their own songs. The team of “Lennon-McCartney” was becoming a regular site.
What was unusual about this group was that all of a sudden they had tons of songs in the top 100.
References:
Record Reference: 1964 April, Capital T 2080 and ST 2080 (Stereo)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsp4VCbVvn4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_wC5zBOfxY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3m-gOelA8g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QT6GqfGgko
