Track Listing

1. It Won't Be Long
2. All I've Got To Do
3. All My Loving
4. Don't Bother Me
5. Little Child
6. Till There Was You
7. Please Mr Postman
8. Roll Over Beethoven
9. Hold Me Tight
10. You've Really Got A Hold On Me
11. I Wanna Be Your Man
12. Devil In Her Heart
13. Not A Second Time
14. Money (That's What I Want)
15. With The Beatles Documentary

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #235 in Music
• Released on: 2009-09-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
They still had plenty of covers to fill out the running time, but the Lennon-McCartney writing team was gathering steam and beginning to knock out pop classics as if they were pulling them out of thin air. "All My Loving" and "I Wanna Be your Man" come from this record, issued hurriedly to capitalise on Beatlemania. But even when they were laying into some classic Chuck Berry, by this time the Beatles had acquired a unique sound in the blend of John's and Paul's voices, while George was coming on by leaps and bounds as a guitar player. While not absolutely essential, as a snapshot of a band in a place and time, With the Beatles is good for a smile. --Chris Nickson

CD Description
This is the one that turned the world upside-down. Releasedas its creators evolved from pop group to phenomenon, WITH THE BEATLES both affirmed promise and proclaimed genius. A slew of memorable Lennon/McCartney compositions embraced pop at its most multi-faceted, robust, melancholic, excited, andwistful. Their grasp of melody and harmony startled, yet for every unusual chord sequence employed, the Beatles' vigor and sense of purpose remained true. Influences and mentors were acknowledged by a handful of cover versions, but the strength of the album lies in the group's own creations. WITH THE BEATLES freed artists to record their own material, and the course of pop was irrevocably changed.

Customer Reviews

A single-less collection of value and energy
The Beatles were into value for money. That's why they tried to not put singles on albums. In the case of With the Beatles, that's exactly what they did, and the result is an electrifying experience from start to finish. The powering intro-song of It Won't Be Long gains attention leading into a collection of songs from their early set. Highlights include Lennon's raw singing, Harrison's ace playing (an underrated guitarist who focused on music, not cheesy virtuoso playing-I hate "virtuosos" you're greasy and cheese-masters), Starr's perfect feel and McCartney's soulful singing and quality basslines. Regarding the tracks, Til There Was You is an awesome reproduction of a song from the Music Man musical with its timing and fab acoustic solo. The raw Please Mr. Postman could make a was dummy dance whilst All I've Got To Do shows Lennon feeling what he sings ("I'LL be there!"). You Really Got A Hold On Me stands out as possibly the best cover the fabs did whilst the closing track of Money is exhilirating. Put it on, press repeat all and listen to the raw early fab four displying, if not what they did live, then the energy they could produce even on record. Stunning.

Tight as a drum...like Berlin but in the studio...
Highlight song-wise: 'All My Loving'. The other songs are of their time, nearly 45 years old, but do not show their age. The vibrancy of the delivery and the passion of Ringo's drumming speeds this into its hallowed place in the Beatles' massive oeuvre. I love the cover design, which in some respects owes much to Stuart Sutcliffe's memory as much as anything else.

It's great on vinyl is all I have to say!!

Second album builds on the first
The Beatles consolidated their reputation as a great rock'n'roll group with this album. Of course, very few people think of them that way now, but nobody knew then just how much their music would change as the sixties progressed. Like their UK debut, Please please me, this album contains a few covers and a selection of original songs, most of which have faded into comparative obscurity.

It won't be long, All I've got to do, Don't bother me, Little child, Hold me tight and Not a second time are all brilliant original songs, but how often do you hear these songs? Very rarely, except on this album. I've got a lot of Beatles tribute albums and I've heard a lot of other covers of Beatles songs and these songs are rare, to say the least.

There are two original songs that you are likely to have heard somewhere. All my loving was included in the Red album and has also been covered a few times. I wanna be your man was an early hit for the Rolling Stones - it was their second UK hit and just failed to make the UK top ten - an improvement on their previous record, which stalled outside the top twenty. Yes, the Beatles really did help the Stones on their way to superstardom.

The album includes three covers of Motown songs. At the time, Motown records did not chart in Britain - perhaps they weren't even given UK releases, so these and other covers helped to make Brits aware of their music. If it weren't for this Beatles album, a UK breakthrough by Motown might not have happened in 1964. Please Mr Postman was an American chart-topper for the Marvelettes, an outstanding Motown group. The song eventually reached number two in the UK charts via a cover by the Carpenters. I enjoy all three versions. The Marvelettes is the best, but not by much. You really got a hold on me was a huge American hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Money (sometimes titled Money that's what I want) was the very first American hit for Motown, way back in 1959. This song was eventually a top five UK hit for the Flying Lizards, a punk rock group. I can't stand their version but I've heard several other covers and I love them all.

Three other covers complete the album. Roll over Beethoven is one of Chuck Berry's classic songs. Devil in her heart is a gender-adjusted cover of Devil in his heart by the obscure girl group, the Donays. Till there was you is from the show The music man. It is not typical of this or any other Beatles album, being a ballad more typical of the thirties and forties (albeit updated for the sixties), but I love it.

This album, with some changes, became their American debut album. It was titled Meet the Beatles. Five songs were dropped and three others added. Several other Beatles albums were altered for the American market but all the CD releases are based on the UK versions.

On first listen, this album may appear ordinary compared to their later music, but don't be deceived. There's a lot of brilliant music here, especially for rock'n'roll fans.