What if "With the Beatles" had featured all original material?

In late 1963, they had more than enough material for a complete, 14-song album with no covers. However, they decided to release six of those songs as singles, and recorded six covers, in order to make a "mixed" album, like it's predecessor, Please Please Me. Their next album, however, was all Lennon/McCartney material.

Do you think that it would have made for a better album, had they stuck with originals?

As sequenced by me:

Side One:
01 It Won't Be Long
02 All I've Got to Do
03 All My Loving
04 Don't Bother Me
05 Little Child
06 I Wanna Hold Your Hand
07 From Me to You
Side Two:
08 She Loves You
09 Hold Me Tight
10 I'll Get You
11 I Wanna Be Your Man
12 Thank You, Girl
13 Not a Second Time
14 This Boy

 

No. "With the Beatles" has the best set of cover IMO. Diversity is lost by including the singles, which are all in the same vein -- except for "This Boy"

 

Of course the American version, Meet the Beatles, was all originals with the exception of "Till There Was You."

Some of the covers on With the Beatles were indeed very good, but millions of Yanks like me will always remember Meet the Beatles as their first exposure to the group beyond the radio hits. And it's hard to argue the point that the song choice and sequencing make it a very strong album.

 

And... take all those WTB covers and put them together on an album... Beatles Second Album...which is one kick a$$ lp

 

How do you guys get all these new questions about old The Beatles topics????

 

While I definitely never spin Till There Was You, it serves unmistakable insight into what was expected of entertainers in that era. Paul is often accused of being overly pragmatic about career decisions, but never more so when he included this distinctly not rock and roll song in their set (even playing it on Ed Sullivan.) In addition to their important music, the Beatles also shattered the myth that singers and songwriters are different people. In that era, if a career were to have any longevity, one would become a songwriter or an all-round vocal entertainer - The Beatles were hedging their bets, not really knowing if in the end if they would be seen as a songwriting team (Rogers and Hart, The Sherman Brothers) or as entertainers (Martin/Lewis, Rat Pack, etc.) Of course they blazed their own path and destroyed that binary system, but that was never a goal. How could they know they would create the self-contained band? I hear Till There Was You as cynical, and its inclusion as a rare showing of Lennon and McCartney lacking confidence - for this reason it belongs on the album.

 

That would've been a killer album! Now way it could've happened though. The philosophy was "Don't rip people off by obliging them to buy the singles again".

 

Interesting theory, not sure I agree.

I will say that Harrison's lovely acoustic guitar solo on TTWY more than compensates for the schmaltz! And that TTWY is nowhere near as bad as "A Taste of Honey," "Act Naturally" & some other not-so-Fab covers.

 

Buckle up!!!!

 

"Til There Was You" was part of their Hamburg set list, before they had hit records or any plans to conquer the US market.

Any speculation on why it was played at the "Ed Sullivan Show" needs to consider that as a starting point -- it was part of their regular show for some time.

 

Next up - What if Paul was right handed and John was left handed?

 

These type threads always bring me back to..
“If a frog had wings....”

 

And why do people who don't care about the subject keep threadcrapping?

 

And the follow-up Beatles' Second Album IMO was also strong (one of my U.S. favs) with all the covers from With The Beatles, singles and EP tracks.

Some of those covers, like You Really Got A Hold On Me, Please Mr. Postman, Long Tall Sally, etc. are classics, better than the originals with stellar vocal performances by Lennon & McCartney.

 

Many of their albums would have been superior with the inclusion of some or those killer singles and B-sides - especially their last three albums!

 

Could not agree more.

I rank "With the Beatles" in a tie for second of all Beatles albums (along with "Abbey Road," "A Hard Day’s Night" and "Revolver")... trailing only "The White Album."

It has the energy of the "Please Please Me" album, but the band sounds more confident in the studio, their original songs are better-crafted, and Parlophone took the proper amount of time (since they were such phenoms at the time) to record it quite well (as opposed to the 12 hours in which the entire "Please Please Me" album was recorded).

The Beatles at their roots-rockin' best!
Why it doesn't poll so well here and at other sites is a total mystery to me.

The only thing I can figure is that listeners haven't heard the original First MONO pressing with the deep, powerful bass response.

Agree with this also.

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I generally agree, although I would put only "Please Mr. Postman" in the category of "better than the originals." Not to say that the others aren't great performances in their own right nevertheless.

P.S. I may well have said this before, but your avatar is great. I've been a Fin fan ever since I was a kid watching The Boys on after school TV.

 

I don't think including "Till There Was You" on the LP has anything at all to do with "Lennon and McCartney lacking confidence" or them "hedging their bets." As noted, it had been part of their live set for some time, and in fact was "out-schmaltzed" by some of their other selections.

As a showcase for Harrison's superb guitar work and a break in the sequencing from the rockin' songs surrounding it, it works perfectly. I've always felt that those who dis "Till There Was You" are trying just a little too hard to be authentic rock 'n' rollers. As a well-played, well-sung pop song, there's nothing wrong with it.

As for performing it on The Ed Sullivan Show, this was simply an acknowledgement of the program's audience being widely diverse in age. Remember that they had also done it at the Royal Variety Performance a few months previous for the same reason. There's no shame in trying to please as many different members of the crowd as possible. The Beatles certainly rocked out in every other way.

Finally, while The Beatles certainly blazed a significant path in this regard, they didn't "create the self-contained band." That honor would go to Buddy Holly and the Crickets.

 

"I'll Keep You Satisfied"

"I'm In Love"

"I'll Be On My Way"

"Love Of The Loved"

"Bad To Me"

"A World Without Love"

 

I always thought they did Til There Was You because Paul liked it and liked singing it.

It doesn't really bother me. George's guitar work makes it interesting.

 

There's a hot topic right there! Start a thread forthwith!!

 

As some have pointed out, WTB does include some great covers...technically, if we take it song for song, I'd prefer the all-originals version you created. That said, many of the tracks would be repeats since they were already singles and i wouldn't want to take away things like Money, Beethoven or Till There was You at the cost of having "repeat songs". Double edged sword here.

 

because they hate the Beatles? and they do not want any Beatles Threads on the forum so they disrupt each and every one...Ignore it and enjoy the comradery between us Beatles lovers...

 

See, much better!