The Beatles UK singles: A sides v B Sides

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by AFOS, Jul 31, 2013.

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  1. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    The entire RUBBER SOUL album and Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out was the last 1965 stuff, right? After that, too many drugs and a change of engineers meant a change in "direction" for the band. I still love them but after '65 it was never the same (for me). Onward.
     
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  2. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    It doesn't really, it has none of his trademark bends and slides up- each note is very specifically played individually, with no 'guitar player' tricks- it's a uniquely-played riff, almost enunciated- most people play it wrong, too slick.
    But he specifically named John as the player, and John's remark can be read as such, too. So for me, that clinches it.
    Sounds better. The Anthology DVD 5.1 mix really socks home that bass.
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2013
  3. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    What you're doing is hailing Norman Smith. Rightly so. Wonderful engineer. Really knew where to put a Neuman. From 1966 it was young Geoffery Emerick's turn, and everything got a bit sloppy. Good sloppy, but sloppy.
    PS They also did a little tour back home in December 1965, after they'd done these records- they were great.
     
  4. Frittenköter

    Frittenköter Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    in a way i do agree. It all became a little unbalanced and disjointed at times. I do love all the albums equally though, just saying that i think i get where you're coming from.
     
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  5. bumbletort

    bumbletort Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore, Md, USA
    Yes. Rubber Soul is usually my favorite album. It is the end of Something or perhaps the ultimate culmination--I have a hard time imagining them going beyond it on a 'conventional' course. The songs are so melodic, so Musical--the lyrics...wow, there is actual poignance there that I don't think they ever quite recaptured in such abundance. It feels like a band playing--not miraculous compositions being constructed in a studio... It has a 'resonant' warm mood to it--kind of like Pet Sounds for me--I go to a deep place just hearing it and its associated single. All that being said, I adore much of what they did after--it's essential music--but they never again had that 'profoundly spontaneous' quality again in such richness.
     
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  6. Jonno

    Jonno Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    "We never did the same thing once" - Paul McCartney.
     
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  7. Jonno

    Jonno Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Day Tripper is cool.

    'We Can Work It Out' is my favourite Beatles song, and a classic Lennon/McCartney collaboration. The "life is very short" section is IMO the poignant and perfect moment in their entire catalogue.

    So, 'We Can Work It Out' for me...
     
  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Notice that Paul double-tracks his voice except on the "life is very short" parts where he lays off the second vocal and lets the single merged voices of John and Paul stand alone. A true bromance.
     
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  9. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    I'm a little late to this thread and I've mentioned these things years ago but there are many new forum members here so...

    It interests me that later in life John kind of griped that Paul always pushed for the "A" side of singles but at the time of release both John and George wanted "Im Down" as the "A" side of the single if a tie in with the film didn't need to be considered.

    It also interests me that Paul generally talks about every Beatles track as if they are all golden these days , but he didn't really care for "Ticket to Ride" at the time.

    George preferred "Yes It Is" to "Ticket To Ride" also and wished it was the "A" side.Hearing this Paul mentioned he agreed but said you musn't confuse what you prefer and what's the best "A"side because they're totally different things.

    Also, John didn't write "Help !" completely from scratch under pressure the night before a "Help!" title song was needed, as the story got told later. He had a rough version of the song kicking around with different lyrics and John and Paul got together and transformed that working song into "Help!"
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2013
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  10. Classicolin

    Classicolin ‘60s/‘70s Rock Fanatic/Crown Kingdom Guitarist

    Location:
    Ohio
    I can't believe, for the life of me, this wasn't released as a single in the UK. Sure, maybe John and Paul had a distaste for it, but if any song should be a single, its this. #1 in the States, for crying out loud! Maybe they didn't have the greatest commercial/marketing sense after all...
     
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  11. Classicolin

    Classicolin ‘60s/‘70s Rock Fanatic/Crown Kingdom Guitarist

    Location:
    Ohio
    Okay, maybe Paul, at least, had better sense in regard to what should be released as singles/A-sides! haha
    Yes It Is is indeed an exceptional song, and an excellent B-side but Ticket to Ride is a true classic, revolutionary too. I would guess Paul wasn't into it much, at least at the time, because it was more Lennon-centric and too droning, which at the time was quite odd.
     
  12. Glenn Christense

    Glenn Christense Foremost Beatles expert... on my block

    Paul sang a bit of "Help!" to the reporter, maintaining it was much better than "Ticket To Ride". He said.. "Can't say I liked "Ticket" much. But his (John's) new one is, in my opinion, good." (Record Mirror, May 15th 1965)
    Paul also mentioned that "Help!" is "a bit like the middle eight in "It Won't Be Long".
     
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  13. Classicolin

    Classicolin ‘60s/‘70s Rock Fanatic/Crown Kingdom Guitarist

    Location:
    Ohio
    Interesting...and yeah! It is a little like It Won't Be Long's Middle 8....huh!
     
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  14. ralph7109

    ralph7109 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Franklin, TN
    I think they sold enough records that their legacy for having the greatest commercial and marketing sense is in tact. Even if you don't like their music - pretty much everyone appreciates that.

    Point is they only released singles from songs that weren't on albums (except for the movie soundtracks) through 1965.

    They just had a lot of great songs on the albums - and as such, they wouldn't release them as singles.
     
    Last edited: Aug 17, 2013
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  15. Classicolin

    Classicolin ‘60s/‘70s Rock Fanatic/Crown Kingdom Guitarist

    Location:
    Ohio
    I was only saying that, even though The Beatles had a very keen sense of what to market, etc. they were not even without their mistakes, because "Eight Days a Week" went straight to #1 in America and is a pop classic, even though Lennon and McCartney "hated" it and they/EMI didn't see fit to release it as a single in their home country. Actually, they had no qualms releasing singles "from" their albums, as long as the single's release preceded that of the album on which it was featured (examples: title track and Love Me Do singles from PPM, Can't Buy Me Love, AHDN, HELP!, and Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine). Also, the band actually broke this custom/rule of theirs with the "Come Together/Something" single, which was released after Abbey Road (Source: Mono Box Set Liner Notes).

    So they could have put out "Eight Days a Week" as a single in the UK before "Beatles For Sale", if they were willing to put the release of the latter on delay, or they could have broken their custom years before they actually did.
     
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  16. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Interesting that Paul wasn't fond of Ticket To Ride.
     
  17. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Can I name drop? Who's going to stop me? George told me that EIGHT DAYS A WEEK was considered the next single but they came up with I FEEL FINE and that became it instead. So there ya go.
     
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  18. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Pfft - that's useless information. What would George Gobel have known about the Beatles' release plans?
     
  19. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    They could have put I Saw Her Standing There out as an A side, or It Won't Be Long, All My Loving, Anytime At All, No Reply, I'm a Loser, Michelle, I've Just Seen a face, Norwegian wood, Good Day Sunshine, And Your Bird can sing, Fool On the Hill, Dear Prudence, Back in the USSR, all would have been hits. They didn't. Capitol put out And I Love Her and it wasn't a hit. They put out Nowhere Man and it limped to No.3. So Capitol 'made mistakes' too.
     
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  20. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    Tony Barrow's sleeve notes for an EP claimed NO REPLY and I'm A LOSER were also considered as A sides.
     
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  21. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    His irreverent singing on the session tape before the tracking of the vocals shows his disinterest in the song, but he was very interested in the record- witness his guitar solos and input on the drumming.
     
  22. slane

    slane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Merrie England
    And in the BFS album notes, if I remember correctly.
     
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  23. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    You do! "At least three of the Lennon-McCartney songs were seriously considered as single releases until John popped up with I FEEL FINE....each would have topped the charts, but as it is, they are an adornment to this LP, and a lesson to other artists. As on other albums, the Beatles have tossed in far more value than the market usually demands." Derek Taylor.
     
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  24. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    Paperback Writer b/w Rain
    [​IMG]

    Another tough decision - this one is a serious contender for greatest Beatles single. These two also sound "louder" than previous Beatles recordings thanks to something new in the mastering process - automatic transient overload control.

    But as much as I love Paperback Writer (or son of Day Tripper) and it's amazing riff , my vote goes to the trippy b-side.
     
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  25. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I go "Paperback" with this one. I like the B-side but admit I've gotten a bit burned out on it over the years, while the A-side still sounds fresh to me...
     
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