Beatles 5: The Early Beatles

By the end of a very busy 1964, Capitol had won their lawsuits against Vee-Jay, Swan, Tollie and all the other labels that had spent the year reselling Beatle product, so The Early Beatles appeared in March of 1965. For reasons related to publishing costs, Capitol insisted on putting only eleven songs on their albums, so this one includes all but two of the remaining tracks from Please Please Me (“I Saw Her Standing There” having already appeared on Meet The Beatles!; “Misery” and “There’s A Place” wouldn’t appear on a Capitol album until 1980).

At the time of its release these songs were already two years old—an eternity on the pop charts. But the album still manages to convey the excitement that made their first two singles and subsequent debut such a success in the UK. There are rockers and torch songs, covers and originals. All four Fabs get to show off their voices, and while John’s sore throat colors most of his spots, particularly on “Baby It’s You”, there’s no denying the ache of “Anna” or the power of “Twist And Shout”. (And why did Ringo have to sing about “Boys” anyway?)

Even though the kids had most likely bought all these songs already—despite Capitol’s belief that the cachet of having them on their label made them somehow extra-special—the album managed to chart. And it’s still a great set of tunes. The song order is shuffled, with “Do You Want To Know A Secret” ending the program instead of “Twist And Shout”, which comes right after the opening “Love Me Do”. In between it pretty much follows the 1963 sequence: George sings about “Chains”; “Ask Me Why”, “Please Please Me”, and “P.S. I Love You” show off their first singles; “A Taste Of Honey” keeps it in the cabaret. But since all the songs come from the same period it’s still cohesive. However, the cover art features the photo from the back cover of Beatles For Sale, an anachronistic trend that would continue for most of their 45 picture sleeves as well. (To their credit, the liner notes were practically apologetic.)

So with this album, were the Americans finally caught up with the Brits? Hardly, as we shall soon see. (With the band’s insistence on keeping the world to their wishes, this was one of the few America-only albums that could be easily replicated with a single CD in the UK sequence. Still, fanatics might have appreciated the mono/stereo mixes included in 2006’s Capitol Albums, Vol. 2 box, and argued over the mixes used for the “U.S. Albums” version released in early 2014.)

The Beatles The Early Beatles (1965)—4
UK CD equivalent: Please Please Me