This debut album from the Fab Four may sound rather "innocent" compared to the revolutionary explorations and creative liberties they took in later albums such as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's, and "The White Album", and when compared to the wild tales of their rough nights in Hamburg previously. But for 1963, there's a surprising amount of variety here, between the R&B covers, the original tunes they had in their arsenal right out of the gate, and the eclectic influences heard in each of these songs. It's also pretty incredible, especially by today's standards, that they knocked out this whole album in just one day (February 11th), including the most famous single take in rock history, "Twist and Shout". Ringo cuts loose on "Boys", George sings lead on "Chains" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret", and John and Paul trade off on the rest, from Burt Bacharach's "Baby It's You" to their own "Love Me Do" and "I Saw Her Standing There", which counts off the kickoff to a recording stretch that lasted only seven years, but revolutionized every aspect of popular music forever.
Monday Night Feb. 9th at 8pm: THE BEATLES - Please Please Me
