Disco de The Beatles: “Please Please Me”

There's only so much that audio engineers can do with material that was frankly rather sloppily recorded four and a half decades ago. Back in the 1970s, I owned a high-end audio store, and as familiar as I was with the Beatles' U.S. releases, I still purchased all the Beatles LPs on British Parlophone anticipating the "real thing." However, none of those LPs, including this album, were anything great in terms of fidelity. The sound was generally thin, brittle, weak, and lacking in detail. The U.S. versions, with all their weaknesses, were better. But keep in mind that high-quality audio systems were very rare in 1962, and the engineers did the mastering, equalization, etc., with "record players," not audio systems, in mind. It should not be surprising that the early Beatles' recordings didn't hold up so well on top-quality audio equipment.

Whatever else they have done to their manufacturing capability over the past few decades, the British have remained extremely important in terms of audio engineering. Bowers & Wilkins 801s are still damn fine speakers a quarter century after they first appeared. The British masterings of Frank Sinatra's 1950s output simply blow away the American versions. While the American engineers worried about removing hiss, the British engineers went after capturing the music, the comparison to modern digital recording be damned.

What the engineers have done with this album, and I assume the others, is dig as deep as they could into the master tapes and get us as close to the music as possible. Beware that this is not as close as possible to the sound that we heard from our GE or RCA portables. It is what we wish they could have sounded like back then. It is the Beatles reworked for the modern age and, to my mind, very successfully.

Compare this remastered version to the old LP or the early CDs. It's no contest. It's not a matter of whether the harmonica sounds squeaky or the voices on occasion sound hard. That's on the tape and can't be changed. It's a matter of detail, and balance, and definition, and capturing the music. Eight remastered CDs arrived today. I can't wait to hear the rest.

After two hit singles(Love Me Do & Please,Please Me which eventually became the albums title track) an album was inevitible.But since The Beatles didn't have the clout for even a budget sized production,this album was recorded in one day.In these days of artist spending millions,and taking years to complete an album,PPM is amazing in the fact that they practically banged this one out and 37 years later dispite many rough edges,it still sounds fresh.Another amazing facet was that 60% of the album was self composed,especially at a time when musical acts recorded other writers songs suggested by their producer.This was essentially their stage show in the studio,where they even topped it off with their no holds barred performance of Twist & Shout.The originals(especially I Saw Her Standing There,Ask Me Why,PS I Love You,& Do You Want To Know A Secret) follow up on the precedent that the two aforementioned lead singles had set.The cover songs aren't no slouches either(the sweet Anna,Boys,A Taste Of Honey and of course Twist & Shout).Some of todays mainstream music listeners may be put of by the rough edges,flubbed notes and shaky vocals,but its those flaws that give PPM its charm.

This is about as basic as Rock and Roll gets. These were the early and fun days of Rock. Bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones covered the songs of their Blues And R&B heroes from The States. These songs carried them through tours of their homeland and some European locales. In the case of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, there was an ace up their sleeves: great songwriting. Of the eight songs here that bear their imprint, five are considered classics by any measuring stick: "I Saw Her Standing There," "Please Please Me," "Love Me Do," "P.S. I Love You," and "Do You Want To Know A Secret." Considering the impact of these songs, the big upset would have been had this duo NOT reinvented the classic rock songbook. It is also easy to see that the American girl group sound was a big influence on The Beatles. They did male versions of three girl group classics on this album, and it would not be the last time they mined this source for material. In

addition are well-known covers of Arthur Alexander's "Anna" and the Isley Brothers' hit, "Twist And Shout." You won't find any message songs here. These Beatles were young, having a good time, and looking for an even better one! The fast numbers here can still jumpstart any Rock And Roll party, even after all these years. My only complaint about this album, and all the other CD releases of The Beatles'early albums, is that more music could have been included. It would have been easy to add "From Me To You" and "Thank You Girl" to this CD as bonus tracks. I know some of you purists will say it's better to issue the albums as The Beatles might have intended. But a couple of albums titled "Meet The Beatles" and "Introducing The Beatles" managed to hold down the top two slots in the U.S. lp charts for most of 1964, though their content varied from the U.K. releases "Please Please Me" and "With The Beatles." So there is precedent. The Beatles showed they were here to stay with this winning first lp effort. And they would never be so young, so innocent, so unpretentious, and so much fun, ever again.

This was the first beatles cd i got,and it was superb!

It has a variety of songs and they are all magnifecent!

I saw her standing there=9\10-this song makes the beatles seem pretty cool..one of my all time favorites!

Misery=10\10-I like to listen to this song when i'm in misery!=)as soon as i heard it i loved it!

Anna=9\10-this song is so nice!it has a nice beautiful tune and really gets you!

chains=4\10-ok, this one i didnt like as much as the rest..It gets old after awhile..it's ok..

boys=6\10-this one i love to dance to!but stil not as great as others.

ask me why=7\10-its pretty good..not as good as they can get though.

please please me=8\10-i dont want to sound complaining but you know theres always blame in my heart!

love me do=7\10-at first i really loved this song!people overplay it too much!

ps:i love you=9\10-very beautiful, romantic song!

baby,it's you=8\10-i really like this song!

do you want to know a secret=10\10!!-whole reason i got this cd!!

a taste of honey=7\10-this song has such a cool sound

theres a place=6\10-its pretty at first but then gets old

twist and shout=7\10-=)heehee rocks...

It's a mistake to compare this album to any other in their catalog. Of course it's not Seargent Pepper, thank God. Nothing against that album, but I bet Lennon listened to this one a whole lot more than Pepper. And for good reason. I disagree that this album sounds primitive. The Beatles had plenty opportunity to polish thier act in Hamburg and the Cavern. Their youthful, exuburent vocals shine all the way through this disc. Lennon's vocals, particularly, amaze. I don't know if he ever sang better. I've always thought that this album "sounded" great, probably because it was mastered directly from the 2-track session tapes. It kicks much harder than their next three studio albums. Anyway, forget all the rubish that begins "not as good as." If you love pop/rock/vocal, you'll love this album. And don't feel guilty when you reach for this one instead of 'The White Album.' There's good reason