Reprise » My Only and One: Beatles For Sale

With this month’s release of The Beatles U.S. albums by Capitol Records and my ongoing re-appreciation of the group’s library of songs, I’ve decided to reprise a series arc from the archives. Each a short post of the British albums on The Lads official list.

From these, in the order as they are in 2009’s remastered stereo set, I’ll list their songs from the spotlighted album and pick two:

• the only – if I could only listen to one track, the best song that exemplifies the album, it would be this number
• the one – if I could pick a single tune that doesn’t get either the play or the credit it deserves, it’s this one

Beatles For Sale

No Reply
I’m A Loser
Baby’s In Black
Rock And Roll Music
I’ll Follow The Sun
Mr. Moonlight
Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!
Eight Days A Week
Words Of Love
Honey Don’t
Every Little Thing
I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party
What You’re Doing
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby

The group’s more somber Beatles For Sale album, coming off their hectic touring/filming/appearance schedule, set a more cynical tone for its 4 December 1964 release. Still, it represented a maturing work, and another highly successful LP in the UK (eleven weeks at #1).

My Only: Eight Days A Week. I went back and forth with What You’re Doing and this calling card number. Settled on the major hit because of its nontraditional guitar fade-in and studio over-dubbing work. The latter something the group would be known more for, later. Their tight vocal harmonies didn’t hurt, either. It always surprised me this song was never a favorite of The Lads.

My One: I’m A Loser. It was the other Lennon song, No Reply, that vied with this. However, John’s stirring vocal — especially how he declares the song at its beginning, along with his harmonica riff — that put I’m A Loser on top as the one. This number the middle track in the melancholy Lennon Trilogy (ahead of Baby’s In Black) that strikingly started the album.

What would be your Only and One for this album?

The entire series can be found here.