Reprise » My Only and One: Please Please Me
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
Please Please Me
I Saw Her Standing There
Misery
Anna (Go To Him)
Chains
Boys
Ask Me Why
Please Please Me
Love Me Do
P.S. I Love You
Baby It’s You
Do You Want To Know A Secret
A Taste Of Honey
There’s A Place
Twist And Shout
The Beatles Please Please Me album was rush-released by Parlophone on 22nd March, 1963 to capitalize on the enormous success of the title track that had been the group’s second single and their first no. 1 on most UK charts.
My Only: Twist and Shout. How could I not pick this song? One I’ve already mentioned in a post a short while back. While Love Me Do and Please Please Me were the first up the charts in the U.S., for me it remains this number. Primarily because of Lennon’s wonderfully raucous vocal (their last and his only take with this song in a marathon album recording day) and the track’s infectious rhythms.
My One: Anna (Go To Him). At one time, it would have been the Gerry Goffin/Carole King classic, Chains, but blogger/friend Corey Wilde made me re-discover this other cover song. Anna was originally written and performed by Arthur Alexander, the country-soul singer particularly influential on Rock & Roll — and the only songwriter whose songs were covered by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan.
What would be your Only and One for this album?
The entire series can be found here.
It Rains... You Get Wet 
4 Responses to “Reprise » My Only and One: Please Please Me”
Definitely agree on both your picks. Twist & Shout is classic rock, before anyone had a notion what classic rock might be. And if the lads had never recorded Anna, I might never have found and appreciated the music of Arthur Alexander.
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Great comment, Naomi. Many thanks.
🙂
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I think I would say Twist and Shout as well. Excellent song.
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Great to have you chime in, ckckred. Thanks. 🙂
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