Debut albums are funny things; a good debut album can make or break an artist, defining their genre, style and audience in one hit. So, imagine the weight on The Beatles’ shoulders when their first album ‘Please Please Me’ was released in the spring of 1963, rushed to capitalize on the group’s remarkable popularity with hits including the song of the same name and ‘Love Me Do’. Recorded in three, three hour sessions all in one day in late February, ‘Please Please Me’ is arguably The Beatles at their rawest, before hours would be spent fiddling and rejuvenating tracks for commercial release to include a vast array of synth and orchestral sounds. The Beatles first album included many tracks that had only being recorded in a handful of takes and because of the simple use of guitars, pianos, drums and vocals, there wouldn’t need to be a laborious amount of time being spent on each song after recording by producer George Martin. Instead, every track on ‘Please Please Me’ was recorded with the intent of being sent out to the listener in a pretty similar way to how it had been recorded, thus making it a recorded snap shot of the Beatles at their most rough and ready.

Yet, the band’s debut did in many ways put them in a metaphorical box for the first few years of their careers; as I mentioned in one of my previous reviews for the soundtrack of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, the band were very green at the start of their careers in terms of branching out and creating ambiguous, exciting and challenging sounding records. In fact, many of McCartney’s early songs, in particular the ballads, were scrutinised: tracks like ‘I’ll Follow The Sun’ and ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’ just didn’t suit the band at that stage in their careers, as their desire was to be seen as a rock and roll quartet. Fruitier moments just weren’t a factor in the early productions of the groups work so it’s undeniable that ‘Please Please Me’ was to be made up almost entirely of songs that contained a real edge to them but at the same time, the album would still concentrate on the bands habit of singing to their sweethearts.

The first of the cover versions on ‘Please Please Me’ is ‘Anna (Go To Him)’ a song that had been a hit for American soul singer Arthur Alexander a year prior to The Beatles recording. Being a big fan of the song, Lennon took the lead vocal despite of the fact that he was contending with a pretty nasty cold on the day of recording, hence the raspy, slightly off-key vocal effort. Although not technically sound vocally, ‘Anna’ proves to be one of John’s best outings on ‘Please Please Me’ because you believe the notion that he’s pleading with himself to let the girl go to her true love, although it’s not necessarily a decision he wants to make a reality. The Alexander version of ‘Anna’ is definitely more of a soul ballad whereas John makes the song his own by adding a rough, bluesy edge which makes the situation even more heartbreaking. I think this is one of the best covers on the album because it does at least sound a little different to the original, even if it is just down to the tone of John’s voice.

‘TREASURE THESE FEW WORDS UNTIL WE ARE TOGETHER’ (Lyrics from ‘P.S I Love You)
‘P.S I Love You’ was the B-Side to ‘Love Me Do’ and is a track that strongly demonstrates one of the bands earliest influences; Paul sings the this song in a similar way to how Roy Orbison sings a lot of his ballads with a deep, baritone quality which in turn makes the song seem quite serious but also quite sincere. ‘P.S I Love You’ isn’t exactly an impressive song either lyrically or musically but it has a nice concept of a young man writing to a loved one whilst away from them. The idea of it being a love letter holds romantic connotations too but also makes such romance seem a little dated; now-a-days the way to a girl’s heart is through a naughty text! Or apparently so...anyway, the strongest thing about ‘P.S I Love You’ is McCartney’s flawless, velvet vocals; they really are incredible pitch perfect and because of that, it almost doesn’t matter just how bland or slow the tune is as his voice is incredible pure here. Even as early on as ‘Please Please Me’, it’s clear that McCartney has an extensive vocal range, managing to give a very concise baritone performance on some tracks but also an incredibly jazzy, raw recital on others which shows his diversity as a songwriter for being able to craft two such extremes and performing them so well and so convincingly.

‘DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET? DO YOU PROMISE NOT TO TELL?’ (Lyrics from ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’)
‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’ is the second song on the album ‘Please Please Me’ which allows Harrison to take on the task of lead vocals. Written as a joint project by both Lennon and McCartney, the song was inspired by an old Disney song that John’s Mother used to sing him when he was a lad, which focused around the idea of promises and not breaking them for the sake of another who has put their trust in you. There isn’t really a lot to love about ‘Do You Want To Know A Secret’; it just plods on in its own sweet way for its whole 1.56 minutes, with it’s fairly average display of acoustic guitars and light drum beats. It’s got a nice idea behind it and makes it seem as if the lads had a reason to tell someone they love them other than for the fact that they’re pretty but it’s just not a song you’ll come away from listening to the album and remembering.

If John’s voice was in such a terrible state, why didn’t the band let Paul have a crack at the lead vocals on ‘Twist and Shout’? First and foremost, Lennon was very much the leader of The Beatles back in the earlier days, long before Yoko Ono came along or he got bored and wanted to sleep all day. Singing the lead vocals was a natural choice for John anyway, because the song does require a slightly gruffer approach to it than perhaps Paul could deliver. McCartney’s natural singing voice has a purer sound to it which although is very recordable, it may not have boded as well as Lennon’s attempt on such a raunchy rock single. More importantly, when you consider ‘Twist and Shout’ next to a track like ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, both of the songs are quite similar; catchy, up-tempo numbers which thrust the guitars into the spotlights as a way maximise the vocal, rather than compliment them. It could have been a fatal error to let McCartney sing on ‘Twist and Shout’ because it could have come away losing a lot of its rough and ready appeal that made it such a fantastic track by John and also it could have made ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ seem more like a fast ballad than a serious contender for classic rock song.

Although there are a lot of cover songs on ‘Please Please Me’, I admire The Beatles for covering fairly contemporary hits of the time and attempting to make them their own. This was particularly noticeable on ‘Anna (Go To Him)’ where the track was once a soul ballad but was transformed very well into a rockier, slightly sombre track with impressively soft vocals from John. ‘Baby It’s You’ also altered nicely into a loving and affectionate track from a guys perspective which wasn’t aggressive but really endorsed the notion of sticking by a lover in times of difficulty.