Beatles For Sale
	Produced by George Martin
	Released on December 1964
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . UK RE-CHART POSITION #45 (1987)
	Find it at GEMM
CDP 7 46438 2 cover [high resolution scan]

I f you were to make the case that The Beatles got better with every album, you’d have a hard sell here. Beatles For Sale is half originals, most of which are slightly inferior to those found on their last album (A Hard Day’s Night), and half covers (some spirited, some not so much). A step backward, yet The Beatles couldn’t afford to stand still. The album topped the UK charts (surprised?) and despite its shortcomings contains some indelible moments: “Eight Days A Week,” “Every Little Thing,” “Rock And Roll Music,” “Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey” and “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby” among them. John Lennon takes many of the vocal leads, then Paul, with a pair of Perkins for George ("Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby") and Ringo (“Honey Don’t”). As usual, songs from this album were cannibalized for subsequent US releases, which filled the gap before the band’s next proper release, Help! Of course, the American elpees that followed (Beatles ’65, Beatles VI) weren’t any better, and those fans who never met a Beatles song they didn’t like probably didn’t sense the drop in quality. But little new ground is broken, and only a handful of tracks (“Every Little Thing,” “I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party,” “What You’re Doing) auger the dark acoustic shadows to come on Help! and, later, Rubber Soul. As a result, Beatles For Sale marks the end of an era. The giddy love songs and electrified R&B covers yielded to mature songcraft, and The Beatles grew into their own voice, outgrowing popular music in the process (even while remaining immensely popular). I’d be one of the last people on earth to tell you not to buy a Beatles album, but if you’re trying to build a complete collection, you can wait until this one goes on sale. Then again, you might not want to wait that long...

CDP 7 46438 2 gatefold sleeve	CDP 7 46438 2 back sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. NO REPLY    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
2. I'M A LOSER    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
3. BABY'S IN BLACK    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
4. ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC    (Chuck Berry)
5. I'LL FOLLOW THE SUN    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
6. MR. MOONLIGHT    (Johnson)
7. MEDLEY
      a. KANSAS CITY    (Lieber/Stoller)
      b. HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY    (Penniman)
8. EIGHT DAYS A WEEK    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
9. WORDS OF LOVE    (Buddy Holly)
10. HONEY DON'T    (Carl Perkins)
11. EVERY LITTLE THING    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
12. I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THE PARTY    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
13. WHAT YOU'RE DOING    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
14. EVERYBODY'S TRYING TO BE MY BABY    (Carl Perkins)

CREDITS

GEORGE HARRISON --
JOHN LENNON --
PAUL McCARTNEY --
RINGO STARR --
George Martin -- piano
Robert Freeman -- photography

return to THE BEATLES discography

For more discographies visit...

© 2004 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.