Rock And Roll Music

Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music
Any old way you choose it
It's got a back beat, you can't lose it
Any old time you use it
It's got to be rock and roll music
If you want to dance with me.

Those are lines from 'Rock and Roll Music', one of the tracks on Beatles For Sale, released sixty years ago just in time for the Christmas market. Of course, it wasn't one of their own compositions. Chuck Berry had written and released the song back in 1957, the year that John Lennon and Paul McCartney commenced a musical partnership (in the Quarrymen) that was destined to change the world in 1964, a sort of annus mirabilis (wonderful year) in so many ways. More on that later.

Beatles For Sale was, however, the group's second LP in a year (and in fact their fourth in just under two years - the sort of recording and release schedule that would be unthinkable nowadays), so only eight of the fourteen tracks were originals, the balance being favourite covers that had been part of their repertoire during those Hamburg residencies of 1960 and 1961

Surprisingly, Beatles For Sale has its detractors, seemingly because nearly half the material is cover versions, in comparison to A Hard Day's Night earlier in the summer, which had been their first LP to feature all original Beatles compositions. 

The Beatles' excuse, as if one was needed, was that 1964 had been such an intense year for the Fabs (as they were becoming known), what with touring the UK, Europe and 'conquering'  America, making a feature film, writing a book of poetry (in Lennon's case), that they just hadn't had the time to write half a dozen additional songs for Beatles For Sale. (It must also be remembered that they chose not to include the contemporaneous hit single 'I Feel Fine' c/w 'She's A Woman' on the LP because they wanted to give their fans value for money.)

Beatles For Sale album cover photoshoot, Hyde Park 1964 (Robert Freeman)

Commentators have added that the LP's artwork, photographs of the group taken by Robert Freeman in Hyde Park, makes them look somewhat world-weary, and the ironic title for the album (surely Lennon's suggestion) encapsulated their frustration at being seen as 'product' as the downside of becoming a global phenomenon, theories which have contributed to a sense that Beatles For Sale is somehow below par in the group's canon. All I can say is that those detractors really need to listen to the record with fresh ears. It's time for a revaluation.

Some of you will be familiar with Philip Larkin's wryly ironic poem about the social changes in motion at the beginning of the Sixties. (I'm supposing he named it after an earlier poem by John Dryden celebrating London's survival in 1666 after the twin threats of plague and fire). 

Annus Mirabilis

Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

Up to then there'd only been
A sort of bargaining,
A wrangle for the ring,
A shame that started at sixteen
And spread to everything.

Then all at once the quarrel sank:
Everyone felt the same,
And every life became
A brilliant breaking of the bank,
A quite unlosable game.

So life was never better than
In nineteen sixty-three
(Though just too late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

                                               Philip Larkin (1967)

Larkin pinpoints 1963 as the crucial year, but for me personally 1964 was the momentous one, for all of the following reasons. As mentioned earlier, it was the year in which the Beatles became a global phenomenon (starting with their appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in the USA in February), the year in which Labour ended thirteen years of Tory misrule, the year in which I stepped up from Junior to Secondary school (and from short trousers to long), the year of our family's move from industrial Peterborough to academic Cambridge, the year in which I first went to bed with a girl (see my poem 'Stephanie Re-Maps The Stars'), the year when it began to seem that all was change for the better and all things were possible. Optimism was boundless and the Beatles, ensconced in EMI's Abbey Road studio number 2, were busy laying down the soundtrack of our unshackling.

Beatles For Sale recording session, Abbey Road 1964 (Robert Freeman)

I think that's one of the reasons why Beatles For Sale, released at the end of my own annus mirabilis, remains one of my favourite Beatles records, right up there with their best LPs. I'm pleased they chose to give needle time to those cover songs, as a reminder of their roots, and of what a terrific beat group they were. But that record also provides the first hints of them transitioning into the complex artists they would become, a foretaste of that brilliant run of recordings from Rubber Soul to Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

Beatles For Sale opens with one of the strongest trio of songs on any of their albums in 'No Reply', 'I'm A Loser' and the sumptuous 'Baby's In Black' (all essentially Lennon compositions). It's followed by John's infectious rendition of 'Rock And Roll Music', the Paul McCartney's ballad 'I'll Follow The Sun', another top notch cover by Lennon of 'Mr Moonlight' before the side closes with a ridiculously rocking rendition by Paul of 'Kansas City'.

Admittedly, side two with its country and western influence dips slightly after the opener 'Eight Days A Week', including as it does the obligatory George Harrison and Ringo Starr vocal spots, but 'Words Of Love' and 'I Don't Want To Spoil The Party' are great songs, the rockabilly Carl Perkins covers are inspired and the musicianship is excellent throughout. Beatles For Sale has so many wonderful memories for me and still gets played to death annually in the run up to Christmas and New Year. It's long been a family tradition to play it while the Christmas tree is being decorated, and I've been listening to it in the gym for several days in a row recently as well. 

As Derek Taylor wrote in the sleeve notes: "There's priceless history between these (LP) covers. When in a generation or so, a radio-active cigar-smoking child picnicking on Saturn asks you what the Beatles affair was all about...just play the child a few tracks from this album and he'll probably understand."

       

Beatles For Sale album cover photoshoot, Hyde Park 1964 (Robert Freeman)

I've no new poem for you this week. Instead, for what it's worth, gentle reader, here are my top ten albums of 2024, as trailed in the musical advent calendar I posted daily on Facebook in December (along with musical clips):

01 Natural Magick - Kula Shaker

02 Moon Mirror - Nada Surf

03 Why Is The Colour Of The Sky? - Bananagun

04 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones

05 In This City They Call You Love - Richard Hawley

06 12 - White Denim

07 Half Cut - Sarah Gillespie

08 Daniel - Real Estate

09 Across The River Of Stars - Beachwood Sparks

10 Here In The Pitch - Jessica Pratt

Finally, as an audio bonus, that song: Rock And Roll Music as performed by The Beatles. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year, S ;-)