#31: Devil In Her Heart

Written by: Richard Drapkin
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: George

As the last girl-group song recorded by the Beatles, "Devil In Her Heart" is easily the worst.

Originally recorded as "Devil In His Heart" in 1962, it was first performed by a group called the Donays and, unlike many of the other covers by the Beatles, was never a hit single...anywhere. Hmm...I wonder why? (I can't even provide a YouTube link to the original, since the only performances of the song on the site are by the Beatles.)

The story of how George landed a copy has never been told, but we do know that he loved girl-group songs (since he and John sing most of the ones the boys covered). I think he loved the fact that the song was so obscure that no one would recognize it. The problem with "Devil In Her Heart" is that it is just not a song that allows the Beatles to show what they're good at. The best thing is the harmonies, though.

The song proves that some singles remain obscure for a reason. If it weren't for the Beatles, I doubt anyone would even know of the song.

#30: I Want To Be Your Man

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: Ringo

Ringo does a fine version of this pedestrian song that John and Paul literally threw together for the Rolling Stones. In 1963, the Stones had yet to hit it big, so they were looking for a hit single. Eventually, they bumped into John and Paul during a lunch break. The two tossed "I Want To Be Your Man" to them and it quickly became their first Top-20 single in England. You can find their version here.

At this point, the Lennon/McCartney team were banging out songs for just about everybody under Brian Epstein's management, but never actually recorded any of those songs*, so it is surprising that "I Want To Be Your Man" (a song written for a non-Epstein group) was recorded by the group. They probably did it just to fill a slot on the album and to give Ringo a spot. Still, it's a pretty frantic, rockin' song that also became Ringo's spotlight on tour in the US.

*For the obsessive compulsive people, the Billy J. Kramer 45, "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" b/w "I'll Get You", was recorded after The Beatles released their versions.

#29: You've Really Got A Hold On Me

Written by: Smokey Robinson
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: John

Smokey Robinson is one of the most noted songwriters in history and one of the greatest. He probably wrote more Motown hits than anybody. "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" was first recorded by Smokey's vehicle, The Miracles and became a smash hit, reaching #8 on Billboard in November of 1962 (here it is). The Beatles quickly managed to get a hold of it and recorded it in the studio during the July sessions for with the beatles.

Of course, the song became one of their stage favorites and they performed it four times for the BBC (one of which is on Live At The BBC!). Their performance of the song certainly is show-stopping, especially with George Martin's piano taking center stage behind John's powerful vocal.

The bottom line: this is a fantastic song that always leaves me in amazement.

#28: Hold Me Tight

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: Paul

When people wonder about the worst song the Beatles ever recorded, things like "Wild Honey Pie" or "Revolution 9" usually come up, but there are very few who even dare mention "Hold Me Tight". It is simply the nadir of the Beatles' catalog. Two minutes and thirty-two seconds of Paul going "It feels so right, now HOLD ME TIGHT!" Though, my favorite part is the bridge ("Oh-woah, what it feels to hold you tight/Being alone tonight with you"), especially with Ringo's drumming.

Like "Chains" before it, though, "Hold Me Tight" is without a doubt the weak link in with the beatles.

As a side note, though, "Hold Me Tight" on Red Rose Speedway isn't much better.

#27: Roll Over Beethoven

Written by: Chuck Berry
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: George

Side two of with the beatles kicks off like a firecracker with Chuck Berry's immortal "Roll Over Beethoven" (here's a really cool performance by Berry). Every rock and roll artist has probably always dreamed about being able to get on stage and rip off that guitar intro (I have and I can't even play guitar) and The Beatles got to do it numerous times as the song became a stage favorite. George was the perfect vocal choice, considering that he'd been doing it since Hamburg and the fact that he's the lead guitarist, so why not let him sing one of the ultimate guitar songs?

An interesting historical note (coming from Bruce Spizer's fascinating books): When Capitol of Canada issued "Roll Over Beethoven" as a single after "I Want To Hold Your Hand", it became a top-ten single. Capitol in the US was actually considering issuing the single here, especially since imported copies of the Canadian single charted on Billboard. However, when George Martin caught wind of this idea, he told them to just wait a few weeks for "Can't Buy Me Love". Martin hated the idea that The Beatles' next his single might not only be a cover, but an older recording that didn't reflect how the group was at the time.

I find it interesting that, unlike many of the group's other covers, "Roll Over Beethoven" is able to stand next to Berry's original. I think everyone in the general public know that it is a cover and by one of the greats in rock and roll, whereas songs like "Twist And Shout" or "'Til There Was You" became part of America's conscious thanks to the Beatles. "Roll Over Beethoven" was a song that everyone knew in 1964 as a Chuck Berry song, yet people also warmed up to the idea of this British band succeeding with an American standard. This even surprised Capitol. Meet The Beatles! was built on the originals of with the beatles and the only cover they put on it was "'Til There Was You" because why would Americans want to hear American songs done by British musicians? The success of the Canadian "Roll Over Beethoven" 45 convinced Capitol that people would love to hear the Beatles no matter what song they do, so The Beatles' Second Album was built on the remaining covers. The front even advertised "Roll Over Beethoven" along with "She Loves You" as the hits on the album!

#26: Please Mr. Postman

Written by: Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Brian Holland, Robert Bateman & Freddie Gorman
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: John

It took a while for the Beatles to shed their girl-group infatuation (see "Chains", "Boys" and "Baby It's You"), but I think we're all thankful that they kicked that bucket after with the beatles.

"Please Mr. Postman" was recorded by The Marvelettes and became the first number one record for Motown (although still Tamla at the time). The original speaks for itself and is a piece of pure rock 'n' roll heaven (it can be found here).

Of course, the Beatles give a fairly good performance of it, but this is one of those rare cases where the Beatles did not really better the song. It's a nice little corner of the album and just a case of the boys performing a favorite song of theirs, but there are better covers on with the beatles.

#25: 'Til There Was You

Written by: Meredith Wilson
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: Paul

Paul's performance of Meredith Wilson's show tune from The Music Man is one of those that just pull at everything you've got. It's touching and sentimental and so perfect. It's not only his vocal (since we've been forgiving him for 46 years of hearing "sawr", I think we can go a few more), but George gives this mind-blowing guitar performance that just blows anything he had done prior out of the water. Anybody who says that George wasn't that great just has to listen to his solo to be proven wrong.

The Beatles constantly brought out "'Til There Was You" as the example of their versatility. Please Please Me had "A Taste Of Honey", but "'Til There Was You" became the favorite. In fact, it is the only cover from with the beatles that Capitol chose to issue on Meet The Beatles! and it was performed during the 1964 world tour.

There are two very famous performances of "'Til There Was You" by The Beatles. The first was at the Royal Command Variety show on November 4, 1963. There, Paul introduces the song as a slower number by one of their favorite American 'groups' - Sophie Tucker!

The second big performance was during the first Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. The funny thing about that is that their names appear on the screen and John's shows "sorry girls - he's married!".

Paul performed the song on his US 2006 tour, which had actually been the first time he did it on stage since doing it with the Beatles in 1964.

#24: Little Child

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: John

While there's not much to "Little Child" aside from John's really awesome vocal, it is interesting technically. On Please Please Me, John was never heard singing and playing the harmonica...at the same time. "Little Child" is easily one of the first examples of The Beatles overdubbing, at least in such an obvious way (Please Please Me does include the trick harmony on "A Taste Of Honey", but the work on "Little Child" is much more extensive).

Nevertheless, "Little Child" is obviously a party track...and a fantastic one at that.

#23: Don't Bother Me

Written by: George Harrison
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: George

Most groups are lucky if they have one good songwriter. The Beatles not only were blessed with two...but three.

Sure, George's "Don't Bother Me" isn't anything special. In I, Me, Mine, George wrote that it came about while he was sick in bed and thought he would write a song 'just to see if I could do it'. This obviously would lead to a song about how you want people to just go away. The weird thing about this song, though, is that you'd expect it to be slow, dull and depressing, but that's hardly the case. It's the complete opposite. In fact, we even see people dancing to it in A Hard Day's Night!

"Don't Bother Me" is certainly a cornerstone in Beatles lore, simply because it is George's first song, but other than that, it doesn't do much to stick out. George was obviously trying to write a song much like John and Paul's. Thankfully, he would figure out how to make his songs feel and sound different that a John or a Paul song pretty soon.