#36: Can't Buy Me Love

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Released: March 20, 1964
Appears on: A Hard Day's Night
Lead vocal: Paul

The big thing about "Can't Buy Me Love" is the unique fact that it starts with its chorus. Today, this doesn't seem like that much of an innovation, but in 1964, it was a little surprising. I think today we take this aspect of "Can't Buy Me Love" for granted, but the fact that it has no instrumental opening whatsoever is truly amazing. Right from the start, Paul gets us in with "Can't buy me love/Love/Can't buy me love/Ooohhhh....I buy you diamond ring my friend if it makes you feel all right...".

I can't imagine how that March day must have felt when "Can't Buy Me Love" came out. It was the first new Beatle product in nearly four months [Pause there for a second: Can you imagine an artist today having to pump out a single every two to four months today? Not only is it unthinkable, it's impossible!] and the first (Capitol) US release since "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

The Beatles were forced to keep such a tight schedule that "Can't Buy Me Love" was forced to become the first Beatles song recorded outside the confines of Abbey Road Studios. In fact, it was recorded at a Paris studio during a short break in their French tour. (During which, the recorded "Sie Liebt Dich" and "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand", which will be covered much later.) An early and drastically different take is on Anthology 1 and, although they had to finish the track at Abbey Road, the majority of the version we know and love was recorded in the Paris studio.

By the way, in case you're wondering, "Can't Buy Me Love" b/w "You Can't Do That" was released before A Hard Day's Night, so that is why I'm covering them first. Also the "Long Tall Sally" EP was issued prior to A Hard Day's Night, so those four songs will be covered before I get to the Beatles' third LP.

#35: This Boy

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney Released: November 29th, 1963 Appears on: Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John, Paul & George [John on bridge]

If you look at the B-Sides on the singles before "I Want to Hold Your Hand", you notice (as I noted in their entries) that they are all harmony exercises."This Boy" is the last B-Side like this, until "Yes It Is" nearly two years later.

"This Boy" is, without a doubt, the best of them. It shows the boys taking that girl-group formula and putting it to use on their own song. Whereas "I'll Get You" was more or less John and Paul singing lead at the same time, "This Boy" features them actually using the harmonies. A great example is during the bridge, where John takes lead ("Oh and this boy, would be happy...." is probably one of John's best vocal moments) and Paul and George sing back-up, just like the bridges in the girl-group songs that influenced them so much. Then you have Ringo doing his perfect percussive shuffle behind them.

As a side note, "This Boy" got some funny attention when it was used in A Hard Day's Night as "Ringo's Theme" (of which the soundtrack recording was issued as a George Martin single in the US that actually charted!). In the US, "This Boy" was just an album track on Meet The Beatles! as Capitol used the much more upbeat "I Saw Her Standing There" as the B-Side to "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

#34: I Want To Hold Your Hand

Written by: John Lennon & Paul McCartney 
Released: November 29th, 1963 
Appears on: Past Masters, Vol. 1
Lead vocal: John & Paul

I think you could make a pretty good case that "I Want To Hold Your Hand" might be one of the most important singles ever. First off, in Britain the single sold a million copies before it was even released. Then, when Capitol in the US issued it (backed by "I Saw Her Standing There") it shot straight to number one and Beatlemania suddenly became a world-wide phenomenon....and the rest is history.

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" isn't too different from the other early Beatles singles, though. John & Paul share lead vocals. There is the theme (again) of singing directly to the listener.

However, it is the first single to not feature John's harmonica playing. There's just guitars, bass and drums on this song. There's also this really cool tempo change that follows the bridge that adds to the song's uniqueness ("And when I touch you/I feel happy/Inside/It's such a feeling, that my love/I can't hide, I can't hide, I can't HIDE!!!!"). Then, it goes right back without missing a beat! There's just that energy that you get from the song. It's just so much fun. Whenever you listen to it, it forces you to stop whatever you're doing and listen.

Again, the song is short - it lasts under two-and-a-half minutes, but that's all the Beatles needed to change the world.

#33: Money (That's What I Want)

Written by: Janie Bradford & Berry Gordy
Released: November 22nd, 1963
Appears on: with the beatles
Lead vocal: John

The year is 1959. A guy named Berry Gordy decides to create Tamla Records, which becomes just a piece of his massive Motown company just a few months later in 1960. Before any record company can expand, it needs a hit record.

Barrett Strong's performance of "Money (That's What I Want)" was just that. It's just an incredible, in-your-face single that pretty much requires you to listen to it for all two-and-a-half minutes - the perfect choice of cover for a show-stopping ending.

The Beatles performance of the song is faithful to the original, aside from John's over-the-top vocal and George's ridiculous lead guitar. I haven't talked about the remasters much since they came out, but on the remastered version of "Money", George's lead guitar is so much stronger and (if this makes any sense) dirtier. It just seems to have a punch that hits you harder than the original mono version on the 1987 CD didn't have.
"Money" is much more 'professional' than "Twist And Shout" and that kind of makes the song feel a little less fun, with less of a party atmosphere. The truth is, though, "Money" is an entirely different song. It doesn't give itself to a dance routine like "Twist And Shout" does. Merely, the song is an intense vocal exercise with lyrics that reject love. It's certainly not something anyone would want to dance to, so what made Strong's original performance a hit was his wonderful vocal and the melody going on behind him and the Beatles' version certainly honors that.

That, my friends, closes one of my favorite Beatles albums....and we've barely scratched the surface. Next up is "I Want To Hold Your Hand"!

#32: Not A Second Time

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

As I remarked back on "It Won't Be Long", the early Beatle years were prolific in the cannon of the Lennon songwriting catalog. Although most of the early Beatle songs were genuine Lennon/McCartney collaborations, the majority of them turned out to be distinctly Lennon. "Not A Second Time", the last original on with the beatles, is clearly a Lennon number.

The song basically speaks to the insecurities that John expressed through 1965 that came to a head with "Help!". Here, the singer was hurt by the first round with this girl and really doesn't want her back again for fears that she will just hurt him again. This is definitely a different guy than the one who came to us with open arms in "It Won't Be Long"!

"Not A Second Time" is definitely a favorite of mine and I think it's easy to say that this is a preview of the serious tones that would not only run through John's Beatle songs, but even to the end of his career.

#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.