The Beatles – ‘Beatles For Sale’
The Beatles had been keeping the momentum of a rocket ship ever since breaking through in 1963. After the smash success of their debut singles like ‘She Loves You’ and ‘From Me To You’, the huge box office draw with A Hard Day’s Night was giving the likes of Elvis Presley a run for his money. As the Fab Four raced back into the studio yet again, Beatles For Sale is the kind of record they could write in their sleep.
Outside of a few bells and whistles, the Beatles had been run ragged over the few years leading up to this record, and it shows. While the band are their usual charismatic selves throughout, the cover says it all for the record, looking straight into the lens, borderline emotionless. Not every picture tells the story of the record, and each of the Beatles reaches for different influences all over this album.
Whereas A Hard Day’s Night was a soundtrack designed to showcase the zany personalities of every member, we get a sense of where every member is at creatively here, drawing inspiration from genres from folk to country. At the helm, as always, is John Lennon, kicking off the record with the mid-tempo song ‘No Reply’, which has a far more bitter tone than the Fabs’ traditional ‘I love you’ sort of songs. As opposed to ‘guy gets girl’ love song, Lennon has a lot more insecurity on show, given that his lady friend doesn’t answer any of his calls and doesn’t take him back.
The cynical streak continues on ‘I’m a Loser’, which sees Lennon at the lowest he had ever been up until this point, groaning about a love that had gone sour. Instead of talking about how bitter he is feeling, Lennon is content to lay into himself on this album, like the conflicted feelings that he has with charming a recently widowed woman on ‘Baby’s In Black’.
This album is far from doom and gloom from start to finish, though. To balance out Lennon’s cynical side is Paul McCartney, the lovable optimist of the group. Although McCartney was known to bring a ray of sunshine to each song, he had a few morbid streaks of his own, like on ‘I’ll Follow The Sun’. After the usual love songs that we’ve seen from McCartney, this is decidedly more morose, talking about a lonely traveller letting his flame know that he will one day have to leave. In fact, both Lennon and McCartney borrow from each other’s writing styles across this record, like Lennon’s ray of sunshine at the start of side two on ‘Eight Days A Week’. As much as Lennon can sell a good love song, a song about there not being enough days in a week to love his girlfriend is ripped straight out of McCartney’s song library.
Outside of the traditional Beatle whimsy, the band were paying close attention to what was going on outside of the UK rock scene. The harmonica on ‘I’m A Loser’ is a nod to Bob Dylan’s brand of folk rock, and George Harrison’s guitar lick in ‘What You’re Doing’ is a melodic flourish in tune with the Byrd’s flavour of rock and roll.
Despite still playing to crowds around the world, the band uses different layers of sound in the studio as well. While the band haven’t gone into full orchestral instruments just yet, they put Ringo Starr through his paces behind the drum kit, using a timpani in ‘What You’re Doing’ and their cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘Words of Love’ being carried by Starr slapping his knees instead of getting behind the drum kit.
The most lively moments on the record, however, arrive when the band are getting back in touch with their rock and roll roots, going back to their usual format of multiple covers across the track-listing. While we got to hear their love of Motown on With The Beatles, there’s a rockabilly flair to some of their versions on here, such as Ringo Starr’s showcase of Carl Perkins’ hit ‘Honey Don’t’.
For every new experiment, there are a few that tend to backfire a touch. Although the band’s version of Little Richard’s ‘Kansas City’ is fairly enjoyable, it feels like a retread of their earlier cover of ‘Long Tall Sally’. And while covering Dr. Feelgood may have sounded like a good idea in the studio, their version of ‘Mr. Moonlight’ leaves a lot to be desired, especially when the cheesy organ sounds come in during the bridge.
Beatles For Sale does at least have a good showcase of every member of the band, from the Lennon/McCartney songwriting machine to George Harrison’s ability to serve every song. Even producer George Martin gets a chance to shine on this record, delivering a rollicking version of ‘Rock and Roll Music’ by Chuck Berry, with some of the fieriest piano lines ever put to a Beatles record. In terms of lead work, Harrison is also wearing his country music influence on his sleeve, taking cues from Carl Perkins and Scotty Moore when tearing through ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby’ and the country song ‘I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party’.
With years of Beatlemania under their belt, Beatles For Sale is the sound of the Beatles spinning their wheels a little bit. While the band hadn’t lost it by any stretch, they had some stiff competition coming up in their wake. Although their versions of old R&B standards are serviceable, they are going to take a back seat to what their counterparts, such as The Animals and The Rolling Stones, were doing around the same time.
Despite having a few lackluster moments, Beatles For Sale still has some essential tracks for any Fab fan, including the bouncy ‘Eight Days a Week’, the Bob Dylan-sounding ‘I’m a Loser’ and the beautifully harmonized ‘Baby’s In Black’. The Beatles might have had to play catchup with the new flavours of rock and roll from 1964, but this is far from their last gasp. Beatles For Sale is the Fab Four turning their studio into a workshop, and there’s no limit to where their muse will guide them next.
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