let us praise the beatles' cover of "baby it's you"

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it's perfect

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 2 November 2004 23:58 (twenty years ago)

like astonishingly good. man, they were good.

― amateur!!st, Tuesday, 2 November 2004 23:58 (twenty years ago)

it isn't as good as their cover of "you really got a hold on me"

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:09 (twenty years ago)

or "please mr. postman". but it's close.

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:09 (twenty years ago)

john's voice is great on that one.

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:14 (twenty years ago)

baby it's you, i mean. i'm not too fond of their "hold one me". smokey's so much better.

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:15 (twenty years ago)

so great, beatles bbc strangely underrated

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:27 (twenty years ago)

dolly mixture's version is far better

― the surface noise (slight return) (electricsound), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:32 (twenty years ago)

beatles bbc strangely underrated

I tend to forget I even have it, but it does have some nice things on it.

― Rockist_Scientist (rockist_scientist), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:35 (twenty years ago)

it has a lot of good things on it, I just don't like the way the tracks run together in places

― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 00:41 (twenty years ago)

baby it's you is wonderful, but anna go to him is even better

― debden, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 14:38 (twenty years ago)

The whole first album's about perfect, gentle/rough, stupid/clever, etc

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 14:44 (twenty years ago)

Should start a new thread just for John's vocal on "Twist and Shout".
Singing like that was pretty much unheard of 1962 wasn't it?

― Bumfluff, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 15:07 (twenty years ago)

one of my fav vocals by john is on "bad boy". it's amazingly raw.

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 15:26 (twenty years ago)

That's from Please Please Me, their debut; and the weird thing about that album is a handful of songs ("Baby It's You" among them ) in which I can't positively identify the lead singer! "Anna", "Twist And Shout", "I Saw Her Standing There" - I'm still not sure whether those are sung by John or Paul. To my ears, they just sound more similar (and rawer) than they ever would again. Maybe because they weren't then too far removed from their hard-rocking amphetaminized Hamburg days & nights, or maybe they just hadn't fully polished their harmony singing at that point? Whatever, you could make a case for Please Please Me as their most intense, rocking LP ever, and yep "Baby It's You" is a big part of it. (But I too prefer "Anna"!)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 15:50 (twenty years ago)

"Anna", "Twist And Shout", "I Saw Her Standing There"

john, john and paul, respectively.

but i definitely understand yr point, as there are a few other songs from that period where i'm similarly (and happily) confused. john and paul hadn't fully developed the distinct vocal timbres of their later years, so they do sound more raw and more alike. and the harmony lines are such that it's sometimes hard to tell which is the lead and which is the harmony.

the song that's always sounded the most (to me anyway) like it's sung by a "beatles" voice that belongs to neither paul nor john (nor george nor ringo) is "i want to hold your hand" (though i've come to realize john more or less owns that one).

i like the beatles' "baby it's you" more than the shirelles'.

but i like arthur alexander's "anna" more than the beatles'.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 16:09 (twenty years ago)

Apparently any rawness in Lennon's vocal was down to him having a heavy cold the day they recorded most of Please Please Me. They had a big jar of cough sweets he was sucking on all day. This is especially apparent on Twist and Shout which was the last thing they recorded, he probably knew he only had one take in him hence he really went for it. They tried a second take but his voice had gone.

Always loved Baby It's You on the BBC album. Fave track on it and it was released as a single too.

― mms (mms), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 16:13 (twenty years ago)

but i like arthur alexander's "anna" more than the beatles'.

his version is also beautiful, but more urbane and sophisticated. Lennon's is adolescent and urgent.

― debden, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 16:15 (twenty years ago)

yeah we did the 'twist + shout' appraisal over here

I Hate Please, Please Me

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 17:25 (twenty years ago)

"Apparently any rawness in Lennon's vocal was down to him having a heavy cold the day they recorded most of Please Please Me. They had a big jar of cough sweets he was sucking on all day. This is especially apparent on Twist and Shout which was the last thing they recorded, he probably knew he only had one take in him hence he really went for it. They tried a second take but his voice had gone."

I've always thought you can hear bits of flem/phlegm? shooting out of his throat towards the end... "shake it up baby now!"..it's kind of a heroic performance...more rock n roll than the Sonics.

― Bumfluff, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 17:29 (twenty years ago)

x-post oops, I'll take a look at that.

― Bumfluff, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 17:30 (twenty years ago)

The cover of "Baby It's You" is indeed great, but my vote goes for "Leave My Kitten All Alone". It's SO heavy, I can't believe it was recorded in 1964.

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 17:50 (twenty years ago)

I'm sure this is old news to some of you, but while we're on the topic of John/Paul vocal timbres, the last section of 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' has Paul singing the high 'Hapinesss...' with John coming in for '...is a warm gun.' If you're not listening closely you'll miss it, but it's definitely there.

― 57 7th (calstars), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 17:53 (twenty years ago)

The Beatles always seemed to do a beautiful job on girl group songs.

― briania (briania), Wednesday, 3 November 2004 18:03 (twenty years ago)

so this song--"baby, it's you"--is so...shambling. listen to the guitar. it's kind of a mess, but a controlled mess, if you get me. the whole thing is so perfectly proportioned as a whole but each individual part (the rhythm guitar, the solo, the harmonies...) has enough room for serious idiosyncrasies.

i mean yeah the original is fucking great too--the beatles chose really great records to cover, pretty much as a rule--but this is something really special.

p.s. arthur alexander is a really interesting singer. he sings in such a way--with the traces of a lisp, and a lot of breathiness--that makes you think he's got a very limited range and problematic breath control... i.e. all the signposts of earnestness/fragility/etc. but as it turns out he has a GREAT range and GREAT breath control/pacing ... (which might only occur to you if you listen closely and often). he's amazing.

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 19:26 (twenty years ago)

haha i suddenly am happy to be alive again. phew.

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 19:26 (twenty years ago)

listen to that guitar lick that plays throughout the verses--you can really hear it right after the "sha la la la la"s.

c'mon: that's the sound of young scotland 1981!

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 19:28 (twenty years ago)

have to give props to bacharach for writing the song, too.

can someone give bacharach a nobel prize or something?

― amateur!!st, Wednesday, 3 November 2004 19:55 (twenty years ago)

I know this isn't really relevant to this thread, or maybe it is, but like apart from the obvious things the Beatles couldn't 'compete with' in their cover (eg the girl's voice, backing vocals, whatever), what about the organ solo in the original? It is the strangest thing. Really makes the song something special, though. Whiny, thin organ solo, the organ sounds like it's about to break down any moment. A pathetic sound. Very emotionally suitable? I really respect the Beatles for covering this too, though. What about how John Lennon really liked Ronny Ronnette? I like that too.

― xx, Thursday, 4 November 2004 00:01 (twenty years ago)

"to know him is to love him" was a weird song for them to have covered as well, which they did; I think they didn't even switch the gender on that song until they recorded it for decca

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 4 November 2004 00:12 (twenty years ago)

the intro to "baby it's you" on the bbc album is hilarious! i also really really love their cover of "soldier of love" on there... that record had a sort of privileged place in my life during my sophomore year of high school... i'd listen to the mopier songs over and over

― dave k, Thursday, 4 November 2004 02:47 (twenty years ago)

Yes, "Soldier of Love." Another great Arthur Alexander tune.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 4 November 2004 03:04 (twenty years ago)

i didn't know about the split vocals in "happiness is a warm gun"...gotta listen to that again... by the way, i've always wondered if, in penny lane, john's singing the "meanwhile back" part.... anyone ?

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 4 November 2004 04:12 (twenty years ago)

eleven months pass...

i'm listening to this right now, and as much as i never want to read another word about the beatles, i'm thinking john lennon c. 1963-66 is probably my favorite singer of all time.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Monday, 10 October 2005 09:56 (nineteen years ago)

i am suddenly excited to get home and listen to this before thanksgiving dinner.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Monday, 10 October 2005 10:30 (nineteen years ago)

five years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Bdi_rTSig

― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 02:42 (fourteen years ago)

It's a nice cover but I prefer Smith's cover. The Beatles make it sound fun but I've always found it to be a sexy, yearning song and their rendition doesn't scrap on the sexy at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08uSz2M-LhI

― Moka, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 03:38 (fourteen years ago)

They were good at covers, but much better at originals.

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 10:44 (fourteen years ago)

challenging opinions

― lyrics is weak, like taco bell drive-thru speakers (symsymsym), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 11:09 (fourteen years ago)

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