As The Beatles’ popularity in the U.K. escalated throughout 1963, their second LP was keenly awaited. ‘With The Beatles’ arrived in November 1963 and did not disappoint. The energy, joy and adrenaline bursting from the grooves made it irresistible. Considering what The Beatles were doing throughout 1963, the vibrancy of the album is not so surprising. A packed schedule with hundreds of concerts and dozens of radio and television shows had allowed very little time for the sessions needed to produce ‘With The Beatles’. Fourteen songs were recorded in just 28 hours squeezed into six days.
Casting aside the usual LP formula, none of the tracks was released as a single. An unthinkable move now, but Lennon and McCartney had hits to spare. They had given “I Wanna Be Your Man” to The Rolling Stones and many artists would soon acknowledge the appeal of “All My Loving” by recording it with a mellower arrangement. Alongside the original compositions, including George Harrison’s first recorded song ‘Don’t Bother Me’, were six cover versions. Three – “Please Mister Postman,” “You Really Got A Hold On Me" and “Money” - had been recent U.S. hits for the Motown group of labels. These were radical choices. American rhythm and blues was ‘underground’ music in the U.K. - seldom heard on BBC radio and rarely in the charts. The group’s interpretation of this contemporary material did much to stimulate a wider appreciation of R&B.
In America, the sudden success of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” led to the release in 1964 of the group’s first Capitol Records album ‘Meet The Beatles!’. The U.S. LP featured nine tracks from ‘With The Beatles’, both songs on the first Capitol single “I Want To Hold Your Hand"/“I Saw Her Standing There,” plus the British B-side “This Boy”. The debut album ‘Please Please Me’ had ignited the British musical explosion of the sixties; the super-confident second LP made the group international stars. ‘With The Beatles’ changed everything. — Kevin Howlett