All My Loving

Album: With the Beatles

Year: 1963

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

Fifty years ago, on Sunday, February 9, 1964, The Beatles changed American culture forever when they first played on the Ed Sullivan Show. Over 73 million people huddled around their television sets that night, watching as the "long haired" lads from Liverpool charmed an entire nation. (Can you believe people were shocked by the length of their hair?)

All My Loving was the first song the band played, providing America with its first glimpse of the future of popular music. There was something magical about them, and almost immediately after they played, young people all over the country were captivated. Girls swooned over them, and boys wanted to look like them and start bands of their own. The Beatle "mop top" hairstyle became all the rage... and it remains popular even today! Their influence over music and popular culture cannot be overstated. They helped change everything!

The video above comes from the first night that they played on the Ed Sullivan Show. Paul sings lead on this happy and energetic track, with John and George providing the backing vocals. John plays really fast triplets on rhythm guitar, providing the song with its distinctive sound.

All I've Got to Do

** A TOP TEN FAVORITE **

Album: With the Beatles

Year: 1963

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

This gorgeous little ballad was recorded in just one day and was finished mere hours after John first played it for his bandmates. Such was the genius of The Beatles—they were so tuned in that they could create enduringly beautiful music in a very short amount of time.

Something else that made them special was how they incorporated many different musical styles into their songs. Like their idol Elvis Presley before them, The Beatles were heavily influenced by the rich tradition of African-American music, and they repeatedly acknowledged its influence on their songwriting. "We loved the music and wanted to spread it in any way we could," John wrote after The Beatles broke up. "In the '50s there were few people listening to blues, R&B, rock and roll.... [We] drank, ate, and slept the music, and also recorded it. Many kids were turned on to black music by us."

John was influenced by two of his favorite songwriters, Smokey Robinson and Arthur Alexander, when writing All I've Got to Do. Additionally, the syncopated rhythms of this song probably came from his love of ska music, which was popular in Jamaica at the time.

All I've Got to Do features a beautiful and soulful lead vocal performance by John, while Paul and George provide the backing vocals. Like most of John's ballads, there is a lovely but overall sad feel to this song that makes it emotionally lush. For this reason and more, All I've Got to Do is one of my Top Ten Favorite Beatles Songs.

Thank You Girl

Album: Not included on an original Beatles album; issued as the b-side of a single

Year: 1963

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, here is a song of gratitude. Thank You Girl was the b-side of The Beatles' third single, which featured From Me to You on the a-side. (From Me to You was the #1 song on the British pop charts on the day I was born.) Though not one of their truly great creations (John called it "just a silly song"), Thank You Girl is cute and fun, and it was written as a tribute to their female fans. As Paul once explained:

"We knew that if we wrote a song called Thank You Girl that a lot of the girls who wrote us fan letters would take it as a genuine thank you. So a lot of our [early] songs were directly addressed to the fans."

This video features some really terrific photographs of The Beatles rehearsing for their performances for the BBC, as well as some of John romping in a field with comedian Dudley Moore and actor Norman Rossington. In the song, John plays the harmonica and sings his famous double-tracked lead vocal in the song, with Paul joining him on harmony.

It Won't Be Long

Album: With the Beatles *

Year: 1963

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

Leading off The Beatles's second album, It Won't Be Long is a very lively tune, making it the perfect soundtrack to this fun video. The video, dubbed "Scousers by the Seaside" by Ringo ("Scouser" is a nickname for someone from Liverpool), contains footage taken by photographer Dezo Hoffman of The Beatles having fun on the beach in Weston-super-Mare in July of 1963.

John sings a powerful lead (double-tracked, once again), with Paul and George both singing backing vocals in a call-and-response format. It Won't Be Long is a fun song to sing along with; you should try it. Enjoy!

* = With the Beatles was titled Meet the Beatles when it was released by Capitol Record in the United States. In this blog, I always default to the British albums, because those were the original releases and the ones that The Beatles had more creative control over.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Album: Not included on an original Beatles album; issued as a single

Year: 1963

Written by: Lennon & McCartney

By the time I Want to Hold Your Hand was released as The Beatles' fifth single in late 1963, they were the most popular act in Great Britain, and they were starting to create a buzz throughout Europe. "Beatlemania" they began to call it. Teenagers all over Britain went mad for the lovable lads from Liverpool, but America had not yet caught the fan frenzy... until I Want to Hold Your Hand hit our shores.

Released in the United States just once month after the assassination of President Kennedy, which had shocked and saddened the entire nation, I Want to Hold Your Hand instantly cheered all the young Americans up. Many people consider it the greatest of The Beatles "early" songs. Listening to it now, we can hardly understand what a radical new sound this song represented because it is like so much of the music that came after it. But that is because The Beatles created that sound. This is Ground Zero.

John sings the lead vocal, but Paul sings harmony throughout most of the song. The singing is most noteworthy for the high note they hit together when they first say, "I want to hold your haaaand!" It is also one of the first recordings that The Beatles made using Abbey Road Studios' new four-track technology.

This song's impact can not be overstated. Though I was just a baby when it came out, it remains to this day the only Beatles song my 81 year-old father can name.