Recently, I stumbled onto one of those “reaction” videos by a New Zealander named Courtney, who wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen footage of the Beatles or even heard their songs. This shouldn’t be surprising. The video she watches of the Fab Four, playing “All My Loving” on Ed Sullivan in 1964, was created probably 40 years before she was born. What shocked and disappointed me was that, while absolutely bug-eyed about the screaming girls, she says virtually nothing about the actual music.
Unfortunately, Martin Scorsese’s new Beatles ’64 documentary also focuses more on the mania than the music. A better introduction, or revision, is The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono vinyl boxed set. The group released a whopping six albums on Capitol that year, with the sheer quantity outstripped by the genuine quality.
Most Beatles fans know that U.S. albums were configured differently from their English counterparts. I’ll not dwell on that, other than to point out that Introducing The Beatles, released on indie Vee-Jay in January ’64 was eventually repackaged by Capitol as The Early Beatles, included here. The box also has Meet The Beatles, The Beatles’ Second Album, the soundtrack to A Hard Day’s Night, Something New, and Beatles ’65. Four of them reached #1, and by that April, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr (thereafter known by their first names) occupied the top five slots on the Billboard singles chart.
The fact that those six American albums were analog-cut from the original mono master tapes is extremely significant, because mono is how most people heard records back then. It’s how early Beatles albums were crafted; stereo versions were an afterthought with vocals clumsily panned hard to one side.
Covers of American material constituted half of Introducing/Early, though “Please Please Me” was Lennon-McCartney’s first chart-topper in the U.K. George’s first songwriting contribution, “Don’t Bother Me” (on Meet), is a simple song but has some very cool guitar parts and a 10-second solo rave. And while you’d think “Till There Was You” (from the Broadway musical The Music Man) would be corny, George’s jazzy gut-string solo makes it a keeper.
Harrison wasted no time employing the electric 12-string that Rickenbacker gifted him during their first tour of the States. John carves up an aggressive solo on “You Can’t Do That,” though George came up with the opening and closing riff. Then there’s “A Hard Day’s Night,” with its huge opening chord that baffled musicologists for decades. In a 1984 press conference, George explained, “It’s an F with a G on the first string, with the little finger. Sounds better on the 12-string.” More specifically, it’s an Fadd9, to which was added John’s acoustic, producer George Martin’s piano, and Paul playing a D on bass.
While much has been made of the feedback that opens “I Feel Fine,” John and George played the opening lines together, on a Gibson J-160 and Gretsch Tennessean, respectively. On the Carl Perkins covers “Honey Don’t” and “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby,” George pays homage to his idol with some rockabilly licks.
When I interviewed George in ’87, he said, “I’m not trying to put myself down, but the reality is I’m okay. I mean, I’ve sat with people who are just learning the guitar and showed them some chords and a few things – and I realized I do know quite a lot about guitar; I’ve absorbed quite a lot over the years. But I’ve never really felt like I was a proper guitar player. You see all these guys with their chops together, with charts showing how they did it. In the sense of being a guitarist who works and plays, and who could just pop in on anybody’s session and come up with the goods, I’m not that kind of player. I’m just a jungle musician, really.”
I have to disagree. Considering the Beatles’ stylistic range, most bands today would need a half-dozen session guitarists to deliver the way he did. People get snobbish over worked-out solos, but George’s ability to come up with hooks was uncanny. The four-note intro to “And I Love Her” is classic, as is his solo – obviously worked out. Just two years later, with Rubber Soul and Revolver, the world’s most commercial band became one of its most experimental.
Scorsese’s film has its moments, but I’d recommend the 2017 documentary How The Beatles Changed The World. The title may be overblown, but musically, it’s inarguable. Dylan wouldn’t have gone electric when he did. The Byrds were formed after folkies Roger McGuinn and David Crosby saw A Hard Day’s Night. No telling how many bands sprang up in their wake. To date, has anyone exerted influence remotely comparable?
Meanwhile, Billboard has declared Beyonce “Pop Star of the 21st Century” – yes, century. I’ve got to wonder if there will be a reaction video in 50 years, after a 20-something checks out an oldie like “Texas Hold ’Em.”
© 2024 Dan Forte; all rights reserved by the author.
This article originally appeared in VG’s March 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
