The Beatles
The Beatles 65 - Capitol 1964
Tracks: 1. No Reply / 2. I'm a Loser / 3. Baby's in Black / 4. Rock and Roll Music / 5. I'll Follow the Sun / 6. Mr. Moonlight / 7. Honey Don't / 8. I'll Be Back / 9. She's a Woman / 10. I Feel Fine / 11. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
Comments:
"The Beatles 65" was the only U.S. Beatles album I got in my teen years when an album purchase was a big and expensive thing. On a family trip to Germany I found it at an affordable price, but was somewhat disappointed to see that unlike the usual 14 songs, there were only 11.
I remember wondering about the completely different sound that was on, "I Feel Fine" and "She's a Woman", which one of my friends had on a single. There was an unknown reverb which maybe I felt was not quite the real thing.
Well, at that age you get used to something new, so for me the sound of the songs on "Beatles 65" soon became the "right one". Moreover, I had a speaker in the lid of my little gramophone and I never cared if the music was in mono or stereo; I could not hear a difference anyway.
After purchasing this album on CD with both the mono and stereo versions, it became clear to me that my old vinyl version had to be in mono, which a quick check confirmed. In fact, I had never really noticed to this. There is obviously more reverb on the monoplay while the stereo version in my ears sounds like the European versions of the songs
Most songs are found in the 1964 album "Beatles for Sale", which has often been very unfairly been associated with some fatigue in the group. On the contrary, I think that it is sparkling with energy and that there has been a development in comparison to ”A Hard Day's Night” on both sound and production.
The Beatles originals are as usual top-notch, both in terms of ballads and the more upbeat songs. John Lennon is again the dominant vocalist and he delivers convincingly on songs like "No Reply", "I'm a Loser", "Rock'n Roll Music", "I'll Be Back" "Feeling Fine" and more.
Compared to the previously mentioned "Beatles for Sale", you may miss "Kansas City", "I Don’t Want to Spoil The Party", "Words of Love", "What You're Doing" and "Every Little Thing"; personally I especially missed by the last at that time. On the other hand, it was nice to have the single. "In Feel Fine" / "She's a Woman" on album.
The coversongs ”Mr Moonlight”, ”Honey Don’t” and ”Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby” may not be the most interesting Beatles recordings - in any case "Beatles 65" can only be called a Beatles classic.
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