This Burt Bacharach song is the third girl group cover on the Please Please Me album, and the second one that was done first by The Shirelles. It was a hit for them in 1961, and a hit for The Beatles as well. But the song's biggest success was with the long forgotten American band Smith. They played mostly cover songs, but their version of this sold over a million copies in 1969. The album, A Group Called Smith (not on BEA), was successful, but they faded pretty quickly afterward and broke up in 1971. Lennon sang it for The Beatles, and here it is with a female singer.
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Album: Please Please Me
Track 11: Do You Want To Know A Secret
Written by John for George to sing. Billy J. Kramer recorded it, and there have been a few versions over the years. My favorite has always been this one, by Fairground Attraction. I love Eddi Reader's voice, and she does a sweet job on this one. It's from their second and final album (1990), released after Reader had left the band:
Album: Please Please Me
Track 12: A Taste Of Honey
A Taste Of Honey was written for the Broadway play with the same name by Bobby Scott & Ric Marlow. Originally an instrumental, the first vocal version was recorded by actor Billy Dee Williams in 1961. The Beatles used a version by Lenny Welch as their blueprint. The track was sung by McCartney on Please Please Me.
The song has won Grammy's, and is considered a standard. Although the most famous version is by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, the version I have chosen is from the TV soundtrack for The Man In The High Castle (not on BEA). Here's The Shins, with A Taste Of Honey, 54 years after The Beatles.
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More famous than the Beatles version was actually quite an achievement in the 60's. And there is a reason why this one achieved such levels of fame. You have incredible horns. I don't know how to describe great brass instrumentation, but it's there through out the whole album. But there is a moment that makes the song. It's a moment in between verses (if you know the lyrics, it's the part where "he'll come back.... for the honey" -- and again, this is all done instrumentally, just the horns), and the song slows to a stop. Then with a bass drum detonator, the horns explode as the song charges on.
More famous than the Beatles version was actually quite an achievement in the 60's. And there is a reason why this one achieved such levels of fame. You have incredible horns. I don't know how to describe great brass instrumentation, but it's there through out the whole album. But there is a moment that makes the song. It's a moment in between verses (if you know the lyrics, it's the part where "he'll come back.... for the honey" -- and again, this is all done instrumentally, just the horns), and the song slows to a stop. Then with a bass drum detonator, the horns explode as the song charges on.
You know...you make a most compelling case for this. And you've somehow reminded me that my older sister had this album, and I forgot how cool I thought it was way back then. I'm going to make the change here to the Herb Alpert version. It was close, but I believe you've swung this to a victory for this version. Thanks! _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
Listmeister has suggested The Dickies version of There's A Place, which is very good, but I think that The Flamin' Groovies, who almost had one of these earlier, gets this one. This is from their 1978 album...
They also cover 2 Jagger-Richards tunes on this record, and the finale is this song from Please Please Me. This was actually co-written by Lennon & McCartney, and was also covered by The Smithereens and Charly Garcia.
Link _________________ May we all get to heaven
'Fore the devil knows we're dead...
John Lennon famously tore the crap out of his voice laying this down for us. Twist And Shout was written in 1961 by Phil Medley & Bert Berns. The original version was by The Top Notes, a long forgotten singles group that was done by 1963. The Isley Brothers had a hit with it before The Beatles tacked it to the end of their first album.|
So, we have versions to choose from by Brian Poole & The Tremeloes, and from the sad remnants of Electric Light Orchestra in 2001. But I'm gonna say this...if you can get a hip hop version of a song The Beatles did, you gotta jump on that. So, Twist And Shout goes to Salt-N-Pepa, from their 1988 album...
I was just about to bring up that remnants of Electric Light Orchestra version. I was also going to bring up the Mamas & Papas version, a laid-back late 60's mood piece.
But I really can't argue with the Salt 'n' Pepa selection. Good call. I'm glad you pushed it.
Instead, I will leave you with this quote from the Constitution:
"Article XVI: The Isley Brothers version of "Twist and Shout" is better than the Beatles version. There shall be no argument about this. It says so right here in the Constitution."
(Source: Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway)
So, Romanelli, are we going to jump right into With the Beatles next, or are we going to pause for the singles that came out between those two albums: From Me To You / Thank You Girl and She Loves You / I'll Get You. Or do you want to save the singles for much later, as part of "Beatles: Past Masters"? What's the plan?
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