The Beatles: The Beatles Hits EP - 1963

This was The Beatles' second UK EP and it included three previous singles and one 'b' side. It was a way for fans to get three popular numbers on one disc without having to shell out for an album. Albums were not as much of a "thing" in 1963. 45 rpms were the currency. 

The group's third single, From Me To You also led off this EP. It is extremely (and almost impossibly) catchy, rhythmic and even bluesy in places. I guess Lennon's harmonica helped in that respect. It is just so atmospheric, early sixties. Such a period piece. The sound  on the 2023 "Red Album" remix, is just the best the song has ever had. Again, the vocal harmonies are peerless. 

Thank You Girl was the From Me to You single's original 'b' side. It is a vibrant song supposedly written by Lennon and McCartney as a "thank you" to the group's teenage girl fans. McCartney said of it "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 songs were directly addressed to the fans." It was written “eyeball to eyeball", a phrase Lennon and McCartney would later use to describe their early formulaic writing sessions, and it demonstrates how they were able to produce a song from scratch by working in total partnership. In those early days they wrote together so much more than in subsequent years. Lennon actually said that it was intended to be the 'a' side, thinking it was better than From Me To You. He may have had a point. His rasping vocal on it is excellent too. The stereo remastering on the Past Masters compilation is outstanding as well. 

Also included on here is the wonderful Please Please Me, composed largely by Lennon at his Aunt Mimi's house, with McCartney and Lennon in perfect harmony on vocals (after a few arguments, it is said) and that marvellous, spine-tingling iconic harmonica riff. Bloody marvellous. Even now, all these years later. The group's second single (and what a barnstormer it was), there has long been debate as to whether it got to Number One or not. It certainly did so on the charts published by various music papers but not, it seems on what was considered the official chart, therefore it doesn't appear on the 1 compilation, somewhat unfairly. For me, it the absolute best of the early Beatles singles. Love those descending guitar riffy bits. On this remaster, just listen to McCartney's throbbing bass! Heaven. Those harmonies too, man. Wow. 

Also finding its way onto the EP is the group's first single. With regard to Love Me Do I have never been a huge fan of The Beatles' first single, finding it lyrically twee and totally unthreatening. I don't even feel it had any of the vitality of rock 'n' roll. In a matter of a year or so it would sound hopelessly dated and by now it sounds exactly what it is - a song from several generations ago. Its infectious harmonica is its redeeming feature, though, as I guess is its instantly singable chorus. It just doesn't do it for me, I much prefer Please Please Me or I Saw Her Standing There from the same period. This is the "Ringo" version of the song, by the way. This, and the version on the Past Masters compilation features Ringo on drums, whereas the one on the Please Please Me album and the previous release of the Red Album had Andy White behind the kit and a sulking Ringo tapping out a rhythm on the tambourine. This newly remastered 2023 version has the best sound I have ever heard on the song, making me appreciate it more. It is still lyrically lacking, though. 

Relevant album - Please Please Me 

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