Off The Beatle Track

The Beatles recorded many great album tracks that could have been–actually, absolutely would have been–singles for other bands. I’ll kick off this sub-series by examining their four 1963-64 albums to find a song that they could have released as a single. For this exercise, I’m only choosing singles from (and excluding singles that have already been released from) their U.K. albums, so I may choose an album track that was released as a single in another country.

Please Please Me (1963)

The Beatles’ first two singles–Love Me Do and Please Please Me–appear on their first album, so I’ll need to remove them from consideration. The two best candidates for a single from the remaining songs are the first and last tracks: Paul’s I Saw Her Standing There and John’s cover of The Isley Brothers’ Twist and Shout. (I’d also consider Do You Want to Know a Secret.) The Beatles never released a cover as a single in the U.K., but Twist and Shout¹ gets the nod here because of John’s outstanding vocal.

With The Beatles (1963)

No singles appear on the second album, so I’ll consider all 14 tracks. Among the originals, the album kicks off with two standouts: It Won’t Be Long and All My Loving. Among the covers, the two side-closers, Please Mr. Postman and Money (That’s What I Want), are my favorites. I’ll go with the first song they played on the first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, All My Loving.²

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

The Beatles’ third album spawned two singles, the title track and Can’t Buy Me Love. I’ll propose two ballads, John’s If I Fell and Paul’s And I Love Her, as possible singles, plus two other John tracks that I especially like: Tell Me Why and I’ll Cry Instead. Either of the ballads would have made a terrific single, but I’ll choose And I Love Her³ because it’s my wife’s favorite Beatles song.

Beatles for Sale (1964)

Among the eight originals, the three best single candidates are No Reply, I’m a Loser, and Eight Days a Week. Both I’ll Follow the Sun and their cover of Chuck Berry’s Rock and Roll Music also could have worked. Maybe because of its inclusion on the Red Album, Eight Days a Week⁴ seems like the obvious choice.

1. Twist and Shout was released as a single and made it to #1 in New Zealand. ↩︎
2. All My Loving topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
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3. And I Love Her made it to #10 in Belgium. I guess they can’t all be #1s. ↩︎
4. Eight Days a Week reached #1 in Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S. ↩︎