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Best Opener To a Beatles Album?
28 May 2017
7.46am
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Dark Overlord
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Back In The USSR is a great opener, I especially like how they needed 3 drummers to replace Ringo.

As for my favorite opener, it has to be Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it really does a good job at setting the mood and atmosphere for what’s to come as well as being a really great song and plus, what other rock song contains a French horn solo, The Hole Got Fixed must love this song to death.

As for my least favorite openers, it’s a 2 way tie between A Hard Day’s Night and No Reply . I say A Hard Day’s Night because I just don’t like the song, I think it’s dull and bland and it sounds stock to me. On the other hand, No Reply is a good song, but it’s slow paced, I think they should’ve swapped the positions of Eight Days A Week and this one.

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28 May 2017
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Von Bontee
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I liked hearing the isolated lead guitar from SP…love that amazing overdrive sound…dunno if Paul used some kinda pedal or just had the amp turned way up

Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.

         

28 May 2017
1.27pm
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Dark Overlord
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I can actually explain why, here’s a picture of Paul from the session.

big_paul_george02.jpg?v=1418327669Image Enlarger

As you can see, he used his Fender Esquire to record the lead guitar part.

As for the amp, he most likely used his Selmer Thunderbird 50 MKII.

4414314b11d8e6332f1fd2a54de33407.jpgImage Enlarger

As for what pedals Paul used, The Beatles often used the Maestro Fuzz Tone, so it’s possible that he used that.

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28 May 2017
4.46pm
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The Hole Got Fixed
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Dark Overlord said

As for my favorite opener, it has to be Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it really does a good job at setting the mood and atmosphere for what’s to come as well as being a really great song and plus, what other rock song contains a French horn solo, The Hole Got Fixed must love this song to death.

I do! Fantastic French horns, and if you turn the lead guitar way up, it makes the song even rockier! The only gripe I have is the audience sound effect. (I’m a purist)

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28 May 2017
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Dark Overlord
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Agreed, I wish they did what they did with Yellow Submarine and used an authentic audience, don’t know why they didn’t this time.

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28 May 2017
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Bongo
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Gotta admit, for anyone who heard the Beatles for the fist time in 1963, hearing 1, 2 3 Faw must have rocked their world! a-hard-days-night-ringo-14

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28 May 2017
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Heath
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Bongo said
Gotta admit, for anyone who heard the Beatles for the fist time in 1963, hearing 1, 2 3 Faw must have rocked their world! a-hard-days-night-ringo-14  

You’re right it did.  And so did branngg!  And so did “This happened once before”.  They all did.  And every time you turned around there was a new single on the radio and your world was rocked again.  Over and over, week after month after year, right through to 1970. 

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29 May 2017
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Heath
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I forgot to vote.  Back In The USSR .  Easy.

11 June 2017
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meanmistermustard
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Dark Overlord said
Back In The USSR is a great opener, I especially like how they needed 3 drummers to replace Ringo.

As for my favorite opener, it has to be Sgt. Pepper ‘s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it really does a good job at setting the mood and atmosphere for what’s to come as well as being a really great song and plus, what other rock song contains a French horn solo, The Hole Got Fixed must love this song to death.

As for my least favorite openers, it’s a 2 way tie between A Hard Day’s Night and No Reply . I say A Hard Day’s Night because I just don’t like the song, I think it’s dull and bland and it sounds stock to me. On the other hand, No Reply is a good song, but it’s slow paced, I think they should’ve swapped the positions of Eight Days A Week and this one.  

To open with ‘Eight Days A Week ‘ would have given a false impression of what was contained within. ‘No Reply ‘ is a downbeat song with upbeat moments, it, therefore, matches ‘Beatles For Sale ‘ which has a number of downbeat moments/lyrics (‘No Reply ‘, ‘I’m A Loser ‘, ‘Baby’s In Black ‘, ‘I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party ‘) alongside more upbeat moments (‘Eight Day’s A Week’, ‘Every Little Thing ‘). 

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11 June 2017
10.12am
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sir walter raleigh
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Also what makes AHDN and No Reply so great as openers is their beginning. Obviously we have the chord at the start of AHDN , but what I like about No Reply is how it wastes no time getting started. Immediately Beatles For Sale sounds different from every other album, starting with that vocal line that doesn’t woo or serenade, but laments. It was John’s darkest song to date.

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12 June 2017
9.57am
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Flyingbrians
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I Saw Her Standing There simply because it’s the first song on the first Beatles album. It’s not my favourite opening Beatles track musically but it’s probably the most significant of their career.

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3 February 2018
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Father McKenzie
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I’d go for Magical Mystery Tour . From the start, it’s upbeat, and lets you know what you’re in for for the rest of the album. 

 

R-464292-1434665238-3702.jpeg.jpgImage Enlarger

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3 February 2018
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PurplishRain
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I think the best one is either Magical Mystery Tour or Taxman . Both got the drive for an awesome opener

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3 March 2018
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Timothy
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My two favourite openings involve segueing. 

Sgt. Pepper ’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends

Back In The USSR /Dear Prudence

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1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
9.A Hard Day’s Night 10.Please Please Me 11.Beatles For Sale 12.With The Beatles 13.Yellow Submarine

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3 March 2018
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Billy Rhythm
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You know…  there’s so very little separating them for they never faltered in the Really Great Opener department…  (U.S. ‘Rubber Soul ‘ notwithstanding but, I’ll admit…  the idea’s grown on me…) 

Nonetheless…  it really is a no-brainer at the end of the day… 

1, 2, 3, 4!…. 

Still hasn’t been topped today by ANYONE…:-)

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3 March 2018
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Interesting topic.  Sometimes a Beatles album didn’t have the best opener — example, Yesterday and Today, it opens with “Drive My Car “, but a better opener would have been “Day Tripper “.

I was going to get into this with several albums, but I found to my dismay that there doesn’t seem to be any consistent consensus on the tracklists of the early Beatles albums. The later albums (from Magical Mystery Tour forward) seem to be written in stone, but the earlier ones seem strangely fluid…

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4 March 2018
3.46am
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meanmistermustard
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Pineapple Records said
Interesting topic.  Sometimes a Beatles album didn’t have the best opener — example, Yesterday and Today, it opens with “Drive My Car “, but a better opener would have been “Day Tripper “.

I was going to get into this with several albums, but I found to my dismay that there doesn’t seem to be any consistent consensus on the tracklists of the early Beatles albums. The later albums (from Magical Mystery Tour forward) seem to be written in stone, but the earlier ones seem strangely fluid…  

The original Beatles album tracklistings are in stone and have very much a consensus, go by the UK releases and a site such as Joe’s. The US are little more than compilations.

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Zig

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4 March 2018
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Zig
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Pineapple Records said
Interesting topic.  Sometimes a Beatles album didn’t have the best opener — example, Yesterday and Today, it opens with “Drive My Car “, but a better opener would have been “Day Tripper “.

I was going to get into this with several albums, but I found to my dismay that there doesn’t seem to be any consistent consensus on the tracklists of the early Beatles albums. The later albums (from Magical Mystery Tour forward) seem to be written in stone, but the earlier ones seem strangely fluid…  

meanmistermustard said

The original Beatles album tracklistings are in stone and have very much a consensus, go by the UK releases and a site such as Joe’s. The US are little more than compilations.  

Agreed…or should I say “greed”?

While George Martin put much thought into which order the tracks should be listed, the US record companies did not. They simply carved up the original albums with not as much, or very little, care. Holding back tracks for inclusion on “the next” Beatles album was common practice and allowed for the sale of more records – in some cases including tracks that were already dated.

Still, if someone wishes to include one of these albums’ opening tracks as their fave, there is nothing at all wrong with that. Especially when you consider we have members of this Forum who, as American kids, knew nothing of the original UK versions when they started buying Beatles albums. I’ve read more than once in these pages how to this day, the UK Rubber Soul album sounds weird to their ears. To me, ‘Drive My Car ‘ is an incredible opener. To the aforementioned fans of the American version, nothing else will do except “I’ve Just Seen A Face “. 

Rubber Soul – Original UK release:

Side One

1. “Drive My Car ” 
2. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” 
3. “You Won’t See Me ” 
4. “Nowhere Man ” 
5. “Think For Yourself ” 
6. “The Word ” 
7. “Michelle

Side Two

1. “What Goes On ” 
2. “Girl” 
3. “I’m Looking Through You ” 
4. “In My Life ” 
5. “Wait ” 
6. “If I Needed Someone
7. “Run For Your Life

American release:

1. “I’ve Just Seen A Face ” 
2. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
3. “You Won’t See Me ” 
4. “Think For Yourself ” 
5. “The Word ” 
6. “Michelle

Side Two

1. “It’s Only Love ” 
2. “Girl” 
3. “I’m Looking Through You ” 
4. “In My Life ” 
5. “Wait ” 
6. “Run For Your Life

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4 March 2018
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meanmistermustard
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I think the first occasion Capitol got it right with their running orders was on ‘Beatles VI’ and that’s only because they copied the first six songs from ‘Beatles For Sale ‘. ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand ‘ is good (‘Meet The Beatles’) but then you get hit by the “1, 2, 3, 4” of ‘I Saw Her Standing There ‘, which is kind of stupid. I get their reasoning but I don’t agree with it.

For the ‘Second Album’ I’d have switched ‘Roll Over Beethoven ‘ with ‘Long Tall Sally ‘. God knows why ‘I’ll Cry Instead ‘ is the first track you hear on ‘Something New’.

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6 March 2020
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Dingle Lad
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I Saw Her Standing There , Back In The USSR , and Come Together .

As for the Capitol albums, you can call me an ugly American if you want but I love the Vic Flick James Bond intro on the Help ! soundtrack.

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