The Beatles VI album shows Musical Influences and Creativity To Come

The Beatles VI album was recorded on Capital Records and released in the US and Canada in 1965. It is a window into The Beatles early influences, and the listener gets a chance to hear the creativity that was to become even more pronounced as time went on.

I have been a big fan of the Beatles since my mom got their album With the Beatles back in 1964. When I was old enough to purchase records for myself, I got several their albums, but I never purchased this one until now.

This album became number one on Billboard charts for six weeks proving that Beatlemania was still alive and well in the United States.

This album shows the listener what rock and roll songs they loved to perform in their shows, and it also shows their song writing skills and how they just kept getting more and more advanced.

Here are the songs that made this album so special.

“Kansas City”

The Beatles performed this song in their early performing days. Playing the song in Hamburg, Germany. The Beatles were fans of Little Richard and he had done a version of the song, and the Beatles liked his version and made it their own.

Paul sang the vocals and according to The Beatles Bible, Paul had this to say,

“I could do Little Richard’s voice, which is a wild, hoarse, screaming thing; it’s like an out-of-body experience. You have to leave your current sensibilities and go about a foot above your head to sing it. You have to actually go outside yourself. It’s a funny little trick and when you find it, it’s very interesting.”

Paul McCartney
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles

It is neat to hear The Beatles perform this song and you can feel their energy singing it. It was right in their wheelhouse and John, George, Paul and Ringo seem to be having a blast playing it.

This song was almost used in their film Help. It is a song that the Beatles never performed live. John Lennon said:

Help! as a film was like ‘Eight Days A Week’ as a record for us. A lot of people liked the film, and a lot of people liked that record. But neither was what we wanted – we knew they weren’t really us. We weren’t ashamed of the film, but close friends knew that the picture and ‘Eight Days’ weren’t our best. They were both a bit manufactured.

John Lennon
Anthology

John was critical of his work and the Beatles and sometimes you wondered if he liked anything he and the Beatles had done on certain days. I guess he was his own worst critic. The song is very catchy, and it is hard not to sing along to it. The song has harmonies by John, Paul and George.

Paul is the one who came up with the idea. He was being driven to John Lennon’s house by a chauffeur and Paul asked the driver how he was doing. The chauffeur stated he was working hard eight days a week. When he got to John’s house, they began to write the song out after Paul told John what the guy had said.

According to The Beatles Bible:

After the recording sessions were over, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr went to London’s Ad Lib club, where they spent time with Cilla Black, Mick Jagger and The Ronettes.

It would be neat to have been a fly on the wall to see all of that gang together.

George Harrison wrote and sang this song. It also appeared on the Help! Album. This is the 3rd song that George had written that made it on the Beatles albums. It is a song that was inspired by his girlfriend Patti Boyd. She seemed to be a muse for rock performers. Later she was be an inspiration for Eric Clapton too.

George has confidence in this song that his girl will put up whatever he does because she likes him too much to really leave him. The song is a foot tapper and the rollicking piano by George Martin and in part by Paul is a great way to begin a song. George plays the acoustic guitar, Ringo the drums, John a tambourine and in the over-dub, he plays an electric piano. The piano also ends the song and it sounds almost like piano playing in a saloon in the old west. The song is a great addition to the album.

John Lennon sand this Larry Williams tune, and it was a song that suited Lennon’s love for early rock and roll, and the bad boy image.

The electric guitars are jamming away on this song. Ringo is holding the beat and The Beatles are showing us how they can rock with screams included. John is having a ball with this song.

This song was written by John Lennon though it sounds more like a song Paul would have written. The song has a country sound to it, and it seemed to have inspired The Byrds later. John always wrote from how he was feeling. He felt Paul sometimes wrote as if he were a novel writer. John said this song was written from his heart.

That was a very personal one of mine. In the early days I wrote less material than Paul because he was more competent on the guitar than I. He taught me quite a lot of guitar really.

John Lennon

John and Paul sang the harmonies and did a great job on it.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon were big fans of Buddy Holly and the Crickets. They were impressed with his ability to write his own songs as well as perform them. They even named their band in a way that was like the way Buddy Holly named his.

John and Paul did the vocals on this song and their harmonies blended perfectly. The song opens with a jangly electric guitars and then the harmonies begin. Ringo is holding the beat by beating on a suitcase. It is a great tribute to the man who inspired them to play in a band of their own.

This song was written and sung by Paul McCartney. The song starts off with a good drumming rhythm by Ringo then George starts in with the lead guitar. It grabs your attention right away. Paul sings with gusto and the guys do great harmonies. George Martin, their producer, also joins in on the piano middle way through the song. It is said the Rickenbacker George used inspired the Byrds in their songs. The song has a breezy summery sound to it.

This song appeared on B side of the song “Ticket to Ride”. It is a song of luxurious harmonies and it is sung and played in a slow and quiet way. John wrote most of the song with help from Paul. John wanted it to be like the song “This Boy” but he felt it didn’t quite make it. Paul, on the other hand, felt it was a fine song. John sings it with great emotion. It is a moody song and worth hearing again and again.

John Lennon really lets loose with this early rock and roll song by Larry Williams. I love when John get into song with all kinds of sounds coming out of the vocals he screams, yelps, and growls in a song you just know had to be one of his favorites. The other Beatles are jamming too, George on lead guitar, Paul playing bass, and Ringo on drums and the cowbell. John was playing acoustic guitar and the organ. This song gives the listener a glimpse on how it must have felt to be in the audience in Hamburg and the Cavern in Liverpool. The guys were playing their heart out.

Paul couldn’t remember if he had written all of this song or not, but he was thinking 60/40 or totally him. John Lennon stated in his Playboy interview that it was all Paul. The song is sung by Paul and it is a song that has the Beatles going into a folk sounding style. They are more introspective, and it is a song that is very melodic. John and Paul are credited with the vocals.

According to Wikipedia the verse in the song that states, "Big and black the clouds may be", was taken from a religious inscription that had hung in Lennon's childhood home in Liverpool: "However black the clouds may be, in time they’ll pass away. Have faith and trust and you will see, God’s light make bright your day."

I love the inspiration of that verse and have never heard it before. It inspires one to think positively though John had to make a parody of it in his book A Spaniard in the Works.

The organ playing in the middle is a nice touch too.

This is the last song on the album. I discovered Paul wrote most of the song with a little help from John. Usually when the composer writes most of the song, he will perform it. John Lennon, in this case, does the main vocals. This is very interesting. They should have done this more often. I always wondered how "Oh Darlin" would have sounded with John singing the song. The lyrics sound upbeat, but the tune is a bit sad. It makes for a great song.

The songs instrumentation showcases the song perfectly. It is a great ending for the album.

The Beatles VI would be the beginning of the end of the Beatles performing songs other than their own. It is enjoyable to hear the joy in this record. The songs they didn’t write were inspirations that led them to expand in their creativity that grew more and more in each album they made.

The songs that they created on this album go along well with the cover versions they played. It is an album that fun, melodic, rocking, and folksy all at the same time. The Beatles created a wonderful album that I look forward to hearing again and again.