Today in History: 50-Year Anniversary of The Beatles’ With The Beatles

The Beatles' second full-length studio album, With The Beatles, celebrates its 50-year anniversary today! Released just 6 months after The Fab Four's debut album Please Please Me, With The Beatles showcases the group's songwriting ability and knack for turning already popular songs into their own, including Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven."

Fun Fact: EMI in Australia didn't receive the cover art for With The Beatles and created the one above in its place.

To celebrate The Beatles 1963 release, I made my way around Rockabye Baby headquarters asking a few of our staff members to share their favorite songs off the album.   Stacie (a.k.a. Ms. Rockabye) "Till There Was You" Normally I would go with "Don't Bother Me" but then I remembered Paul McCartney covers "Till There Was You" from The Music Man on this album. Paul's serenading floors me. Argee in our Art Department: "Don't Bother Me" "Don't Bother Me" because it was written and sung by George Harrison. Also, here is a cover concept I came up with when we were reworking the cover for More Beatles. It's a riff on With the Beatles:

Sarah (a.k.a Rockabye Grrl) "All My Loving'" Definitely has to be "All My Loving" because it's such a fun song to belt out. I always end up "singing" the guitar and bass sections between the first and second chorus, too. Seraphina  Project Coordinator "It Won't Be Long"  Following the outstanding "All My Loving," of course, "It Won't Be Long" is my favorite Beatles track off this album. Another Lennon-McCartney collaboration, its clever play on the words "be long" and "belong" and call-and-response structure with "yeah" inserted in between not only make the tune an anthemic love song but also a fun shout-along at parties anywhere.

Give all your lovin' to these sweet jams: