# Best of the Beatles: With the Beatles

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-with-the-beatles/681331>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 14, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-with-the-beatles/681331 "2014-02-14T15:55:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-with-the-beatles/681331/21 "2014-02-15T01:36:43Z")

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Not a Second Time. (Followed by It Won’t Be Long, followed by All My Loving.)

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-with-the-beatles/681331/22 "2014-02-17T01:27:13Z")

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> [@njtt](#):
>
> This album, unfortunately, is mostly filler, both the self penned stuff and the cover versions, which is odd considering how many wonderful new songs John and Paul were able to come up with for _A Hard Day’s Night_, just a few months later (and while they were shooting a movie too!).

About the same time period separated _With The Beatles_ from both the prior and later albums; it may seem odd but: ISTM that while _Please, Please Me_ was set up as sort of a selection from what would be the best and freshest of their sets at the time, WTB was sort of _“oh, so you liked that, well we also do these, they are a whole lot like the first bunch”_. Which would be normal for a second album, “let’s not mess with the formula for our last success” rather than seeking to one-up the previous effort. Some material on WTB was pre-PPM carryovers (_Hold Me Tight_ was tried for PPM but rejected at the time) or more of the covers repertoire dating all the way back to Hamburg (_Roll Over Beethoven_).

I wonder if the production unit may have been thinking, let’s hold the line for stepped up quality works for the all-originals third album; plus with _A Hard Day’s Night_ you had the movie deal motivating an effort to show the world that yes, they’ve hit the big time because they deserve it.

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-of-the-beatles-with-the-beatles/681331/23 "2014-02-17T01:34:51Z")

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To the OP: “Fair collection”? It’s my second favorite Beatles LP! (after Revolver and ahead of Abbey Road).

I see not only the OP thinks it was a weak effort. Oh, well, at least Kurt Cobain agrees with me.

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