Shout

Before I head out, ten-thousand-pound hungover head in hands, to a post-wedding brunch, I'm having a quick listen to "Shout," the Beatles' cover of the Isley Brothers song that always seems to get played at weddings.



The Beatles performed part 2 of the song as a part of their stage act with some regularity, and also performed it on Ready, Steady, Go in 1964, seen here in the video. You can also hear it on Anthology 1. And, you know, this is not a great song for a HarriSunday, considering it's probably the only song on which all four of the Beatles share the lead vocal, but we do get George singing the "little bit softer now" part, at least, and I just felt like listening to it so I was caring less than usual. (This hangover is making me ornery.) My favorite part of the video above is actually when John forgets that he was supposed to be lip-syncing his vocal and does this disdainful thing with his eyebrows as if to say "screw it."

I like the Beatles' song because it breathes some new life into what's become kind of a stale crowd-pleaser of a song-- which is itself a bit unfair, because the original is a barnstormer and cool as hell-- it just happens to have been overplayed. But there's so much to love about the Beatles doing it, from Paul whopping to Ringo singing "louder now" with this huge burst of energy to the Beatley jangly way they're playing everything. And that's about all I have time to say before dashing off, so apologies! More from me tomorrow...

"Shout," released in the U.K. and the U.S. disc 2 track 50 of Anthology 1, November 20, 1995.