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"Long Tall Sally" by the Beatles
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"Long Tall Sally" by the Beatles
Episode Transcript
Joe: Welcome to Prime Factors Music. This week, 3.2, Long Tall Sally.
Journalist (interview): How long do you think Beatlemania will last?
Beatle (interview): As long as you all keep coming. Ha ha ha.
Abram: You might find it weird that it's 3.2, but this is an EP that was released along with A Hard Day's Night on the same day. I usually associate it more with Beatles for Sale. That's why it's part 2 rather than part 1. So it can't be 4 — that's Beatles for Sale. So we had to settle on 3.2.
Joe: That makes sense. Are there any other EPs like this, Abram?
Abram: Uh, none that — its songs were never released on an album. This is the only one that contained all new songs.
Joe: Very interesting, because I had never heard of this EP before you came to me and said, "Hey, we're recording today," and I said, "What?" Yeah, so should we get started? So if you're not familiar with this EP, you might want to pull it up on Apple Music and listen.
Abram: It isn't on streaming, though.
Joe: It's not on streaming? How would anyone find these songs?
Abram: Tracks 9 to 13 on the Past Masters compilation album — or 10 to 13 is the Long Tall Sally EP. Long Tall Sally to Matchbox. Are we ready to get started?
Joe: I'm as ready as you are.
Abram: Drum roll, please.
Track 1 — Long Tall Sally
Abram: What do you think of this?
Joe: Obviously a cover.
Abram: Yeah, a Little Richard song.
Joe: A Little Richard song, yes. You can tell because it has that sort of like howl that he does in a lot of his songs.
Abram: Like the high-pitched woos.
Joe: Yeah, yeah. That is like a Little Richard staple.
Abram: I find this to be a really good song. I don't like either of the guitar solos. I think they could have done better on those. I mean, it is a cover, but I feel like the Beatles could change a guitar solo or something.
Joe: Yeah, yeah, it wouldn't be a huge deal.
Abram: I would really like it, but I do think the guitar solos drag it down from like a 7 to a 6.
Joe: Yeah, I agree. I think it's a 6. I mean, this is one of the most important songs in 1950s rock. It was covered by Elvis Presley and others. This is a pretty big deal song.
Abram: Since it is a cover, that brings our total down to 5, so yep. And now, drum roll, please.
Track 2 — I Call Your Name
Abram: What do you think of it?
Joe: It's interesting. This is a real Lennon-McCartney song.
Abram: Yeah, it's the only original on the album — or the EP.
Joe: I mean, it's weird hearing a Beatles song I've never heard before.
Abram: It is. I've barely heard this song before. I find it quite bland.
Joe: Yeah, it feels like it was written by —
Abram: It feels like filler. Yeah, it is a B-side after all to Long Tall Sally. If it was a single, I'm pretty sure.
Joe: Yeah, so I just looked it up. George Martin initially gave this song to a different one of his bands. This song was originally released by the Dakotas in 1963, which is another George Martin group that apparently — and I didn't know this until just now — apparently this group played Lennon-McCartney songs. Because Lennon-McCartney were writing songs for other George Martin bands during this period.
Abram: I just don't find it that good. Yeah, like there are certain parts I like, but it's simply not that impressive. A 4.
Joe: Yeah, it's a 4 for me as well.
Abram: And since it's not a cover, that at least doesn't make it 3. Drum roll, please.
Track 3 — Slow Down
Joe: I mean, it's another 1950s song cover.
Abram: Larry Williams. Yeah, I would say it's slightly better than Long Tall Sally. I'm just not sure if it's worth an extra point over it.
Joe: I mean, I think it's okay. It just doesn't feel special in the way that a Beatles song generally needs to feel special.
Abram: So, so I would rate it a 6.
Joe: I'm giving it a 5.
Abram: So that means it's — you're rating it a 4 and I'm rating it a 5. Yeah, so second worst so far. Yep. Drum roll, please.
Track 4 — Matchbox
Abram: I would say it's one of the better ones on this.
Joe: Yeah, I like it.
Abram: I'd say it's on par with Long Tall Sally.
Joe: It has nice piano, it has nice rockabilly sound.
Abram: It has Ringo vocals.
Joe: That was Ringo singing?
Abram: Yes.
Joe: Wow, I had no idea we'd get another Ringo song.
Abram: There's no George song in this album, though.
Joe: How sad.
Abram: Yeah.
Joe: Um, overall I'm giving it a 6.
Abram: Me too. That means we're both giving it 5s. Finally, I don't have to kick you out. You're not a cow, and you're not obsessed with Motown today.
Joe: Mo!
Abram: Never mind, he's still a cow. So I'm gonna calculate what you rate this. You rate this a 4.5. I rate this a 4.75. Which means it gets a 4.625 rating. That's not the best.
Abram: If it wasn't for covers, you would rate it 5.25, and I would rate it 5.5, but unfortunately, since there are covers, it's a much lower score.
Abram: Now time for the overview questions. What was the best guitar on the album?
Joe: There's only 4 songs. Can we even do this?
Abram: Yeah, what's the best guitar in the thing? I'm going for Slow Down. It had a good solo. That's pretty much all I can say. I didn't really pick out much bass or drums, but the best vocals are definitely Slow Down.
Joe: Okay.
Abram: Actually, Long Tall Sally, I think. I think Long Tall Sally wins vocals, Slow Down wins guitar. The others don't win categories.
Abram: Overall opinion on this EP? You should definitely check it out, but don't be expecting a whole lot. Do you think?
Joe: Yeah, I —
Abram: Like, you should listen to it, but don't expect it to be amazing.
Joe: Yeah, I think there's probably a reason why this EP is not commonly considered part of the Beatles discography.
Abram: I think that all the songs but "I Call Your Name" could have been released as filler on a Beatles album. But I think "I Call Your Name" should have probably been completely scrapped and only been in the other band.
Abram: But the other 3 I think could have made it onto an album as filler. It's like side openers, like cover side openers. Yeah, but they aren't particularly great. They would just end up being filler anyways.
Joe: I mean, I just think that there's a reason that they didn't include them on an album.
Abram: Yeah. I think that they could have, but I understand why they didn't.
Joe: So I guess that's the EP. This is probably our only EP for a while.
Abram: Yeah, there's gonna be a weird 5.2 episode because Bad Boy was released as a song on an album that was never released in the UK, which means there'll have to be a one-song, 3-minute episode.
Joe: We'll figure it out, but we're not doing the other singles. Like, this is special because it's an EP, right?
Abram: Yeah, but Bad Boy was never a single.
Joe: Okay, well, are there not other US tracks that haven't been released in Britain at this point?
Abram: Yeah, Bad Boy is the only US-only song, so we'll have to cover it somehow.
Joe: Well, we'll cover it somehow.
Abram: It was released on Beatles VI, which means that we can cover "Yes It Is" along with it.
Joe: Okay, we'll figure it out when the time comes.
Abram: Okay.
Joe: Say goodnight, Abram.
Abram: Bye.
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