Music Review: Various Artists - Nowhere Boy Original Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film Nowhere Boy, which chronicles John Lennon's teenage years, can be easily summed up in one word: raw.

Included on this album is rock and roll in its purest, most basic form. The soundtrack compilers clearly studied what the future members of the Beatles—as well as Lennon's first band, The Quarrymen—were listening to in the early to mid-50s. While the track list contains the usual suspects—Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis—it also offers lesser-known R&B tracks that were shipped to the Liverpool docks. What results is a fascinating, exhilarating tour of early rock, which demonstrates how The Beatles eventually developed their highly original sound.

Widely considered to be the first rock and roll song, Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" contains the usual double entendre-filled lyrics that many blues tunes featured (see Rockabilly's page devoted to Jackie Brenston for the complete story on the 1951 classic). Along with Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog," it's easy to see why some parents were horrified by the overtly sexual words of the time.

Contrast these songs with Dickie Valentine's "Mr. Sandman" (first recorded by the Chordettes in 1954), an innocent, dreamy confection with the raciest line being "give him a pair of eyes with a come-hither gleam." In the mid-50s, rock rapidly changed such lyrics to more accurately reflect teenage angst and sexual frustration—when Elvis sings "Come on back to me, little girl/So we can play some house," in "Baby Let's Play House"  it sounds a million miles away from the wide-eyed innocence of "Mr. Sandman."

Want teenage rebellion? Classics such as Lewis' "Wild One," Richard's "Rip It Up," and the Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought the Law" still fit the bill. Blues still figured prominently in rock, as evidenced by the strangely hypnotic "I Put A Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Wanda Jackson's gritty "Hard Headed Woman," and Dale Hawkins' slow-building, shuffling "Susie Q" (Credence Clearwater Revival later famously covered this classic).

Also included on Nowhere Boy are songs that The Beatles themselves cited as key influences. Paul McCartney first auditioned for Lennon's Quarrymen by playing Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock," right after witnessing the band perform The Del-Vikings' "Come Go with Me." The Beatles later covered relatively obscure R&B songs such as Lloyd Price's "Money (That's What I Want)" as well as well-known hits like Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven." McCartney has frequently pointed to Buddy Holly as a major inspiration, represented here with "Peggy Sue," as well as Fats Domino.  Just compare "Lady Madonna" with "Ain't That A Shame." All of these songs figure into The Beatles' music through their raw rock sound and catchy lyrics.

Article Author: Kit O'Toole

Kit O'Toole is a lifelong music enthusiast who maintains a music blog, Listen to the Band. In addition, she is the internet columnist and a contributing editor for Beatlefan magazine. She also holds an Ed.D. in Instructional Technology.

Visit Kit O'Toole's author page — Kit O'Toole's Blog