A step back to rockabilly roots
After "A Hard Days Night", the pressure was off and The Beatles were able to let up on the gas pedal and just have fun. The title "Beatles For Sale" seems to refer to the idea that after their recent frenetic pace of albums, live appearances, touring and even a movie, they had become a well-oiled production machine that could just go out and sell anything they want.
It's a bit similar to "Let It Be" at the end of their career, but this time it worked. It even seems logical that they would follow the British marketing strategy and leave the single off of the album. So there's no "I Feel Fine" / "She's a Woman" here. Those two songs are both more Beatle-esque and more forward looking than anything else here, so they'd stick out a bit too much.
But in the USA, they included the single and split the album in two, Beatles '65 and Beatles VI, with help from stealing a few songs from elsewhere. That makes the USA albums a bit more contrived and reduces the spontaneity of it all. The UK "Beatles For Sale" is a fresher statement.
Rockabilly is the overarching theme, particularly in the selection of cover songs, in contrast to the previous covers which tended toward Motown/R&B. But there was still room for another Chuck Berry song, "Rock and Roll Music".
John seems slightly more dominant than usual on this album, just as he also seemed to become on "Let It Be". And as with the latter, this may be more of a political than artistic outcome. His soulful wail on "Mr. Moonlight" and countrified bass voice on "I'm a Loser" are real stretches. Paul gets only three lead vocals, "I'll Follow the Sun", "Kansas City" and "What You're Doing".
The twang of George Harrison's lead guitar on this album seems a long way from the Indian flavored songs he would move toward later, although its really just the distance between Country/ Western music and Country/ Eastern music. Once you know George, it all makes sense.
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