1. Love Me Do

 

 

"Love Me Do" is an early Lennon/McCartney song, principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958–59 while playing truant from school. John Lennon wrote the middle eight. The song was The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the UK, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four. In the U.S. the single was a number one hit in 1964.

 

"Love Me Do" begins with bluesy harmonica played by John Lennon, then features Lennon and McCartney on joint lead vocals although McCartney handles the low solo vocal line on the song's title phrase when all the instruments go silent. Lennon had previously sung these sections, but this change in vocals was made when the harmonica part was added, as Lennon needed to play it once the instrumentation started up again on the "do" of "love me do".

 

Recording

"Love Me Do" was recorded by the Beatles on different occasions with three different drummers:

 

The Beatles first recorded it on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums, as part of their EMI audition at Abbey Road Studios in London.

By 4 September, Best had been replaced with Ringo Starr (producer George Martin did not approve of Best's drumming), and on that day the Beatles with Starr recorded a version again at Abbey Road Studios.

One week later, on 11 September, the Beatles returned to the same studio to discover that Martin was dissatisfied with Starr's drumming, and they made a recording of "Love Me Do" with session drummer Andy White on drums while Starr played tambourine.

Most issues of the single contain the Andy White version of the track, which can also be heard on several albums (including Please Please Me) and the The Beatles' Hits EP. The initial issues of the UK single, however, featured the Ringo Starr version, which is also included on the compilation album Past Masters, Volume One. All singles printed with the red Parlophone label contain the Ringo Starr version, whereas the singles having a black Parlophone label are the Andy White version. The CD single issued on 5 October 1992 contains both these versions. The Pete Best version remained unreleased until 1995, when it was included on the Anthology 1 album.

 

"Love Me Do", featuring Starr drumming, was also recorded eight times at the BBC and played on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot, Saturday Club, Side By Side, Pop Go The Beatles and Easy Beat between October 1962 and October 1963. The version of "Love Me Do" recorded on 10 July 1963 at the BBC and broadcast on the 23 July 1963 Pop Go The Beatles programme can be heard on the Beatles album Live at the BBC. The Beatles also performed the song live on the 20 February 1963 Parade of the Pops BBC radio broadcast.

 

In 1969, during the Get Back sessions, the Beatles played the song in a slower, more bluesy form than they had in earlier recordings. This version of "Love Me Do" is one of many recordings made during these sessions and subsequently appeared on some bootlegs.

 

 

Background information

On 4 September 1962 Brian Epstein paid for the group to fly down from Liverpool to London. They arrived at Abbey Road Studios in the early afternoon, where they set up their equipment in Studio 3 and began rehearsing "Please Please Me", "Love Me Do" and a song by Mitch Murray and Barry Mason called "How Do You Do It" (originally written for Adam Faith). To a large extent, George Martin had decided to sign the Beatles on the strength of their individual qualities as their songwriting ability had yet to be recognised. Martin said: "It wasn't a question of what they could do [as] they hadn't written anything great at that time." "But what impressed me most was their personalities. Sparks flew off them when you talked to them". It was felt that unless they could write something as good as "How Do You Do It", then the Tin Pan Alley practice of having the group record songs by professional songwriters, which was the custom at the time, would be employed. During the course of an evening session (7pm to 10pm in Studio 2) they recorded "How Do You Do It" and "Love Me Do". "Please Please Me" was at this stage quite different to its eventual treatment and was dropped by Martin, which was a disappointment for the group, as they had hoped it would be the B-side to "Love Me Do".

 

George Martin made a historic decision when he chose "Love Me Do" to be the Beatles' first single. "How Do You Do It" was number one material, as Gerry and the Pacemakers were to later prove, and was more commercial sounding at the time compared to "Love Me Do". George Martin said: "I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record". The song had an effect on the Abbey Road staff on first hearing. Norman Smith was overseeing the 6 June audition when he first heard it, and then sent for Martin, who took over the rest of the session.

 

It was on the 4 September session, according to McCartney, that Martin suggested using a harmonica, presumably replacing a guitar phrase. However, Martin’s own recollection of this is different, saying: "I picked up on 'Love Me Do' because of the harmonica sound", adding: "I loved wailing harmonica - it reminded me of the records I used to issue of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. I felt it had a definite appeal." This then could have been at the earlier 6 June audition with Pete Best. John Lennon had learned to play a chromatic harmonica that his Uncle George (late husband of Aunt Mimi) had given to him. But the instrument being used at this time was one stolen by Lennon from a music shop in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in 1960, as the Beatles first journeyed to Hamburg by road. Lennon would have had this with him at the EMI audition, as Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby", a hit in the UK in March 1962, with its harmonica intro, was one of the 33 songs the Beatles had prepared. Brian Epstein had in fact booked American Bruce Channel to top a NEMS Enterprises promotion at New Brighton’s Tower Ballroom on 21 June 1962, just a few weeks after "Hey Baby" had charted, with the Beatles a prestigious second on the bill. Lennon was particularly impressed with Channel’s harmonica player, Delbert McClinton.

 

The harmonica was to become an important element of the Beatles' early sound, but prior to becoming recording artists they had not particularly featured the instument in their live act. It seems credit then ought to be given to Martin for making it such an integral part of their early records such as "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You".

 

It was decided, however, that as "Love Me Do" was going to be the group's first single, it was important to get things absolutely right, and the song therefore needed to be re-recorded. Martin was not happy with Starr’s drum sound, and in those days it was not unusual to hire session drummers to fix this sort of problem. Producers then were used to hearing the bass drum "lock in" with the bass guitar as opposed to the much looser R & B feel that was emerging, so professional show band drummers were often used for recordings. George Martin has since said that he never intended to slight either Best or Starr by using a session drummer. Ron Richards, in charge for the 11 September re-recording session, booked Andy White, whom he had used regularly in the past. "P.S. I Love You" was recorded first; it was initially a contender for the A-side but was ruled out as there was another song with the same title by Peggy Lee. On this Starr was asked to play the maracas.

 

"Love Me Do" was then recorded with White playing drums and Starr on tambourine. However, early pressings of the single are the 4 September version—minus tambourine—with Starr playing drums. But later pressings of the single, and the version used for the "Please Please Me" album, are the 11 September re-record with Andy White on drums and Starr on tambourine. This difference has become fundamental in telling the two recordings of "Love Me Do" apart.

 

In his bestselling 2006 biography of the group, The Beatles: The Biography (ISBN 0316013315), Bob Spitz rehashed an old story that manager Brian Epstein tried to help make Love Me Do a hit in England by buying 10,000 copies of the single for his Liverpool record store. This story had been told previously in several other Beatles-related books, but has never been verified.

 

There are only two songs that Lennon and McCartney wholly own: "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You". This is because until Dick James had set up their own publishing company Northern Songs, EMI had placed the Beatles' first two recordings with their own in-house publishers Ardmore and Beechwood. Brian Epstein, however, was dissatisfied with the lack of promotion EMI gave the single, and through George Martin (who later declined an offer by Brian Epstein of a percentage of Northern Songs on ethical grounds) was introduced to Dick James, whom Martin once produced. Later, Lennon and McCartney were able to buy back ownership of these two titles which have always remained separate from Lennon & McCartney's main catalogue of material.

 

 

Ron Richards

Interestingly, there are major discrepancies regarding the Andy White session, and who actually produced it. In his book Summer of Love George Martin concedes that his version of events differs from some accounts, saying: "On the 6 June Beatles’ session (audition) I decided that Pete Best had to go [and said to Epstein] I don’t care what you do with Pete Best; but he’s not playing on any more recording sessions. I’m getting a session drummer in." When Starr turned up at the next session with the group (4 September) Martin says that he was totally unaware that the Beatles had fired Best, and, not knowing how "good bad or indifferent" Starr was, was not prepared to "waste precious studio time finding out." Martin, therefore, has this as the Andy White session in which Martin was present, and not 11 September. This definitely contradicts Mark Lewisohn’s account, as in his book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, he has Starr on drums on 4 September and White for the 11 September re-make. Lewisohn also says that Ron Richards was in charge on 11 September, which means, if accurate, that Richards was sole producer of the Andy White version of "Love Me Do". George Martin says: "My diary shows that I did not oversee any Beatles recording sessions on 11 September - only the one on 4 September." But, if Lewisohn’s account is correct and "the 4 September session really hadn’t proved good enough to satisfy George Martin," it might seem odd that Martin was not then present for the 11 September re-make.

 

 

Missing master tape

No original master tapes of the 4 September version of "Love Me Do" are known to exist. Standard procedure at Abbey Road Studios at the time was to erase the original two-track session tape once it had been "mixed down" to the (usually monaural) master tape used to press records. This was the fate of the session tape for "Love Me Do" as well as several other early Beatles songs from 1962–63. However, at some point the mixdown master tape for this song was also lost, and apparently no backup copies had been made—thus, for many years the only extant recorded copies were the red label Parlophone 45 rpm vinyl records pressed in 1962.

 

By the time the tapes had disappeared, the song's 11 September 1962 remake featuring Andy White had been released. EMI would not have been too concerned about the loss of the 4 September take, therefore, as it was now considered obsolete, and they may not have anticipated ever having any use for it again anyway.

 

Around 1980, a reasonably clean, original 45 from EMI's archives was used as the "best available source" for the track's inclusion on the Capitol compilation LP Rarities. A few years later, a new master tape was struck, this time using another, better-sounding 45 supplied by a record collector, and this has served as the official EMI master tape for the original "Love Me Do" ever since.

 

 

Quotations

In 1972, Lennon commented,

 

“ Paul wrote the main structure of this when he was sixteen, or even earlier. I think I had something to do with the middle. ”

 

In 1982, McCartney remarked,

 

“ In Hamburg we clicked... At the Cavern we clicked... but if you want to know when we knew we'd arrived, it was getting in the charts with 'Love Me Do'. That was the one. It gave us somewhere to go. ”

 

Similarly Starr in 1976 enthused,

 

“ The first record, 'Love Me Do', for me that was more important than anything else. That first piece of plastic. You can't believe how great that was. It was so wonderful. We were on a record"

 

 

"Love Me Do" has been covered by:

 

Bobby Vee on his 1964 album, 30 Big Hits from the 60s

Dick Hyman on his 1964 album, Keyboard Kaleidoscope

Sandie Shaw on her 1969 album, Reviewing the Situation

Ringo Starr on his 1998 album, Vertical Man

Flaco Jiménez on his 2000 album, Sleepytown

Madooo on his 2002 album, This Day Is Forever

The Persuasions on their 2002 album, The Persuasions Sing the Beatles

Emmerson Nogueira on his 2004 album, Beatles

David Bowie covered "Love Me Do" in some of his Ziggy Stardust tours.

 

2. PS. I Love You

 

Beatles tribute - The Cavern Beat

 

"P.S. I Love You" is a song composed principally by Paul McCartney credited to McCartney-Lennon, which was first recorded by the The Beatles and released on 5 October 1962 as the B-side of their "Love Me Do" single. It is also included on their 1963 album Please Please Me.

 

Recording

The version featured on the single and album was recorded in ten takes on 11 September 1962 at Abbey Road Studios, London. Session drummer Andy White gave the recording a lightweight cha cha treatment, and consequently it misses the distinctive heavy drum beat that characterised most of their early music.

 

The Beatles (with Ringo Starr playing drums) also recorded this song at the BBC on 25 October 1962; 27 November 1962 and 17 June 1963 for subsequent broadcast on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot, and Pop Go the Beatles, respectively.

 

 

Inspiration

Written in 1961 while Paul McCartney was in Hamburg, this song is sometimes considered to be a dedication to his then-girlfriend, Dot Rhone. However, McCartney denies this; he described "P.S. I Love You" as

 

“ a theme song based on a letter.... It was pretty much mine. I don't think John had much of a hand in it. There are certain themes that are easier than others to hang a song on, and a letter is one of them.... It's not based in reality, nor did I write it to my girlfriend from Hamburg, which some people think. ”

 

John Lennon said about this song:

 

“ That's Paul's song. He was trying to write a Soldier Boy like the Shirelles. He wrote that in Germany, or when we were going to and from Hamburg. I might have contributed something. I can't remember anything in particular. It was mainly his song. ”

 

("Soldier Boy" was a US #1 single for the Shirelles in 1962.)

 

With a pleasant sounding melody, the verse and chorus could be considered typical McCartney. The young Lennon and McCartney would often introduce what might be considered incongruous sounding jazz chords into their very early compositions (almost certainly McCartney’s influence, as he was the more advanced musician at this early stage ) as is this case here using C# diminished.

 

 

"P.S. I Love You" has been covered by:

 

Sonny Curtis in 1964

the Italian singer Riki Maiocchi in 1965

Peter Lipa on his 2003 album Beatles in Blue(s), which features unusual cover versions of 16 Beatles songs

3. Please Please Me

 

 

Please Please Me" is the second single released by the The Beatles in the UK, and the first to be issued in the US. It was also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single. It was originally a John Lennon composition, although its ultimate form was significantly influenced by George Martin.

 

It has been the subject of controversy in the UK, because at the time there were many charts circulating, and Record Retailer, whose opinion is now most widely considered as being the correct chart, published the single at #2, whereas all other charts published it at #1. Today, The Official UK Charts Company claim the song only made #2 in the charts. However, many believe it to have been a #1 – especially as the NME chart was the main one at the time – thus making the Beatles the first group to score 18 #1 singles on the UK charts, and also increasing their overall count to 18.

 

The single, as initially released with "Ask Me Why" on the B-side, failed to make much impact in the U.S., but it was re-released there on January 3, 1964 (this time with "From Me to You" on the B-side) and reached #3 in the US chart.

 

Composition

The Beatles had secured a minor debut success with "Love Me Do", but outside of Liverpool and Hamburg the Beatles were still virtually unknown. Part of the problem was that the group were committed to begin what was to be their last Hamburg season just as "Love Me Do" entered the British charts, and so were unable to actively promote it on their home soil. Nonetheless, their producer, George Martin, felt it was a promising start and decided to go ahead with a second single. "Please Please Me" has a diverse history. George Martin states that the original version of this song was “rather dreary”, was too slow and consequently had little prospect of being the big hit the band were looking for. Martin said: “ I was still thinking that we should release their recording of "How Do You Do It" (a Mitch Murray composition that George Martin had insisted the Beatles record as a possible alternative single release to “Love Me Do”). The group replied that they were only interested in writing their own material. McCartney said, “It was symptomatic of our group that we turned down “How Do You Do It”. Ringo Starr commented “I remember us all being ready to stand up for the principle of, “We have written these songs and we want to do them”. George Martin was in charge though, but was sympathetic to their appeals saying, “ would still have issued “How Do You Do It” had they not persuaded me to listen to another version of “Please Please Me”.

 

John Lennon first conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow tempo song in a style inspired by Roy Orbison. Lennon recalled: “I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing “Only The Lonely” on the radio. I was also always intrigued by the words to a Bing Crosby song that went, “Please lend a little ear to my pleas”. The double use of the word “please”. So it was a combination of Roy Orbison and Bing Crosby”. Vocally sparse at this stage, it did not contain harmonies or responses, nor did it have the scaled harmonica intro. George Martin first heard it at the "Love Me Do" re-make session on 11 September and in his opinion it "badly needed pepping up" and asked the Beatles to consider making major changes to it, including increasing its tempo. By the time it was brought back into the studio on 26 November 1962, its arrangement had been radically altered. Now played much faster it took 18 takes, including the harmonica superimpositions, to record what George Martin immediately predicted would be a hit.

 

Lennon's harmonica playing features prominently and, similar to other early Beatles compositions such as "Love Me Do" and "From Me to You", opens the song. Paul McCartney and John Lennon initially share the vocals with McCartney holding a high note while Lennon drops down through the scale, a ploy they learnt from the Everly Brothers UK hit song “Cathy’s Clown” (April 1960). McCartney said: “I did the trick of remaining on the high note while the melody cascaded down from it”. Ringo Starr asserts himself, exorcising any lingering doubts from the "Love Me Do" sessions regarding his ability. Where "Love Me Do" had been arguably parochial, relying to a large extent on their existing home fans for support "Please Please Me" would be groundbreaking, especially as the Beatles were now back in the UK and able to appear on influential national television shows such as Thank Your Lucky Stars.

 

If one were to accept Record Retailer’s chart positions for "Please, Please Me" and “How Do You Do It?”, then Martin’s instincts for a number one were absolutely correct, the former reaching number two and the latter number one.

There are three different mixes of the song, two in mono and one in stereo. The mono mix that appears on the single is not the same as the Please Please Me album mix, as extra echo was added to the LP version. A new mix was performed for the stereo version of the album, and on 25 February 1963 Martin made one created from original takes 16, 17 and 18. This stereo version has Lennon fluffing the final verse, causing him to sing 'come on' with a slight chuckle in his voice.

It was credited to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, as were all other Lennon-McCartney originals on the Please Please Me album. The songwriting credit was changed to the more familiar "Lennon-McCartney" for their second album, With the Beatles.

 

Original U.S. release

 

An early edition of "Please Please Me" with the band's name spelled "The Beattles"Capitol Records, EMI's United States label, was offered the right to release "Please Please Me" in the U.S., but turned it down. Instead, it was placed with Transglobal, an EMI affiliate that worked to place foreign masters with U.S. record labels. It was told to find an American outlet for the record as quickly as possible, in order to appease Martin and Beatles manager Brian Epstein. "Please Please Me" was then offered to Atlantic, which also rejected it. Finally, Vee-Jay, which had released the top-five hit "I Remember You" by Frank Ifield in 1962, another record Capitol had turned down, was offered the right to issue "Please Please Me" in the States, and chose to do so. The exact date of the U.S. issue was lost for decades, but research published in 2004 showed that the single "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" was released by Vee-Jay on 7 February 1963. Coincidentally, this was exactly one year before the Beatles' plane landed in New York on their first visit as a band to America.

 

Dick Biondi, a disc jockey on WLS in Chicago and a friend of Vee-Jay executive Ewart Abner, played the song on the radio, perhaps as early as 8 February 1963, thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles record in the United States.[15] WLS added the song to its playlist, and "Please Please Me" peaked at #35 on 15 March after four weeks on its "Silver Dollar Survey" chart. But the song did not chart on any of the major national American surveys.

 

The first pressings of the Vee-Jay single, which was assigned the catalog number 498, featured a typographical error: The band's name was spelled "The Beattles" with two T's.. Later copies of the single corrected the typo. Also, unlike on the UK Parlophone edition, the composers on the Vee-Jay edition were credited as "J. Lennon-P. McCartney" on both sides. Except in Chicago, the record was a flop, as it sold approximately 7,310 copies. Today, copies of Vee-Jay 498, whether with the incorrect or correct spelling of the Beatles on the label, are valuable collector's items.

 

 

Second U.S. release

In the wake of the rush-release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in the United States, Vee-Jay reissued "Please Please Me" on or about 3 January 1964, after footage of the Beatles had appeared on a television program hosted by Jack Paar. Playing it safe, the label chose to put "From Me to You" on the B-side, as Del Shannon's version had been a minor hit in 1963. The new single was issued with the catalog number 581.

 

This time, "Please Please Me" was a massive hit, eventually peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending 14 March, 1964, trailing only "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". It was one of the songs that comprised the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 of 4 April, when the Beatles held the top five spots.

 

Because Vee-Jay wanted to get as many copies of the record pressed as quickly as possible, it did not insist on uniformity from one pressing plant to another. As a result, a dizzying number of label variations exist. Some of these added a comma to the song title, rendering it as "Please, Please Me". Additionally, some copies of the record were issued with a picture sleeve. Early promotional copies had a special sleeve proclaiming "Please Please Me" as "The Record That Started Beatlemania". The text on the sleeve noted that the Beatles had just appeared on Paar's program and were scheduled to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show in February. This sleeve is considered to be extremely rare.

 

At least 1.1 million copies of "Please Please Me" were sold the second time. If Vee-Jay had been a member of the RIAA, the single would have been eligible to be certified gold.

 

 

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ranked the song at #184 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

 

"Please Please Me" was chosen for the Beatles' first national TV appearance, on Thank Your Lucky Stars on January 19, 1963.

 

 

"Please Please Me" is cited as the "first real oral sex pop song" in Tim Riley's 1999 book about the Beatles' discography. He credits two Beatles-era writers for the first such observation, Robert Christgau, and John Piccarella. Riley also notes the lyric's (call and responses) "c'mon, c'mon," and points out the song "closes the side [of the album] ignoring the conventional practice of putting the hit up front, and fleshing out the album with weaker material."

 

4. Ask Me Why

 

 

"Ask Me Why" is a song by The Beatles originally released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of their hit single "Please Please Me" . It was also included on their first UK album, Please Please Me.

 

The song was mainly a John Lennon composition, written in early 1962, but it was credited to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, as were all other Lennon/McCartney originals on the first pressings of Please Please Me album. It was included in their live act and was one of the songs performed at their Parlophone audition in Abbey Road's studio three on 6 June 1962. Complex in arrangement, it strives to emulate the style of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (the guitar phrase is drawn from the Miracles’ "What’s So Good About Goodbye" (1961).

 

"Ask Me Why" was recorded on 26 November 1962, the same day they attempted "Tip of My Tongue", another Lennon and McCartney song which was also being considered for the B-side of the "Please Please Me" single. However, George Martin felt that "Tip of My Tongue" still needed some work, and it was eventually given to Tommy Quickly to record.

 

 

Other Releases

Capitol Records, EMI's American counterpart to Parlophone, initially refused to distribute Beatle music in the U.S, and so the "Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" single was released by Vee-Jay Records on 25 February 1963.

 

Vee-Jay included "Ask Me Why" on version 2 of Introducing... The Beatles.

Capitol eventually released "Ask Me Why" in 1965 on The Early Beatles when Vee-Jay's rights expired.

 

5. I Saw Her Standing There

 

 

"I Saw Her Standing There" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and is the opening track on the The Beatles' debut album Please Please Me, released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone on 22 March 1963.

 

In December 1963, Capitol Records released the song in the United States as the B-side on the label's first single by the Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The single topped the U.S. charts for seven weeks starting 18 January 1964. "I Saw Her Standing There" entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 8 February 1964, remaining there for 11 weeks, peaking at number 14.

 

Composition

 

The song was co-written but based on McCartney's initial idea. Originally titled "Seventeen", the song was conceived by McCartney driving home from a concert in Southport, Merseyside and later completed at his Forthlin Road home in September 1962 McCartney said: “I had: “She was just seventeen,” and then: “Beauty queen”. When I showed it to John, he screamed with laughter, and said “You’re joking about that line, aren’t you?” "It was one of the first times he ever went "What? Must change that..." The lyrics were written on a Liverpool Institute exercise book. Remember, a book by McCartney's brother Mike McCartney, includes a photograph of Lennon and McCartney writing the song while strumming guitars and reading the exercise book. McCartney admits to lifting his bass line directly from a Chuck Berry song called "I'm Talking About You" (1961).

 

 

Recording

The song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on 11 February 1963, as part of the marathon recording session that produced 10 of the 14 songs on Please Please Me. The Beatles were not present for the mixing session on 25 February 1963, which was not unusual at that time.

 

On the album, the song starts with a rousing "one-two-three-FOUR!" count-in by McCartney. Usually, these count-ins are edited off the final audio mix. However, this was left on by record producer George Martin, as it was considered especially spirited, and began the album in an upbeat vein. Music journalist, Richard Williams suggests that this dramatic introduction to their debut album was just as stirring as Elvis Presley’s “Well, it’s one for the money, two for the show…” on his opening track, Blue Suede Shoes, for his debut album seven years earlier and makes the statement that the Beatles were a performing band as they also opened their live set in this way. George Martin initially contemplated recording the Please Please Me LP live at the Cavern in front of their own audience and visited the Liverpool club to experience the Beatles phenomenon for himself. But when time constraints intervened it was decided to book them into the Abbey Road studios instead.

 

 

Release

In the UK, "I Saw Her Standing There" is the opening track on Please Please Me. In the U.S., Vee Jay Records released it as the opening track on both versions of Introducing... The Beatles.In addition to the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" B-side offer, Capitol released it as the second track on Meet the Beatles!, released in late January 1964. Vee-Jay had a limited portfolio of Beatle songs to offer, and re-issued their material using various names including Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles and other packages.

 

Capitol reissued the song twice in the 70's, once on the Rock 'n' Roll Music compilation released on 11 June 1976, and as the opening track in the 14-disc Limited-limited edition boxed set, The Beatles Collection released in December 1978.

 

Critical acclaim

Carr and Tyler, in The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, claimed it was only the third all-British rock classic up to that time, the previous two being Cliff Richard's "Move It" and Johnny Kidd's "Shakin' All Over".

 

 

Cover versions

A 1974 live version was released as a duet by Lennon and Elton John as the B-side to the latter's "Philadelphia Freedom" single. The song is available on the Lennon Box Set, and on Elton John's To Be Continued... box set as well as the expanded CD edition of his 1976 live album Here and There. Lennon's introduction:

 

“ I'd like to thank Elton and the boys for having me on tonight. We tried to think of a number to finish off with so I can get out of here and be sick, and we thought we'd do a number of an old, estranged fiancé of mine, called Paul. This is one I never sang, it's an old Beatle number, and we just about know it. ”

 

Paul McCartney included "I Saw Her Standing There" on his live albums Tripping the Live Fantastic (1990), Back in the U.S. (2002) and Back in the World (2003). In 1987, he recorded a new version for his album CHOBA B CCCP, but left it to outtakes.

 

Other versions include:

 

The Who filmed and recorded a version of the song for their film The Kids Are Alright; Keith Moon sang the lead vocal. However, this was not released on the film or soundtrack album, and has only been available on bootleg recordings. The Who also performed the song on their 1982 Farewell Tour, with John Entwistle on lead vocal, including a performance at Shea Stadium.

Daniel Johnston covered "I Saw Her Standing There" on his album Continued Story/Hi How Are You?

In 1988, Tiffany released "I Saw Him Standing There" as a single and as a track on her self-titled debut album.

Santo & Johnny did a version (which features steel guitar) on an LP of Beatle songs.

In 1977, The Tubes covered "I Saw Her Standing There" on their live CD What Do You Want From Live.

Carmaig de Forest recorded an acoustic version of "I Saw Her Standing There" in his own kitchen in 1991. Halfway through the song, it turns into his own composition "Julie Among the Redwoods", but reverts back to "I Saw Her Standing There" in the end.

Peter Grant recorded a Jazz version of the song on his self-titled album in 2005

 

6. Misery

 

 

"Misery" is a song performed by the The Beatles on their album Please Please Me. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. According to Lennon, "it was kind of a John song more than a Paul song, but it was written together." McCartney was to say: "I don't think either one of us dominated on that one, it was just a hacking job".

 

In February 1963, Helen Shapiro was Britain’s most successful female singer, and the Beatles were fifth on the bill for her nationwide tour of the UK. Shapiro’s artist and repertoire manager, Norrie Paramor was looking for new material for a country and western album she planned to record in Nashville, Tennessee, and suggested the Beatles compose a song for her. Shapiro had first achieved chart success in 1961 at the age of 14, and Lennon and McCartney saw an opportunity to have her record one of their songs. "Misery" was written especially for her and was started backstage before their performance at the King's Hall, Stoke-on-Trent on 26 January, and later completed at McCartney's Forthlin Road home. At the time, McCartney commented: “ We’ve called it “Misery”, but it isn’t as slow as it sounds, it moves along at quite a pace, and we think Helen will make a pretty good job of it”. Ultimately, Paramor considered it unsuitable, but British singer and entertainer Kenny Lynch, who was on the same tour, did record it (HMV Pop 1136), and became the first artist to cover a Lennon/McCartney composition although he failed to chart with it. (Kenny Lynch was later to appear on the cover of Paul McCartney's Band On The Run album). When the Beatles needed original material for their Please Please Me LP they recorded it themselves, giving its treatment, according to writer Ian MacDonald, "a droll portrait of adolescent self-pity".

 

It was credited to McCartney and Lennon in that order, as were all other Lennon & McCartney originals on the Please Please Me album. The songwriting credit was changed to what would become the more familiar "Lennon & McCartney" for their second album, With the Beatles.

 

Helen Shapiro had starred in her own film called It’s Trad, Dad (released UK 16 April 1962) directed by Richard Lester, who would later direct the Beatles’ film A Hard Day's Night.

 

 

7. Anna (Go With Him)

 

 

"Anna (Go to Him)" is a song written and originally performed by Arthur Alexander. His version was released as a single by Dot Records on September 17, 1962. According to Richie Unterberger, music critic for All Music Guide:

 

“ "'Anna' was one of the great early soul ballads, even if its loping groove was closer to a midtempo than a slow ballad. Like several of Alexander's songs, it would come to be more famous in its cover version than through its original release. And it was actually a small hit when it first came out in 1962, getting to #68 in the pop charts and #10 in the R&B listings."

 

Despite the title, throughout the song the lyric is "go with him" rather than "go to him".

 

 

The Beatles version

A personal favorite of John Lennon's, it became part of the The Beatles' early repertoire and was consequently recorded by them for their 1963 debut album, Please Please Me. In the U.S., Vee Jay Records released it on Introducing... The Beatles (July 22, 1963) and Capitol Records re-released it on The Early Beatles (March 22, 1965). Vee Jay also released "Anna (Go to Him)" on the EP Souvenir of Their Visit: The Beatles in the U.S.

 

The Beatles recorded the song on February 11, 1963 in three takes; the master take was number 3. It was remixed on February 25. George Harrison played the distinctive phrase on guitar; Floyd Cramer played it on piano for the original.

 

Unterberger praised the Beatles' version in his review, saying:

 

“ "Ringo Starr faithfully [replicates] the unusual drum rhythm and high-hat crunches. Lennon's vocal, however, added a tortured pain not present in Alexander's model, particularly when he wailed in his upper register at the conclusion of the bridges. The Beatles' backup harmony vocals, in addition, were superb, and more effective [than on Alexander's version]." ”

 

Music critic Ian MacDonald had a different view of Lennon's vocal, saying it sounded like "a passionate youth grappling with a man's song."

 

The Beatles recorded "Anna (Go to Him)" on June 17, 1963 for the BBC radio show Pop Go the Beatles. The show was broadcast on 25 June. They recorded it once again on August 1, 1963 for the show broadcast on August 25.

 

 

 

8. Chains

 

No Video

 

"Chains" was composed by the Brill Building husband-and-wife songwriting team Gerry Goffin and Carole King and was a minor hit for Little Eva’s backing singers, the Cookies, and later covered by the The Beatles.

 

 

The Beatles version

"Chains" was a much-covered song by Liverpool groups during 1962, and was included in the Beatles' live sets. They recorded it on 11 February 1963 and it appeared on their first album in the UK, Please Please Me. It was the first of two songs on the album with lead vocals by George Harrison, and it features the early Beatles trademark harmonica introduction with backing vocal harmonies provided by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

 

The Beatles played the song live on a number of BBC radio shows, including Side By Side, Here We Go and Pop Go the Beatles.

 

9. Boys

 

 

"Boys" is a song by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell, originally performed by the Shirelles and released as the B-side of their "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" single in November 1960.

 

 

The Beatles version

The Beatles covered "Boys" on their first album released in the UK, Please Please Me. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on February 11, 1963 in a single take, and is Ringo Starr's first recorded lead vocal with the Beatles. February 11 was a marathon day for the Beatles; they recorded 10 of the 14 tracks they needed for Please Please Me. The Beatles included two songs by the Shirelles on their first album, "Boys" and "Baby It's You."

 

In the early 1960s, the Beatles didn't concern themselves about the possible homosexual connotations in singing a song about boys. In an October 2005 Rolling Stone interview, Paul McCartney stated: "Any one of us could hold the audience. Ringo would do 'Boys', which was a fan favourite with the crowd. And it was great - though if you think about it, here's us doing a song and it was really a girls' song. 'I talk about boys now!' Or it was a gay song. But we never even listened. It's just a great song. I think that's one of the things about youth - you just don't give a $h!t. I love the innocence of those days."

 

"Boys" had always been the Beatles' 'drummer' song during their Cavern days, the drummer then being Pete Best. Coincidently, Starr also sang this for his solo spot with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes; Cilla Black would sometimes join him on stage, both sharing the same microphone.

 

 

 

 

10. Baby It's You

 

 

"Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach (music), and Barney Williams and Mack David (lyrics). It was recorded by the Shirelles and the Beatles, both of whom had hits with the song. The highest-charting version of "Baby It's You" was by the band Smith, who took the song to #5 on the US charts in 1969.

 

The Shirelles

The song was produced by Phil Spector. When released as a single in 1961, the song became very popular, becoming a #8 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. It later appeared on the album Baby It's You, named to capitalise upon the success of the single. The vocal arrangements on this version proved influential in subsequent versions, including that by the Beatles, who used the same one. One notable feature of the song is its minor-to-major key chord changes on the verses.

 

 

The Beatles

The Beatles performed "Baby It’s You" as part of their stage act from 1961 until 1963. It was the only Burt Bacharach song the group covered. They recorded it on 11 February 1963 for their album Please Please Me along with "Boys, another Shirelles song. American label Vee Jay Records included it on Introducing... The Beatles and Songs, Pictures And Stories Of the Fabulous Beatles. Capitol included it on The Early Beatles.

 

 

Beatles' live version

Another version of the song would appear on the album Live at the BBC in 1994. The song was issued as a single in 1995 in both the UK and the U.S.; their first in nearly a decade. It was issued on both a CD and a vinyl record. Both versions have four tracks, which would have made it an EP instead of a regular issue single. It reached #7 in the UK and #67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

11. Do You Want To Know A Secret

 

 

"Do You Want to Know a Secret" is a song by The Beatles from the 1963 album Please Please Me, sung by George Harrison. It was later released as a single in the United States on 23 March 1964, reaching the number two spot behind another Beatles song, "Can't Buy Me Love". However, the Beatles' version was never released as a single in the United Kingdom, where a cover version by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas reached number two in the Record Retailer chart, and hit number one in the NME chart (used by Radio Luxembourg) and the BBC's Pick of the Pops chart, which were more widely recognised at the time.

 

"Do You Want to Know a Secret" was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (see Lennon/McCartney), inspired by "I'm Wishing", a tune from Walt Disney’s 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which Lennon's mother, Julia Lennon, would sing to him as a child. McCartney said it was a "50-50 collaboration written to order," i.e., for Harrison to sing.

 

In 1980, Lennon said that he gave "Do You Want to Know a Secret" to Harrison to sing because "it only had three notes and he wasn't the best singer in the world," but added "he has improved a lot since then." Harrison sang two songs on Please Please Me, this song by Lennon and McCartney and "Chains" by Goffin/King. The Beatles did not record a song composed solely by Harrison until "Don't Bother Me on With the Beatles.

 

The song was recorded during a 10-hour session on 11 February 1963 along with 9 other songs for Please Please Me.

12. A Taste Of Honey

 

(Audio only)

 

"A Taste of Honey" is a pop standard written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow. It was first performed by Scott, and its title may have been inspired by the 1958 English play A Taste of Honey which reached Broadway in 1960.

 

It was covered by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass on their album Whipped Cream & Other Delights, becoming a top ten hit in 1965 and winning the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. While this is the best remembered instrumental version, two others had competed in the charts in 1962: both Martin Denny and The Victor Feldman Quartet had minor hits with their takes on the song. The only vocal version to chart was the 1964 minor hit for Tony Bennett.

 

 

Beatles' version

It was covered by The Beatles on their debut album Please Please Me. It was a favourite of Paul McCartney's, and was included in the Beatles' repertoire in 1962. John Lennon sometimes played around with the title, calling it "A Waste of Money". The Beatles performed "A Taste of Honey" on many BBC radio shows, including Here We Go, Side by Side and Easy Beat.

 

 

 

13. There's A Place

 

 

"There’s A Place" is a song composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and was first released as a track on the Beatles UK debut LP, Please Please Me. Lennon and McCartney share the main vocal with George Harrison singing back up vocal.

 

 

Origins

The song was inspired by Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere" from West Side Story which contained the line: "somewhere there's a place for us". Paul McCartney owned the album of the soundtrack at the time of writing "There's a Place" and acknowledges its influence. The "place" in question was "the mind", making its subject matter slightly more cerebral than Britain's kissing and cuddling songs and America's surf music from that period. Lennon is quoted as saying: ""There's a Place" was my attempt at a sort of Motown, black thing." It says the usual Lennon things: 'In my mind there's no sorrow...' It's all in your mind." Composed at McCartney's Forthlin Road home, it was part of the group's stage repertoire in 1963. With its major seventh harmonica intro (later reprised) and searing two-part vocal harmonies in fifths (Lennon low, McCartney high), it stands out as an early Beatles milestone track.

 

The song was officially credited to Paul McCartney and John Lennon, in that order, as were all other Lennon-McCartney originals on the Please Please Me album. The songwriting credit was changed to the presently more familiar "Lennon-McCartney" for their second album, With the Beatles.

 

A cover version was released by the Flamin' Groovies.

 

14. Twist and Shout

 

 

"Twist and Shout" is a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. It was originally recorded by the Topnotes and the Isley Brothers and was later covered by The Beatles, with John Lennon on the lead vocals, and originally released on their first album Please Please Me. The song was covered by the Mamas & the Papas in 1967 on their album Deliver. It was also covered by Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Most recently, "Chaka Demus and Pliers, Jack Radics and the Taxi Gang" reached #1 in the UK charts with their version in January 1994.

 

The Beatles released the song on their first UK album, Please Please Me. The recording session for that album is notable for being their first album session and for eleven songs having been recorded in a mere 10 hours or so. Twist and Shout was the last song recorded: producer George Martin knew John Lennon's voice would suffer from the performance and so he left it until last, having waited until there was only 15 minutes of scheduled recording time remaining for the album.

 

Lennon was suffering from a cold and was drinking milk and sucking on cough drops to soothe his throat. Even so, he produced a memorable vocal performance. He later said his voice was not the same for a long time afterwards, and that "every time [he] swallowed, it felt like sandpaper."

 

Two takes were recorded, and the first take is heard on the album. George Martin said, "I did try a second take ... but John's voice had gone."

 

The Beatles' cover was released in the US as a single by Vee-Jay Records on the Tollie label. It reached #2 on April 4th 1964, the week when the first five places on the chart were all Beatles singles (in the Cashbox singles chart for the same week, "Twist and Shout" was #1). In the United States, "Twist and Shout" was the only million-selling Beatles single that was a cover record, and the only Beatles cover single to reach the Top 10 on any national record chart.

 

In the UK, "Twist and Shout" was released on an EP with three other tracks from the Please Please Me album. In Canada, it became the title track to the second album of Beatles material to be issued by Capitol Records of Canada on February 3, 1964.

 

It is regarded as one of the finest examples of British rock and roll for its vocal performance. The song was used as a rousing closing number on Sunday Night at the London Palladium in October 1963 and at The Royal Variety Show in November 1963, the former signalling the start of "Beatlemania". They also performed it on their Ed Sullivan Show appearance in February 1964.

 

 

1986 recharting

 

Ferris Bueller lip syncs Twist and Shout during a parade in Ferris Bueller's Day Off''The Beatles' version of the song enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in 1986 after Matthew Broderick lip synced it in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Coincidentally, the Rodney Dangerfield film Back to School (released two days after Ferris) also featured the song, this one sung by Dangerfield himself and patterned after the Beatles' arrangement. The use in the two films help propel the single up the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #23 that summer.

15. From Me To You

 

 

"From Me to You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles as a single in 1963. The single was the Beatles' first number one in some of the United Kingdom charts, second in others, but failed to make an impact in the United States at the time of its initial release. It was one of the very last songs to be credited "McCartney/Lennon; soon afterwards their songs began appearing credited to "Lennon/McCartney".

 

Composition

Lennon and McCartney began writing "From Me to You" while on a coach heading to Shrewsbury as part of the Beatles' tour with Helen Shapiro. They had been reading the New Musical Express and noticed the letters section of the magazine: From You to Us. McCartney noted that their early songs tended to include the words I, me, or you in them, as a way of making them "very direct and personal".

 

In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon recalled writing the song:

 

We were writing it in a car I think, and I think the first line was mine. I mean I know it was mine. [Hums melody of first line.] And then after that we took it from there. It was far bluesier than that when we wrote it. The notes—today you could rearrange it pretty funky. We were just writing the next single after 'She Loves You'."

McCartney also talked about rearranging the song in 1964:

 

"From Me to You"—it could be done as an old ragtime tune—especially the middle eight—and so we're not writing the tunes in any particular idiom. In five years time we may arrange the tunes differently. But we'll probably write the same old rubbish!

McCartney was not the only one on the bus who called it rubbish—singer Kenny Lynch, upon hearing The Beatles singing "ooh", remarked "You can't do that. You'll sound like a bunch of f***ing fairies!" Soon afterwards he stormed off, declaring the Beatles didn't know anything about songwriting. Roger Greenway recounted the story:

 

John and Paul were sitting at the back of the coach and Kenny Lynch, who at this time fancied himself as a songwriter, sauntered up to the back of the coach and Kenny Lynch ... decided he would help them write a song. After a period of about half-an-hour had elapsed and nothing seemed to be coming from the back, Kenny rushed to the front and shouted, 'Well, that's it. I am not going to write any more of that bloody rubbish with those idiots. They don't know music from their backsides. That's it! No more help from me!'"

Regardless, the song was regarded by the Beatles as innovative and catchy enough to be released a single. This was one Lennon/McCartney song that the duo truly co-wrote; McCartney described it as "very much co-written".

 

 

Melody and lyrics

"From Me to You" comprises four verses and two intervening bridges. The last half of each verse is a mini-refrain, while the lyrics of the bridges are identical. The verses each consist of a rather short eight measures. The bridge begins on a low note and suddenly jumps to a very different and unexpected key. At the bridge's climax, the chord changes are accompanied by "woo!" Lennon plays prominent harmonica soloes during the beginning, middle and end of the song, as he did with "Love Me Do".

 

McCartney said of the song:

 

The thing I liked about "From Me to You" was it had a very complete middle. It went to a surprising place. The opening chord of the middle section of that song heralded a new batch for me. That was a pivotal song. Our songwriting lifted a little with that song.

The idea of singing the song's opening lick—the "da da da da da dum dum da" part—was suggested by George Martin, the Beatles' producer; this was at the time an unheard-of innovation. "In a way, this made [the Beatles] aware of George's enormous musical sense," EMI producer Ron Richards later said.

 

In the song, the singer offers his love to the object of his affections—he has "everything that you want". Although the song is based on first-person pronouns, it lacks a lead singer.

 

 

The recording on 5 March 1963 at Abbey Road Studios went without a hitch and on 11 April Parlophone Records released "From Me to You" in Britain as a single, with "Thank You Girl" on the B-side. Nine days later, it kicked off a twenty-one week run in the British charts, culminating with reaching number one on 4 May, a position it would retain for seven weeks.

 

"From Me to You" was the first song to reach number one in in Britain and is widely considered to be their first chart-topping song, for although "Please Please Me" reached the summit on almost every chart, it was only number two on Record Retailer's chart, generally considered to be the most authoritative for the time. "From Me to You" would be the first of eleven consecutive British number one singles by the Beatles.

 

"From Me to You" replaced Gerry and the Pacemakers' "How Do You Do It", a song that had been offered to the Beatles but rejected by them in favour of "Please Please Me". Gerry and the Pacemakers, who also hailed from Liverpool, were very much rivals of the Beatles in their early days—Gerry and the Pacemakers attained the first number one ("How Do You Do It") before the Beatles, and also claimed their second and third number ones before the Beatles did, slowly losing steam afterwards as Beatlemania launched and the Beatles dominated music worldwide in 1964.

 

A true indication of how successful the Beatles became thanks to "From Me to You" (though it would soon be overshadowed by "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand") was expressed by McCartney: "The first time I thought we'd really made it, was when I was lying in bed one morning, and I heard a milkman whistling 'From Me to You'. Actually, I'm sure that I once heard a bird whistling it as well. I swear I did!"

 

 

First U.S. release

 

Original edition of "From Me to You" in the United StatesWhen it released "Please Please Me" in the United States, Vee-Jay Records signed a licensing agreement giving it the right of first refusal on Beatles records for five years. Despite the failure of "Please Please Me" to catch on, Vee-Jay chose to release "From Me to You"; as a result, it was never turned down by Capitol, because it was never offered to them. "From Me to You" was released on Vee-Jay 522, with "Thank You Girl" on the B-side, approximately 6 May. Even though Cash Box magazine called it a "Pick of the Week" when it was released, it initially failed even more miserably than its predecessor; through the end of June, "From Me to You" sold fewer than 4,000 copies and had failed to chart anywhere.

 

When Del Shannon released a cover version of "From Me to You" on Big Top Records in June, Vee-Jay tried to stimulate more interest in the original, both by placing mazagine ads and by sending out additional promotional copies of the 45 stamped with the words "The Original Hit". But the biggest boost to the Beatles' version came from Dick Biondi, who had played "Please Please Me" on WLS in Chicago. Biondi was fired by WLS in May and relocated to KRLA in Los Angeles in June. He was able to convince his new employer to add "From Me to You" to its playlist, and it entered KRLA's "Tune-Dex" on 14 July, spending six weeks on the chart and peaking at 32 on 11 August.

 

Because of the airplay, and resulting sales, in Los Angeles, "From Me to You" made the "Bubbling Under" portion of the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, peaking at #116 on 10 August, the same time the single peaked in Los Angeles. It was the first time the Beatles appeared on a national chart in the United States. The late attention in Los Angeles spurred sales of the 45; in the end, the original edition of "From Me to You" sold approximately 22,000 copies, roughly three times as many as "Please Please Me" had. Even so, it it still considered to be a rare record and highly sought-after by Beatles collectors.

 

 

"From Me to You" was rereleased in the U.S. as the flip side of "Please Please Me".

 

Second U.S. release

Vee-Jay chose to couple "From Me to You" with "Please Please Me" when it re-released the single on or around 3 January 1964, shortly after film of the Beatles had appeared on The Jack Paar Program, a prime-time television show. Had Vee-Jay known how all-encompassing Beatlemania would become, it likely would have saved "From Me to You" for use as an A-side, the way it did with "Twist and Shout" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret". But even as a B-side, "From Me to You" entered the Billboard charts on 7 March and peaked at #41. The double-sided hit sold approximately 1.1 million copies in 1964.

 

 

Del Shannon cover

 

On 18 April, 1963, the Beatles were one of 15 acts to play at Swinging Sound '63, an all-star concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They played "From Me to You" and "Twist and Shout". Del Shannon was also on the bill that night. After the concert, he told John Lennon that he was going to record "From Me to You" to give the group some exposure in America. At first, Lennon was flattered, but he quickly changed his mind, realizing that a cover version by Shannon might hurt the Beatles' chances of having a hit in the States. As it turned out, Lennon was temporarily right, but neither artist's version was a big hit in America.

 

In early June, Big Top Records released Shannon's version of "From Me to You" as the follow-up to "Two Kinds of Teardrops." It entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 29 June, becoming the first Lennon-McCartney composition to make the American charts. It spent four weeks on the chart and peaked at #77. It was even more successful in Chicago as it peaked at #15 on the WLS "Silver Dollar Survey".

 

"At that time no one had heard of the Beatles here (the U.S.), but I knew they were great writers so I just picked up on one of their songs," Shannon said later.

 

 

Later versions

Several different cover versions of the song were used in Christmas-themed TV commercials for the Macy's chain of department stores in the U.S. in late 2006.

 

 

 

 

16. Thank You Girl

 

(audio only)

 

"Thank You Girl" is a song by The Beatles. Originally intended to be their third single, it was relegated to the B-side of "From Me to You", which was recorded on the same day (March 5, 1963). It wasn't on a British Beatles album, but was featured as the second track on The Beatles' Second Album in the US.

 

Originally titled "Thank You, Little Girl", the song was deliberately written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney as a tribute to the band's many female fans. The song is a good example of the two-part writing style which had developed between the pair, with Lennon writing the verse and McCartney the chorus. As with other songs that use this effect (such as "We Can Work It Out", "I've Got a Feeling" and "A Day in the Life") the differentiation between the two styles of songwriting is quite clearly evident.

 

Both "From Me to You" and "Thank You Girl" were credited to McCartney-Lennon, as were all the songs on the Please Please Me album. The songwriting credit would be permanently changed to the more familiar Lennon-McCartney for their next release, the "She Loves You" single.

 

As the B-side to "Do You Want to Know a Secret?", it hit #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1964.

 

Quotes

 

[This was written by] Paul and me. This was just a silly song we knocked off. (Lennon, Hit Parader, April 1972)

 

"Thank You Girl" was one of our efforts at writing a single that didn't work. So it became a B side. (Lennon, Playboy, September 1980)

 

17. She Loves You

 

 

"She Loves You" is a hit song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, originally recorded by the The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the five Beatles songs which held the top five positions in the American charts, a record which is still unchallenged. It is the Beatles' best-selling single in the United Kingdom. The song was also the first time Lennon's name had taken precedence over McCartney in the credits — until then, they had traditionally been credited as "McCartney/Lennon." "She Loves You" was the first release of many more to come in which "Lennon/McCartney" would appear on all of the credits.

 

The song was one of the Beatles' first songs to be heard by more than a smattering of Americans — the only United States release by the Beatles before that had even charted was "From Me to You," which lasted three weeks in August 1963, never going higher than number 116. The song was controversial at the time due to the unconventional "yeah, yeah, yeah" refrain after each verse, leading to the song being panned by many critics. "She Loves You" is also unusual in that, under the title "Sie Liebt Dich", it is one of only two songs to have been rerecorded by the Beatles in German (the other being "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand").

 

In October 2005, Uncut Magazine named "She Loves You" the third biggest song that changed the world, behind Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" and Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". As such, and because of its preeminence and sheer energy, the song is considered by many to be the definitive Beatlemania hit.

 

Writing in a hotel

McCartney and Lennon were inspired to write "She Loves You" after a concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle as part of their tour with Roy Orbison and Gerry and the Pacemakers. McCartney recalled they wrote the song in a hotel in Newcastle, but which hotel, exactly, became the subject of heated debate. In 2003, plans to install a plaque at the hotel concerned were stalled after it turned out neither Paul McCartney nor Ringo Starr, the last two surviving Beatles, could recall whether it was the Imperial Hotel or the Royal Turk's Head where the Beatles had stayed. Although it had been generally accepted that it was the Imperial Hotel, Les Curry, a retired taxi driver, claimed otherwise: "It definitely wasn't the Imperial. They were wearing jeans which wasn't the thing in those days and I remember telling them that the Turk's Head was a bit of a posh hotel for them. They killed themselves laughing and told me they were the Beatles. I helped them take their luggage inside into the hotel and I got all their autographs."

 

Regardless of the hotel, the other circumstances under which the song was written are generally agreed upon. McCartney described it in the same year "She Loves You" was written: "There was a Bobby Rydell song out at the time "Forget Him" and, as often happens, you think of one song when you write another. We were in a van up in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. I'd planned an 'answering song' where a couple of us would sing 'she loves you' and the other ones would answer 'yeah yeah'. We decided that was a crummy idea but at least we then had the idea of a song called 'She Loves You'. So we sat in the hotel bedroom for a few hours and wrote it — John and I, sitting on twin beds with guitars."

 

Lennon emphatically agreed at the same time: "'Yeah.' That's sort of the main catch phrase from "She Loves You." We'd written the song, and then suddenly realized we needed more... so we added 'yeah, yeah, yeah' and it caught on." The "yeah, yeah, yeah," refrain became the subject of controversy upon the song's release, as it was considered uncouth at the time. McCartney's father himself objected, asking his son if they couldn't possibly change it to the better sounding (in his opinion) "yes, yes, yes," to which the younger McCartney gently replied, "Dad, you just don't understand."

 

 

The British single of "She Loves You" had a 33-week combined total run in the charts, and claimed the top ranking on two separate occasions.Interestingly for a love song, the lyrics were written in the third person. This idea was attributed by Lennon to McCartney, in 1980: "It was written together (with Paul) and I don't remember how. I remember it was Paul's idea — instead of singing 'I love you' again, we'd have a third party. The 'Woooo' was taken from the Isley Brothers' 'Twist and Shout,' which we stuck into everything."

 

George Martin, the Beatles' producer, argued with Lennon and McCartney about the major sixth chord that ends the song. McCartney declined to be too verbose in describing the matter, merely saying in 1982: "Occasionally, we'd overrule George Martin, like on "She Loves You", we end on a sixth chord, a very jazzy sort of thing. And he said, 'Oh, you can't do that! A sixth chord? It's too jazzy.' We just said, 'No, it's a great hook, we've got to do it.'"

 

Eventually McCartney opened up, giving a fuller description of the disagreement, in 1988: "We rehearsed the end bit of "She Loves You" and took it to George. And he just laughed and said, 'Well, you can't do the end of course... that sixth... it's too like the Andrews Sisters.' We just said, 'Alright, we'll try it without,' and we tried it and it wasn't as good. Then he conceded, 'You're right, I guess.' But we were both very flexible. We would listen to George's ideas too, because he was a producer and a musician, and he obviously knew what he was talking about. There was good to-and-fro. We loved that bit, and we rehearsed it a lot. John and I wrote that in a hotel room, on twin beds during an afternoon off — I mean, God bless their little cotton socks, those boys worked! Here I am talking about an afternoon off, and we're sitting there writing! We just loved it so much. It wasn't work."

 

All Martin would say about the matter was: "I told them it was corny. I told them Glenn Miller was doing it twenty years ago. But they said, so what? That was what they wanted."

 

 

At work in the studio

The recording of the song on 1 July 1963 was uneventful, in contrast to another Beatles hit from the same period, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," with one exception — although "She Loves You" was recorded on a two-track recording machine, the original stereo master tape has been lost, with the result that every release of the song from 1963 till the present day has been in mono. How the stereo tape was lost has never been fully ascertained. In between the words, "I think it's only fair" and "pride can hurt you, too", there is a very audible drop-out of sound that could almost certainly be rectified using modern technology if the master tape was found.

 

However, there was one other recording anomaly that set "She Loves You" apart from other Beatles songs — Electrola Gesellschaft, the German division of EMI (the parent of the Beatles' British record label, Parlophone Records), decided that the only way to sell Beatles records in Germany would be to rerecord them in German. The Beatles found the idea stupid, but were forced by George Martin to comply, recording "Sie Liebt Dich" on 29 January 1964, along with a few other German versions of their songs, at the Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris. Other than the earlier sessions backing Tony Sheridan it was the only time in their career that the Beatles recorded outside London.

 

Martin later described how he had persuaded the Beatles to record in German: "The boys were enjoying their new life. They were very busy and they were tasting their first fruits of success. I had asked them to appear at the EMI studios one afternoon and I got there with this German fellow, who came to coach them with this language and when the time came, I think it was four o'clock, there was no sign of them, at all! I was a bit puzzled by this, and thought, 'I wonder what has happened to them?' So I rang their hotel and I spoke to Neil Aspinall, who said, 'Oh, they are having tea. They're not going to come.'"

 

Puzzled, Martin asked, "'But, why?' And he said, 'Well they don't want to. They've decided they don't want to make a record in German, after all.' I was absolutely livid! So, I hopped in a cab, together with the German, and I tore to the George V hotel and I burst in on the scene and they were all having tea there … [a]nd as I burst into the room, and yelled at them, they all fled to corners of the room … looking over a cushion, or a chair, pretending to hide, and laughing. I said, 'Look, you really owe this fellow a great apology. He's come all this way, over from Germany, so, say you're sorry.' And they, in their cheeky Liverpool way, said, 'Oh, sorry, so sorry!' After that, they came and did the German record in the studio. They still didn't like doing it very much, but they did it. That was the very first time I had a row with them, and probably the only time."

 

 

The release

On 23 August 1963, the "She Loves You" single was released to the British public, pairing "She Loves You" on the A-Side with "I'll Get You" on the B-Side. The single set and smashed several records in the British music scene, starting with becoming the biggest-selling single, up to that point, in the United Kingdom. It began charting on August 31, and stood its ground and remaining in the charts for thirty-one consecutive weeks, an exceptionally long run, spending eighteen of those weeks in the top three. During that period, it claimed the ranking of number one on September 14, clinging on for a month, before falling back to the top three, only to lunge forward for a second run at number one on November 30, which lasted two weeks. As if that wasn't enough, it made its way back into the charts for two weeks on April 11, 1964, peaking at forty-two. It was the best-selling single of 1963, and indeed, it remains the best-selling Beatles single in Britain today, fending off other works of the Beatles such as "Hey Jude". Such was the Beatles' success that "She Loves You" remained the best-selling single in the United Kingdom for fourteen years, only to be beaten out by Wings' "Mull of Kintyre", a band founded by McCartney himself.

 

The song's gigantic success posed an ever-bigger puzzlement for the Beatles' producer, George Martin, and manager, Brian Epstein — why were the Beatles running up hit after hit in Britain, but utterly flopping on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Martin, who was angered by Capitol Records' stubbornness in turning down the Beatles, and a chance to become their record label in America, later recalled: "I said, for God's sake, do something about this. These boys are breaking it, and they're going to be fantastic throughout the world. So for heaven's sake latch onto them." Eventually Capitol did latch onto them, but not before other record labels had had their turn at dipping their finger in the Beatles' pie of profits.

 

Before Capitol came along, the Beatles had been with Vee-Jay Records, until Vee-Jay failed to pay the royalties on time. Transglobal Music, an affiliate of EMI, held the licenses to the Beatles' output in America, and promptly ordered Vee-Jay to halt their manufacturing and distribution of Beatles records. Epstein, who needed a record label to release "She Loves You" in the United States, asked Transglobal to find another record label for him, and Transglobal came up with Swan Records. To avoid potential disagreements and lawsuits, the contract signed with Swan licensed to them only "She Loves You" and "I'll Get You", enough only for the A- and B-Sides of a single. Even four songs would be enough to abuse the contract — Vee-Jay had released an album in America entitled Jolly What! England's Greatest Recording Stars The Beatles & Frank Ifield On Stage, which in reality consisted of the only four Beatles songs that had been licensed to them, the rest of the album made up of performances by Frank Ifield.

 

When "She Loves You" came out as a single in America on 16 September 1963, nobody paid attention to it. A few months later, the Beatles released "I Want to Hold Your Hand" which climbed all the way to number one, launching the British invasion of the American music scene, paving the way for more Beatles records, and releases by other British artists. Encouraged by the success of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", Swan rereleased the "She Loves You" single. Swept along by the wave "I Want to Hold Your Hand" originated, "She Loves You" found itself beginning a fifteen-week run on the American charts on January 25 1964. On March 21, "She Loves You" crowned the incredible turnaround by the Beatles in America, from practical nobodies three months before to the latest hit band everybody was talking about, by reaching the top of the American charts.

 

 

Together with "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You" turned the American music scene on its head, and began the frenzy of Beatlemania in America.Beatlemania had landed in America, spurred by the Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February, where they performed, among other songs, "She Loves You". During its 15-week run in the American charts, "She Loves You" was joined by four other Beatles songs — at the top five in the American charts. It was a record the likes of which had never been seen before, and has never been seen again — such was the Beatles' domination of the music scene in early 1964, that nobody has managed to mount a challenge against their record since.

 

New York City deejay Murray The K later recounted: "In late '63 they brought a record to me and mentioned the possibility that the Beatles might be coming to America, so I said, 'Okay,' and I put it on air. I had a record review contest on WINS at the time, where I'd play five new records each day. The audience would then vote on which records they liked best, and the winners of each week would be played next Saturday. And when I ran the Beatles in a contest with their record 'She Loves You', it came third out of five. But I still continued to play it for two or three weeks. But nothing happened. I mean, really no reaction. Absolutely nothing! Two months later I received an urgent call from my station manager in New York telling me 'The Beatles are coming!' 'Fine,' I said, 'Get an exterminator.'"

 

The mad sudden success of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" set the numerous record labels holding rights to various Beatles songs scurrying to rerelease them in all manner of formats. Unfortunately, Swan was tied down by their limited license, and couldn't release any new singles without being accused of cheating the public. Or could they? Sneakily, they had the rights to "Sie Liebt Dich", the German version of "She Loves You", as well. On May 21 1964, "Sie Liebt Dich" the single was released, featuring "I'll Get You" on the B-Side, just like the English single. Incredibly, American consumers, seized by Beatlemania and desperate for anything to do with The Beatles, bought the single as well, leading to a one-week run in the charts at 97th on 27 June.

 

The song was also released on an album in America, The Beatles' Second Album, which overtook Meet the Beatles! on 2 May 1964, reaching the top spot in the album charts. It was the first time an artist had taken over from themselves in the American album charts, and provided a hint of the successes the Beatles would continue to achieve, despite various record labels mangling the albums and their content — for example, The Beatles' Second Album contained two songs, "Long Tall Sally" and "I Call Your Name", both of which had yet to be released in Britain.

 

Although no act other than the Beatles ever managed to make "She Loves You" into a successful hit, a number of entertainers have attempted their own versions of the song. American singer Neil Sedaka tried his hand at rerecording the song, as did comedians Peter Sellers and Ted Chippington. Pete Doherty played the song live at the Brick Lane Festival. At a number of concerts, U2s Bono has snippeted "She Loves You" into the end of "Vertigo" - a song that has a 'Yeah yeah yeah' outro.

 

The Beatles themselves quoted "She Loves You" in the long fade-out of "All you need is love".

 

 

Melody and lyrics

"She Loves You" avoids the use of a bridge, instead using a refrain to join the various verses. The chords tend to change every two measures, and the harmonic scheme is mostly static — the song is not anywhere near as revolutionary as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from the melody perspective, but for two things: Firstly, the song begins with a drum roll, and then is immediately launched into the "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah," refrain, giving the listener the appearance that he has just dropped halfway into the performance of a song. Secondly, the sixth chord mentioned earlier is a surprising unlikely contrast, especially given such a chord was more wont to make its way into jazz performances such as those by Glenn Miller's orchestra.

 

The lyrics, however, as mentioned earlier, were largely unconventional, again contrasting with the simplicity of "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Beatles technician Norman Smith captured the fans' feeling perfectly: "I was setting up the microphone when I first saw the lyrics on the music stand, 'She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah/She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah/She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!' I thought, Oh my God, what a lyric! This is going to be one that I do not like. But when they started to sing it — bang, wow, terrific, I was up at the mixer jogging around." Critics panned the song, however, dismissing the "yeah, yeah, yeah," as an uncouth slang from a fad band. The "yeah"s were to have a great effect on the Beatles image — in Europe, they became known as the Yeah-Yeahs.

 

As mentioned, the lyrics were written in the third person, from the point of view of a person advising a friend. The singers tell their friend that though he thinks he's lost the girl he loves, it turns out that she really does love him, and advise their friend to "be glad".

18. I'll Get You

 

 

I'll Get You" is a Beatles song. The song is primarily a John Lennon composition, although there is some possibility that the middle eight was co-written by Paul McCartney.

 

The song, of which the working title was "Get you in the end", was originally slated to be the follow-up single to "From Me to You", but when it was finally released, it was as a B-Side. Like several of Lennon's compositions of the time, there is a slightly menacing ambiguity to the lyrics, which could equally well be interpreted as a promise or a threat.

 

The song was a B-side on two separate occasions. It was initially released as the B-side of "She Loves You" (on 28 August in the United Kingdom and 16 September in the United States) and was also later released in the United States only on 21 May 1964 as the B-side of "Sie Liebt Dich", a German language recording of the previous A-side. Both were released on the Swan Records label in the United States - the only Beatles releases on that label (the British release was on Parlophone).

 

The song was also released in the U.S. on 10 April 1964 on the Capitol Records album The Beatles' Second Album. It was not released on album in the United Kingdom until the Rarities release as part of the set The Beatles Collection. A live version of the song, recorded at the London Palladium on 13 October 1963 is included on Anthology 1.

 

The song is unusual among Beatles songs of its period in that Lennon and McCartney, although both providing vocal tracks, sing in unison for the majority of the track, allowing the few occasions where they do harmonise to stand out. Furthermore, unlike most Beatles songs of the time, there is no lead break - the lead guitar, in fact, is virtually reduced to a second rhythm guitar. The most prominent instruments in the track are McCartney's bass and Lennon's harmonica.

 

"I'll Get You" is one of only four official Beatles recordings to have never been released in true stereo.

19. It Won't Be Long

 

 

"It Won’t Be Long" is the opening track on With the Beatles, and was the first original song recorded for the LP Although credited to Lennon & McCartney, it was primarily a John Lennon composition, with Paul McCartney assisting with the lyrics and arrangement The chorus is a play on the words “be long” and “belong” . The song features early Beatles’ trademarks such as call-and-response yeah yeah’s and scaling guitar riffs. Typical also of this phase of Beatles song writing is the melodramatic ending (similar to "She Loves You" which had just been recorded and was about to be released) where the music stops, allowing Lennon a brief solo vocal improvisation before the song finishes on a major seventh chord. There is an unusual middle eight - for what is, essentially, a rock and roll song - that uses chromatically descending chords.

 

 

First issued

UK: With the Beatles - November 22, 1963

US: Meet the Beatles - January 20, 1964

 

 

20. All I've Got To Do

 

 

"All I've Got to Do" is a song written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed by The Beatles on their second United Kingdom album, With the Beatles. In the United States, "All I've Got to Do" originally appeared on Meet the Beatles.

 

Inspiration

Lennon said he was "trying to do Smokey Robinson again," and Ian MacDonald compared it to "You Can Depend on Me" by the Miracles, both musically and lyrically. Richie Unterberger of All Music Guide said it sounds like Robinson but also Arthur Alexander. Beatles biographer Bob Spitz said the song is "restlessly dark and moody," and compared it to The Shirelles "Baby It's You" and early Drifters recordings.

 

It was one of three songs Lennon wrote solo for With the Beatles, with "It Won't Be Long" and "Not a Second Time." Lennon said that it was written specifically for the American market; the idea of calling a girl on the telephone was unthinkable to a British youth in the early '60's. For instance, Lennon said in an interview regarding “No Reply”: “I had the image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the 'phone, although I have never called a girl on the 'phone in my life! Because 'phones weren’t part of the English child’s life”.

 

 

Recording

The Beatles recorded the song in a single recording session on 11 September 1963 in 14 takes with one overdub, take 15. The master take was take 15. It was mixed for mono on 30 September and for stereo on 29 October.

 

Although Steve Turner claims the song was written in 1961, MacDonald said the song was never in the Beatles' live repertoire, and that explains why 8 of the 14 takes were incomplete: the band was unfamiliar with the song.

 

Alan Pollack suggests that the hummed fade-out verse is more than just a convenient way to make the ending different. He says, " t rather effectively drives home the underlying self-satisfied subtext of the lyrics; to the extent that some things in life, such as the comfortable equilibrium of a relationship [defy] adequate expression in words."

 

 

Release

In the UK, "All I've Got to Do" was released on With the Beatles which also includes the Beatles' cover of "You Really Got a Hold on Me" by the Miracles, the most direct connection between the album and Robinson's music. In the U.S., Capitol Records pulled "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" off Meet the Beatles, releasing it later on The Beatles' Second Album