PLEASE PLEASE ME ALBUM
Though the Beatles' debut single. "Love Me Do," was a moderate success, their second release, "Please Please Me," was a huge hit. As it neared the top of the charts, the Beatles took one night off from touring to rush to London to record most of this album in one daylong session. The following night they were back on tour and performed in both Yorkshire and Lancashire. Live
CHART ACTION
UNITED KINGDOM: Rush-released March 22, 1963, shortly after the title song fell from its No. 1 position. The album entered the chart March 27 at No. 9 and in seven weeks was No. 1, where it stayed for twenty-nine weeks. It set a record for the longest continuous run at No. 1 in the NME (New Musical Express) album chart. Road
UNITED STATES: Capitol refused to release the album. It was released in a different form by the little Vee Jay record label as Introducing the Beatles, which failed to place in the charts. It differed from the U.K. version by not including "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why." Road
RECORDED
February 11, 1963, except for the title song and "Ask Me Why" (since both were previously released as a single) and "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" (another single), at Abbey Road. ATN: Live and Salewicz agree on date.
Sources disagree significantly on how long it took to record this album -- anywhere from 9 3/4 hours to 16 hours -- but it probably took about 13. About the only thing the sources agree on is that it required just one session to complete. various
GEORGE MARTIN, producer: "All we did really was to reproduce the Cavern performance in the comparative calm of the studio.
"At the beginning [of the Beatles' recording career], my specialty was the introductions and the endings, and any instrumental passages in the middle. I might say, for instance: "Please Please Me" only lasts a minute and 10 seconds, so you'll have to do two choruses, and in the second chorus we'll have to do such-and-such. "That was the extent of the arranging." Ears
PAUL AS THE BUDDING MUSICAL DIRECTOR McCARTNEY: "...Then [Martin] had a lot of control -- we used to record the stuff, and leave him to mix it, pick a single, everything. After a while though, we got so into recording we'd stay behind while he mixed it, watching what he was doing." Jamming! (June 1982)
NORMAN SMITH, engineer: "[It was] nearly always Paul who was the MD, the musical director, as early as this. Obviously John would have quite a lot to say, but overall it was always Paul who was the guv'nor. Which is fair, because he was the natural musician, and even at this stage, the natural producer. On this session he was trying to figure out everything we were doing with the controls." Salewicz
A two-track tape machine was used, and the recording was entirely live. None of the vocals was overdubbed, and no more than four takes were made of any song. Salewicz
NORMAN SMITH: "I kept the sound relatively 'dry.' I hated all that echo that everyone was using back then. And I placed the singers' microphones right there with the rest of the band, although singers were usually hidden away in a separate recording booth. I thought that was a bad idea, because you lost the live feel of the session." Diary
At the Beatles' request, a large candy jar of cough lozenges and two new packs of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes were placed on the piano for the session. So began a tradition that lasted for years. Salewicz
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass
LENNON: rhythm guitar
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums
Road
ALBUM PACKAGE
The cover photograph was taken on the staircase of EMI House in Manchester Square, London, by Angus McBean. Road McBean shot a similarly staged photo six years later, to adorn the Get Back album (which later became Let It Be). It wasn't used for that but later appeared on The Beatles 1967-1970 compilation album. A photo from the original shoot was used for the cover of The Beatles 1962-1966. Road
MISCELLANEOUS
McCartney had designed a cover for the album with the name Off the Beatle Track. The title was later used for producer George Martin's album of orchestrated Beatles hits. Road
COMMENTS BY BEATLES
LENNON: "We were just writing songs à la Everly Brothers, à la Buddy Holly, pop songs with no more thought to them than that -- to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant." September 1980, Playboy Interviews
"I SAW HER STANDING THERE"
CHART ACTION
UNITED STATES: Released as a single January 13, 1964 (the B side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand"), this song entered the Top 40 in January 1964, hitting No. 14 during its eight-week stay. Road and Billboard
AUTHORSHIP McCartney (.8) and Lennon (.2)
LENNON: "That's Paul doing his usual good job of producing what George Martin used to call a 'potboiler.' I helped with a couple of the lyrics." September 1980, Playboy Interviews
McCartney and Lennon wrote the song in Paul's living room while playing hooky from school. Coleman
RECORDED
February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road Day and Abbey and Road
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, lead vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, harmony vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums
Record; Road agrees on vocals.
MISCELLANEOUS
This song was part of the Beatles' repertoire for concerts from 1962 to 1964. Live It was one of six songs performed during the Beatles' second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 16, 1964. Forever, Live says it was also one of five on first show. It also was played at the Washington Coliseum and Carnegie Hall concerts in February 1964 and on the 1964 North American tour (some shows). Forever
On November 28, 1974, Lennon joined Elton John on the Madison Square Garden stage and performed the song. Elton John released the recorded performance in the United States on March 1, 1975, as the B side of "Philadelphia Freedom." A-Z and Road It was the A side of a single in the United Kingdom.
McCartney performed this song at the Prince's Trust Concert (1986) with several rock luminaries. Prince's
"MISERY"
AUTHORSHIP Lennon (.6) and McCartney (.4)
Written mainly by Lennon with an assist from McCartney. Road and ATN and Hit Parader (April 1972)
This was written originally for singer Helen Shapiro during the Beatles' tour of Britain with her in February and March 1963. A-Z and Road and Day; Live agrees for Shapiro. Her management, however, rejected the song. At the time Shapiro was sixteen years old and the most popular singer in Britain.
SHAPIRO: "We were leaning out of hotel windows, throwing photographs of ourselves at fans, and it was an incredible period, looking back." Coleman
RECORDED
February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road Day and Abbey and Road
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, lead vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar
STARR: drums
Record; Road and ATN agree on double lead vocals.
George Martin: piano
Shout
MISCELLANEOUS
This song was part of the Beatles' live repertoire in 1963. Live
"ANNA (GO TO HIM)"
AUTHORSHIP Arthur Alexander (1.00)
RECORDED
February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road ATN and Day and Abbey and Road
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, backing vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, lead vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar, backing vocal
STARR: drums
Record; Road says McCartney and Harrison provided harmony vocals.
MISCELLANEOUS
Arthur Alexander's original recording was released as a single September 17, 1962, on Dot. It didn't crack the Top 40. Road
This song was part of the Beatles' live repertoire in 1962 and 1963. Live
"CHAINS"
AUTHORSHIP Gerry Goffin (.5) and Carole King (.5)
RECORDED
February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road Day and Abbey and Road
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, harmony vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, harmonica, harmony vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar, lead vocal
STARR: drums
Record; Road says McCartney and Lennon contributed backing vocals; ATN says all three shared lead vocals.
MISCELLANEOUS
Original recording artist: the Cookies. Their version was released October 2, 1962, and entered the Top 40 in early December. It hit No. 17 during its eight-week stay there. Lists and Road
This song was part of the Beatles' concert repertoire in 1963, and Harrison, Lennon, and McCartney shared lead vocals live. Live
"BOYS"
AUTHORSHIP Luther Dixon (.5) and Wes Farrell (.5) Road
RECORDED
February 11, 1963, at Abbey Road Day and Abbey and Road in one take Abbey
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, backing vocal
LENNON: rhythm guitar, backing vocal
HARRISON: lead guitar, backing vocal
STARR: drums, lead vocal
Record and Road
MISCELLANEOUS
Original recording artist: the Shirelles. Used as the B side of their big hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" which was released November 7, 1960, it entered the Top 40 in December, and held the No. 1 position for two weeks. Lists and Road
This song was part of the Beatles' live repertoire from 1961 to 1964 (Pete Best sang lead until he was fired in August 1962). Live It was performed during the group's 1964 North American tour. Forever
"ASK ME WHY"
CHART ACTION
UNITED KINGDOM: Previously released as a single January 11, 1963, as the B side of "Please Please Me." Road
UNITED STATES: Capitol refused to r...
