"Please Please Me" is a song released by the English rock band
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. It was their second
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
in the United Kingdom, and their first in the United States. It is also the title track of
their first LP
''Their First LP'' is the debut studio album by the Spencer Davis Group, released in the UK and Europe in June 1965. It peaked at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart. Although never released in its original incarnation in the US, a majority of the ...
, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single. It is a
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
composition (credited to
Lennon–McCartney
Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...
), although its ultimate form was significantly influenced by producer
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
.
The single was released in the UK on 11 January 1963 and reached No. 1 on the ''
New Musical Express
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' and ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' charts. However, it only reached No. 2 on the ''
Record Retailer
''Record Retailer'' was the only music trade newspaper for the UK record industry. It was founded in August 1959 as a monthly newspaper covering both labels and dealers. Its founding editor was Roy Parker (who died on 27 December 1964). The title ...
'' chart, which subsequently evolved into the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Because of this, it was not included on the Beatles' number ones compilation, ''
1''.
The single, as initially released with "
Ask Me Why
"Ask Me Why" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles originally released in the United Kingdom as the B-side of their single " Please Please Me". It was also included on their 1963 debut album '' Please Please Me''. It was written primari ...
" on the
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, failed to make much impact in the US in February 1963, but when re-released there on 3 January 1964 (this time with "
From Me to You
"From Me to You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in April 1963 as their third single. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The song was the Beatles' first number 1 hit on what became the official ...
" on the B-side), it reached No. 3 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was also re-released on 6 December 1982 by Parlophone in the UK.
Composition
The Beatles had accomplished a modest debut success with "
Love Me Do
"Love Me Do" is the official debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United ...
", but outside of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
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, postal ...
they were still practically unknown. Part of the problem was that the group were committed to begin what was to be their final 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 has stated 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
arlierrecording of '
How Do You Do It?
"How Do You Do It?" is the debut single by Liverpudlian band Gerry and the Pacemakers. It was written by Mitch Murray. The song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 11 April 1963, where it stayed for three weeks.
History
The song was wr ...
'", a previously taped
Mitch Murray
Mitch Murray (born Lionel Michael Stitcher; 30 January 1940) is an English songwriter, record producer and author. He has won two Ivor Novello Awards, including the Jimmy Kennedy Award. Murray has written, or co-written, songs that have produ ...
composition that Martin insisted the Beatles record which he had seriously considered as an alternative debut single instead of "Love Me Do". The group replied that they were only interested in recording 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 ultimately sympathetic to their appeals, but said later: "
would still have issued "How Do You Do It?" had they not persuaded me to listen to another version of "Please Please Me". Martin's confidence in "How Do You Do It?" proved justified when it subsequently became a number one hit for
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin. Their early successes alongsid ...
.
Lennon first conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow tempo song. Lennon recalled: "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
doing '
Only the Lonely
"Only the Lonely (Know the Way I Feel)" is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Orbison's recording of the song, produced by Fred Foster for Monument Records, was the first major hit for the singer. It was described by ''The Ne ...
', or something. And I was also always intrigued by the words to a
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
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". Originally it was vocally sparse, did not contain any harmonies or responses, nor did it have the scaled harmonica intro. Lennon later stated: "Please Please Me is my song completely. It was my attempt at writing a
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
song, would you believe it? I wrote it in the bedroom in
my house at Menlove Avenue, which was my auntie's place".
Recording
The Beatles first presented "Please Please Me" to
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
at their 4 September 1962 session. Ringo Starr in ''Anthology'' stated: "On my first visit in September we just ran through some tracks for George Martin. We even did 'Please Please Me'. I remember that, because while we were recording it I was playing the bass drum with a maraca in one hand and a tambourine in the other." John Lennon in ''Anthology'' stated: "We'd had a top 30 entry with 'Love Me Do' and we really thought we were on top of the world. Then came 'Please Please Me'—and wham! We tried to make it as simple as possible. Some of the stuff we've written in the past has been a bit way-out, but we aimed this one straight at the hit parade... We almost abandoned it as the B-side of 'Love Me Do'. We changed our minds only because we were so tired the night we did 'Love Me Do'. We'd been going over it a few times and when we came to the question of the flipside, we intended using 'Please Please Me'. Our recording manager, George Martin, thought our arrangement was fussy, so we tried to make it simpler. We were getting very tired, though, and we just couldn't seem to get it right. We are conscientious about our work and we don't like to rush things."
In the opinion of George Martin, "At that stage 'Please Please Me' was a very dreary song. It was like a Roy Orbison number, very slow, bluesy vocals. It was obvious to me that it badly needed pepping up. I told them to bring it in next time and we'd have another go at it." He asked the Beatles to consider making major changes to it, including increasing its tempo. Paul McCartney in ''Anthology'' stated: "We sang it and George Martin said, 'Can we change the tempo?' We said, 'What's that?' He said, 'Make it a bit faster. Let me try it.' And he did. We thought, 'Oh, that's all right, yes.' Actually, we were a bit embarrassed that he had found a better tempo than we had."
A faster-tempo version sans harmonica was recorded at Abbey Road on 11 September, the only session in which
session drummer Andy White was present. The up-tempo track, No. 24 on ''Anthology 1'', was believed to have been wiped until its rediscovery in 1994 during the ''Anthology'' production, with ''Anthology notes'' seeming to indicate that it features drummer Andy White rather than Ringo Starr. The point is not addressed in the
Mark Lewisohn
Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps. -researched ''Anthology'' notes, although author Lewisohn's 1988 ''The Beatles Recording Sessions'' quotes session engineer Ron Richards as saying, "Ringo didn't play drums at all that evening." However, recording technician Geoff Emerick later wrote that, following White's departure, he witnessed Beatles roadie Mal Evans set up Starr's kit and the group record "Please Please Me" with Starr on drums. In a 2012 BBC interview, Andy White claimed that the drumming on the hit single was his:
White, however, was not at the studio for the final recording on 26 November and was only hired for the 11 September session. As recorded on 26 November, 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. McCartney and Lennon initially share the vocals with McCartney holding a high note while Lennon drops down through the scale, a ploy they learned from the
Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 193 ...
UK hit song "
Cathy's Clown
"Cathy's Clown" is a popular song, written by Don Everly and recorded by The Everly Brothers in 1960. The lyrics describe a man who has been wronged and publicly humiliated by his lover: "Here he comes / That's Cathy's clown". The choruses are s ...
" (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''.
By the time it was brought back into the studio on 26 November 1962, its arrangement had been radically altered, and it took 18 takes to record what George Martin immediately predicted would be their first major hit.
A new mix was created 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. Also different in the stereo mix is Harrison's lead guitar line before the final verse; rather than duplicating the overdubbed harmonica exactly as he had earlier in the song, Harrison drops down a fourth for the third note, rather than continuing down by stepwise motion.
The song was credited to "McCartney–Lennon", as were all other
Lennon–McCartney
Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...
originals on the ''Please Please Me'' album. The songwriting credit was changed to the more familiar "Lennon–McCartney" sequence for their second album, ''
With the Beatles
''With the Beatles'' is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the band's debut '' Please Please Me''. Produced by George Mar ...
''.
Publishing
According to Ray Coleman's biography, ''Brian Epstein: The Man Who Made the Beatles'', Epstein had been dissatisfied with EMI's promotional efforts for "Love Me Do" (published by EMI's subsidiary Ardmore & Beechwood) and asked George Martin if he could suggest a publisher who would push the single more effectively. Martin suggested three candidates, one of which was
Dick James
Dick James (born Leon Isaac Vapnick; 12 December 1920 – 1 February 1986) was a British music publisher and singer. He and Brian Epstein established the Beatles' publisher Northern Songs. Later, with his son Stephen, James founded the DJM re ...
. Epstein made an appointment to meet with him for 11 a.m. the following day, as well as an appointment with another EMI subsidiary at 10 a.m. Arriving on time for the first meeting, Epstein was informed that the executive he was due to meet had not arrived yet. Still waiting at 10:25, he decided that he was not prepared to do business with an organisation that could not keep a scheduled appointment, and left.
Arriving at James' office 20 minutes early, he apologised to the
receptionist
A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title ''receptionist'' is attributed t ...
and said he was happy to wait until the appointed time. The receptionist nevertheless phoned James, who promptly came out of his office, welcomed Epstein and quickly got down to business. Epstein played the single and James remarked that it was a number one record. Epstein replied that if James could achieve that then he would be prepared to offer him a long-term publishing deal. James phoned Philip Jones, producer of
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
television show
''Thank Your Lucky Stars'', played the song for him over the telephone, and gained The Beatles a slot on the next edition of the programme. The two then shook hands on a deal that would make them, and the Beatles, extremely wealthy.
UK release
The new single was released in the UK on 11 January 1963 during one of the worst winters in British history. On 19 January most of the population were snowed-in at home watching the Beatles perform the song on the Saturday night TV show, ''Thank Your Lucky Stars''. The national exposure of the song, as well as the band's unusual appearance and hair style, generated a lot of attention, and they were booked by promoter Arthur Howes for a series of national tours. The first tour was as a support band for
Helen Shapiro in February, for
Tommy Roe
Thomas David "Tommy" Roe (born May 9, 1942) is a retired American rock and pop singer-songwriter.
Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" (1962) and " Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late ...
and
Chris Montez
Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montañez on January 17, 1943) is an American guitarist and vocalist, whose stylistic approach has ranged from rock & roll to pop standards and Latin music. His rock sound is exemplified in songs such as hi ...
in March, and for
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
in May. During breaks in the touring schedule, the Beatles performed the song on a number of
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national radio programmes. The touring and TV appearances, along with extensive press coverage, propelled the single to the top of most of the British charts and the Beatles, much to their embarrassment, were moved to the top of the bill on the Tommy Roe and Roy Orbison tours.
's United States label, was offered the right to release "Please Please Me" in the US, but turned it down. Instead, it was placed with Transglobal, an EMI affiliate that worked to place foreign masters with US 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
. "Please Please Me" was then offered to
, which also rejected it. Finally,
in 1962 (another record that 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 US issue was lost for decades, but research published in 2004 showed that the single, "Please Please Me"/"
, played the song on the radio from February 1963, perhaps as early as 8 February 1963, thus becoming the first DJ to play a Beatles record in the US. Art Roberts, legendary DJ and music director at the time, tells how the record came to be played first at the station:
On WLS, "Please Please Me" peaked at No. 35 on 15 March on the second of its two weeks on the "Silver Dollar Survey", in addition to its two airplay weeks. However, the song did not chart on any other major national American survey until 1964.
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. WLS used this spelling on its Silver Dollar Surveys in 1963. Later copies of the single corrected this misspelling. However, the same spelling was also on the Silver Dollar Surveys for the first two weeks of "
" in 1964.
Also, the composers on the Vee-Jay edition were credited on both sides as "J. Lennon-P. McCartney", unlike on the UK
edition (which listed the names in the reverse order). However, with the exception of Chicago, the record was a failure 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.
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, the day that film footage of the Beatles appeared on a prime time episode of ''
. Playing it safe, the label chose to put "
'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 No. 3 on the ''
chart for the week ending 14 March 1964, trailing only "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "
". "Please Please Me" was at #5 on the Hot 100 on 4 April 1964, the date on which 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 ''
'' in February. This sleeve is considered to be extremely rare.
At least 1.1 million copies of the reissue were sold. If Vee-Jay had been a member of the
, the single would have been certified gold.
'' ranked the song at No. 184 on its list of the
, placing it 15th among Beatles songs on that list.
"Please Please Me" was chosen for The Beatles' first national UK television appearance, on ''Thank Your Lucky Stars'' on 19 January 1963.
publishes the Italian version, with text by Danpa, using the same title ''Please please me'' (Jolly Hi-Fi Records, J 20209), inserted in the 1984's album ''Fausto Leali and his Novelty'' (Jolly Hi-Fi Records, LPJ 5038).