Post by The End on May 29, 2013 21:37:57 GMT
Intro:
The exact date I became a Beatles fan is impossible to say - by my reckoning, it was sometime between 1974 and 1975 but the reason I became a fan I think is due to a combination of three things:
One: Each Boxing Day the BBC would show a Beatles film and I absolutely loved watching these as a kid. This eventually prompted me to search through my mum and dad’s record collection, where I found two Beatles LPs, one of which was Please Please Me.
Two: My aunt was a massive fan – she used to scream at Paul McCartney whenever he appeared on TV - and when she left home to get married she left quite a few of her records behind at my nan’s, which eventually found their way across the road and into my little record box.
Three: In 1976 every Beatle single was reissued and promoted in new sleeves and all re-entered the charts to varying degrees of success, so their records were readily accessible and their music was all over the radio.
So going back to reason one then; whilst thumbing through my parents’ LPs I discovered Please Please Me and A Hard Day’s night – both of which proved far more difficult to prise from their grasp than any of my aunt’s hand-me-downs. I was however allowed to play those two LPs under supervision and I can still remember staring down at that black label with the yellow writing as it revolved on the turntable – it was quite mesmerising! Although, looking back, as those LPs are not quite so playable now, I can appreciate my parents’ reluctance at letting a seven-year-old kid touch their vinyl!
But because I wasn’t allowed to play those LPs on my own record player, I instead got to know the album through various EPs that belonged to my aunt and singles that I purchased with my birthday money. So, via one format or other (see below), I managed to obtain the whole album for myself except for two tracks: ‘Boys’ and ‘Baby It’s You’.
The Beatles No 1 EP
Twist and Shout EP
Love Me Do / PS I Love You - the first Beatles record I ever bought
Please Please Me / Ask Me Why – the third Beatles record I ever bought (the second was Get Back in case you were wondering!)
So, now getting to the tracks... 4 titles had already been released via 2 singles and the remaining 10 album tracks were recorded during a mammoth ten hour session at Abbey Road studios on 11 February 1963...
I Saw Her Standing There
Written in the main by Paul McCartney, it starts off with his slightly annoyed “one, two, three, four” - a result of him seemingly getting the hump at the start of take 9 over having to keep doing re-takes of the song, some being cut short, deemed as being “too fast” by Macca despite him actually doing the count-in himself and thus setting the pace.
Although this was a well-rehearsed song – it had been in the Beatles’ live set for some time – they obviously found it a little bit tricky to perfect on the big day (although 9 takes is not a vast amount by any means), and it didn’t help that John Lennon kept getting the verses mixed up. However, in the end, and rather ironically, take 1 was deemed best and Paul’s exasperated count-in was considered so good it was tagged onto the beginning of it. And, as the original but abandoned idea had been to record The Beatles live at the Cavern, the count-in certainly lent the opening song on the album a live feel.
The harmonies between McCartney and Lennon on this track are impeccable but what some people don’t realise is that it’s John taking the high note on the “...held her hand in mi-iiiiiiiiine” part, so Paul could go straight back into the verse (listen and you’ll hear the high vocal slightly overlap the start of the verse) – not an easy feat by any means.
Originally simply titled ‘Seventeen’, the opening line: "She was just seventeen" could have been considered clichéd and twee but was taken to a completely different level with John's laddish nod-and-a-wink "you know what I mean".
The song was completed with the addition of handclaps, which were added in a reduction mix - copying the recording (take 1) from one recording machine to another whilst feeding handclaps into the mix at the same time.
Although still learning the song writing craft, this was obviously written with their live audience in mind and boy did it work - has there ever been a greater opening track to an album? Up until then, probably not.
Misery
The second “McCartney/Lennon” composition of the album (the song writing credits were yet to be established) and it’s interesting listening to the session tapes of this recording to see how the song evolved. George Harrison’s guitar breaks grew less and less with each successive take culminating with their complete exclusion and replacement with George Martin’s piano overdub.
In my opinion by far the best take was 6, which really rocks with Starr’s drum breaks tying in nicely with Harrison’s guitar, both of which were dropped by the final take.
Lennon and McCartney’s voices blend perfectly on this track – so much so that it sounds almost like double-tracking in places. One thing I’ve always wondered though is why McCartney seems to be singing “shend her back to me.”
There were eleven takes of this in all, the final one being deemed best and Martin dubbed piano onto it at half speed (as he also did on ‘In My Life’).
Incidentally this song was the first Lennon McCartney-penned song to enter the charts by another artist when Kenny Lynch had a minor hit with it in 1963 – although in Lynch’s version it was “You’ve been treating me bad” as opposed to Lennon’s “The World”.
Anna (Go To Him)
This Arthur Alexander cover is often cited as people’s least favourite track on the album, which I think is wholly unfair - this for me is one of the stand-out tracks on Please Please Me.
Though Alexander’s original is admittedly absolutely magnificent (please do check it out), the Beatles version is easily as good but for different reasons. The original was augmented by a wonderful string and piano arrangement played by seasoned session musicians. The Beatles version is slimmed down and because of that Lennon’s vocal absolutely soars, especially on the two “all of my life…” sections (the 2nd one in particular) – you can tell he absolutely loves singing this. And the fact that Harrison effortlessly replicates the original’s piano riff on his guitar speaks volumes for their arrangement, which is underlined by the fact that it was nailed in just three takes.
Recorded during the final session of the day, Lennon’s cold is quite evident on this track though – luckily they only tackled four more songs that day, all of which ran to no more than 4 takes or less each.
On a side note, Lennon was of course a huge fan of Arthur Alexander and The Beatles played four of his songs live; the others being ‘A Shot of Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Soldier of Love’ and ‘Where Have You Been All My Life’. Alexander also popularised the term “girl” as opposed to baby etc., which was another big influence on Lennon’s early writing. The rhythm on this track was later recycled for use on ‘All I’ve Got To Do’ and ‘In My Life’.
Chains
The first song on the album that illustrates the Beatles’ love of girl-groups, as they cover The Cookies’ Chains – a Gerry Goffin and Carole King song with Harrison taking on the main vocals.
Again recorded during the final session of the evening, this to me really feels like an album filler track, albeit a rather good one. What’s really notable on this version though is firstly John Lennon’s searing harmonica at the beginning - it really elevates the mood of the track – and secondly the slightly distorted guitar sound throughout. Great harmonies again, this time three-part but is that an expletive at 1:27? Maybe it’s just a Lennon cough.
Boys
The second girl-group offering, this time via The Shirelles (the first of two by the same group on this album) and this just rocks.
For those that question Ringo Starr’s abilities (not I for one!), here are a few facts about this recording – it was recorded live with no overdubs, he is doing the lead vocal and playing drums at the same time and it was recorded in just 1 take!
Starr really belts those drums and I can just imagine those EMI engineers dressed in their white lab coats dropping their teacups when he burst into that intro! The vocal is brilliant (Starr’s best?) as are the backing vocals and Harrison’s solo is again simply impeccable perhaps feeding off of Starr’s encouragement (“alright George”). The only real complaint (and it’s not really a complaint) would be that the tempo slows considerably after the middle 8 but does anyone notice or care? As I say, this track absolutely rocks!
Starr also sang lead vocals when he performed this with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Pete Best did the same with The Beatles. Did The Beatles copy Rory Storm or vice versa, or was this the drummer’s staple song in Liverpool at that time?
Ask Me Why
The first of four songs on the album not recorded during the album sessions of February 1963 as it had already been released the month earlier as the b-side of their ‘Please Please Me’ single.
Set against the previous rocker of a track, this slower number really shines – it’s another early Lennon McCartney (Lennon mainly) composition that they’d already incorporated into their live act. It has a similar sort of feel to ‘PS I Love You’ but as is evident by this far more complex arrangement, their song writing had already come a long way in the space of just two months. Starr again is excellent on this song, seamlessly switching rhythm during the middle 8 and performing some lovely fills along the way. The three-part harmonies are also very tight, especially on the “mi-se-ry” parts.
Beatles b-sides were fast becoming better than most other recording artist’s a-sides!
Please Please Me
For their follow-up single to ‘Love Me Do’, Lennon suggested ‘Please Please Me’ but at this stage the song was very much slower and Roy Orbison-esque (and God I would have loved to have heard that version) but all credit to George Martin who saw the song’s potential and recommended a different approach.
Martin suggested the song should played at a faster tempo and with a vocal harmony line added. These suggestions were duly taken on board and when it came to record the song, Martin famously said afterwards “boys, you have your first number one.” And indeed it was (YES IT WAS - don’t get me started, Guinness!).
Written predominately by Lennon, the song itself starts powerfully on the offbeat (a trick also employed on ‘There’s A Place’) with his trademark harmonica dubbed on to Harrison’s very thin lead guitar line to great effect. Lennon and McCartney’s tight harmonies then take over before the increasingly urgent “come on – come on” - Lennon’s call and McCartney/Harrison’s response, seemingly influenced by the Isley Brothers. Which brings us to the hook: “Please please me, like I please you...” and all manner of sexual connotations have been attributed to that phrase!
I won’t get tired of saying it but Starr is again immense on this track as he effortlessly switches rhythms, this time to a Latin style during the middle 8 and then back to rock. His unique fills and drumming style on this track alone would later be copied the world over, as would the distinctive ending of the song.
The mono version remains the definitive version for me, with the stereo mix littered with curious mistakes; Lennon again getting the words wrong in the final verse then half laughing the following “come on...” line; and the ending, which goes completely out of synch resulting in an utter mess, surprisingly not fixed during the newly-remastered releases.
At the time of release, there was nothing else to match its style, innovation and quality in the UK charts – the bar had been raised.
And so ended side 1...
Love Me Do
A source of constant confusion even to Ringo Starr and EMI, who recently had to recall a complete batch of 7” vinyl 50th anniversary pressings that used the wrong version, the actual version on the album has session musician Andy White on drums and Starr on tambourine. The single issued in 1962 actually had Starr on drums, and he doesn’t even realise!
I was unsure whether to include the rather convoluted history of Love Me Do so I will keep it as brief as possible!
Following an artist test at Abbey Road on 6 June 1962, at which The Beatles, with Pete Best still on drums, performed and recorded four songs including ‘Love Me Do’ (which can be heard on Anthology 1), but George Martin was not happy with the drumming and told Brian Epstein as much. So when they were invited back on 4 September 1962 to record their first single, The Beatles arrived with a new drummer in the seat – Ringo Starr. On this day they recorded what would eventually be the original UK single version of ‘Love Me Do’ and one other song: Mitch Murray’s ‘How Do You Do It’, which Martin was convinced would be a massive hit and was therefore a serious contender for their first single.
Despite hating ‘How Do You Do It’, The Beatles came up with their own arrangement of the song but their disinterest was very apparent in the recording. In the end it was a very close run thing but ‘Love Me Do’ eventually won the day and ‘How Do You Do It’ was later handed to Gerry and the Pacemakers - Martin though was proved right, as it became their first number one (their first of three in a row, in fact).
But the story didn’t end there – the ‘Love Me Do’ recording of 4 September had proved fairly troublesome in perfecting the rhythm, no doubt a result of Starr’s nerves - they'd already sacked one drummer because of this very track! So on 11 September, The Beatles went back to the studio to record a remake, and to their surprise and Starr’s horror there was another drummer already there with his kit set up – Andy White. He had been enlisted by George Martin for the session and Ringo was relegated to tambourine.
For me, the recording with Andy White in the saddle is by far the better version as it has a lot more punch – due, ironically enough, to Starr’s tambourine playing. In comparison, the original sounds thin and weak. The strange thing is, despite employing White for the session, it was the version with Starr on drums that was released as The Beatles’ first single. Was this a mistake, as in 1963 the master tape of Starr's version was wiped and White’s version appeared on all subsequent compilation releases? Maybe the White version would have fared better in the charts had it been released - who knows.
Anyway, onto the song…. penned mainly by McCartney, Lennon’s harmonica is again to the fore here and introduces the track, the style apparently influenced by Delbert McClinton’s playing on Bruce Channel’s ‘Hey Baby’. The song has a very basic structure with an almost nursery rhyme-like quality that consists of just one verse repeated and a middle 8. It’s always surprised me that they chose to go with this song when they had others (although not the hundreds they boasted of!) that might have been better choices – ‘Hello Little Girl’ for instance, which is certainly no worse than ‘Love Me Do’ in my opinion.
One of only a few tracks where there is no true stereo version in existence as the original two track master tapes have been lost/destroyed/wiped. Incidentally, as the master tapes for the original UK version were wiped, all subsequent versions that have appeared on CD have been mastered from a pristine original vinyl copy.
On a side note, for as long as I can recall, the LP my mum and dad eventually gave me always got stuck on a scratch on this track and no amount of cleaning ever fixed it!
PS I Love You
Another largely McCartney composition and one that apparently at one point was considered for The Beatles’ first single instead of ‘Love Me Do’. However, studio engineer Ron Richards then pointed out that this title had already been used, though what difference that would have made I honestly don’t know. It is a great song but would it have been a better choice for their first single? Possibly.
Recorded at the same session as the album version of ‘Love Me Do’, Andy White again takes the drumming duties away from Starr, who this time plays maracas to the cha-cha-cha rhythm. Another early song with a fairly basic structure, for me it is notable for two things – one, McCartney's excellent bass line, which is unusually mixed to the fore for an early Beatles recording, and two (and please don’t cane me for this!) Lennon’s “oh-oh-oh” after the 2nd “as I write this letter” part of the middle 8 – I love it!
Again no true stereo version exists, although processed versions (bass in one speaker, treble in the other) of this and ‘Love Me Do’ were mixed and included on the stereo release of the album.
Baby It's You
Going back to the girl-groups now and the second Shirelles song on the album penned by, no less, than Burt Bacharach, Mack David and Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams). This means Luther Dixon actually co-wrote two songs on Please Please Me – the other being ‘Boys’ with Wes Farrell.
This time Lennon takes on the lead vocal with McCartney and Harrison backing and George gets a really nice deep tone from his Gretsch during the solo. Sadly, again this usually figures quite low in popularity polls despite actually being a great cover version. True it does seem to lose some of its innocence in the hands of the Beatles but that’s really not their fault. It is definitely far more than being just a good album filler.
Although the album version has a fade-out, when they played this live they had a great ending worked out as it goes back into the middle 8 briefly before finishing with their trademark finale, which can be heard on the BBC version released in 1995.
Do You Want To Know A Secret
I must admit, this is not a massive favourite of mine, although I can achieve 100% on the drums at expert level on the Beatles Rock Band Game!
Written mainly by Lennon, and influenced by the opening lines of ‘I’m Wishing’ from the Disney cartoon version of Snow White, this was the first of two songs that Lennon gave to George Harrison to sing (the other being ‘I’m Happy Just To Dance With You’ on the A Hard Day’s Night album). Great use is made of the Abbey Road echo chamber on this recording though – heard dry it would lose a great deal of impact and mood. And is that Paul flubbing his bass part in the song’s fade?
Billy J Kramer released a faster version of the song in April 1963 (backed by another Lennon McCartney composition ‘I’ll Be On My Way’), an arrangement the Beatles adopted themselves for some of their BBC radio sessions. It was later included in the Twist and Shout EP released in July that same year, which ended up in my record box!
A Taste of Honey
Probably my least favourite song on the album, in the past, this would have been a guaranteed skip for me but in recent years I’ve grown to rather like the “I will return...” section, again massively enhanced by Abbey Road’s echo chamber.
With McCartney taking the lead vocal, this had been a staple of their live set since 1962 where it was a firm favourite at the Cavern Club (mainly of the girls, I would imagine!) and they continued performing it throughout 1963 for various BBC radio shows, in all seven times. For me, whether imagined or not, Lennon’s backing vocal, has always sounded uninterested, as if he’s just going through the motions, especially in the answer “he’ll come back” at the end.
Originally ‘A Taste of Honey’ had been a hit as an instrumental before Lenny Welch recorded the first vocal version in 1962 – it is his version that the Beatles covered, slightly changing the lyrics in the chorus from “a taste much sweeter than wine” to “tasting”.
There's A Place
The final Lennon McCartney song on Please Please Me and it’s one of the best. Written in the main by Lennon, it differs from the other songs on the album in that it’s not about love – it’s about withdrawing into your own mind when times get tough – “in my mind there’s no sorrow” – and this was not a particularly common topic of the pop songs in the charts back in 1963!
Another really tight performance of a fairly tricky arrangement with its many stops and starts but Starr manages to hold it all together. The breezy melody certainly belies its subject matter and although it’s one of the many highlights of the album the best was yet to come…
Twist and Shout
What on earth can I say about ‘Twist and Shout’ - a song that has been battling it out with ‘In My Life’ for the top spot of my all time favourite song of all time for years and years!
The song itself was written by Bert Berns (credited Bert Russell) and Phil Medley and originally started out as Phil Spector-produced formulaic rock and roll number by The Top Notes (quite awful) until Berns re-worked the song with The Isley Brothers.
The Beatles recording is truly the stuff of legend – with Lennon struggling all day with a cold and his throat about to give out, this was the very last song recorded for the album. What you hear is exactly how they sounded that February day, complete with a muffled cough at the end - no overdubs or studio trickery – live – one take.
Although they did try for a second take, it’s no surprise that by this point Lennon’s voice was finished and no amount of Zoobs and milk was going to save it! Sadly, the session tapes from the entire evening session are.... well, you can guess!
In all of the innumerable live and BBC session versions The Beatles undertook of the song following this recording, Lennon never came close to bettering his incredible vocal – arguably one of the best rock vocals of all time. All in all this was about as perfect a recording of a live band you are every likely to hear. Everyone was at the top of their game and it just all fits together: Lennon’s blistering vocal, McCartney and Harrison’s backing, Starr’s rock-solid beat complete with signature “backwards” fills, and the “aaaaaaah” climax - the arrangement was a world away from the Isley Brother’s gospel-tinged version.
It is no wonder so many artists lifted this particular track from the album and tried to copy it – most notably Brian Poole & the Tremeloes and The Searchers. Although Poole’s version did well in the charts in comparison all were very poor imitations completely lacking that raw energy.
With this recording and the album finally in the bag, they had made history and everyone present in the studio that night must have known it, as they all uncharacteristically stayed after hours listening to repeated playbacks of the day's recording sessions.
What better way round off your first album, with one of the greatest rock performances of all time.
AL
The exact date I became a Beatles fan is impossible to say - by my reckoning, it was sometime between 1974 and 1975 but the reason I became a fan I think is due to a combination of three things:
One: Each Boxing Day the BBC would show a Beatles film and I absolutely loved watching these as a kid. This eventually prompted me to search through my mum and dad’s record collection, where I found two Beatles LPs, one of which was Please Please Me.
Two: My aunt was a massive fan – she used to scream at Paul McCartney whenever he appeared on TV - and when she left home to get married she left quite a few of her records behind at my nan’s, which eventually found their way across the road and into my little record box.
Three: In 1976 every Beatle single was reissued and promoted in new sleeves and all re-entered the charts to varying degrees of success, so their records were readily accessible and their music was all over the radio.
So going back to reason one then; whilst thumbing through my parents’ LPs I discovered Please Please Me and A Hard Day’s night – both of which proved far more difficult to prise from their grasp than any of my aunt’s hand-me-downs. I was however allowed to play those two LPs under supervision and I can still remember staring down at that black label with the yellow writing as it revolved on the turntable – it was quite mesmerising! Although, looking back, as those LPs are not quite so playable now, I can appreciate my parents’ reluctance at letting a seven-year-old kid touch their vinyl!
But because I wasn’t allowed to play those LPs on my own record player, I instead got to know the album through various EPs that belonged to my aunt and singles that I purchased with my birthday money. So, via one format or other (see below), I managed to obtain the whole album for myself except for two tracks: ‘Boys’ and ‘Baby It’s You’.
The Beatles No 1 EP
Twist and Shout EP
Love Me Do / PS I Love You - the first Beatles record I ever bought
Please Please Me / Ask Me Why – the third Beatles record I ever bought (the second was Get Back in case you were wondering!)
So, now getting to the tracks... 4 titles had already been released via 2 singles and the remaining 10 album tracks were recorded during a mammoth ten hour session at Abbey Road studios on 11 February 1963...
I Saw Her Standing There
Written in the main by Paul McCartney, it starts off with his slightly annoyed “one, two, three, four” - a result of him seemingly getting the hump at the start of take 9 over having to keep doing re-takes of the song, some being cut short, deemed as being “too fast” by Macca despite him actually doing the count-in himself and thus setting the pace.
Although this was a well-rehearsed song – it had been in the Beatles’ live set for some time – they obviously found it a little bit tricky to perfect on the big day (although 9 takes is not a vast amount by any means), and it didn’t help that John Lennon kept getting the verses mixed up. However, in the end, and rather ironically, take 1 was deemed best and Paul’s exasperated count-in was considered so good it was tagged onto the beginning of it. And, as the original but abandoned idea had been to record The Beatles live at the Cavern, the count-in certainly lent the opening song on the album a live feel.
The harmonies between McCartney and Lennon on this track are impeccable but what some people don’t realise is that it’s John taking the high note on the “...held her hand in mi-iiiiiiiiine” part, so Paul could go straight back into the verse (listen and you’ll hear the high vocal slightly overlap the start of the verse) – not an easy feat by any means.
Originally simply titled ‘Seventeen’, the opening line: "She was just seventeen" could have been considered clichéd and twee but was taken to a completely different level with John's laddish nod-and-a-wink "you know what I mean".
The song was completed with the addition of handclaps, which were added in a reduction mix - copying the recording (take 1) from one recording machine to another whilst feeding handclaps into the mix at the same time.
Although still learning the song writing craft, this was obviously written with their live audience in mind and boy did it work - has there ever been a greater opening track to an album? Up until then, probably not.
Misery
The second “McCartney/Lennon” composition of the album (the song writing credits were yet to be established) and it’s interesting listening to the session tapes of this recording to see how the song evolved. George Harrison’s guitar breaks grew less and less with each successive take culminating with their complete exclusion and replacement with George Martin’s piano overdub.
In my opinion by far the best take was 6, which really rocks with Starr’s drum breaks tying in nicely with Harrison’s guitar, both of which were dropped by the final take.
Lennon and McCartney’s voices blend perfectly on this track – so much so that it sounds almost like double-tracking in places. One thing I’ve always wondered though is why McCartney seems to be singing “shend her back to me.”
There were eleven takes of this in all, the final one being deemed best and Martin dubbed piano onto it at half speed (as he also did on ‘In My Life’).
Incidentally this song was the first Lennon McCartney-penned song to enter the charts by another artist when Kenny Lynch had a minor hit with it in 1963 – although in Lynch’s version it was “You’ve been treating me bad” as opposed to Lennon’s “The World”.
Anna (Go To Him)
This Arthur Alexander cover is often cited as people’s least favourite track on the album, which I think is wholly unfair - this for me is one of the stand-out tracks on Please Please Me.
Though Alexander’s original is admittedly absolutely magnificent (please do check it out), the Beatles version is easily as good but for different reasons. The original was augmented by a wonderful string and piano arrangement played by seasoned session musicians. The Beatles version is slimmed down and because of that Lennon’s vocal absolutely soars, especially on the two “all of my life…” sections (the 2nd one in particular) – you can tell he absolutely loves singing this. And the fact that Harrison effortlessly replicates the original’s piano riff on his guitar speaks volumes for their arrangement, which is underlined by the fact that it was nailed in just three takes.
Recorded during the final session of the day, Lennon’s cold is quite evident on this track though – luckily they only tackled four more songs that day, all of which ran to no more than 4 takes or less each.
On a side note, Lennon was of course a huge fan of Arthur Alexander and The Beatles played four of his songs live; the others being ‘A Shot of Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Soldier of Love’ and ‘Where Have You Been All My Life’. Alexander also popularised the term “girl” as opposed to baby etc., which was another big influence on Lennon’s early writing. The rhythm on this track was later recycled for use on ‘All I’ve Got To Do’ and ‘In My Life’.
Chains
The first song on the album that illustrates the Beatles’ love of girl-groups, as they cover The Cookies’ Chains – a Gerry Goffin and Carole King song with Harrison taking on the main vocals.
Again recorded during the final session of the evening, this to me really feels like an album filler track, albeit a rather good one. What’s really notable on this version though is firstly John Lennon’s searing harmonica at the beginning - it really elevates the mood of the track – and secondly the slightly distorted guitar sound throughout. Great harmonies again, this time three-part but is that an expletive at 1:27? Maybe it’s just a Lennon cough.
Boys
The second girl-group offering, this time via The Shirelles (the first of two by the same group on this album) and this just rocks.
For those that question Ringo Starr’s abilities (not I for one!), here are a few facts about this recording – it was recorded live with no overdubs, he is doing the lead vocal and playing drums at the same time and it was recorded in just 1 take!
Starr really belts those drums and I can just imagine those EMI engineers dressed in their white lab coats dropping their teacups when he burst into that intro! The vocal is brilliant (Starr’s best?) as are the backing vocals and Harrison’s solo is again simply impeccable perhaps feeding off of Starr’s encouragement (“alright George”). The only real complaint (and it’s not really a complaint) would be that the tempo slows considerably after the middle 8 but does anyone notice or care? As I say, this track absolutely rocks!
Starr also sang lead vocals when he performed this with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and Pete Best did the same with The Beatles. Did The Beatles copy Rory Storm or vice versa, or was this the drummer’s staple song in Liverpool at that time?
Ask Me Why
The first of four songs on the album not recorded during the album sessions of February 1963 as it had already been released the month earlier as the b-side of their ‘Please Please Me’ single.
Set against the previous rocker of a track, this slower number really shines – it’s another early Lennon McCartney (Lennon mainly) composition that they’d already incorporated into their live act. It has a similar sort of feel to ‘PS I Love You’ but as is evident by this far more complex arrangement, their song writing had already come a long way in the space of just two months. Starr again is excellent on this song, seamlessly switching rhythm during the middle 8 and performing some lovely fills along the way. The three-part harmonies are also very tight, especially on the “mi-se-ry” parts.
Beatles b-sides were fast becoming better than most other recording artist’s a-sides!
Please Please Me
For their follow-up single to ‘Love Me Do’, Lennon suggested ‘Please Please Me’ but at this stage the song was very much slower and Roy Orbison-esque (and God I would have loved to have heard that version) but all credit to George Martin who saw the song’s potential and recommended a different approach.
Martin suggested the song should played at a faster tempo and with a vocal harmony line added. These suggestions were duly taken on board and when it came to record the song, Martin famously said afterwards “boys, you have your first number one.” And indeed it was (YES IT WAS - don’t get me started, Guinness!).
Written predominately by Lennon, the song itself starts powerfully on the offbeat (a trick also employed on ‘There’s A Place’) with his trademark harmonica dubbed on to Harrison’s very thin lead guitar line to great effect. Lennon and McCartney’s tight harmonies then take over before the increasingly urgent “come on – come on” - Lennon’s call and McCartney/Harrison’s response, seemingly influenced by the Isley Brothers. Which brings us to the hook: “Please please me, like I please you...” and all manner of sexual connotations have been attributed to that phrase!
I won’t get tired of saying it but Starr is again immense on this track as he effortlessly switches rhythms, this time to a Latin style during the middle 8 and then back to rock. His unique fills and drumming style on this track alone would later be copied the world over, as would the distinctive ending of the song.
The mono version remains the definitive version for me, with the stereo mix littered with curious mistakes; Lennon again getting the words wrong in the final verse then half laughing the following “come on...” line; and the ending, which goes completely out of synch resulting in an utter mess, surprisingly not fixed during the newly-remastered releases.
At the time of release, there was nothing else to match its style, innovation and quality in the UK charts – the bar had been raised.
And so ended side 1...
Love Me Do
A source of constant confusion even to Ringo Starr and EMI, who recently had to recall a complete batch of 7” vinyl 50th anniversary pressings that used the wrong version, the actual version on the album has session musician Andy White on drums and Starr on tambourine. The single issued in 1962 actually had Starr on drums, and he doesn’t even realise!
I was unsure whether to include the rather convoluted history of Love Me Do so I will keep it as brief as possible!
Following an artist test at Abbey Road on 6 June 1962, at which The Beatles, with Pete Best still on drums, performed and recorded four songs including ‘Love Me Do’ (which can be heard on Anthology 1), but George Martin was not happy with the drumming and told Brian Epstein as much. So when they were invited back on 4 September 1962 to record their first single, The Beatles arrived with a new drummer in the seat – Ringo Starr. On this day they recorded what would eventually be the original UK single version of ‘Love Me Do’ and one other song: Mitch Murray’s ‘How Do You Do It’, which Martin was convinced would be a massive hit and was therefore a serious contender for their first single.
Despite hating ‘How Do You Do It’, The Beatles came up with their own arrangement of the song but their disinterest was very apparent in the recording. In the end it was a very close run thing but ‘Love Me Do’ eventually won the day and ‘How Do You Do It’ was later handed to Gerry and the Pacemakers - Martin though was proved right, as it became their first number one (their first of three in a row, in fact).
But the story didn’t end there – the ‘Love Me Do’ recording of 4 September had proved fairly troublesome in perfecting the rhythm, no doubt a result of Starr’s nerves - they'd already sacked one drummer because of this very track! So on 11 September, The Beatles went back to the studio to record a remake, and to their surprise and Starr’s horror there was another drummer already there with his kit set up – Andy White. He had been enlisted by George Martin for the session and Ringo was relegated to tambourine.
For me, the recording with Andy White in the saddle is by far the better version as it has a lot more punch – due, ironically enough, to Starr’s tambourine playing. In comparison, the original sounds thin and weak. The strange thing is, despite employing White for the session, it was the version with Starr on drums that was released as The Beatles’ first single. Was this a mistake, as in 1963 the master tape of Starr's version was wiped and White’s version appeared on all subsequent compilation releases? Maybe the White version would have fared better in the charts had it been released - who knows.
Anyway, onto the song…. penned mainly by McCartney, Lennon’s harmonica is again to the fore here and introduces the track, the style apparently influenced by Delbert McClinton’s playing on Bruce Channel’s ‘Hey Baby’. The song has a very basic structure with an almost nursery rhyme-like quality that consists of just one verse repeated and a middle 8. It’s always surprised me that they chose to go with this song when they had others (although not the hundreds they boasted of!) that might have been better choices – ‘Hello Little Girl’ for instance, which is certainly no worse than ‘Love Me Do’ in my opinion.
One of only a few tracks where there is no true stereo version in existence as the original two track master tapes have been lost/destroyed/wiped. Incidentally, as the master tapes for the original UK version were wiped, all subsequent versions that have appeared on CD have been mastered from a pristine original vinyl copy.
On a side note, for as long as I can recall, the LP my mum and dad eventually gave me always got stuck on a scratch on this track and no amount of cleaning ever fixed it!
PS I Love You
Another largely McCartney composition and one that apparently at one point was considered for The Beatles’ first single instead of ‘Love Me Do’. However, studio engineer Ron Richards then pointed out that this title had already been used, though what difference that would have made I honestly don’t know. It is a great song but would it have been a better choice for their first single? Possibly.
Recorded at the same session as the album version of ‘Love Me Do’, Andy White again takes the drumming duties away from Starr, who this time plays maracas to the cha-cha-cha rhythm. Another early song with a fairly basic structure, for me it is notable for two things – one, McCartney's excellent bass line, which is unusually mixed to the fore for an early Beatles recording, and two (and please don’t cane me for this!) Lennon’s “oh-oh-oh” after the 2nd “as I write this letter” part of the middle 8 – I love it!
Again no true stereo version exists, although processed versions (bass in one speaker, treble in the other) of this and ‘Love Me Do’ were mixed and included on the stereo release of the album.
Baby It's You
Going back to the girl-groups now and the second Shirelles song on the album penned by, no less, than Burt Bacharach, Mack David and Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams). This means Luther Dixon actually co-wrote two songs on Please Please Me – the other being ‘Boys’ with Wes Farrell.
This time Lennon takes on the lead vocal with McCartney and Harrison backing and George gets a really nice deep tone from his Gretsch during the solo. Sadly, again this usually figures quite low in popularity polls despite actually being a great cover version. True it does seem to lose some of its innocence in the hands of the Beatles but that’s really not their fault. It is definitely far more than being just a good album filler.
Although the album version has a fade-out, when they played this live they had a great ending worked out as it goes back into the middle 8 briefly before finishing with their trademark finale, which can be heard on the BBC version released in 1995.
Do You Want To Know A Secret
I must admit, this is not a massive favourite of mine, although I can achieve 100% on the drums at expert level on the Beatles Rock Band Game!
Written mainly by Lennon, and influenced by the opening lines of ‘I’m Wishing’ from the Disney cartoon version of Snow White, this was the first of two songs that Lennon gave to George Harrison to sing (the other being ‘I’m Happy Just To Dance With You’ on the A Hard Day’s Night album). Great use is made of the Abbey Road echo chamber on this recording though – heard dry it would lose a great deal of impact and mood. And is that Paul flubbing his bass part in the song’s fade?
Billy J Kramer released a faster version of the song in April 1963 (backed by another Lennon McCartney composition ‘I’ll Be On My Way’), an arrangement the Beatles adopted themselves for some of their BBC radio sessions. It was later included in the Twist and Shout EP released in July that same year, which ended up in my record box!
A Taste of Honey
Probably my least favourite song on the album, in the past, this would have been a guaranteed skip for me but in recent years I’ve grown to rather like the “I will return...” section, again massively enhanced by Abbey Road’s echo chamber.
With McCartney taking the lead vocal, this had been a staple of their live set since 1962 where it was a firm favourite at the Cavern Club (mainly of the girls, I would imagine!) and they continued performing it throughout 1963 for various BBC radio shows, in all seven times. For me, whether imagined or not, Lennon’s backing vocal, has always sounded uninterested, as if he’s just going through the motions, especially in the answer “he’ll come back” at the end.
Originally ‘A Taste of Honey’ had been a hit as an instrumental before Lenny Welch recorded the first vocal version in 1962 – it is his version that the Beatles covered, slightly changing the lyrics in the chorus from “a taste much sweeter than wine” to “tasting”.
There's A Place
The final Lennon McCartney song on Please Please Me and it’s one of the best. Written in the main by Lennon, it differs from the other songs on the album in that it’s not about love – it’s about withdrawing into your own mind when times get tough – “in my mind there’s no sorrow” – and this was not a particularly common topic of the pop songs in the charts back in 1963!
Another really tight performance of a fairly tricky arrangement with its many stops and starts but Starr manages to hold it all together. The breezy melody certainly belies its subject matter and although it’s one of the many highlights of the album the best was yet to come…
Twist and Shout
What on earth can I say about ‘Twist and Shout’ - a song that has been battling it out with ‘In My Life’ for the top spot of my all time favourite song of all time for years and years!
The song itself was written by Bert Berns (credited Bert Russell) and Phil Medley and originally started out as Phil Spector-produced formulaic rock and roll number by The Top Notes (quite awful) until Berns re-worked the song with The Isley Brothers.
The Beatles recording is truly the stuff of legend – with Lennon struggling all day with a cold and his throat about to give out, this was the very last song recorded for the album. What you hear is exactly how they sounded that February day, complete with a muffled cough at the end - no overdubs or studio trickery – live – one take.
Although they did try for a second take, it’s no surprise that by this point Lennon’s voice was finished and no amount of Zoobs and milk was going to save it! Sadly, the session tapes from the entire evening session are.... well, you can guess!
In all of the innumerable live and BBC session versions The Beatles undertook of the song following this recording, Lennon never came close to bettering his incredible vocal – arguably one of the best rock vocals of all time. All in all this was about as perfect a recording of a live band you are every likely to hear. Everyone was at the top of their game and it just all fits together: Lennon’s blistering vocal, McCartney and Harrison’s backing, Starr’s rock-solid beat complete with signature “backwards” fills, and the “aaaaaaah” climax - the arrangement was a world away from the Isley Brother’s gospel-tinged version.
It is no wonder so many artists lifted this particular track from the album and tried to copy it – most notably Brian Poole & the Tremeloes and The Searchers. Although Poole’s version did well in the charts in comparison all were very poor imitations completely lacking that raw energy.
With this recording and the album finally in the bag, they had made history and everyone present in the studio that night must have known it, as they all uncharacteristically stayed after hours listening to repeated playbacks of the day's recording sessions.
What better way round off your first album, with one of the greatest rock performances of all time.
AL