FEATURE:
Love Me Do:
The Birth of The Beatles
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HISTORIANS and aficionados of The Beatles…
have their own interpretations surrounding the band becoming 'The Fab Four'. I guess a moniker is the way one can determine when an artist has truly arrived in music. Whether one assumes it was literally the first Beatles record that defined and announced their birth; their finest earliest album; the moment they cracked America – there are subjective and different viewpoints regarding the canonisation of the world’s greatest band. To me – and why I wanted to kick this piece into the wider world – was the vital landmark that is Love Me Do. On 5th October, 1962, the song was one of Paul McCartney’s earliest songs – written whilst he was cutting class from the Liverpool Institute back in 1958. I will quote from Ian MacDonald’s definitive and sacrosanct Beatles manuscript, Revolution in the Head. Here, like all their other songs, he charts the course and genesis of the track – where it stemmed from; which take we hear on record; how it fared in the public; his impressions of the song. From pages fifty-eight through to sixty; MacDonald charts the progress of the song’s creation and the place it plays in The Beatles’ cannon. To me, those opening few seconds, not only beckon and proclamation the greatest force of nature the music world has ever seen – it runs to a deeper, more personal level. To me, it is the tributary of the river that is my love of The Beatles. That harmonica blast (John Lennon playing that one) causes shivers, memories and fond reminiscence. I remember encountering the album Please Please Me (I shall come onto that) and being blown away by the sheer simplicity, live sound and class dripping from every song. In my estimation; Love Me Do is the first landmark release from the band – the time they transcending from promising boys (playing covers) to a truly original band who could change the world. Love Me Do employs two chords (G and C). Most Pop numbers of the time revolved around three common chords: the fact Love Me Do had two made it, in its reverse-evolution and base appeal, a more progressive and evolved thing.
IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles recording at Abbey Road on 4th September, 1962
Breaking a trend by making music more simplistic might seem counterintuitive and risky. The boys knew they could not repeat what was out there and expect to gain the recognition they warranted. The song was started by McCartney during his educational day but, struggling to finish it off, showed it to Lennon – who added the middle eight and helped ensure it saw the light of day. Back in September 1962; Love Me Do was one of half-a-dozen songs being rehearsed by a band who were a bit nervous about releasing singles. The record label (Parlophone) preferred the inferior How Do You Do? as a single for The Beatles. The Mitch Murray-penned song was more commercial and toe-tapping but The Beatles disassociated themselves with the song – not wanting anything to do with it and thinking it did not represent what they wanted to say. Tackling and confronting the decision-making bosses is a bold decision for a band who were, in 1962, not a known commodity. It would be a few more months before the public took them to heart so that decision to rebuff the single suggestion showed the Liverpool foursome were determined to have their say and take their career where they wanted it to go. The “vernacular title” (as MacDonald sums it up) and dockside harmonica impressed producer George Martin. He knew there was something unconventional and original emanating from Love Me Do. Pop music of the early-1960s was more concerned with guitars, big choruses and fitting into the packs. The Beatles came along with a song that imbued the nature of early Blues recordings and 1950s sounds – the band were inspired by artists like Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley; not desperate to remain rigidly in the 1960s and jettisoning their tastes. There were a few issues surrounding the recording of Love Me Do. Legend has it – although interpretation has been interrogated and questioned – McCartney was dissatisfied with Ringo Starr’s drumming: he was hurrying into the chorus and failing to lock-in the bass-drum with the bass guitar.
McCartney, playing bass, felt there was an arrhythmic and undisciplined approach from Starr. Martin shared these concerns and felt, against a loose-swinging expressionist like Starr, a more conventional and studied drummer would give the performance more professionalism and reliability. A week after the fraught rehearsals; the band sojourned to Abbey Road Studios (Studio 2) and laid down the track. Andy White, a session drummer at the time, ‘sat in’ on drums whilst Starr reinforced percussion with rudimentary tambourine smashes. Two versions of Love Me Do were issued: the first (mixed bottom-light to distort and hide Starr’s bass-drum) went out as the A-side to The Beatles’ debut single; the second found its way onto the band’s debut album, Please Please Me, and opened its second-side. What amazes me about the song is how it contrasts what the band would go on to create and how distinct it was juxtaposed against the colour and excitement of the time. Love Me Do is a primitive and raw song that is a balustrade against a rainbow sky: a black-and-white rug in the kitsch and Art Deco kitchens of the suburban cool. Sales figures were cautious when the song arrived: many unsure how to approach it and what to expect. The “modal gauntness” seemed extraordinary against a Pop scene that demanded songs get to the mind quickly and traditionally. Some claimed the arrangement has been tampered with (by Martin) and the lead vocal had been given to McCartney rather than Lennon – hardly a surprise considering it was McCartney’s baby. Beatles fans, in retrospect, realise the song didn’t capture the live energy of their shows and seems awarded slow and contemplative. The easy hook (‘Ple-e-e-ease’) and untraditional chorus phrasing from McCartney; the passionate harmonica from Lennon; the raised-brown solo clash from Starr that followed Lennon’s performance. It seemed George Harrison was the only player who remained anonymous and lacking character. That would change but was understandable considering the eventfulness surrounding Starr and his technique; the fact Lennon and McCartney were the main songwriters and leaders.
Even if the open-fifth vocal harmonies were drowned in reverb; the production was cracker-dry and lacked the sheen, sparkle and timbre one would encounter on records at the time. The song, as Macdonald notes in his book, was a blast of autumnal air against the homogenised smog of the 1960s Pop scene. There was a hangover and awkward transition from the late-1950s and masters like Presley and Holly. So much of Love Me Do separated The Beatles and spotlighted a band that was going to make a huge impact. The harmonica wailing from Lennon contained no bent notes – the sort one might hear on U.S. blues recordings; the sort Dylan employed in his music – and has more in common with the working-class Blues and Folk of British artists from the North. That was a revelation from a public who were used to – when they heard harmonica – to something more jazzed, syncopated and florid. Lennon’s erstwhile and singular performance defined him on that record. McCartney’s lyrics might seem rather generic and unspectacular when you consider what the band went on to be. In any case; it was his story and song that lit the fuse – one that started the fire and showed these four lads from Liverpool were not going to stamp out covers and be like every other group of the day. Love Me Do was, in MacDonald’s terms, “awed by nothing” and signified the move from the elder-respecting stuffiness of modern culture – overthrown and besieged by the youth generation and a tipping towards a more energetic and reckless style of song. One might see a song like Love Me Do and balk at how basic it sounds when compared to Beatles songs such as Strawberry Fields Forever and A Day in the Life – songs that arrived only five years after Love Me Do. The band, even by 1963, was starting to experiment and grow their sound. That 1962 introduction single was never going to be the studio-pushing, genre-defying track that defined Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; the head-bender conclusion to Revolver or the majestic L.S.D. melts one could find on The Beatles (‘The White Album’) – or should that be marijuana?! In any case; Love Me Do is an epochal song because it changed the face of music.
IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles captured in Liverpool (1962)
I think of Love Me Do in terms of the album, Please Please Me: the former the creator and mother of the progeny. Love Me Do appeared on The Beatles’ debut album – although, as we know, a different version to the single – and was part of a musical revolution. The album is a stark polemic of the complex and pioneering works such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Although there were some flaws and rough edges on the record – a couple of the covers missed the mark; Harrison’s singing on Do You Want to Know a Secret a little flat; A Taste of Honey lacking the quality it could have – it is an extraordinary record that still inspires musicians today. The brief was simple: record an album in a single day that would, essentially, replicate the live energy and spontaneity of The Beatles’ shows. It was recorded far less expensively than albums of the times (£400 at the time; about £7,500 these days). Following the success of Love Me Do and its flip-side, P.S. I Love You, there was a need to get an album out to capitalise the spirit captured on those songs - the band's second single, Please Please Me, became the album's title-track. P.S. I Love You distilled McCartney’s gift for melody was balanced against Lennon’s comparative laziness – singing and projecting the minimal intervals of everyday speech (another MacDonald thought). Although a naïve song that adds a little to the ‘letter’ sub-genre of music; its expressive chorus and verses elevated the song to the consciousness of the masses. Those songs formed the bedrock of Please Please Me. George Martin needed ten further songs to accompany the band’s two singles. It was intended, at first, to be a morning and afternoon session – the evening session was added later – and captured at EMI in Abbey Road Studios, essentially, as a long-drawn band live performance. The band started at 10 A.M. Monday, 11th February, 1963: finishing at 10:45 P.M. the same day – with breaks and breath; a thirteen-hour (more-or-less) sessions that got the L.P. recorded and captured.
Six of the fourteen songs featured on the album are cover versions: of the original cuts; the majority had Lennon singing the lead vocal – the same was true of the covers. Each band member got a vocal lead (Ringo Starr taking the helm on Boys) whilst the lead-off track, I Saw Her Standing There, gained its own life and gravity. Its unconventional phrasing and lexicon (“She was just seventeen/You know what I mean”) – the original pitch saw the second line “Never been a beauty queen” – replaced with something less cloying and predictable – amazed fans and its explosive tone set the scene for the record. Mixing more tender and calm numbers against thrilling cuts: Please Please Me ended with the now-legendary and logic-defying version of Twist and Shout. By the time the guys had completed the definitive take of There’s a Place (the penultimate track), they knew what was left: the spectacular finale of Twist and Shout. The fact the session run until late at night was because of Lennon and poor health. Suffering a cold and sore throat; he spent breaks gargling milk and soothing his throat with honey and medicinal substance – whilst the rest of the band supped coffee. The 585-minute recording session would never have a better moment than the opening notes to Twist and Shout. The fact they had recorded all day means recording a fireworks-take of Twist and Shout would have been hard: throw in an ailing Lennon and it made the job that much more difficult. As it was, somehow, he stepped up the microphone and nailed it in one take. It has to be done in a single take because that performance blew his voice beyond recovery – he has nothing left after that. George Martin wanted a new take but Lennon’s voice was shredded – the version you hear could not be topped, in my mind. The jubilant and relieved whoop from McCartney as the track ends shows what excitement and deflation there was in the room – the fact they had done it and managed to record the song that day. Apparently, when the take was completed, there was cheering and jubilation in the studio.
The engineers, staff and band were enthralled and buzzing from the energy that has been projected during that take (I imagine Lennon would have needed a week or so off after that song!). Love Me Do is the first blush of The Beatles and their debut cut – in my view, the most important offering from the band’s chest. Please Please Me responded to the building heat and popularity the band were accruing. If 1966 – 1967 was the peak of their creative powers: 1962 – 1963 was the start of things and the shaping of the biggest band on the planet. Match and contextualise Love Me Do in Please Please Me and you discover a group who were genuinely making music history. It all started with that John Lennon harmonica clarion of Love Me Do – the first notes of the Paul McCartney song that traces its lineage as far back as 1958. The song seems inexplicably forward-thinking and staggering today. That is a fifty year period (from its release) and still acts as a guide to musicians who want to add spice and difference to the Pop market. The Beatles went on to make better songs but few had quite the same impact and effect as Love Me Do. It stunned a complacent public and shook the charts up. Labels and bosses had not experienced a band like The Beatles – there has been nobody quite like them ever since! Put the song on and let it take you somewhere special. I can only imagine the sights, smells and sounds that came from the studio when John Lennon, Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr and George Harrison – ably assisted by George Martin – captured that moment of history. Fifty years since its release; Love Me Do still wields immense power and (is a song) that…
HELPED define the music of the 1960s.