FEATURE:
Last Night I Said These Words to My Girl…
The Beatles' Single, Please Please Me, at Sixty
__________
I wanted to look ahead…
to a big anniversary in the career of The Beatles. Taken from their debut album of the same name, Please Please Me was the second single in the U.K. It was The Beatles’ first single in America. Released on 11th January, 1963, I wanted to celebrate the upcoming sixtieth anniversary. At a time when the band were making their first moves and were not quite at the peak of their powers in regards popularity, I think Please Please Me improved on the band’s first single, Love Me Do. A song written primarily by John Lennon, its ultimate form was significantly influenced by producer George Martin. Reaching number two on the Record Retailer chart, you wonder why the song did not get to number one! It is one of The Beatles’ strongest early songs, and it is a classic that still sounds exhilarating. With Ask Me Why on the B-side, Please Please Me failed to make impact in the U.S. in February 1963, but it reached three on the Billboard Hot 100 when re-released on 3rd January, 1964. I want to bring in some details about Please Please Me from The Beatles Bible:
“The follow-up to The Beatles’ début single ‘Love Me Do’, ‘Please Please Me’ was originally written as a slow, bluesy song in the style of Roy Orbison. Producer George Martin persuaded The Beatles to rearrange the song, which duly became their first number one single.
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.
John Lennon, 1963
Anthology
The song was written by John Lennon at his Aunt Mimi’s house in Menlove Avenue, Liverpool.
‘Please Please Me’ is my song completely. It was my attempt at writing a Roy Orbison song, would you believe it? I wrote it in the bedroom in my house at Menlove Avenue, which was my auntie’s place… I remember the day and the pink coverlet on the bed and I heard Roy Orbison doing ‘Only The Lonely’ or something. That’s where that came from. And also I was always intrigued by the words of ‘Please, lend me your little ears to my pleas’ – a Bing Crosby song. I was always intrigued by the double use of the word ‘please’. So it was a combination of Bing Crosby and Roy Orbison.
John Lennon, 1980
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Lennon was also influenced by Bing Crosby’s 1930s song ‘Please’, which opens with the line: ” Oh, please, lend your little ear to my pleas”. The Beatles’ song, however, was much less innocent, containing what has been generally interpreted as a request for fellatio.
‘Please Please Me’ was the only song performed by The Beatles during their first national TV appearance, for the ITV show Thank Your Lucky Stars. It was recorded at the Alpha Television Studios in Birmingham on 13 January 1963, and was broadcast six days later.
The single, backed by ‘Ask Me Why’, caused many to take notice of The Beatles, and particularly Lennon-McCartney’s songwriting talent; it led to Dick James approaching them to found Northern Songs, their publishing company.
‘Please Please Me’ was excitedly received by reviewers, radio and the public. By its third week on sale George Martin told Brian Epstein to bring the band in from their tour with Helen Shapiro to record the Please Please Me album, which they did on 11 February 1963.
In the studio
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.
John Lennon, 1963
Anthology
‘Please Please Me’ was first brought to The Beatles’ 4 September 1962 session, in which they worked on ‘Love Me Do’. They played ‘Please Please Me’ during a studio rehearsal overseen by EMI’s Ron Richards, but didn’t formally record it.
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.
Ringo Starr
Anthology
George Martin disliked the slow tempo and Roy Orbison-style arrangement, so The Beatles worked up a faster version for their next session.
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.
George Martin
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn”.
I love the fact Please Please Me has lasted for decades and is so instantly recognisable. Whilst producer George Martin felt the original incarnation of the single was rather dreary, the band were determined they were releasing their own compositions Martin wanted the band to record a cover version, How Do You Do It? The band stood up to Marin in their determination to release their own material. Lennon was influenced by Roy Orbison and wrote Please Please Me with him in mind. Conceiving it a bluesy number, it did change a little bit by the time it was released as a single. Maybe not considered as important as later Beatles singles, Please Please Me is one of my favourites. They had confidence in their own work and did not want to release covers as singles. One of the standout tracks from the Please Please Me, I was keen to mark the sixtieth anniversary of a terrific moment in Beatles history. On 11th January, fans around the world will celebrate The Beatles’ second U.K. single. It must have been so thrilling to hear the song come out in 1963! Ending the first side of The Beatles’ sensational and groundbreaking debut album, its title single remains underrated in my view. Within seconds, you know exactly what the song is. At two minutes exactly, it is such a tight Pop song with not a wasted second. Sixty years later, and Please Please Me still has the power…
TO blow the mind.