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The title and cover
George Martin initially wanted to call the record Off The Beatle Track; Paul McCartney drew some cover ideas, although the idea was soon dropped. Martin also had ideas for the cover artwork which failed to come to fruition.
I was a fellow of London Zoo and, rather stupidly, thought that it would be great to have The Beatles photographed outside the insect house. But the zoo people were very stuffy indeed: 'We don't allow these kind of photographs on our premises, quite out of keeping with the good taste of the Zoological Society of London,' so the idea fell down. I bet they regret it now...
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
The cover photograph was eventually taken by Angus McBean at EMI's headquarters on London's Manchester Square. Other shots that were considered included a picture of The Beatles on a spiral staircase outside the HQ, and the group kicking their legs while jumping from the steps outside the Abbey Road studios.
We rang up the legendary theatre photographer Angus McBean, and bingo, he came round and did it there and then. It was done in an almighty rush, like the music. Thereafter, though, The Beatles' own creativity came bursting to the fore.
The Making Of Sgt Pepper
The release
Please Please Me was released by EMI subsidiary label Parlophone, in mono (PMC 1202) and stereo (PCS 3042). The mono version was issued six weeks before the stereo. It was also issued in 1963 on 4" 3¾ ips twin-track reel-to-reel tape, in mono only, as TA-PMC 1202.
At the time of Please Please Me's release, Parlophone was in the process of changing its label design. Early pressings of the vinyl disc's label featured gold writing on a black background. This version is now highly sought after, and, due to low public demand in 1963, the stereo version is particularly valued by collectors.
The labels on the very first pressing carried a publishing credit alongside each of the McCartney-Lennon originals, which said "Dick James Mus. Co." - apart from Love Me Do and PS I Love You, which were published by Ardmore & Beechwood Ltd.
A second pressing also featured the gold-on-black lettering, but the publishing credit had changed to "Northern Songs Ltd." These releases are equally as valuable, and it is believed that fewer than 1,000 copies of the mono and stereo versions were made.
From the third pressing Parlophone switched to the standard yellow-on-black block letter variation that was used by the company until 1969.
In the US the album was released on 10 January 1964 by the Vee-Jay label, under the title Introducing The Beatles. It lacked the songs Please Please Me and Ask Me Why, but the tracklisting was otherwise identical.
Please Please Me was first released on compact disc worldwide on 26 February 1987, along with With The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale, all in mono.
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Related articles:
- Australia discography
- Mixing: Drive My Car, Day Tripper, In My Life, If I Needed Someone, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Nowhere Man
- Mixing, editing: A Hard Day's Night LP, Long Tall Sally EP
- Finland discography
- Editing, mixing: Please Please Me LP
The Beatles information you have is 100%, and excellent to view, I have all many origional "The Beatles" items and have a problem that I can not sell them, I love all The Beatles from 1960.
I love Please Please Me, partly because of its innocence. Partly because, in retrospect I know that when the group were recording this album, which was in fact a collection of songs from their live act, little could they truely have envisaged the effect they would have on the world, on popular culture and on innovation. Don't underestimate this album. The Beatles were in 1963, as John has said 'capable of blowing any other act off stage'. What they developed in Hamburg and the Cavern was a sound unlike anything that had been generated before, or even since. It is one regret that I never actually got to see the group. If I could choose a time to see them, then it would probably have been just before they hit the big time at the toppermost of the poppermost!!!
While it's fairly well known and even obvious to the listener that John had a heavy cold on the day 'Please Please Me' was recorded it amazes me that they couldn't have waited a few more days for his condition to get better. Granted, they had a full schedule with not even a day off in February, 1963 but today no band or individual singer would have allowed it! Such were the conditions The Beatles worked under until they gained more control over their schedule.
In my opinion, they never opened and closed another album better than this one."I Saw Her Standing There" roared out the gate & is still one of the best examples of McCartney & Lennon singing off each other that ever recorded. Then the pure riot like energy of Twist & Shout to close the album leaves you the same place you started from. What more can you ask from a debut album?