‘Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand’, a German-language version of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, was recorded by The Beatles in Paris in January 1964, along with ‘Sie Liebt Dich’, a similar reworking of ‘She Loves You’.
EMI’s West German division, Electrola Gesellschaft, had been busily persuading Brian Epstein and George Martin that they would be unable to sell The Beatles’ records unless they were in German. Martin agreed with Odeon, and had to convince the reluctant group to comply.
Otto Demmlar, a producer for EMI in Germany, telephoned Camillo Felgen, a singer, lyricist and television and radio presenter, to ask if we would provide German translations of ‘Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand’ and ‘Sie Liebt Dich’. Felgen was also asked to fly to Paris to teach The Beatles phonetic pronunciations of the two songs.
The group were in France for a 19-day series of concerts at the city’s Olympia Theatre. However, getting them to the studio at the allotted hour proved somewhat complicated.
We waited an hour before I telephoned their suite at the George V hotel. Neil Aspinall answered, ‘They’re in bed, they’ve decided not to go to the studio.’ I went crazy – it was the first time they had refused to do anything for me. ‘You tell them they’ve got to come, otherwise I shall be so angry it isn’t true! I’m coming over right now.’ So the German [translator] and I jumped into a taxi, we got to the hotel and I barged into their suite, to be met by this incredible sight, right out of the Mad Hatter’s tea party. Jane Asher – Paul girlfriend – with her long red hair, was pouring tea from a china pot, and the others were sitting around her like March Hares.They took one look at me and exploded, like in a school room when the headmaster enters. Some dived onto the sofa and hid behind curtains. ‘You are bastards!’ I screamed, to which they responded with impish little grins and roguish apologies. Within minutes we were on our way to the studio. They were right, actually. It wasn’t necessary for them to record in German, but they weren’t graceless, they did a good job.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
In the studio
‘Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand’ was the first song to be recorded on the 29 January 1964 session. The original four-track tape of ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, from 17 October 1963, had been mixed down to two tracks, and onto this they re-recorded their vocals in German.
The Beatles recorded 11 takes; the best were five and seven, and were later edited together with overdubbed handclaps. They then turned their attentions to ‘Sie Liebt Dich’ and a new song, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’.
As if forty-odd shows weren’t enough, Brian would also arrange all these other duties, like writing and recording sessions. While we were in Paris, we ended up re-recording ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ and ‘She Loves You’ in German: ‘Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand’ and ‘Sie Liebt Dich’ by Die Beatles. Our producer, George Martin, came over for the recording at the Pathé Marconi studio, and at the same time we put down the basic tracks for ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’.
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
Felgen used the alias J Nicolas for his songwriting credit – his full name was Camillo Jean Nicolas Felgen. ‘Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand’ and ‘Sie Liebt Dich’ were credited to Lennon/McCartney/Nicolas/Hellmer – the latter presumably being a misspelling of Otto Demmlar’s surname.
On all British releases, including Past Masters, the songs were given the familiar Lennon-McCartney credit.
you know, I never realized that on the labels of RARITIES and PAST MASTERS vol.1 about KOMM GIB MIR DEINE HAND and SIE LIEBT DICH there is nothing about the authors of the texts in german. I read that Heinz Hellmer was to write both texts under several pseudonyms like Camillo Jean Nicolas Felgen Lee Montague. What’s the story? Thanks for the name OTTO DEMMLAR (I had never heard).
Listen to the American “SOMETHING NEW” version of KGMDH in STEREO, and you’ll hear a split-second of talk at the opening chord..sounds like PAUL mutterring “KOMM”..it’s mixed out of the remaster.
I think the American “SOMETHING NEW” version of this song is in German because the Americans didn’t know that song in German.
No, I’m pretty sure the German version is on Something New because they didn’t have any other songs to put on the album.
When was the stereo mix of this song first heard in Germany?
I am wondering about your source for Otto Demmlar’s role? There’s a discussion on the forum at the moment throwing some doubt on it. The most common reference found for the translator is “a Luxembourger named Camillo Felgen (Camille Jean Nicolas Felgen, 1920-2005)” and that Otto Demlar was an German EMI producer. Could you help?
I think you’re right. George Martin incorrectly identified the translater as Otto Demmlar, according to this article. I’ll correct this article when I get the chance.
Was Komm, gib mir deine Hand/Sie liebt dich released March 5 /64 OR February 4/64, as some German sources claim?
February 4 is stated everywhere, but According to Allen J. Wieners book (the ultimate recording guide 1988) my guess it’s March 5.
Recording work finished Jan 29 in Paris so if released on Feb 4, guess it would be a world record. It would explain the misspelling of the title on thefirst pressing single sleeve though. This reads: “Sie Liebt Mich instead of Dich. The misspelling actually is the correct translation of the English songtitle though
Not the correct translation ofcourse
I think neither date is correct. I have been editing the Wikipedia page for the songs and ran into an issue in the chronology. Walter Everett, Barry Miles, Kenneth Womack, and Margotin & Guesdon all say 5 March 1964 for the West German release (though Womack and M&G cite Everett). If you read Mark Lewisohn and John C. Winn however, they write that the songs were mixed for mono and stereo on 10 and 12 March 1964, respectively, then sent to West Germany and America for release. Winn adds that after mixing they were “sent to West Germany for rush-release…”, but he does not provide a date. Looking at the official German charts, it says both songs first entered the charts the week of 1 April 1964. I have not been able to narrow the timeline any narrower than this, with release happening somewhere between 12 March – 1 April 1964. I guess the best we can say is late-March. Hopefully this is cleared up when Lewisohn releases volume 2 of All These Years (sometime in 2045).
schön wie ein Diamant
I have still the original single 🙂
me too …….on a green disc from germany
So how did “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand” do once it was released in Germany?
It went straight to ein.
In hindsight, it was futile for EMI in Germany to waste The Beatles’ time by recording German-language versions of “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, as they would’ve sold in Germany anyway, even if sung in English.