Please Please Me

Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 11 September, 26 November 1962
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Norman Smith

Released: 11 January 1963 (UK), 25 February 1963 (US)

John Lennon: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica
Paul McCartney: harmony vocals, bass
George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead guitar
Ringo Starr: drums

Available on:
Please Please Me
Anthology 1

Please Please Me, the follow-up to Love Me Do was originally conceived 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.

Please Please Me

The Beatles (Performer). Apple/EMI 2009, Audio CD, CDN$ 12.45

Anthology 1

The Beatles. EMI Music Canada 1995, Audio CD, CDN$ 15.38

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.

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.

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, and 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.