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
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.
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.
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.
Related articles:
- Recording: PS I Love You, Love Me Do, Please Please Me
- UK single: Love Me Do/PS I Love You
- How Do You Do It
- US single: Hey Jude
- UK single: Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever
this song thoroughly kickz ass!!!! . . . . what mics were used for the vocalz, guitars/bass, and drums?
I agree, this song is great, but this is not Beatlezbible.com.
I would distinguish the vocals: John is on lead, Paul on harmony (and backing), George on backing
i just realized that this song is about masterbation.... totally changed the way i think of this song!!! lol still love it, ill just laugh every time i hear it now! lol
According to Ringo's quote, Ringo's first session was the Andy White session. Perhaps it's just a memory slip but George Martin seemed to say the same on Anthology. Since the documentation for the 4 September session was destroyed, maybe it wasn't the 4th, it was after the 11th, or maybe the 4th and 11th should be the other way around.
That's an interesting point. Perhaps they did a run-through at the 4 September session, then recorded the song on the 11th. That would explain why the Anthology (11 September) version isn't the slow Roy Orbison arrangement.
How did different record charts end up with different results?
Because they used different sources - radio play, numbers ordered, actual sales, even sheet music. The earliest UK charts involved a pool of around 20 record shops, although this increased quickly. The BBC initially created an average chart based on all the others, which meant it was prone to having tied positions.
There wasn't a standardised chart until February 1969, when the BBC and Record Retailer commissioned a professional polling company to carry out a proper weekly audit from a pool of 500 shops (twice the previous sample).