Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 6 June, 11 September 1962
Producer: Ron Richards
Engineer: Norman Smith
Released: 5 October 1962 (UK), 27 April 1964 (US)
Paul McCartney: lead vocals, bass
John Lennon: backing vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar
George Harrison: backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Ringo Starr: maracas
Andy White: percussion
Available on:
Please Please Me
PS I Love You was written primarily by Paul McCartney around the time of The Beatles' 1962 trip to Hamburg. It was first released as the b-side to their debut single Love Me Do, and later appeared on the Please Please Me album.
It's just an idea for a song really, a theme song based on a letter, like the Paperback Writer idea. It was pretty much mine. I don't think John had much of a hand in it. There are certain themes that are easier than others to hang a song on, and a letter is one of them. 'Dear John' is the other version of it. The letter is a popular theme and it's just my attempt at one of those. It's not based in reality, nor did I write it to my girlfriend [Dot Rhone] from Hamburg, which some people think
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
The sentimental lyrics of PS I Love You proved especially popular with The Beatles' female fans, and it soon became a fixture of their live shows.
That's Paul's song. He was trying to write a Soldier Boy like the Shirelles. He wrote that in Germany or when we were going to and from Hamburg. I might have contributed something. I can't remember anything in particular. It was mainly his song.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Initially the song was mooted as a possible a-side, a notion that Richards quickly dismissed. "I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew that someone had already done a record with that title," he said. He was referring to a 1934 song by Gordon Jenkins and Johnny Mercer, originally recorded by Rudy Vallée.
In the studio
The Beatles first recorded an unknown number of takes of PS I Love You at their first Abbey Road session on 6 June 1962, with Pete Best on drums. Then, during the second Love Me Do session on 11 September, they remade it in 10 takes.
Ringo Starr didn't play drums on the record. Producer Ron Richards brought session player Andy White in as a replacement, as Ringo hadn't proved good enough during the band's 4 September session. Ringo, sadly, was relegated to maracas during PS I Love You.
The Beatles recorded PS I Love You three times for BBC radio sessions. The versions appeared on the programmes Here We Go (recorded 25 October 1962), Talent Spot (27 November) and Pop Go The Beatles (17 June 1963).
Related articles:
- Recording: PS I Love You, Love Me Do, Please Please Me
- Love Me Do
- The Beatles' first Abbey Road recording session
- Recording, mixing: Ticket To Ride, Another Girl, I Need You, Yes It Is, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, The Night Before, You Like Me Too Much, If You've Got Trouble, Tell Me What You See
- UK single release: Love Me Do
I have some corrections or suggestions:
1) There is no real lead guitar in here. George is playing a Gibson Jumbo like John and it's also just an acoustic rhythm part what he played.
2) Again, like on the song "Please Please Me", I would distinguish the vocals: Paul is on lead, John is doing harmony (and backing), George sings backing.
3) There are no drums in it, Andy White played percussion (woodblocks).
That's great - thanks for the information. All improvements and amendments are always welcome!
Kinda silly that George Martin (or Ron Richards?) didn't think Ringo capable of playing such a minimal rhythm track. (WOODBLOCKS, for chrissakes - a ten-year-old could've done it!) Unless they just decided to get the most out of Andy White, since they'd taken the trouble of booking him (for "Love Me Do".)
Such a cute, brief little ditty! I always liked this one. For me, it's all about the "You you you" hook and the one-word-per-bar backing vocal.
I think it's a necessary song. I simple little track that was a slight departure from their rhythm/lead/bass/drums basic setup of virtually all of their early work. I see why it would be a hit live with the ladies.
The recording sounds a bit muffled to me for some reason. I would like to have heard it live to see if there was a difference in quality. Not one of my favs on the album, but a good B side. Surprising pick to go with "Love Me Do" though, as it's even slower than that number. But they picked up the pace very soon.
I don't believe it was a case of Ringo not being good enough. I've heard George Martin say in interviews that he didn't even know everything about Ringo coming in to be the drummer and had already hired and paid for Andy White to do the session. And since George had already paid for White, he was going to use him. Afterwards when George got a chance to properly hear Ringo play, he quickly got the job.
Very underrated song and record in my book. Beautiful melody. Still boggles the mind that a 20 year old, self-taught `kid' could write this!
Can anyone tell if it is John or Paul that sings the "Ohhh" at about 1:24 just before Paul chimes in with "you know I want you to remember.."? It sounds like John at first, but it also sounds like the voice Paul uses when singing the "you know.." part. It's bugging me that I can't tell!
Kedame - I always assumed it was Paul since, as you mentioned, he continues with the answering part afterward. However, you're right -- that "Oh!" does indeed sound like John. I've noticed on other songs how John and Paul's voices sound eerily similar, often for just a single word. Case and point: check out "Penny Lane" @ 1:39, when Paul sings the word "summer."
Sorry to be a pain but you've got one of those weird symbol things going on: "originally recorded by Rudy Vallée".
@MattClayton Thanks Matt. Those symbols arose when I migrated servers once - a load of accents got borked, and a couple of years later I'm still finding them. I'll fix this one now.