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Read the original blog post6.28pm
13 November 2011
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End of Please Please Me in stereo: I bet most of you know what I’m talking about. In the outro of Please Please Me , there’s sort an echoing effect added on that’s not in the mono version. Anyone have any information on this? Listen to the 2009 stereos and it’s obviously something there is different.
"Time wounds all heels."
-John Lennon
10.20pm
20 December 2010
Offline The Strawberry said
I bet most of you know what I’m talking about. In the outro of Please Please Me , there’s sort an echoing effect added on that’s not in the mono version. Anyone have any information on this? Listen to the 2009 stereos and it’s obviously something there is different.
Not sure why there is an echo but most of the stereo masters sound different from the mono masters. I some cases, they sound like two completely different mixes. Also Lennon’s last verse in the song he say’s ‘Why do I Never Even Try Girl’ on the stereo version but gets it right on the mono mix. I took every mono version and added the stereo version right after it and created a playlist in my iTunes Library. When you listen to them side by side, you can a lot of differences.
The further one travels, the less one knows
10.52pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline To try and hide where the edit is since takes were edited together? Or was it the mono that was edited (its a pain not having books anywhere near you).
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
12.40am
13 November 2011
Offline I know a lot of the stereo and mono differences. You forgot the way John “come on”s in the last chorus. 
But this one was always a mystery to me why they did it.
"Time wounds all heels."
-John Lennon
3.10pm
4 September 2009
Offline5.41pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline c64wood said
Was there ever a recording of the slow version of Please Please Me ?
There was a recording of it (the slow Roy Orbison like version was recorded 11th September 1962) but the session tape was destroyed and no copies exist.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
7.11pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline I would suggest there has to be some doubt whether a recording of the slow version was ever made, though it has long been suggested, with supporting quotes from George Martin and Ron Richards. However, the question of memory comes into play.
It is known that The Beatles first played it at Abbey Road on 4 September. It was one of six songs they rehearsed during the afternoon before recording Love Me Do and How Do You Do It in the evening. The afternoon rehearsal was not recorded, and it is certain that the performance then was the Roy Orbison-style one.
It is then suggested that they recorded the Roy Orbison-style version at the end of the second Love Me Do session on 11 September. Because the session tapes no longer existed it was easy to take George Martin and Ron Richards’ comments on face value.
However, in 1994 an 11 September recording of Please Please Me was discovered (and included on Anthology 1 ). It is nothing like Roy Orbison-style. In fact, it could be described as 85-90% on the way to the final version.
Now, the story goes that, after recording the Orbison version, GM suggested at the end of the session that they go away and work on the tempo of the song. Now, the tempo of the known 11 September recording suggests to me that they had been working on it.
It seems to me that it is most likely that GM’s comments were made following hearing it being rehearsed on the 4 September, and when they arrive on 11 September, they show him they have a new up-tempo arrangement at the end of the session. He still doesn’t think it’s quite there (no harmonica at this stage), and so it’s held over for another attempt at the next session.
It has never been argued that The Beatles changed the tempo and arrangement during the session, but always that GM sent them away to work on it. If that is true, it can only have been on 4 September, with us knowing that the only known 11 September recording is not the Roy Orbison-style version, but a new uptempo arrangement.
If one accepts that the changes were made as a result of GM’s telling them what he wanted them to work on before they were next in, and was not a result of developing the song in the studio, it must mean that they arrived at the 11 September session with the reworking they had been working on in the week since they had first played it for GM.
In which case, I would suggest, they would have no reason to spend time recording an arrangement that GM didn’t like and that they had already abandoned.
I do not believe the Orbison-style version was ever recorded, but rather them rehearsing it on the 4th, and recording it on the 11th, have become mixed up in some minds.
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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966
8.31pm
14 December 2009
Offline 
Great ‘song fragment’ I just noticed: How during “…rain in my heart..”, Ringo’s three-measure fill suggests both hard raindrops and heartbeats. Genius…Ringo’s performance throughout is outstanding, and had to have convinced GM that ultimately Ringo had the goods
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Richard, Beatlebug, RubePaul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.
12.22pm
25 November 2024
Offline This ends the first week of my daily Beatles reviews! Day 7/213: Please Please Me
The title track on the Beatles’ first album is also one of the best. I’d call it my third favorite, after Twist and Shout and I Saw Her Standing There , and it’s a great song that showcases the band’s strengths well. One of the main highlights of the song is the vocals. I think this has some of the best singing on their debut, and definitely the best harmonies. I love the 2-part harmonies between John and Paul where one does a falsetto and the other stays even. There’s also one part where it’s a three part harmony with George stepping in, and that’s great too. He may be there at other parts, but that is where he’s most audible.
Lyrically, the song also sums up the early Beatles perfectly. They were heartthrobs for teenage and early adult women, and the song walks a tightrope between earnest, sentimental love and innuendo. The double meaning of the song is famous, in terms of what the “pleasing” is referring to, but even if it’s 100% PG rated, it’s still sweet. It’s about romantic equity, and mutual love, which is a great sentiment (even if it isn’t groundbreaking).
If one thing is slightly holding this song back, it’s the fact that the instrumentation is pretty average. It is, by no means, bad, but it isn’t a highlight. It’s just… what you expect from a rock group at the time.
Score: 8/10.
Favorite cover: The Punkles doing Please Please Me. We’ll see The Punkles a few more times in the “favorite covers” section, I find the concept funny and the execution pretty good.
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6.19pm
1 December 2009
Offline Queen Emily said
This ends the first week of my daily Beatles reviews! Day 7/213: Please Please Me
If one thing is slightly holding this song back, it’s the fact that the instrumentation is pretty average. It is, by no means, bad, but it isn’t a highlight. It’s just… what you expect from a rock group at the time.
Score: 8/10.
I know these are just your opinions, as valid as anyone’s, and better expressed than most, but I really think you’ve been selling Ringo’s drumming short in your “Please Please Me ” album reviews so far. His performance on this title cut in particular is spectacularly conceived and executed.
Anyways, keep doing these! Side Two awaits…
GEORGE: In fact, The Detroit Sound. JOHN: In fact, yes. GEORGE: In fact, yeah. Tamla-Motown artists are our favorites. The Miracles. JOHN: We like Marvin Gaye. GEORGE: The Impressions PAUL & GEORGE: Mary Wells. GEORGE: The Exciters. RINGO: Chuck Jackson. JOHN: To name but eighty.
6.53pm
25 November 2024
Offline I think Ringo’s best drumming on the album would be on Boys and I Saw Her Standing There , which are both great. I think, other than those, so far they’ve definitely been good but I think those two showcase his talents best (so far).
Thank you, though! Definitely having fun writing about these, and Side 2 has my favorite song on the album which is exciting.
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12.25am
26 January 2017
Offline This is probably my favorite song on the album, although it changes often. Just a feel good catchy pop song. I think if someone like Sabrina Carpenter came out with this song today it would be a massive hit. Honestly the lyrics could take on a cool double ententre if sung from a female perspective, the sexual undertones aren’t very present in the Beatles version but could be played up in an interesting and semi comedic way. Not sure what led me down that train of thought, but the point is that this song is timeless. Its simple and fun, and I never get tired of listening to it.
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