Saturday, August 15, 2009

The Beatles in 1962 - "Love Me Do" & "Please Please Me"

By Jackson Weinheimer

1962 was a huge year for The Beatles. It was the year they met George Martin, got signed to a record contract, and recorded their debut single "Love Me Do." But the year actually didn't start off very good for the young band as their January 1 audition for Decca didn't work out.

Although in retrospect that was for the best (if they had been signed by Decca, music history as we know it would likely be entirely different).

The Beatles recorded four original songs with George Martin for Parlophone/EMI in 1962 which would end up being released as the A & B sides of their first two singles.

"Love Me Do" - This was the first single The Beatles released in the UK (on October 5, 1962) and it ended up reaching #17 on the UK singles charts. This was a reasonably strong debut but obviously only hint of what was to come. In my opinion it is not only The Beatles first single, but also easily their worst. It did reach #1 in the US during the height of Beatlemania in 1964.

"P.S. I Love You" - The B-Side to the "Love Me Do" single. Session drummer Andy White (who filled in for Ringo because George Martin was unsure of Ringo's ability at this point) played drums on this (as well as for one of the versions of "Love Me Do"). There are some hints of Paul McCartney's abilities as a melodist in this tune, but overall it's not exact a song to "write home about."

"Please Please Me" - This was The Beatles first great recording and it was made on November 26, 1962. It went on to be a #1 UK single when it was released in January of '63.

"Ask Me Why" - The B-Side for "Please Please Me." Like "P.S. I Love You" and "Love Me Do" it's only a hint of what The Beatles could do. The Beatles were clearly still finding themselves as songwriters in 1962. Soon they would find themselves in a big way.

All of The Beatles 1960s releases are available in both their original mono mixes and in stereo as a part of the new Beatles Remastered CD Box Sets.

Buy The Beatles Remastered CDs.

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