The story of the Beatles' debut album "Please Please Me" in one day...
Please Please Me is the title of the Beatles' debut studio album. At the time of recording the album, the group had already existed for several years: the Beatles managed to give a number of concerts in various clubs and halls, which provided them with enough material ... It is worth emphasizing that some of this material is covers of famous hits: the rest of the tracks were written by Lennon and McCartney.
The title track of the same name became the most successful hit: it also brought The Beatles their first number one in their homeland ... The song “Twist and Shout” also deserves attention: during its recording, Lennon literally lost his voice! This track required strong vocal abilities, and John coped with the task ... Subsequently, the musician said:
“We always left Twist and Shout for the final part of the show. I just couldn’t sing this damn song, because every time I broke my voice ... "
Today we will remember the history of the legendary album "Please Please Me" in one day... Let's start!
A little about the album...
Shortly before 10 am on Monday, February 11, 1963, the Beatles arrived at Abbey Road Studios in North London to work on their debut album Please Please Me. Ten hours later it was almost finished... Two days later George Martin did some overdubs before the final mono and stereo mastering was completed the following Monday.
The Beatles' monumental work produced ten of the 14 tracks for Please Please Me. This is an amazing achievement considering they were in the middle of a tour with Helen Shapiro, playing two shows every night, traveling from show to show all over the country! In truth, when they arrived at Abbey Road, they were so exhausted that producer George Martin had doubts that they could last the same two sessions ... But in the end they did three. Ringo Starr later said, "For me it was all a bit of a blur... I don't remember the events of those days well..."
On this debut album, only eight tracks were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The rest of the songs were covers that the band played regularly at their concerts...
Studio setting…
During the morning session, the band recorded two songs by John and Paul, "There A Place" and "I Saw Her Standing There", which they called "Seventeen" at the time. After lunch - after George Martin and the engineers had eaten, to be exact, and the four Liverpool guys stayed in the studio where they drank milk and sweets - they started rehearsing the first of the cover versions. It was the song "A Taste of Honey" by Bobby Scott and Rick Marlowe, originally written for the Broadway play of the same name and recorded by Lenny Welch a year earlier...
George then took over lead vocals on "Do You Want to Know A Secret", another John and Paul song. After some more work on "There A Place" and "I Saw Her Standing There", they recorded another song by Lennon and McCartney, "Misery", which they originally wrote with Helen Shapiro in mind ... Unfortunately or fortunately, she refused her... Paul and John shared the vocals this time.
Remarkably, the first song they took on was "Hold Me Tight", which was written by Paul. This version was never heard, because it was rejected for the debut album, and the tape was erased ... Instead, The Beatles later recorded this track again, only this time for their second album. Arthur Alexander's "Anna (Go to Him)" was recorded in three takes. This was followed by the song "Boys", written by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell, with Ringo on lead vocals. They then recorded a Goffin & King song, "Chains", which became an American hit for the Cookies. What The Beatles almost certainly didn't know was that Jerry Goffin, at home in New York, was celebrating his 24th birthday the same day... that was clearly a nice present!
The next song was "Baby It's You" by Mac David... Shortly before 10 pm The Beatles performed another song and recorded "Twist and Shout" in one take. The song by Phil Medley and Burt Burns (although credited to Bert Russell) was a hit for the Isley Brothers! However, it was originally recorded by Top Notes as “Shake It Up Baby”… The Beatles had to do their version in one take, because John’s voice was on the edge… However, it was worth it: it was a defining number at the beginning of The Beatles’ career, and Lennon himself remains one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time to this day... As John later said:
“The last song almost killed me… My voice was not the same for a long time: every time I swallowed something, my throat was like sandpaper…”
That's it: ten songs in ten hours! Throw in their first single "Love Me Do" and "PS I Love You" and the subsequent "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" and you have The Beatles' debut album! Quite a productive day at the studio...
Conclusion…
The album "Please Please Me" quickly gained success upon release! It topped the UK charts for 30 consecutive weeks starting May 11, 1967... The day after recording 10 tracks, The Beatles were in Sheffield performing at the Azena Ballroom. Later that evening, they performed at the Astoria Ballroom in Oldham, Lancashire... Between the recording of their debut album and March 22, when it was released, they didn't have a day off! Except perhaps for two days in the studio... All the other days were spent on the road - like most of the rest of their first year of fame...
