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BEATLES RECORD DEBUT ALBUM “PLEASE PLEASE ME” (2/11/1963) – TIMH

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Whoa Nellie's picture
February 11, 2016 at 3:26am
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"There can scarcely have been 585 more productive minutes in the history of recorded music." Mark Lewisohn, historian, author and world renowned Beatles authority.

Looking to capitalize on the success of previously released singles, “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me”, the Beatles and producer George Martin were rushing to put out an album. Plan A was to record a live show at the Cavern Club, but scheduling problems arose. So, on February 11, 1963, Martin booked 2 sessions at EMI studios on Abbey Road in London (10 am – 1 pm; 2:30 pm – 5 pm). A 3rd session was added later in the day (7:30 pm – 10:30 pm). The singles and their B-sides, “P.S. I Love You” and “Ask Me Why”, were already in the can. So, from 10 am until they wrapped at 10:45 pm, the Beatles simply played and recorded the rest of their club repertoire – including multiple takes, and overdubs of Paul’s voice on “A Taste of Honey”, John’s harmonica on “There’s a Place” and hand claps on “I Saw Her Standing There”.

8 of the 14 album cuts are credited to McCartney-Lennon. Tracklisting:

Side A                                                  Side B
I Saw Her Standing There                   Love Me Do
Misery                                                  PS I Love You
Anna (Go To Him)                               Baby It's You
Chains                                                 Do You Want To Know A Secret
Boys                                                    A Taste Of Honey
Ask Me Why                                        There's A Place
Please Please Me                               Twist And Shout

John was suffering from a bad cold, so “Twist and Shout” was recorded last to save his voice. That screaming vocal, recorded on the first take, became a Beatles signature from then on. It prompted Martin to say: "I don't know how they do it. We've been recording all day but the longer we go on the better they get.” A second take of “Twist and Shout” was then attempted, but John had no voice left.

The day’s sessions cost 400 LS, about 10,000 LS ($14,500 USD) in 2016. Each Beatle was paid 7.5 LS for each 3-hour session, 22.5 LS total, equivalent today to 562.5 LS ($817 USD).

The album was recorded on a two-track reel-to-reel tape deck, with most of the instrumentation on one track and vocals on the other, prior to quarter inch tape mix down in mono. The album was released in mono on March 22, 1963. A stereo mix was made at the same time as the mono mix, but wasn’t released for another month.

Please Please Me was not released in the US until 1987. Most of the songs from the UK release are included on Introducing the Beatles and Meet the Beatles, released by two separate US labels just 10 days apart in early 1964.

The album hit #1 in the UK in May, 1963, and stayed there for 30 weeks, until the Beatles second album replaced it. In the US, Meet the Beatles was #1 and Introducing the Beatles #2. Please Please Me was named #39 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and #17 on the list of 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time. (Note: Albums were docked in the rankings if the artist went on to bigger and better things. Otherwise, Please Please Me is clearly in the first 10.)

 

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