The Beatles with George Martin, receiving silver disc for Please Please Me single, 1963
The 13-hour session lasted the entire day, with the band recording various songs, usually in very few takes. At the end of it all, the band had recorded 15 songs, 9 originals and 6 covers, more than enough for an album. However, before assembling the album, Brian Epstein, the band’s manager, talked to the band to propose an idea.
"Brian, he came to us some days later and told us about how he was trying to convince the label to release our record with just the originals, he really wanted to push us, me and John, as this talented songwriting duo and all, and we had recorded just enough originals to fill out the album, with the singles and all. We weren't too sure of it at first, especially because we hadn't played some of those live, we were really just kind of rehearsing those. But we trusted Brian, we really did, so we just sorta... went along with it."
The higher-ups at Parlophone were at first doubtful of Epstein's proposal. It was practically unheard of for a pop group to release an album consisting solely of originals, not to mention that, even with the singles added, there were only 13 tracks in total. As such, the instrumental "Cry for a Shadow", recorded in 1961 in Hamburg, Germany, when they were Tony Sheridan's backing band The Beat Brothers, was included in the track listing. The album was released on March 22nd, 1963. To the surprise of the label and the band, the album would be a huge success, reaching No. 1 and staying there for 30 weeks, rocketing the band into national stardom.
- Paul McCartney, 1995
Please Please Me
Side A
01. I Saw Her Standing There (2:58) [1]
02. Misery (1:52) [1]
03. Like Dreamers Do (2:35) [2]
04. Hello Little Girl (1:40) [2]
05. Hold Me Tight (2:33) [3]
06. Ask Me Why (2:29) [1]
07. Please Please Me (2:05) [1]
Side B
08. Love Me Do (2:24) [1]
09. P.S. I Love You (2:07) [1]
10. Do You Want to Know a Secret (2:01) [1]
11. Love of the Loved (1:49) [4]
12. Cry for a Shadow (2:23) [2]
13. There’s a Place (1:54) [1]
14. One After 909 (3:22) [2]
Released: March 22nd, 1963
Track sources:
[1] - Please Please Me, 1963
[2] - Anthology 1, 1995
[3] - With The Beatles, 1963
[4] - Various bootlegs
Twist and Shout
Side A
01. Twist and Shout (2:36) [1]
02. A Taste of Honey (2:06) [1]
Side B
03. Chains (2:28) [1]
04. Boys (2:29) [1]
Released: July 12th, 1963
Track sources:
[1] - Please Please Me, 1963
In between a busy schedule of touring, radio spots, and TV appearances, the band still found time to write and record new songs across July 1st and October 23rd, including another No. 1 hit, "She Loves You" backed with a cover of "Roll Over Beethoven". Despite having recorded a good amount of covers during the sessions, they were all left off the record, Brian Epstein convincing EMI and Parlophone it would be more beneficial to upkeep the "no covers" standard by including the previously released "From Me to You" and "She Loves You", plus the upcoming single "I Want to Hold Your Hand". When released in November, the album took the band's previous album's place at No. 1, staying there for a consecutive 21 weeks.
While Capitol Records in America had for most of the year dismissed issuing any of The Beatles' material, the American press still caught wind of the so-called "Beatlemania" phenomenon in Britain, amusingly declaring that rock and roll had finally caught on in the "eccentric" UK. The band's first mention on US television taking place on November 18th, 1963, with a four minute report on NBC's The Huntley–Brinkley Report. The group hit chart success in America when in mid-December disc jockey Carroll James obtained a copy of the british single "I Want to Hold Your Hand", backed with "Please Mister Postman", and played it on the AM radio station WWDC in Washington, DC. The station was flooded with calls to request the song be replayed, and record stores were similarly flooded with requests for a single they didn't have. James sent the record to other disc jockeys around the country, where similar reactions were observed. On December 26th, the single was quickly issued by Capitol Records, quickly reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling a million copies across the Atlantic by mid-January. Epstein quickly arranged for a $40,000 marketing campaign, with the band set to headline The Ed Sullivan Show in February of 1964.
With The Beatles
Side A
01. It Won't Be Long (2:14) [1]
02. All I've Got to Do (2:05) [1]
03. All My Loving (2:10) [1]
04. Don't Bother Me (2:31) [1]
05. Little Child (1:49) [1]
06. I'll Get You (2:07) [2]
07. From Me to You (1:59) [2]
Side B
08. I Want to Hold Your Hand (2:28) [2]
09. Thank You Girl (2:06) [2]
10. This Boy (2:16) [2]
11. I Wanna Be Your Man (2:00) [1]
12. I Call Your Name (2:13) [2]
13. Not a Second Time (2:11) [1]
14. She Loves You (2:22) [2]
Released:
Track sources:
[1] - With The Beatles, 1963
[2] - Past Masters, 1988 or Mono Masters, 2009
Author's notes:
In all sincerity, I was quite anxious with publishing this and starting a return to Something Creative, but here it is. A new beginning. The timeline's starting sooner this time around, and we have big changes right from the get-go. I want chapters to be a bit more focused this time around, focusing on one or two artists at a time, it allows me to stay focused and really flesh things out, and I think this opening post is a good example of that. What do you think? Feedback is appreciated in the comments, and thank you for reading.
