Please Please Me

(Lennon/McCartney)

Quick Facts

Composer	John & Paul
Lead Vocal	John & Paul
Recorded	Nov 1962
Length	2:00
Key	E
Noted Takes	18
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Norman Smith

Originally released on

Please Please Me (single)

Parlophone — 45-R 4983

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Please Please Me is the debut studio album by English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album's 14 tracks include cover songs and original material written by the partnership of band members John and Paul.

Please Please Me is a song by The Beatles, written by Lennon–McCartney and led on vocal by John & Paul. Their first UK No.1 (NME/Melody Maker); George Martin: 'You've just made your first No.1.' Within the catalogue, its plea thread connects it to Love Me Do. George Martin transformed 'Please Please Me' from a slow Roy Orbison-style ballad into an up-tempo showcase redirecting the group to 'increase the tempo and work out some tight harmonies' for the re-make session. This intervention proved decisive: Martin remarked to the group after the 26 November recording session that 'You've just made your first No.1' (Lewisohn 1988, p.20, 23). The shift from ballad to rococo arrangement established a template for Beatles singles strategy.

The session work falls within the band's Beatlemania (1962–1964) period, recorded 26 Nov 1962 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. George Martin produced; Norman Smith engineered. For the session-by-session account, see Mark Lewisohn's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (the 26 November re-make is logged on p.23). Paul recalled the song's slow origins in the book's opening interview (excerpt below). The November session recording involved 18 takes before achieving a satisfactory result, with the harmonica overlay applied afterward via tape-to-tape overdub because it was difficult for John to sing, play harmonica and play guitar at once. This overdub technique, used in the era before full multitrack capability, required careful timing and tape editing, marking an early use of layering innovation (Lewisohn 1988, p.23).

You've just made your first number one.- George Martin, Lewisohn 1988, p.23

He was true to his word.- Emerick, Here There and Everywhere (Emerick 2006)

But 'Love Me Do' was probably the first bluesy' thing we tried to do. ' Please Please Me' was supposed to be a Roy Orbison-type song [sings lyrics in typical Orbison style, adding guitar noises]. Come on, ching ching Come on, ching ching Come on, ching ching Come on, ching ching Please pleeeeeaaase me! It's very Roy…— Paul McCartney, interviewed in Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, p.7

What's distinctive

The Beatles first brought Please Please Me to EMI as a slow ballad, and George Martin sent it back to be speeded up. The re-make of 26 November 1962 has a harmonica part added afterwards by tape-to-tape overdub, and the single is the mono mixed four days later. The stereo album version, edited in February 1963 from takes 16, 17 and 18, is a different performance under the same harmonica, with a slip in the last verse that the single does not have. The slow September version survives on a copy found in 1994. Take count: 18, including the harmonica edit pieces.^1,2,3

Recording

A ballad sent back to be speeded up. The song the Beatles brought to EMI in September 1962 was slow. They rehearsed it on 4 September and taped it a week later, on 11 September, with Ron Richards producing, at a session built around P.S. I Love You and a re-make of Love Me Do. George Martin’s verdict on what he heard was blunt: “At that stage Please Please Me was a very dreary song.” He suggested that the group “speed it up, give it some energy”, and thought the song could be much better “if they increased the tempo and worked out some tight harmonies”. They took his advice. The September reel itself was not kept (“We didn’t keep outtakes then”), though a copy of the performance surfaced in 1994 and was issued the following year (see Recording Timeline).^1,2,3
The re-make, 26 November. They were back in Studio Two on Monday 26 November 1962 with the song “restructured to George Martin’s specifications”, and several takes were recorded to both mono and Twin-Track at once; the September attempt had gone to mono alone. The harmonica was not played with the band. “It was decided that Please Please Me should be taped without the distinctive harmonica wailing. This was superimposed later, by doing a tape-to-tape overdub”, because it was difficult for John to sing, play harmonica and play guitar at the same time. Counting the harmonica edit pieces, the song “was recorded in 18 takes”. When it was finished, George Martin spoke to the group over the talkback: “You’ve just made your first number one.”^1,2
Mixed twice, both times without the band. The Beatles were at neither mix. The mono was made in the Studio Two control room on Friday 30 November, from a take whose number is not on record; it became the single, released on 11 January 1963, and when the album was assembled in February the same mix went onto the mono LP. No stereo existed until the LP needed one. On 25 February 1963, in the Studio One control room, takes 16, 17 and 18 were edited together and a new stereo mix was made from the edit, with the harmonica brought back in (see Studio Notes).^1,2
One title, two records. The mono and the stereo are not two mixes of one performance. They are edits of different takes, with differences all the way through, and only the harmonica is common to both: its five overdubbed sections are identical on the two records, because the overdub was done once. The stereo carries the collision in verse 3, where “You know you never even try” runs into “Why do I never”, after which the next “Come on” is sung with a slight chuckle. The single has neither.^1,3

Equipment

Studio	EMI Studios, Abbey Road: Studio Three (rehearsal, 4 September 1962); Studio Two (first attempt, 11 September; re-make, 26 November; mono mix in the control room, 30 November 1962); Studio One control room (edit and stereo mix, 25 February 1963)¹
Tape machines	11 September: mono only. 26 November: a “Twin-Track” BTR3 (a stereo BTR3 converted by changing its headstack), with a mono BTR2 recording at the same time²
Console	REDD.37 valve desk, Studio Two control room: eight inputs, four outputs, two echo sends and returns; the tape-return channels fixed hard left and right, with no pan control, only the “Spreader”²
Compression	RS124 compressors (an Altec design) on Main Channels I and II; RS114 limiters (an EMI design) on Main Channels III and IV²
Monitoring	Altec 605A speakers, powered by repackaged Leak TL-25 amplifiers (RS141)²
Harmonica	John, added by tape-to-tape superimposition after the basic track^1,2

Recording Timeline

4 September 1962 (Tuesday) — rehearsal, Studio Three. The Beatles went through a vigorous rehearsal in Studio Three, with the photographer Dezo Hoffmann in attendance. Please Please Me was one of six songs they practised, from which two were selected for recording that evening in Studio Two (How Do You Do It and Love Me Do, 7.00–10.00pm; P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith). Ron Richards’ memory of the rehearsal is of George repeating the song’s opening phrase on guitar all the way through it (see Studio Notes).¹
11 September 1962 (Tuesday) — recording, Studio Two, 10.00am–1.00pm. P: Ron Richards. E: Norman Smith. 2E: unknown. Ron Richards was sole producer, with George Martin away, and had booked Andy White to drum on the Love Me Do re-make; he recalled that Ringo did not play drums at all at the session. The day’s listing is P.S. I Love You (takes 1–10), Love Me Do and Please Please Me (takes unknown), all recorded to mono. This is the slow version George Martin found “very dreary”, and the reel was not kept. A copy of the performance, with no harmonica and with Andy White drumming as on the other songs of the day, was found in 1994.^1,2,3
26 November 1962 (Monday) — recording, Studio Two, 7.00–10.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: unknown. Please Please Me [re-make] (takes 1–18), then Ask Me Why (takes 1–6) and Tip Of My Tongue. Several takes went to both mono and Twin-Track. The basic track was taped without harmonica, which John added afterwards by tape-to-tape overdub, and the 18 takes include the harmonica edit pieces. The restructured song “was the perfect choice for the Beatles’ second single”, and Ringo was back on the drummer’s stool.^1,2
30 November 1962 (Friday) — mono mixing, Studio Two (control room only), time unknown. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: unknown. Mono mixes of Please Please Me, from an unknown take number, and Ask Me Why. The Beatles were not present at this remix. It is the mix on the single, and on 25 February 1963, when the album was being prepared, it was used again for the mono LP rather than replaced.¹
11 January 1963 (Friday) — single release. Please Please Me, Parlophone 45-R 4983. Whether it reached number one depends on the chart consulted: in Melody Maker, New Musical Express and Disc it did make the top, but it reached only number two in Record Retailer. Its B-side, Ask Me Why, was another Lennon/McCartney original, taped at the same November session.^1,2
25 February 1963 (Monday) — editing and stereo mixing, Studio One (control room only), 2.30–5.45pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: A.B. Lincoln. Editing: Please Please Me (of takes 16, 17 and 18). Stereo mixing: Please Please Me, from that edit, alongside the album’s other stereo mixes. For the mono LP the 30 November mix was kept, but for the stereo a new mix was made “from takes 16, 17 and 18”. Once again the Beatles were not present.¹
22 March and 26 April 1963 (Fridays) — the album. The LP Please Please Me was released in mono on 22 March 1963; the stereo LP, Parlophone PCS 3042, followed on Friday 26 April. George Martin thought of naming the album Off the Beatle Track. The single’s mono and the album’s stereo, released three months apart, carry the two different performances described above.¹

At that stage Please Please Me was a very dreary song… It was like a Roy Orbison number, very slow, bluesy vocals. It was obvious to me that it badly needed pepping up.— George Martin¹

Studio Notes

The opening phrase began on George’s guitar. The figure that opens the record was not first played on harmonica. At the 4 September rehearsal, Ron Richards recalled, “George was playing the opening phrase, later done by John on his harmonica”, and playing it over and over, all the way through the song, until Richards told him to “just play it in the gaps!” By the November re-make the phrase belonged to John’s harmonica, and it was the one part not recorded with the band: it went on afterwards by tape-to-tape overdub, because it was difficult for John to sing, play harmonica and play guitar at once. The sound that announces the record went on after the band had played.^1,2
Mono in September, mono and Twin-Track in November. The 11 September attempt went to mono only, like the session before it. By 26 November the band was being taped two ways at once: several takes went to both mono and Twin-Track. Twin-Track was not a new machine but a converted one, a stereo BTR3 turned into a two-track recorder by changing its headstack, and the format preferred by George Martin for most of the Beatles’ work during this period. Alongside it, most songs were also being recorded in mono on a BTR2, and this was particularly true of Please Please Me. Two machines running side by side are the reason two different masters later existed to be mixed.²
Echo on the mono was decided at the session. On those simultaneous mono recordings there was no later chance to treat the voice and the band differently. The reverb had to be added during recording, because once everything was on one track it would later be impossible to add it to only the vocals and leave the instruments dry. A choice that a two-track tape could leave to the mix was, on the mono, made on the night, at the desk, while the band played. The same held true for virtually all recording done at the studios at the time.²
One harmonica on two records. The harmonica consists of five overdubbed sections, and those five sections are the same on the mono and on the stereo: the overdubbing was done only once. That is also why the session count runs to 18. The figure includes the harmonica edit pieces, so it does not mean eighteen complete performances of the song. Every version of Please Please Me built from the November session shares this single harmonica performance, whatever else differs between them.^1,3
How the harmonica reached the stereo: two accounts. Kehew and Ryan give a reconstruction: it appears that “the final master Twin-Track take from 1962 – as well as John’s harmonica overdub edit pieces – had been misplaced or destroyed”, so the song was re-edited from different takes and the harmonica taken from the finished mono. The new Twin-Track edit and the mono were each cued to the start of the song, marked with a Chinagraph grease pencil on separate machines, and started together “with fingers crossed”; at each section that needed harmonica the machines would be stopped and the procedure repeated. Brennan says instead that the harmonica overdubs were certainly used as edit pieces for the stereo. Both agree that the harmonica is the same performance on the two records; they differ on how it got onto the second one. Both are given here.^2,3
Why the stereo splits hard left and right. The REDD.37’s tape-return channels “were fixed as a Left/Right pair”: Track 1 of the Twin-Track tape was “automatically panned hard Left by default” and Track 2 hard right. The desk, “designed primarily for classical music”, had no panning controls for those channels, only a width control known as the “Spreader”, which gave Norman Smith the option of altering the width of the stereo. The wide split of the 1963 stereo is the desk’s doing, not a decision about where the instruments should sit.²
Built in sections, and it shows. In that reconstruction, the new take and the old mono “had been performed at slightly different tempos”, so the mix “had to be created in separate sections which would later be spliced together”. The joins can be heard. Towards the end of the stereo John gets one line wrong, and the following “Come on” is sung with a slight chuckle; the synchronisation on the ending is “more than a little off”. The two versions also differ all the way through: compare the word “try” in the first verse, or “reason with you, oh yeah” in the bridge, on the mono and the stereo.^1,2,3
The control room both masters began in. The Studio Two control room was built around the REDD.37 valve console: eight inputs, four outputs, and two echo sends and returns. RS124 compressors, an Altec design, were patched into Main Channels I and II, and RS114 limiters, an EMI design, into Main Channels III and IV. The monitors were Altec 605A speakers, powered by repackaged Leak TL-25 amplifiers. The November recording and the November mono mix were made here; the February edit and stereo mix were done in the Studio One control room.^1,2

Releases

Two different recordings share the title. The single and the mono LP carry the mono of 30 November 1962; the stereo LP carries a February 1963 mix edited from different takes. Later issues descend from one or the other, apart from the slow September 1962 version and the 2023 remix.

1963 UK single — Please Please Me / Ask Me Why (11 January 1963, Parlophone 45-R 4983) — the mono: band and voices in one centred image, with the harmonica’s five overdubbed sections and the clean last verse.
1963 UK mono LP — Please Please Me (22 March 1963, Parlophone PMC 1202) — the same mono mix as the single.
1963 UK stereo LP — Please Please Me (26 April 1963, Parlophone PCS 3042) — a different performance, edited from takes 16, 17 and 18: the two tracks of the Twin-Track tape split hard left and right, the verse-3 lyric collision and the laugh on “Come on”, and a ragged ending. The harmonica is the same as the mono’s.
1963–1964 US — Vee Jay single VJ 498 (1963); Introducing… The Beatles, second issue (1964, Vee Jay VJLP 1062 mono, VJSR 1062 stereo) — the single and the mono LP carry the British mono, the stereo LP the British stereo.
1965 US LP — The Early Beatles (Capitol ST-2309 stereo, T-2309 mono) — Capitol’s own versions of the stereo: a rebalanced stereo, and a mono made from the stereo rather than from the 1962 mono, so it carries the stereo’s performance.
1973 — The Beatles 1962–1966 (UK Apple PCSP 717; US Apple SKBO-3403) — the stereo.
1987 CD — Please Please Me (EMI 46435-2) — the album on CD in mono, with the 1962 mono single mix.
1995 CD — Anthology 1 (Apple 34445-2) — the slow 11 September 1962 version: no harmonica, Andy White on drums.
2009 CD — Please Please Me (Apple 82416-2) — the 1963 stereo, remastered.
2023 — The Beatles 1962–1966 (2023 Edition, Apple) — a new 2023 mix.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 18, 20, 23–24, 28, 32.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 350–351, 361, 365.
Joseph Brennan, Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations (rev. edn.), “Please Please Me” entries.

Frequently asked

Who wrote Please Please Me?

It is credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Who sings lead on Please Please Me?

John and Paul share the lead vocal; John also plays the harmonica, which was overdubbed after the basic track.^1,2

When was Please Please Me recorded?

The released song is the up-tempo re-make of 26 November 1962 in Studio Two at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. A slow first attempt was taped on 11 September 1962. The mono was mixed on 30 November 1962 and the stereo on 25 February 1963.¹

How many takes did Please Please Me require?

The 26 November 1962 re-make was logged as 18 takes, a count that includes the harmonica edit pieces.¹

Are the mono and stereo the same performance?

No. The single and mono LP use the mono mixed on 30 November 1962; the stereo was edited on 25 February 1963 from takes 16, 17 and 18. They are edits of different takes, and only the stereo has the lyric slip in the last verse. The harmonica, overdubbed once, is the same on both.^1,3

Does the slow first version survive?

The reel from 11 September 1962 was not kept, but a copy of the performance was found in 1994 and issued on Anthology 1 in 1995. It has no harmonica, and Andy White is on drums.^1,3

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Story Section status: Outdated

What's distinctive

Recording

Equipment

Recording Timeline

Studio Notes

Releases

Sources

Frequently asked