On this day in music history: January 11, 1963 - Please Please Me b/w Ask Me Why, the second single by The Beatles is released in the UK. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, both tracks are recorded on the same session on November 26, 1962 in Studio Two at Abbey Road in London. Lennon will take inspiration from singer Roy Orbison when he begins writing Please, with it originally having a slower bluesy feel. The band will initially play the song for producer George Martin on September 11, 1962, the same session that produces the second version of Love Me Do. Initially, Martin isnt entirely impressed with Please, and will suggest to Lennon and McCartney that it needs revamping. When the band returns to the studio in late November, they will present Please Please Me in a drastically altered arrangement that meets with everyones approval, with the song being completed in eighteen takes. The single will be the bands major chart breakthrough in their home country, reaching either number one or number two on the various UK singles charts. Capitol Records in the US (EMIs American subsidiary) will pass on releasing the single, as it had with their first single Love Me Do. Please will be picked up for release by Chicago, IL based Vee Jay Records, and released on February 25, 1963. It will fail to make an impression, selling only around 7,000 copies initially. The single will be reissued almost a year later in January of 1964 following the breakout success of I Want To Hold Your Hand, peaking #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 14, 1964.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 22:00:08 +0000
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