Please Please Me (album) 1963

- Features 14 tracks, 4 of which were original tracks that appeared on the two previously released singles. 6 of the tracks were covers, and the other 4 were more Lennon/McCartney compositions.
- Like the first two singles, and most of the Beatles' other output, this was produced by George Martin.
- Another track, Hold Me Tight, was written and recorded for the album but Martin decided that 14 tracks were enough and so this song was held over and re-recorded for the next album.
- Two tracks on the album are sung by George Harrison, and one is sung by Ringo.
- 10 of the songs (the ones that hadn't been recorded for the first two singles) were recorded in one day.
- The album was recorded while the Please Please Me single had yet to be released, meaning it was made before the band was yet to get a #1.
- When it came to selecting covers to record for the album, Martin vetoed the recording of songs by rock n roll artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard as he felt that rock n roll was a dying fad.

1. I Saw Her Standing There
- The opening track on the album, and it rules. One of my all time favourite Beatles songs.
- McCartney started writing it and showed what he had to Lennon and they finished it off together in 1961 whilst wagging school. Lennon mainly helped with the bridge.
- It's original title was Seventeen, and is rumoured to be about Iris Caldwell, sister to Rory Storm of local Liverpool band Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (who sometimes featured Ringo on the drums).
- McCartney admits to stealing the bassline from from a Chuck Berry song, specifically I'm Talking About You.
- Bootleg recordings and alternate takes of this song reveal that McCartney sometimes changed the bassline in the chorus part of the song.
- The count-in at the beginning of the song would've normally been edited out of the final recording but Martin felt it was rather enthusiastic and left it in as an album starter.
- McCartney sings the lead vocals, with Lennon providing backup.
- Runs for 2 and a half minutes, and was completed in 12 takes.
- It was included as the B-side to the American release of the single I Want to Hold Your Hand.
- McCartney still includes this song in his live sets today. One of the most recent performances of it featured Dave Grohl on the drums. Lennon also once performed it live post-Beatles, in 1974, with Elton John.

2. Misery
- Lennon and McCartney wrote this together whilst on tour with Helen Shapiro and Kenny Lynch in 1962.
- McCartney wasn't particularly proud of it, and Lennon took more credit for the songwriting overall.
- It was originally written with the intention of giving it to Helen Shapiro to record. Her management/record label turned it down but Kenny Lynch jumped right on it, obviously not afraid of a bit of sloppy seconds. He failed to chart with it, but is often credited as the first person to cover a Beatles song. Lynch can be seen amongst the celebrities featured on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run.
- Lennon and McCartney co-sing the lead vocals, and George Martin plays the piano.
- Martin's piano bit took it's cues from a part played by Harrison on guitar.
- Runs for 1 minute and 47 seconds, and took 16 takes to complete.

3. Anna (Go to Him)
- This is a cover of a ballad-ish Arthur Alexander song.
- Alexander's version was released in 1962. It was a minor hit but the Beatles version eventually became more famous.
- Lennon was a fan of the song and it was a part of the band's live set throughout 1962, hence it's appearance on the album, though the band would never perform it live again after it was recorded.
- The 'riff' (or phrase, or whatever you'd like to call it) was played on the piano for the original version but Harrison adapted it for the guitar for the Beatles' cover.
- Lennon sings the lead vocals, whilst McCartney and Harrison provided backing vocals. The band also performs the song in a different key to the original.
- Lennon had a cold on the day of the album's recording, most noticeable on this song and Twist and Shout, which accounts for the raspy tones he sometimes hits.
- Runs for 2 minutes and 56 seconds, and only took 3 takes to record.

4. Chains
- This is a cover of a song originally released by the Cookies, and written by Carole King and her husband.
- A lot of Liverpool-based bands covered this track in their live sets during 1962, including the Beatles.
- Harrison sings the lead vocals in this recording. Lennon and McCartney provide backing vocals, and Lennon also plays the harmonica. Like Anna (Go to Him), the band performs this song in a different key due to the original being performed by a female singer.
- Lennon's harmonica replaces a part played on the saxophone on the original recording.
- The recording runs for 2 minutes and 21 seconds, and only took 4 takes to complete (though Martin ended up using the very first take).

5. Boys
- Another cover, originally peformed by another girl group - the Shirelles. The Shirelles released this song as a B-side.
- This was a live favourite for the band during their Hamburg and Cavern days in 1962, original drummer Pete Best would sing the vocals. I presume this was an inside joke on Lennon and McCartney's part, who were reputedly jealous of Pete Best's reputation as a pretty boy.
- The lead vocals were passed on to Ringo, from one drummer to another. Ringo also used to sometimes sing the song as a duet in his old band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
- Ringo didn't seem to mind that he was singing about boys.
- Runs for 2 minutes and 24 seconds, and was recorded in just one take.

6. Ask Me Why
- Released on the Please Please Me single prior to the album's release. See full song info here.

7. Please Please Me
- Same as above. Full song info here.

8. Love Me Do
- Released as the band's first single. See full song info here.

9. P.S. I Love You
- Originally released as the B-side to Love Me Do. Full song info here.

10. Baby It's You
- Another Shirelles cover, a girl band that Lennon was a big fan of. This one was written by Burt Bacharach.
- The Beatles often performed this live between 1961 and 1963.
- Lennon sings the lead vocals, and also provides some of his trademark harmonica.
- Martin plays the celesta on this recording. A celesta is a kind of piano/organ that uses vibrating metal plates instead of strings. Martin also recorded a piano track as well but decided not to use it.
- Harrison replicates the original version's organ part on his guitar.
- Runs for just over 2 and a half minutes, and only took 1 take.
- A live recording of the Beatles playing this song later surfaced and was included on the band's Live at the BBC album, released in 1994. This version was also released as a single/live EP in 1995, and reached #7 in the UK charts.

11. Do You Want to Know a Secret?
- This is probably one of the most hugely popular Beatles songs to have never been released on any Beatles Greatest Hits albums.
- Harrison sings the lead vocals on this song.
- Lennon and McCartney wrote about half of this song each, with Lennon taking inspiration from the song I'm Wishing, from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The song may have been specifically written for Harrison to sing, with Lennon and McCartney mindful of keeping the vocal notes fairly simple and close together (as Harrison's vocals weren't as strong as theirs).
- Lennon wrote the lyrics and it's often been said that he wrote them about his wife Cynthia, whom he was forced to marry after knocking her up. The band's manager, Brian Epstein, encouraged Lennon to keep the marriage secret for the sake of the band's fans. Lennon subsequently maintained that the song's meaning was a lot more generic than that and wasn't specific to any real life events.
- Lennon jokingly changed the lyrics to "Do you want to hold a penis?" during the recording sessions for the Rubber Soul album. It can be heard on some of the outtakes.
- Released as a single in the U.S. in 1964, where it got #2.
- Billy J. Kramer covered this song no less than 3 months after the Please Please Me album was released and put it out as a single in the U.K., getting to #1. Imagine if someone did that today! You wouldn't get away with it.
- Runs for 1 minute and 55 seconds, and took 8 takes to complete.

12. A Taste of Honey
- Written by Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow in 1960 as an instrumental track, and considered to be something of a pop standard. Lenny Welch released the first version of it with vocals in 1961.
- McCartney sings the lead vocals, and was quite fond of the song.
- Ends on a major key, despite the rest of the song being entirely in a minor one. This was a trick of McCartney's, and he would use it to more famous effect in later songs.
- The band often performed this song live prior to it's recording. Lennon didn't really like the song much, and often changed the lyrics to "A waste of money".
- Runs for 2 minutes, and took 7 takes.

13. There's a Place
- Written entirely by Lennon, who was inspired by various Motown artists.
- In terms of harmonising vocals and the scale used by the harmonica in the intro, this song is considered to have pushed the boundaries of the band at the time (and pop music in general).
- Lennon's self-referential lyrics were highly unusual for pop music at the time of this song's release. Singers never sang about their own state of mind, and Lennon was unaware of being the first to do this.
- The harmonica intro follows a guitar part originally played by Harrison.
- Runs for 1 minute and 49 seconds, and took 13 takes to finish.

14. Twist and Shout
- A cover, and the last song on the album. Previously performed by the Topnotes and the Isley Brothers, but the Beatles' version is now the most familiar to modern listeners. It's also arguably the most famous Beatles' song that happens to be a cover. The Isley Brothers version was released in 1962 and reached #17 in the U.K. charts, generated enough money for them to start their own label at the time.
- Martin intentionally had the band record this song last as he knew Lennon's voice wouldn't last beyond it (especially as he had a cold at the time, and all the songs had been recorded in just one day).
- Lennon sings the lead vocals, though McCartney can be heard quite distinctly throughout. The vocal build up goes, in order, of Lennon, Harrison and McCartney - something owed to the version recorded by the Isley Brothers. The "woo" part though was a Beatles trademark, lifted from Little Richard.
- Lennon's voice took a while to recuperate after recording this, and the band was only given 15 minutes to record their vocals! The version heard on the album is the first take... Lennon's voice had virtually disappeared by the time they attempted a second take.
- Released as the title track of the Twist and Shout EP in the UK in mid-1963. Also released as a single in the U.S. in 1964, where it reached #2.
- The song had a resurgence in popularity in 1986 after it featured in two comedy films at the time, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School. It was re-released and reached #23 in the U.S. charts at the time.
- Runs for 2 and a half minutes, 2 takes.