Please Please Me (single) 1963

1. Please Please Me
- This is the second Beatles single, and was released in early January 1963. It's B-side is Ask Me Why.
- Love Me Do had been a minor hit so there was enough interest for George Martin to justify a follow-up single. He originally wanted the band to release their version of How Do You Do It (later made famous by Gerry and the Pacemakers) but they were keener on recording their own stuff.
- John Lennon wrote this one. It was originally quite basic and slow, but Martin fobbed it off (still keen on How Do You Do It) and asked them to make it faster and more interesting. When the band came back with the more pepped-up version that we're now all familiar with he gave in and let them record it as their 2nd single.
- Lennon wrote this in 1962, inspired by Roy Orbison's Only The Lonely and Bing Crosby's Please.
- It's highly possible that the lyrics are a reference to oral sex, but it's never been confirmed.
- An early version of this song was recorded in the 1962 Love Me Do sessions with Andy White on drums. This version remained unreleased until the release of the Anthology compilations in 1995.
- The original stereo version of this song (which has never been made available on CD) is actually an alternate take. In this version Lennon and McCartney mess up their vocals a bit.
- McCartney and Lennon stole some inspiration from the Everly Brothers in terms of their vocal harmonising. McCartney would hold a high note whilst Lennon dropped down through several lower notes.
- Lennon plays both harmonica and a rhythm guitar track, whilst the rest of the band do their usual instrumental duties. Lennon sings the lead vocals.
- The U.S. version of the single was released in 1964, with From Me To You as it's B-side instead of Ask Me Why.
- Please Please Me became the band's first #1 in the UK, and was used as the title of their debut album. It reached #3 in the U.S.
- It was reissued as a CD single in 1992.
- It runs at just over 2 minutes, and took 11 takes to complete.

2. Ask Me Why
- This is the B-side to Please Please Me and also features on the Please Please Me album.
- Written by primarily by Lennon, with a bit of input from McCartney. Lennon was inspired mainly by Smokey Robinson.
- The band often performed this song in Hamburg throughout 1962.
- At the time of Ask Me Why's recording the band was also showing Martin another Lennon composition called Tip of My Tongue. George Martin felt that Tip of My Tongue needed more work done to it before it could be recorded and it was eventually given to another artist, Tommy Quickly, who failed to to make it into the charts with it. There are no known recordings of the Beatles playing this song, but if you listen to the Tommy Quickly version you can imagine the Beatles version pretty easily.
- Only took 6 takes to record, and clocks in at nearly two and a half minutes.
- Lennon sings the lead vocals.
- This song was recorded by the band during a mid-1962 audition, featuring Pete Best on the drums. The recording is thought to no longer exist.
- An American promo record of this song mistakenly featured the band's name spelled as 'The Beattles'. It was quickly corrected after the first pressings, and is subsequently very rare.

1964 U.S. single cover

1992 CD single cover.