The Beatles are larger than life today, and it’s wild to think that the Fab Four from Liverpool ever had difficult beginnings. However, they were no different than any other ragtag group of musicians trying to make it big. They started out in the 1960s with the British Invasion movement on the up-and-up, and they managed to shine in a sea of other, similar rock bands. And one could say that it all started with The Beatles’ famed 1963 track, “Please Please Me”.
We probably have George Martin to thank for that. According to drummer Ringo Starr, nobody was willing to give them a chance at the beginning.
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“I personally love George [Martin] because he gave us a shot at putting down on a piece of vinyl,” said Starr. “No one else would really have wanted to put us on the label.”
“Please Please Me” and the whole of the album of the same name saw The Beatles starting to figure out what their sound was. And the whole thing was quite rushed, unfortunately. That being said, even though they recorded more than a dozen tracks in a day (including “Please Please Me”), the result was a record that took Europe by storm. And eventually, it took North America by storm with a bit of coaxing.
The Story Behind “Please Please Me” by The Beatles
Allegedly, Martin thought the demo version of the song was “dreary” and wanted them to record a Gerry And The Pacemakers cover instead. However, the band stuck to their guns and refused, mainly because they only wanted to record music they wrote themselves.
So, what’s the story behind this early-career hit from The Beatles? “Please Please Me” is a John Lennon original. According to the late great songwriter, he was attempting to write a “Roy Orbison song” and was also inspired by Bing Crosby to write the tune. Crosby was known for bookending lyrics with the first word of a line, and Lennon enjoyed the double-use of words enough to apply it to “Please Please Me”.
Even though Martin didn’t want the band to record it, he did contribute to the song a bit. He asked that they change the arrangement into something with more energy. With that, the band increased the tempo, and it was the perfect change to an already stellar piece of work. Lennon added the harmonica and a number of additional harmonies, and the rest is history.
“Please Please Me” topped the British charts when it was first released. However, the band struggled to get American record producers on board. A number of companies turned them down. Eventually, a small Chicago-based company designed to sign the track and released it just a few weeks later.
“Please Please Me” wasn’t an immediately huge hit in the US. But after a re-release in 1964, it finally took off. And the song laid the foundation for an explosive, incredible career for the Fab Four.
Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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