A few corrections: 3:03 - Their 1st Parlophone session was of course June 6th 14:58: The year should be '1962' Thanks to those who noticed and pointed them out.
Hello Andrew, today I had bought a Japanese version of "the Beatles second album" (the vinyl was red if that's important) on the song "thank you girl" strangely enough except for the start the harmonica is missing! do you know why this is? maybe make a video about different mixes across different countries, maybe you already have! EDIT: I found out why this is, it's an original mono mix that when was being made some edit pieces were removed (if this is incorrect please correct me)
You should do what the Doors did for some of their live audio recordings where Jim Morrison's mike failed. The record company/engineers dropped the same word where the mike failed. You can re-record and say '1962' and dropped it where you said '1963' and you'll be good! 😁
@@skarloeyexpress4353 When you stated REMOVED, I assume you meant muted. But I assumed the harmonica was overdubbed later onto presumably Take 5, which I downloaded from the now non-existent Grooveshark website and in stereo, but unable to find on RU-vid. It also had less echo. But what I did find on RU-vid was TRACK 2, TAKE 14, of which later takes may have been Take 5 with different harmonica overdubs on each. I have posted it here. You actually get two takes here, the second one with more harmonica than the first. Both are stereo, and seemed to contain less echo than the previously released stereo format, and there is a bit of studio chatter at the beginning of the first of these two takes. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mlf2QgfDVZU.html
No offense and I play guitar and I love music but wow you gotta really have no life to get into this minutia I also love all of the early Beatles and think those songs are 1000 times better than the later songs and I’m gonna commit heresy and say how many times do you really listen to Sergeant Pepper‘s I’m mean you’re gonna take that to a desert island and listen to it 1 million times where is the early songs you can listen to over and over again year in year out And never get tired
We moved to Amsterdam in 1964 and this was the first Beatle song I remember hearing. I was a Beatle fan ever since. Still one of my favorite Beatle tunes.
In June, 1963, I turned 18 and was sentenced to Summer School in order to be able to escape High School at last. One day, my fellow inmates and I were in the lunchroom trying to digest our morning lessons, with our local rock station on the P.A. in the background. At a certain point, the DJ said "Here's a new 45 from England by a group I've never heard of called the Beatles - funny name, but let's give it a spin, it's called 'Please, Please Me' - here we go!" Within seconds, everyone looked up from their notes and listened intently 'til it finished, then looked at each other in amazement, saying "WHAT was THAT?!" It was the most interesting new sound I'd heard since Buddy Holly died! Well, I got my diploma and started Art College in September. The next month, my father, who had always insisted that I get a greasy crew cut every two weeks, died and I lost the grease immediately, stopped going to the barber and started seeking out British music fanzines (still have some of those). The month after that, JFK was murdered, which cast a pall over the whole World. That was the darkest, bleakest Holiday season I can recall, doubly so for our family, but I consoled myself with my fascination with the Beatles and their music, and by the time they were on Ed Sullivan, I already had what was probably the first Beatle haircut in Toronto (which made me quite the target for the 'Are you a boy or are you a girl?' rednecks for far too long). The Beatles were a gift from God to a World in mourning! ❤✌😄
Joe Satriani about Please Please Me album: "As a little kid, I played this record repeatedly until it sounded like a cat's claws on plastic! I literally played the vinyl to death. There is so much energy and excitement on this album. These guys knew how to play music. (laughs) It's a thing, you know? It's one thing to be a good musician, but it's an entirely different thing to be able to play music and make it inviting, fun, magical, etc."
It's incredible how they not only wrote such great songs, but in the face of a deadline with not enough songs to fill an LP, they would take some covers and make them sound as if they wrote them as well. That's part of why they're my favorite band. Andrew's right about the fact that their early career doesn't get quite the push that their Rubber-Soul-til-Let-It-Be career would get, especially with the remixed packages. While it's a good point there might not be very much to work with in terms of deluxe remixes of their early albums, tape limitations, etc., I'd certainly like to see them try it, anyway.
@@farrellmcnulty909 with the Demixing Tech used in Revolver, I think its quite possible now to have better stereo mixes for the older albums. And I have a hunch the original Delta Mono mix will be included in that Super Deluxe release of Please Please Me when it does happen
In neighbourhood where i grew up,everybody including my late father played instrument,guitars mainly,so they listened to the radio and repeated those popular melodies,and guess what where those between 1960-1970? 😎
As a teenager, I wish I knew more fans of the early Beatles catalogue; it’s hard to talk about the pre-Revolver songs and albums of theirs with the younger fans
From personal experience, I think we are more attracted to the later stuff when we are young, and only start to appreciate their early catalogue when growing up
It’s funny that you mentioned the fan too love the early stuff of the Beatles chip. I first became a Beatles fan when I was 11 years older so the first CD I bought actually was the album please please me. I love everything that the Beatles dead and there’s something wonderful about the Beatles music how they progressed going from please please me up to tomorrow never knows in a three-year period is really amazing. and what is amazing still is that the Beatles record of their debut album 10 of the 14 songs all in one day and please please me hasta be one of my favorite songs along with thank you girl from me to you and all the songs from please please me up until 1964 Beatles for sale album which is fantastic. I love both the mono mix please please me and stereo mix because they’re a bit different from each other not only because the vocals are on one side and the instruments are on the other side the left side channel in the stereo mix, but you have John Lennon singing the wrong words and the stereo mix in the correct words in the mono mix as well and I like that a bit of growl that John Lennon has at the beginning of the come online and the stereo mix. there will never be another group like the Beatles who changed the world and the music industry.
That original 45 dry mix of Please Please Me has so much energy and excitement to it that it's hard to imagine how it could NOT have been the massive success that it was. It should be a given on any Beatles compilation, least of all the 1 album.
@@NGT-eb2oy Not so. It was left off '1' because it wasn't #1 on the Record Retailer chart, which wasn't declared the 'official' chart of the 60s by the self-named Official UK Charts until 2002. Rewritten history bunk. There was no 'official' UK chart until Feb 1969. In 1963, PPM was #1 for 2 weeks on the NME, Melody Maker, Disc, and Pop Weekly charts, and 3 weeks on the BBC average chart as played on the Pick of the Pops radio show, all based on 270 record shop samples. PPM was #2 on the Record Retailer chart based on 30 record shop samples. Which is truth, 270 or 30? If you want to know the truth of the 50s and 60s UK charts, do an internet search on "UKMix updated chart history" and all will be revealed. The article was first appeared in Record Collector magazine in the early 2000s, written by UK chart guru/historian/expert Alan Smith, updated on UKMix in 2014. Likewise, the Guinness chart books also used Record Retailer for their chart data of the 60s, but didn't declare them as 'official', only 'for the purposes of this book'. The truth will set you free !! Cheers n chips...
@@NGT-eb2oy I don't know where 'here' is, but it was left off the '1' CD because it wasn't #1 on the Billboard chart in the US, or #1 on the Record Retailer chart in the UK. Nonetheless, it was #1 in the UK, on the NME, Melody Maker, Disc, and Pop Weekly charts for 2 weeks each, and BBC chart for 3 weeks. Historical facts. Please read my above post, and do an internet search for "UKMix updated chart history" and all will be revealed. Cheers n chips !!
@@NGT-eb2oy I halfway agree with you but for different reasons. The "UKMix updated chart history" is a 2014 update of an article that appeared in Record Collector magazine in the early 2000s, maybe 2003. It is based on 5 years of research by UK chart expert/historian/guru Alan Smith, who went around and interviewed the people who had put together the various music paper charts of the 50s and 60s (NME, Record Mirror, Melody Maker, Disc, Record Retailer), including the BBC. All fact, believe it or not. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, ha. Where I agree with you, yes PPM was not an 'official' #1 single, because there was no 'official' chart prior to Feb 1969, thus there were no 'official' #1's either prior to Feb 1969. But PPM was #1 on 4 of the above 5 charts in 1963. I'm just trying to educate everyone about true chart history, not what the self-named 'official' charts would have us to believe. Believe what you wish, truth or revisionist history. Cheers !!
@@NGT-eb2oy We partially agree. There were other charts? Yes. There had to be ONE that was the definitive chart? Maybe, maybe not. The official UK chart 1952-1960 was compiled by NME? No, NME compiled the NME chart. The 'Official Charts Co' declared NME as official for the 50s in 2002, thus it was not official for the 50s in 2001 or prior to. The official UK chart 1960-1969 was compiled by Record Retailer? Again, no. Record Retailer compiled the RR chart. The 'Official Charts Co' declared RR as official for the 60s in 2002, thus it was not official for the 60s in 2001 or prior to. In Feb 1969 a standardized UK chart was then established with the BMRB? Yes. The OCC have stated previous listings by NME and RR as the official national chart? Yes, that is what the OCC proclaimed, in 2002, rewritten history decades after the fact. Multiple issues here: by what right can the OCC declare anything official prior to Feb 1969? The OCC did not exist prior to Feb 1969. How can they in 2002 declare what was official before Feb 1969, before they even existed? What governing body allows them to declare that? No such body. NME and RR are the official charts of the OCC from 1952-Feb 1969, but they are not the official charts of the UK, there was no such thing. Here in the States, companies like to brag that they are the official product of an organization. Such as Gatorade is the official sports drink of the National Football League. And Gatorade pays the NFL tons of $ every year so they can say that. But they are not the official sports drink of the USA, there is no governing body to officiate that. Likewise, there is no UK governing body to say NME and RR are the official charts of the UK. They are only the official charts of the OCC, and nothing more. Who was the king of England before England existed? Who were the World Cup Champions before there was a World Cup? What was the official chart before the official charts existed? But more importantly, RR is the least accurate chart of the 60s. They sampled the fewest record shops to produce their charts, 1/3 as many as Melody Maker. RR always disagreed with the other major charts of the day. Because they sampled so few shops (only 30 from 1960-63, only 80 from 1964-69), they had tied positions. So they invented a bogus tie breaker based on looking at the previous weeks chart, this is mathematical malpractice. Plus RR had 11 #1 records that did not reach #1 on ANY of the other charts. They had 6 records that did NOT make #1 that reached #1 on all the other charts. The 2 most glaring examples of RR being odd man out for #1's: Please Please Me by The Beatles was #1 in NME, MM, and Disc, for 2 weeks each, and 3 weeks on the BBC, based on 270 sampled record shops. It only made #2 on RR based on 30 shops. Which is truth, 270 or 30? Likewise, 19th Nervous Breakdown by The Rolling Stones was #1 for 3 weeks each on NME, MM, Disc, and the BBC based on 575 record shops. It only made #2 on RR based on 80 shops. Which is truth, 575 or 80? In terms of record shops that were sampled from 1962-Feb 1969 by NME, MM, Disc, and RR to compile their charts: RR sampled 14%, Disc 16%, NME 30%, MM 40%. Those are the facts. The OCC can say whatever they want, they can choose whatever charts they wish to represent the 50s and 60s for themselves, they can choose wisely or thoughtlessly. But they have no authority to rewrite history as it occurred. The OCC decision is not based on history and fact, it is based on error. We as music and chart fans can choose which charts to follow as well. You my friend are likewise free to believe or follow any chart you wish. I am here to just point out the truth, to fully inform everyone, as a free service, and let everyone decide on their own, but armed with the truth. I do hope you have read the Alan Smith article that I referenced, do a search for "UKMix updated chart history" and all will be revealed. Alan spent 5 years researching the charts, interviewing all the people who put the charts together back in the day at NME, RM, MM, Disc, RR, and the BBC. He first published his article in Record Collector magazine in the early 2000s, and this UKMix revision is from 2014. It always amazes me why so many people choose to defend the OCC, when the OCC has tricked everyone into believing their false rewritten history of the 50s and 60s charts. But it's simply because most do not know the truth, they get their chart history from historically revised chart books, they didn't live thru the 50s and 60s. And, unfortunately, Melody Maker never published a chart book. I humbly support history, facts, and truth. Because the truth will set you free !! Cheers chips n crisps for all !! 😁😜🤩
My older brother was a big Beatles fan and I remember hearing this song on the radio and when by brother played the album at home. I was a child whose life was changed by the Beatles. The Beatles were music when I was a kid. There were no other bands like the Beatles. My older brother was taken by his 16 year old cousin to see The Beatles in San Diego. He was disappointed that they could not be heard over the screaming. Nevertheless, we all remained Beatles fans for life.
As a Beatles fan all of my life I thank you for this video, and the information you give us. "Please, Please Me" will always a great song in my mind, and the album is terrific.
This Wednesday, January 11, begins almost a decade of 60th Anniversaries for The Beatles. Andrew you are well-prepared to meet these moments, with even more sterling content. Your effort and talent is much appreciated. Thank you, sir!
I'm surprised that 'Please Please Me', rates so little with people. I remember 'Love Me Do' and then 'Please Please Me' on the radio (I was six at the time) when they came out and Please Please Me was my favourite of the two. I loved George's playing on it and still do all these years later. For me it's Beatles 101 song wise.
This was great! I always hated the "Stereo" (haha) mix of Please Please Me, shoving John's vocal to the hard right speaker. I have an origianal 45 single of it and am going to listen to it now! Thanks for the great Beatles videos!
Thanks for this Andrew! Please Please Me has always seemed to be overlooked on the compilations for some strange reason. This song is one of their best singles in my opinion. Thanks for providing the history on this. I did preorder the Apcor book last week. I will seek out the original 45 mix as I have never heard it before. Take care and thanks again!
I must commend the quality of these videos- the detailed research and professional presentation makes this channel one of THE best on You Tube. I was 2 years old when Please Please Me was released so I have no first hand memory but it certainly has an energy and excitement about it that made it stand out from all other UK acts. I think it's one of their greatest recordings as it really is a hint of what was about to explode across the globe in just a few months. As a chart freak I'm afraid as far as I'm concerned it cannot be officially classed as a UK No1- if we make an excuse for this record then every other record that reached No1 on all the other charts but not the Official chart can lay claim to the position, causing complete chaos. It remains forever a No2 hit but one of the many iconic records that deserved to reach the coveted No1 spot but failed at the final hurdle.
Andrew, great job as usual. One thing that you left out, that could have been interesting to cover was how The Beatles got the harmonica passages that were locked into the mono mix of the song by means of a tape to tape overdub to the mono mix. I found it interesting that Abbey road engineers flew in the mono mix on top of the stereo mix by manually synchronizing them whenever a harmonica passage was present. This is clearly covered in the book called "Recording The Beatles," released in 2006. The authors uncovered the mystery of why whenever a harmonica passage was present on the stereo mix, the two mixes went slightly out of sync, especially the very last time John played the harmonica in the song.
Today I received my "Made In The U.K." book. Thank you very much for the tip you gave me about it. It will certainly be a great help in catalogue and identify my U.K. 7" collection. And as always a fantastic video testifying to your knowledge of The Beatles. I myself have been fascinated by this band for over 50 years, but I keep on learning more and more about their recordings thanks to your RU-vid channel. Very happy to be a member of your channel!
Excellent video, with lots of useful information. I am glad you raised the point about the dispute over the first Beatles No.1. I would strongly argue that there should be no debate about it - Please Please Me was considered to be the first Beatles No 1. Everyone knew it at the time - the Beatles were congratulated for it. As you say, at that time there was no official chart. There were four charts around at that time, all including a top twenty for singles. These were: New Musical Express (NME), Record Mirror, Melody Maker and Disc and Music Echo. The NME, Melody Maker and Disc all showed Please Please Me as reaching No 1, with The Wayward Wind (Frank Ifield) at No 2. The Record Mirror had them the other way around. The BBC's radio programme, Pick of the Pops (Alan Freeman) also had the Beatles at No 1 because it took an average of those charts at that time. When, in 1969, it was decided that an official chart was needed, rather than all these different publications, the Record Mirror (Record Retailer) chart was backdated to include the early and mid 60s. I am glad you are helping to make this all clear.
Please Please Me has always been near the top of my list! It’s easily my favourite 63 A/side. Alongside latest Jam and 2 Tone singles I can remember my older sister and her friends dancing to it and playing it really loud before a night out in the late 70s! After watching your video I immediately dug out my delta 1963 single...it still sounds fresh and exciting! Great video Andrew, you should be advising Apple 🍏!!!!
Great subject, Andrew. "Please Please Me" is, to me, as a songwriter, the perfect pop song. The information on the Delta Mono you provide here is fascinating and explains so much. Well done, Andrew!
I was born in '93 so I grew up with The Beatles entirely digitally. However, thanks to our local bay area oldies station (KFRC 99.7 FM, sadly went defunct in 2006) I heard the earlier stuff first, including Please Please Me. It thankfully wasn't overlooked. To me as a kid it was that "c'mon, c'mon" song with the harmonica in the rotation along with tons of other pre-Rubber Soul songs. Anyway, thanks to you Andrew I am now fascinated by little details like different pressings and different mixes. Even Vee-Jay and Capitol mucking things up with compression and tape copying fascinates me as it is part of history. I hope to get into vinyl someday and listen to these different versions of songs I grew up with side by side for comparison.
An interesting technical issue . I’ll preface this by saying I’m a retired studio musician - like most others since the advent of digital recording technology - When I first heard PPM, and Ask Me Why I was blown away by the chord changes in Ask Me Why . The song was much more complex than PPM. Rather than go into detail technically suffice to say being more complex doesn’t always mean a better melody, however Ask Me Why was a strong song,and if produced differently ie arrangement, the song could have been a contender . I’m in hopes Andrew delves into “ It Won’t Be Long “ ( an advertisement for Viagra : ) … It has always baffled me why that song was not issued as an A side single. It is hands down the song that illustrates how chord savvy the Beatles were in 1963. The song has augmented,diminished 7th,and 6th chords - The descending chords on the bridge aka middle eight in the UK showcases a certain sophistication not heard in any pop song I can think of in this period - I wonder if “It Won’t Be Long” could have been rearranged to make it more mainstream palatable, but reality is it was the right arrangement the way it was released . I don’t believe it was even released as a B side on a 45 . The bean counters got that one all wrong .
I agree - I think that, right there at the beginning, the Beatles established their tradition of having two excellent songs on each single - double A-sides really!
Superb video, thoroughly researched as ever. Regarding chart position, everyone around knew it got to No.1 in the only chart that mattered at the time - the BBC Pick of the Pops chart which of course was an average of the four nationally published charts. That history has been rewritten when those Guinness books settled on the Record Retailer charts is extremely misleading. Shame on the compilers of the '1' album for choosing to omit Please Please Me.
Love Me Do was not a bad song, but Please Please Me showed a world of difference in song craft! The first thing that stands out is the sheer energy of the single and its originality. The Beatles great harmonies and the chord changes were amazing. It stood out greatly as a song. It had the same high spirit as when I Want To Hold Your Hand was a huge hit in America! There were no other songs like this. And to think that they were just getting started!
It’s amazing how several series of events (John meeting Paul, Brian managing them, George Martin becoming producer) all came together at the right time to to propel them into a level of stardom not duplicated since. It was magical.
Excellent research, Andrew. Please Please Me has always been one of my own favourite Beatles singles. There are so many delightful highlights in it that feature each of our heroes to great effect. Ringo's drum fills and George's lead guitar flourishes are hooks in themselves, Paul's harmony vocal lines are superb and John's powerful lead vocal along with his harmonica cameos grab the listener's attention from first to last. It's always been a number one in my opinion, regardless of what one chart claims. It's also notable for the McCartney-Lennon songwriter credit!
Please please me has always been one of my favorite songs too I love the whole song it’s great to hear both the stereo mix and the Mono mix in the 2009 remaster sound really good. I love this song please please me everything is good about it especially the harmonica and the harmonies and Paul and John focals the song is great.
Another video full of interesting details ! And it was great to finally have audio snippets of the songs so that we can hear what you are talking about. Happy new year, Andrew !
Hey Andrew! LOVE your videos and this channel. I always watch each release, at least once. Thanks so much for the work you do. One small quibble: at the 15 minute mark (15:00), you mention the date soon after the Beatles cut this song was in the year 1963, as opposed to 1962. Not a big deal in anyway and probably just a quick oversight, but I did feel the need to let you know, as I had to rewind the video a couple of times just to make sure. What the hell, we are all human! Keep doing what you’re doing, we all enjoy it very much! And yes, I believe that this song is one of the absolute best in their canon, especially the performance. John Lennon sings with a hungry, visceral growl that is not only entertaining but very lascivious as well. This performance and ‘She Loves You’ are two of the most exciting performances in their entire catalog. All the best to you and yours!
What a great episode. I love that you explain the history of why things were done the way they were. You are the perfect person to be the repository of the Beatles legend.
By the way, there are those of us (probably because we're old enough to have lived through the evolution of the band) that believe the early music was the best. The fresh and exuberant energy contained on the early albums is hard to quantify. I always feel that the later you go into their careers, the more you can hear that they were stretching in an attempt to exceed the quality of what they had already produced. You only have to watch the first minute of the Let It Be documentary. Paul is playing the piano and it is almost painful seeing how tired and exhausted he had become of being a Beatle. Compared with the exuberance displayed during the initial credit role of Hard Days Night, it seems more an epitaph than anything else.
Another fascinating insight Andrew - and the two 'sneek' audio clips make a world of difference to the channel - C'mon Apple Corps give this man the clearance to do more of the same....😎
I am very fond indeed of “Love Me Do!” It began the first Beatles album, “The Singles: 1962-1967, which my Mum and Dad gave me for Christmas. A dear friend of mine also gave me a Christmas present of the “Please Please Me” album back in 1978. Oh…the glorious sound of it! Mahalo for making me even more aware of the background of the single and the album. Your snippets illustrating what you mean about “live-ness” and echo are particularly effective! I’m enjoying delving into The Beatles with you!
Paul McCartney played that during one of his tours and it always bought the house down, so I don’t think it’s very overlooked. I think a lot of people love that song still
Andrew, these videos are of such a great service, and I'll tell you why. Over the years, I've had this song on so many variations - the Vee Jay real issue, the Vee Jay counterfeit issue with the name of the band below the spindle, the Parlophone single reissue, the this - the that. I do remember hearing a reverb mix and the dry one, but I couldn't tell you which of those editions either of those mixes were on, or if I still have them on my shelves (somewhere). All through the video, I was thinking "I used to have that - maybe I've got it - do I still?" That's part of the fun of Beatlemania, how crazy it can make you. Three or four years ago, I scored a Record Store Day reissue of the red Parlophone 45 of Love Me Do / PS I Love You and it's more for DISplay then to actually play (I have the PPM LP in stereo and mono and I also have Love Me Do on the American Rarities and the Past and Mono Masters collections), but I'd really like a British 45 of Please Please Me. Funny story, though (at least to me) - I picked up a Vee Jay copy of Please Please Me at a used record shop and was disappointed the group's name had only one T in it, but I googled and printed out a fake Vee Jay label with the two T's and glued it on. Completely forgot I did that. A few years later, I was scrounging through my 45s and saw the record and exclaimed, "My God, do I really HAVE this? Jesus, how much can I get for it...." and remembered it was my fake label I pasted on it. Finally, I picked up another reissued edition of the Please Please Me album, the boxed Parlophone, at a record show, paid the price of it, then inspected it only to find TWO side one labels were plastered on the record, but not right on top of each other, but overlapping. I think the labels must have been pasted on first before the disc goes into the cutting lathe because part of the errant label was jammed underneath the grooves, of course making it impossible to play. Of course I kept it. I might've been burned, but I thought it was funny, anyway.
A great video! For me, Please Please Me is one of Beatles' trademark songs and one of their best singles. So, thanks, Andrew for providing the history and all the information about it. I have the CD singles, and I think "Ask Me why" cames from twin track remix.
Really enjoyed your presentation of the story of Please Please Me and the different mixes and releases, Andrew. I bought the 1976 re relases of the sngles as and when they came out so will now be going back to them and listening to those Delta mixes!
Another fab video, Andrew & team! Informative and engaging, as usual… At the risk of sounding picky, I did notice a few date errors (written with all due respect, and from the perspective of a fan of this channel)… The Beatles’ first EMI session was on 6 June 1962, not 4 June (which was the date of their EMI contract signing). The mixing of the “Please Please Me”/“Ask Me Why” single was on 30 November 1962, not 1963.
It's still a great record that sounds great today. Even though I was only a baby when it came out, it's very easy to see, just by listening to it and putting yourself in the time frame of that time, that it would have sounded fresh and revolutionary in its time, especially when considering the '50s stuff my parents were big on.
This was an excellent video for many reasons. First, the in-depth analysis of the two songs is fantastic. Second, the information about the recording process is tremendous. And the information about the book is invaluable. But let me go back to the two songs. Your analysis correctly identifies the importance of Please, Please Me, and Ask Me Why and the complexity of Ask Me Why. Also, the Please, Please Me album is fantastic. I've heard it mentioned as the greatest garage band album ever, but it's much more important than that. It is my second favorite Beatles album, behind A Hard Day's Night (British version), with Meet The Beatles coming in a close third. The sheer number of hits on the Please, Please album is unbelievable; they are all Beatles classics. But it is the duo of Please, Please Me, and Ask Me Why that is so impressive. Ask Me Why stands as the midpoint between two other songs, Misery and I'll Get You which illustrates the development in the Beatles repertoire. Thank you, Parlogram, for a most excellent piece.
Did you know that one of the very first DJ’s to play “Please Please Me” was none other than the legendary Dick Biondi on WLS-AM in Chicago. He was considered as the first DJ to play a Beatles song called “Please Please Me” in February 1963. According to the WLS weekly survey, it peaked right in the 40’s. Following the success of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and the Beatles came to the US, Vee-Jay re-released “Please Please Me” and it went to #2 in 1964. And the rest was history. And also, “Saturday Night At The Duck Pond” by the Cougars was the first UK 45 to have the black & silver label, and EMI started to put out a series of UK 45’s using the black label for Parlophone, Columbia and HMV along with Stateside and a new UK label called Tamla Motown in 1965 where they put out all of the Motown singles from the US and ended up on a UK based label. Tamla Motown was the newest label as part of the EMI family.
Hi Andrew...this is why we love your channel. The info, the visuals you use and the facts you present. This is undoubtedly one of your finest. All the best for 2023 👋🐨
i was 11 when the beatles were on the ed sullivan show in '64 and the entire country watched. all anyone talked about at school for the entire week were the fab four. never liked 'i wanna hold your hand ' that much but ' please please me ' and ' i saw her standing there ' are to this day 2 of my top beatles tunes. ' a taste of honey ' is another overlooked song that i love .
Great video, a lot of background info I never knew. (I'm an American, who was a preschooler, when The Beatles first hit, which was when I first discovered them on the radio.) Please Please Me is not overlooked. Over the years it has made countless lists of the most important debut albums of all time. Please do a video where you address the Canadian Twist & Shout LP.
Years ago I found a well-played beat-up copy of "Please Please Me" on the white VJ label at a local flea market. I had never seen that song on the white label and thought it might be a promo copy (it's not) so I bought it for a wallhanger. A few years ago I decided to take it down from the wall and play it so I cleaned it as best as I could and WOW! - a loud, hot pressing, easily overpowering all background noise - and it rocked! Of course I immediately put it in my collection!
9.2.2023 Burt Bachrach died at age 94. A composer of lot of hits. In Please Please me The Beatles covered his tune Baby It's You. The original version was recorded by The Shirelles in 1961.
Another fascinating and informative video. As a 2nd generation Beatles fan my first real introduction to Please Please Me was through the 1962-1966 Red Album compilation. I have always rated it as one of my favourite songs from their catalogue. As a youngster my earliest recollections of Beatles music was from around Xmas’64 and hearing I Feel Fine and A Hard Day’s Night on the radio and Top of the Pops. A Collection of Beatles Oldies was a family favourite a couple of years later but this 1st UK compilation of course didn’t have Please Please Me or Love Me Do on it. In ‘76 over the summer I spent all my paper round money on buying up the rereleased singles. My memory, probably wrong, was that these releases sounded so much better. Might have been the cheapo Fidelity record layer I had! Great memories though. Keep up the great work. Always look forward to your next video. Really hope Apple 🍏 watch your videos too. A consultancy job for you with them is long overdue.
In 1963 I stayed with my Second Cousins, a bit older than me, they had this single and played it continuously on auto-repeat all day. If one of them still has it, I shudder to think about its current condition.
Hi Andrew, I was really looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. I certainly noticed the difference in sound, can't believe the amount of echo on the album track. A Delta release would have been a great idea from Apple/EMI which begs the question ...do they have an in house music historian to remind them of these events and what is in their library?
The original delta mono mixes are a lot more dynamic compared to the later mono remixes since basically no processing was done to them at all. It's a shame those tapes don't exist anymore. Also, George Martin used 2 track with the Beatles not because he didn't have 4 track available but because it was just simpler to mix from 2 track than 4 track. By the time the sessions for the second album started getting a lot more complicated with reduction mixes and overdubs, I think he realized that switching to 4 track was the wise choice.
Thanks for the tip on the "Made in the UK" book. It will be an excellent addition to my collection. I ordered one this morning. Went back an hour later to order another one for a friend's birthday gift and they were sold out! Whew, got lucky on that one as I must have bought one of the last ones remaining. I will have to gift my friend something else, because he is not getting this book ;).
Happy new year, Andrew. Another great episode. A couple of historical comments. As per Mark Lewisohn’s book, Tune In, the whole How Do You Do It saga is set right. George Martin had sent them a demo of this song before their September 4, 1962 session and they recorded it then. Before the session a week later, that song was history. The writer of the song, Mitch Murray, hated their version and Sid Coleman from Ardmore & Beechwood, who were publishing the first Beatles single, disliked it and reminded George Martin that the first Beatles single was going to be a Lennon and McCartney tune, as Martin had been instructed by his boss for reasons that are explained fully in the book. Mr. Martin was quite content to let the Beatles think that they had talked him out of it, but that decision had already been made before September 11. The November 62 session had nothing to do with How Do You Do It. Also, Ardmore & Beechwood did a lot of fairly extensive promotion for Love Me Do, which is also detailed in the book. It was EMI who did very little to help. That is what led to the involvement of Dick James.
Wow! You did not disappoint! I eat this stuff up! I will check 😃! Thanks for always going in depth with your info and now clips! That’s hugely important to understand (and why we have ears!) how the recordings started and changed over the years! Thank you as always Andrew!
Hi, Andrew--about PPM on the cd version of The Hits ep--it does sound a bit drier than the '87 cd release of the lp, though it's extremely subtle. And the VJ oldies 45 version mirrors that. Now, where the noticeably drier mix is found is the Die Beatles lp, as I'm sure you're well aware, though of course, we're talking stereo, but still--the vocals are far more vibrant on both Ask Me Why and PPm.
This is why I hated the music biz when I was an engineer, and then later a musician. To the record labels, recordings were just "product." They cared less about the quality of the finished product, but instead how many units could be sold. One person even said to me back then that selling records was no different than selling shoes. With that mindset, it is no wonder we had such atrocious vinyl releases at that time, and then even worse sounding cd releases in the 80s. So, thanks must be given to you, ANDREW, for your diligent research that enables us to find the best pressing ever! I definitely can appreciate what you do, since I grew up listening to the US releases overseen by our favourite nemesis, Dave Dexter jr. (I cannot even listen to that load of rubbish now.) Keep up the good work! *and yes, "Please Please Me" was one of the first FABS songs I ever heard, and I still think it's GEAR and FAB today! *I hope my response passes the audition...........lol
18:44 - I like your direct message/suggestion to EMI/Abbey Road/Apple to do some (re)searching and find the Delta Tape in question. :-) Detailed and very informative, interesting video, as usual! :-)
Please Please Me made a resurgence riding in on the high tide of Beatlemania in early 1964. I wasn’t born yet. Looking at those years in early 1964, PPM was part of something that was really special. Even though it wasn’t officially a new release, it’s sound was fresh and sounded like nothing that was popular at the time. The song being old news in Britain, here in the states it was exciting! And to me still is! If your not familiar, those Vee-Jay or VJ Lp’s are worth seeking out. The sound is on them fantastic. The Monarch pressed discs are the best of all the pressing plants. Even the Introducing The Beatles stereo is really good. I found one at a great price in 2019 after years of looking.
January, 1963: I'm sitting in front of the TV with my brother to watch 'Thank Your Lucky Stars.' When the Beatles appear, singing 'Please Please Me,' we stare at each other, open-mouthed. What's this?!! I go straight out & buy the album (1st one I'd ever bought) & the rest, as you say, is history. I wish your excellent commentary had been backed up with some musical evidence. To this day, I haven't heard a version of PPM in its original, slow format. Otherwise, an excellent documentary, thank you.
@@Parlogram Oh right, thanks. You do mention an early (fast) version here, though, recorded at same session as 'Love me do,' which I wasn't aware of. In my head, I try to imagine a Roy Orbison-style version of PPM & envisage a rhythm similar to his 'It's Over' or Billy Fury's 'Last night was made for love,' but I guess we'll bever know for sure, unless a recording turns up magically one of these days.
$124.12 USD (through PayPal, includes shipping to the US!!) isn't a bad price for such a wonderful and valuable resource as this!! Thanks for sharing the link!! I can't wait until they come back from holiday and ship it out!! As for the video... Thanks as always for making another amazing high quality production!! Have you ever thought about releasing your videos on Blu-ray?? I think many of us physical media types would not hesitate at the chance to add these priceless videos to our collections!! 😉
I’ll never forget the excitement of hearing this on the radio in the early 70’s at age 10. Just becoming aware of the Beatles I hadn’t heard many of their songs but this grabbed me immediately with the harmonica, strong guitar from George and the harmonies. Still love it today.
Thanks for a great video. I have a good copy of the 2nd pressing and love it. Some thing which was overlooked was the stereo version of Please Please Me which appears on the album, it's a totally different mix of the single mono version. Sounds like a one take as its heavy on the echo, rough harmonica and John's fluff up on the final verse, his rather angry singing on the final C'mons and it sounds rushed on the final few seconds of the song. It is an interesting listen but the mono version is more punchy and clean. I assume it got missed off the 1 album as it wasn't a Northern Songs song
I loved hearing the difference of ask me why with the dryer version of misery versus the echoey version. I love both versions and hopefully we get to hear all of the original versions of all the Beatles songs from please please me with both the echo a mix and a dryer mix. ask me why is another great song and it would be cool to hear all of the outtakes from the 1963 and 64 Beatlemania periods. please please Mia still one of my favorite songs and I always will be.
Andrew, you are just wonderful for posting these clips. Thank you. I devour them all and watch several times in order to pick up the pieces I may have missed. One day when I'm over there, I must buy you a beer.
I absolutely love that song!!! I was in a band years ago, and another member and I would do that song just our two voices and a acoustic guitar. It always brought the house down, it is a barn burner!!! I have always found it interesting how little commented on is the obvious Everly Brothers influence on the track. John and Paul use the "Cathy's Clown" trick of one singing the line straight while the other sings the down scale hook of the song. It is simple, and glorious, and a important reason why that song grabs the ear so quickly. They always learned from the best!
Really relieved that you cleared up the 'dry' mix as not really being dry.. just less wet. Many thanks. Another similar (ish) situation is on the two USA stereo Rubber Soul versions of 'Wait' (Sometimes referred to as East Coast and West Coast vinyl remasterings). East= reverb; West= Dryer. U.S. mono= very dry. UK= dry. Just a thought. Best, Barty
Still learn from them , thanks Andrew ! never really paid attention to the stereo mix of please please me , I usually listen to the mono as it was intended. And thanks for the single mix , I'll try to find a copy 😉
Thanks for another fascinating video Andrew. Your exhaustive attention to detail is second to none. Especially in (as you say) an often under examined period of their career. Loved it!
Great story! Tx again. The CD single has the album version. Unfortunately. I guess I've never heard the single version. Or at least, of which I'm aware of.
Outstanding. When I was younger, I used to do this kind of homework on Hollies records. But I never could have demonstrated anything to this level of presentation! Thank you so much Andrew. If EMI does put a dedicated crew together to locate the original single mix, I hope they pick you to lead up the team.
Another excellent episode! Valuable information on this rare version of the single -- hopefully it will be offered to fans in the future. Perhaps as part of a deluxe reissue? Loads of great information in the video. The ad for Pop Weekly from the scrapbook at 4:29, with George's black eye from the "Cavern Incident" is priceless! Linda Laventure's channeling Murray the K in her Please Please Me review is unfortunate: to present yourself this way in what has become an historical document should be seen as an embarrassment...