Paul McCartney – “Please Please Me” Live

Talking About Music That Has Easily Become Timeless!

Credited to Lennon–McCartney, “Please Please Me” is the second single released by The Beatles BUT it was John Lennon who really wrote it. He penned the lyrics in Menlove Avenue, Liverpool while staying at his Aunt Mimi’s house. It was released on January 11, 1963 in the UK and on February 25, 1963 in the US. It was their producer, George Martin, who decided that this song was very promising although the original version was way too slow to the point of being dreary.

“It’s very Roy Orbison when you slow it down. George Martin up-tempo’d it. He thought it was too much of a dirge, and probably too like Orbison. So he cleverly speeded us up… and we put in the little scaled riff at the beginning, which was very catchy.” — Paul McCartney

After rearranging the bluesy style, it eventually became the first number one single of the band. There were also a total of three mixes made — one in stereo and two in mono.

• Number one on the New Musical Express charts
• Number one on the Melody Maker charts
• Number two on the Record Retailer chart

“We sang it and George Martin said, ‘Can we change the tempo?’ We said, ‘What’s that?’ He said, ‘Make it a bit faster. Let me try it.’ And he did. We thought, ‘Oh, that’s all right, yes.’ Actually, we were a bit embarrassed that he had found a better tempo than we had.” — Paul McCartney

George Martin surely made the right choice in releasing this single!