The Beatles: Single By Single

I think Love Me Do is a much easier listen than From Me To You.
It gets a negative rap, but I quite like it.

Pete Best drumming on the bridge may have been the final straw in him getting fired.

 

I like the bit on the White Album remix set Sessions disc on ' Revolution' where Paul launches into a disembodied vocal verse of ' Love Me Do '

 

Ya that and "One After 909" from 1963

 

Regarding "P.S. I Love You" … I recalled something I had read years ago in Mark Lewisohn's Recording Sessions book and just looked up at his text on the 11 September session: "There was talk of it being the A-side of the single, but (Ron) Richards was quick to scupper that idea. 'I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew that someone had already done a record with that title. I said to Paul, 'You can have it as a B-side, but not an A-side.' So they did it as a B-side, and 10 takes later, it was in the can."

Researching further, the original "P.S. I Love You" was written by Gordon Jenkins & Johnny Mercer, published in 1934 and was a #12 hit for Rudy Vallee that same year. The more famous version was a Top 5 hit by The Hilltoppers in 1953. A ton of artists have recorded the original song - from Bing Crosby to Bob Dylan (Triplicate 2017) to Sinatra, Diana Krall & even Tom T. Hall - so Ron's instincts were probably correct, even though we love The Beatles song!

And when The Beatles exploded in the US in 1964, and the floodgates opened, both sides of the single were "hits", with "Love Me Do" going to #1 in all 3 national charts and "P.S. I Love You" hitting #10 in two out of the three.

 

'Love Me Do' is a good song, it was just overshadowed by what came after it. I like the Andy White version the most. McCartney just sounds too nervous on the original (Ringo) single version.

 

Agreed, always preferred the Ringo version

 

Haven't missed a thing. It's called different opinions.

 

P.S I Love You


UK single released: 5 October 1962
US single released: 27 April 1964
A-side to: Love Me Do

The version featured on the single and album was recorded in ten takes on 11 September 1962 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios, London. Producer George Martin had booked session drummer Andy White as a replacement for Pete Best, whom he considered not technically good enough for recording purposes; Martin had been unaware that the other Beatles had already replaced Pete Best with Ringo Starr, who attended the session and plays maracas on the song. White was a freelance show band and session drummer, and gave the recording a lightweight cha cha treatment.

Martin was not present at the session; in his absence, it was run by Ron Richards. Richards told the group that the song could not be the A-side of their single because of an earlier song with the same title: "I was originally a music publishing man, a plugger, so I knew someone had done a record with that title. I said to Paul, 'You can have it as B-side, but not an A-side.'"

With Starr playing drums, the Beatles recorded the song at the BBC on 25 October 1962, 27 November 1962 and 17 June 1963 for subsequent broadcast on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot and Pop Go the Beatles, respectively. The 17 June 1963 recording was officially published on the On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 album (2013).

References: Wikipedia

 

Love Me Do is a bit clunky. I prefer Please Please Me.

 

The earlier version with Pete Best was even clunkier!

 

Love Me Do is pretty meh. Clunky is a good way to describe it. The song gives almost no indication of the greatness that was to follow, in terms of composition and performance.

I find it hard to believe this song became a hit without a little extra “help.” Were the charts manipulated? Is it true that Epstein bought extra copies?

Anyway, I’m glad the Beatles improved so quickly afterward....

 

The mono songs on the stereo remastered album Please Please Me really stand out. I definitely prefer stereo. I’m wondering if the U.S. singles featured more stereo songs than the U.K. singles.

 

1st american single was please please me. we all know that, right?

 

Anybody who knows anything about music theory will tell you that P.S. I Love You is remarkably sophisticated for a self-taught songwriter. It begins with "The Devil's Chord Change" (G to C#7) and each verse ends with one of the most influential chord sequences ever invented:

 

..even by U.S. standards, you've got it wrong. It was released in December '63. So there!

 

While John and Paul's two part harmony and John's harmonica have a lot to do with it, even if another band had released this arrangement of LMD I'd think it was a pretty cool record for its' time. Even though there was nothing particularly brilliant about it, it still had a sense of "difference" when compared to most other Pop hit singles of the time period. If i was to give it 2 and 1/2 stars out of four on its' own merits, I'd add another half star if I was to put it in context as the first original Beatles single, with full knowledge of the songwriting explosion that was to come.

 

That adds to its charm. And McCartney certainly remembers the session. He' s spoken about it a number of times and admits to being terrified.

 

When Mick Jagger made his Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame speech he mentioned 'Love Me Do ' in a humorous way.
He said he thought his band was a truly original group playing rock and r&b music. He then heard of some group from Liverpool who also played this style of music and had a record contract and had a record on the charts which featured a bluesy harmonica.Jagger said this made him sick.

 

Not released by Capitol !?
If I recall correctly the first Beatles single released in the US by Capitol was „I want to hold your hand“
In the UK it was „Love me do.“
Also, Capitol released singles that where not released in the UK.

 

Another Beatles thread, don't we love it - this is one for the girls, 511/1000.

 

What!

When I listen to love me do “primal sexual energy” is about the absolute furthest thing from my mind.

There are so many other songs on PPM I would pick over it to get that description

 

While I concede I like the harmonica on Love Me Do, it's the melody of P.S. I Love You that draws me in. And every time I hear the ending I really want to hear cha cha cha.

 

I used to prefer the Andy White/Album/Common version of Love Me Do, because it was the one I was most familiar with, but nowadays I clearly side with the Ringo version, it has a better beat to it and feels more gritty, especially the intro.

P.S. I Love You is sort of a bridge song. It's stuck in a pre-Beatles era, but still sounds like the Beatles of the next year. An interesting tune, nice melody.

 

If I had to put a firm rating it would be

Love Me Do 5.5/10: it’s a fine song, it gets it point across (I love you, I’ll always be true, so please love me back) but it seems a little dry and not something I would seek out.

PS I Love You 7/10 this is actually a fairly buried track that I feel doesn’t get enough love, it’s still pretty basic but has enough depth to the point it doesn’t come of as surface level upon repeat listens.

To be honest I feel they should have flipped sides but alas: history is history

 

...which would have totally destroyed it.