Weakest Link: Beatles "Please Please Me" - Round 1

Almost 60 years ago today, a young band from Liverpool put out their first album - and rock would never be the same.

We'll commemorate the 60th anniversary of "Please Please Me" - which formally occurs March 22 - with the Weakest Link treatment.

Pick the FOUR weakest links!

DISCUSSION: when did you first hear "Please Please Me" (or its songs in their US configurations) and what did you think of it at the time?

 

One of my favourite albums of all time. A difficult choice.

A Taste of Honey
Twist and Shout
Chains
Boys

DQ: mid 1980s. Loved it then, love it now.

 

easy to toss A Taste Of Honey. The other tracks are really superb imo

 

The fourth link selection was the toughest for me. I have always dug this album. It sounds great (this was the first 'import' album I purchased back in the mid 70s) and it is full of energy. Strong vocals and tight musicianship - it makes me feel young whenever I listen to it.

Chains
Do You Want To Know A Secret
A Taste of Honey
P S I Love You

 

Living in the US I don’t think I heard the proper PPM album for quite some time. We always had Introducing the Beatles, which is more or less the same thing.

 

Misery
Chains
Ask Me Why
A Taste of Honey

DQ: First heard it in the early '90s and liked it.

 

That was like cutting off limbs. I think I hate you.

For my 8th birthday March 64 I woke up to Introducing The Beatles on VJ from Mom and Dad. Among the best gifts I ever got from my older parents. I also got Meet The Beatles from my older(by 16 years) married brother later on. A GOOD day for a new 8 year old.!

 

Chains
Do You Want To Know A Secret
A Taste of Honey
boys

 

Chains
Boys
Ask Me Why
A Taste of Honey

I was born in 1961, and my parents had some Beatles around (U.S. versions) when I was growing up.. Listened to it late 60's when I was a kid. Liked it but didn't really appreciate it until later on.

 

Ask
Baby
Chains
PS

Sad to see "Honey" get the ax right put of the gate.

?: I heard most of this material at a very early age (like 3 or 4 years old) via a counterfeit "Introducing The Bealtes" LP purchased at Two Guy's department store in Schenectady NY in 1978 or '79. It was one of my first records.

 

Chains/ Secret/Love Me Do/Honey

I first heard this (most of it) as "Introducing the Beatles" in the summer of '64.

It wasn't until about 1968 (when Hunter Davies's authorized bio came out) that I realized that this, and not Meet the Beatles, corresponded to their first album (though I didn't fully understand the difference between the US and UK albums at that point).

 

Damn, that was harder than I thought it would be. I knew it would get tough, but first round…!

 

Boys is Ringo's best Beatle vocal imo. Macca's killing it on bass and backing vocals, it's take 1.
I chose Honey, Love Me Do. PS I love You and Baby It's You but it's tough. I like this LP a lot. This one and AHDN are probably my favourite pre-Revolver Fab LP's.

 

Ugh, I only picked two by mistake.
I bought Introducing... at a department store in the early 70's. Loved it, still do.

 

dq: It was not the first B. album I heard, so I was not impressed much. Boys was a standout track I had not known before. And the title track has always been a favourite.

 

DQ. MTB was bought 1st but Introducing…on VeeJay was bought shortly after and my copy is still in good shape. Better than my MTB

 

Boys, Anna, Chains, Love Me Do

DQ: I believe I first heard it when I checked out a copy of "Introducing the Beatles" from the local library. This is back in 1974, when I was starting to learn guitar, and worked on "Misery" as ear training and chord changing. Didn't hear the proper PPM LP until late 70s.

 

For me, it's:

Boys
Ask Me Why
PS I Love You
A Taste Of Honey

(Mind you, I still like these songs, but something's gotta go. Actually, I don't really care much for "Ask Me Why". But the other 3 are fine...)

I didn't hear the album until around 1990, when I was 15. I saw Macca in concert that April, as a friend's family invited me along. In very short order, I quickly became a Beatles/Macca nut, and bought every release I could get my hands on.

Please Please Me is a great album, but I'm more of a "Rubber Soul and later" fan. I just listen to the early stuff less, even though I still appreciate it ...

Overall, I liked PPM back then, and still do now.

 

A Taste Of Honey
Chains
Love Me Do
Do You Want To Know A Secret

DQ?: Loved them the first time I heard them (born in '64 I heard you them all between the ages of 5 & 8) & have only loved & appreciated them more & more over the years.

It's truly one of the greatest (& most ground breaking/revolutionary) debut albums ever- most especially because of "There's A Place" (my fave of all), "Twist & Shout", "I Saw Her Standing There" & "Please Please Me", but also "P.S. I Love You", "Ask Me Why" & "Baby It's You" & finally "Misery", "Anna (Go To Him)" & "Boys"... even the least of the lesser tracks (that I just votes for) are, at least, all good- so it is with their whole catalog...

 

First two were easy. A Taste of Honey...and Chains. (mediocre cover). The rest of the album becomes much harder for me. Went with Love Me Do and Boys.

I had 5 older siblings...heard it at time of release, but was only 5 in 1964.

 

My introduction to any of these songs was sometime in the late 70s......finding/buying (one of the counterfeit?) Introducing The Beatles in the $1 bin at Woolworths. Being 9-10 years old, I didn't initially love most of the songs. Thought they sounded older/more dated than the Beatles records my parents had. At the time, I could see why it was only $1, where Abbey Road wouldn't be.

It was also one of those versions where track listing didn't match what was on the album. Until I finally got interest in these early songs again 5 years later, I really thought "PS I Love You" was the real title of "Please Please Me."

 

Chains
Boys
PS I Love You
Do You Want To Know A Secret

 

I got PPM and WTB for Christmas 1981. I thought they were both pretty good. Not my favorite errs but I go back to it now and then.

 

Misery
Anna
Baby It’s You
A Taste of Honey

DQ: was familiar with many of the tracks but I didn’t hear the whole UK album properly until the first Beatles CDs were released in 1987. Of that initial four albums, it was my least favorite and still is, though I do consider it a good album. Just lacks a bit for me.

 

Guess it depends on how you define "always".

Sure, "Introducing" existed from 1964 on, but it wasn't easily found in stores after those first few years.

I didn't get into the Beatles until late 70s and you could only find "Introducing" at collector's shops by then.

Dunno when it officially vanished from shelves - and I'm aware it got pirated up the wazoo, which kept it sort of "in print".

But it still wasn't a title you'd find at your average record store after those first few years, I don't think.