Please, please, me.

[Gob]

Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band the Beatles.

Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles "Please Please Me" (No.1 on most lists but only No. 2 on Record Retailer)[3] and "Love Me Do" (No.17).

Of the album's fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney (originally credited "McCartney–Lennon"), early evidence of what Rolling Stone later called "[their invention of] the idea of the self-contained rock band, writing their own hits and playing their own instruments". In 2012, Please Please Me was voted 39th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"

In order for the album to contain fourteen songs (the norm for British 12" vinyl pop albums at that time was to have seven songs on each side, while American albums usually had only five or six songs per side) ten more tracks were needed to add to the four sides of their first two singles recorded and released previously. Therefore, at 10:00 am on Monday, 11 February 1963, the Beatles and George Martin started recording what was essentially their live act in 1963, and finished 585 minutes later (9 hours and 45 minutes)

[dales]

I was in 6th grade, didn't care much for them at first.......................that was until Rubber Soul debuted.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I was 5yo at the time. Beetles were things we squished under foot.

[Gob]

I was four, I lived in Wales, they may as well have been beings from another planet.

Musicians including Stereophonics and Mick Hucknall are recreating The Beatles' 10-hour recording session for their debut album Please Please Me.

The Fab Four recorded almost all of the album in a day-long recording session 50 years ago, on 11 February 1963.

Stereophonics singer Kelly Jones - who sang I Saw Her Standing there - said the album "was the sound of a band capturing their raw energy".

The tracks are being broadcast live on Radio 2 over 12 hours.

Chart topping newcomer Gabrielle Aplin was the first to arrive at the legendary Abbey Road studio, recording There's A Place - the song with which The Beatles' had started their historic recording session.

Radio 2 breakfast DJ Chris Evans and Welsh rockers the Stereophonics arrived in the same car minutes after her.

Evans then joined frontman Kelly Jones outside the studio for a short busking session.

The DJ was in fine voice, despite fluffing some lines in their cover of the single I Saw Her Standing There - a dry run for the morning's full recording, which would be accompanied by a string orchestra.

Soul singer Joss stone performed The Beatles' cover of A Taste of Honey, taken from the hit film.

Backed by a full string section, the 25-year-old took the lead in a jazzy version of the song.

She admitted the record was new to her, adding: "I wasn't aware of the song actually, which is pretty bad. There are so many Beatles songs that I thought I would.

"What an idiot, but I'm glad it turned out alright."


The sessions for Please Please Me saw The Beatles playing live renditions of the songs which had formed the core of their recent live shows. The tracks were recorded largely as they were performed, with few overdubs or layering of instruments - which became common features of their later work.

The final track to be committed to tape was Twist And Shout, which had been held back over fears that John Lennon's sore throat may not hold out if he performed it earlier in the day.

Lennon sang the huge hit topless but was unable to go for a second take, so the initial recording was used.

Ian MacDonald, the late chronicler of Beatles recordings, wrote: "Trying for a second take, Lennon found he had nothing left and the session stopped there and then - but the atmosphere was still crackling.

"Nothing of that intensity had ever been recorded in a British pop studio."

Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds covered Do You Want To Know A Secret - which originally carried vocals from George Harrison - at the Radio 2 session.

He said that while The Beatles' undoubtedly changed music, their debut was more of "a charming start".

"It was basically their live set. This is how they would have sounded at a live gig before they signed with George Martin. It's a great photo."

Back in 1963, Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr already had four tracks they could put on the album - the singles Love Me Do and Please Please Me, plus the B-sides.

They needed 10 more to complete the album and were booked at Abbey Road amidst a hectic live schedule.

They had 30 gigs to perform in February including a tour with Helen Shapiro, plus a radio and TV show.

Lennon had a cold and was drinking tea, milk and smoking while sucking lozenges for his throat.

They started recording at 10am and their first song was There's A Place, which they managed in 13 takes.

Next was I Saw Her Standing There and several other followed in quick succession. Hold Me Tight also took 13 takes but it was dumped from the album, only to revived for their second album With The Beatles.

Although just two three-hour periods were booked for the recording, the band added a third which ended at 10.45pm.

Mark Lewisohn, in his book The Complete Beatles Chronicle, wrote: "There can scarcely have been 585 more productive minutes in the history of recorded music."

Broadcaster Stuart Maconie, who is hosting a BBC Four documentary about the Radio 2 recording, said it was hard to imagine the original sessions.

"I got here this morning and what struck me was that there are so many people here - bands, crews, journalists - and how different it must have been that morning 50 years ago when the Beatles arrived in their van.

"I'm fascinated whether they knew they were changing the history of the world. Did they have an inkling? I wonder if McCartney knew?"