Single - “Love Me Do” / “P.S. I Love You” (1962)
“Love Me Do”/”P.S. I Love You” was The Beatles’ first single. It is the only Beatles song to be released in three versions with three different drummers. The version appearing on The Beatles Anthology dates from the band’s audition for EMI on 6 June 1962, with original drummer Pete Best. On 4 September, now under contract, they re-recorded the song with Ringo. One week later, on the 11th, George Martin insisted that they record it once again, this time with session player Andy White on the set and Ringo playing tambourine. The early issues of the UK single are the Ringo version, while the later issues, the US issues, and the version on the album “Please Please Me”, are all Andy White. The single hit #17 on the UK charts, and #1 in the US, where it was only released in 1964.
George Martin, not enthralled by the band’s early writing, had hoped that “How Do You Do It”, written by Mitch Murray would be the band’s first single. While they recorded the song, the band hated it, and John and Paul insisted that they release only original tunes as singles. In the end, Martin gave in and they agreed on “Love Me Do”. He suggested adding a wailing harmonica to the arrangement; an idea that The Beatles loved. But John, the only harmonica player of the band, was singing lead, and the harmonica line would overlap with the last line of the verse. Paul, who had written most of the song when he was just 16 (John later added the bridge), was nevertheless nervous when Martin told him to sing the necessary line.
“The first record, ‘Love Me Do’, for me that was more important than anything else. That first piece of plastic. You can’t believe how great that was. It was so wonderful. We were on a record!” - Ringo
For the B-side of the single, the band chose another Paul tune, “P.S. I Love You”. Paul had written it in Hamburg in 1961, using the ever-popular theme of writing a letter to a girlfriend who is far away. Andy White is the drummer on all single and album versions of the song.
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Andy White, Beatles, harmonica, Love Me Do, P.S. I Love You, Paul, Please Please Me, singleRelated Stories
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