The Beatles Please Please Me Album and the Formation of The Beatles
The Beatles' first album, Please Please Me, was released on March 22, 1963. It featured 8 original songs, including The Beatles first single "Love Me Do" and 6 cover songs (written by other artists) including "Twist and Shout".
Track Listing
1) I Saw Her Standing There (McCartney/Lennon) 2) Misery (McCartney/Lennon) 3) Anna (Go To Him) (Alexander) 4) Chains (Goffin/King) 5) Boys (Dixon/Farrell) 6) Ask Me Why (McCartney/Lennon) 7) Please Please Me (McCartney/Lennon) 8) Love Me Do (McCartney/Lennon) 9) P.S. I Love You (McCartney/Lennon) 10) Baby It's You (David/Williams/Bacharach) 11) Do You Want To Know A Secret (McCartney/Lennon) 12) A Taste of Honey (Scott/Marlow) 13) There's A Place (McCartney/Lennon) 14) Twist and Shout (Medley/Russell)
Fun Fact: "Twist and Shout" hits the U.S. singles charts again at #23 in September 1986 due to the popularity of Matthew Broderick lip-synching the song in the movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Liverpool, England
All four of the Beatles were born and raised in Liverpool, England.
Birthdates in chronological order:
Ringo Starr (real name: Richard Starkey): born July 7, 1940 John Winston Lennon: born October 9, 1940--died December 8, 1980 James Paul McCartney: born June 18, 1942 George Harrison: born February 25, 1943--died November 29, 2001
John Lennon was considered the leader of the Beatles since he started the group, while the other members subsequently joined.
The Beatles are always referred to as: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. This reflects the order in which they joined the group, as well as what many consider the order of importance in the group.
The Beatles began performing together with various group formations in 1957. However, the line-up wasn't complete until 1962 when Ringo joined the group.
John Lennon was a student at the Liverpool Art College beginning in 1957. There he met his future wife, Cynthia, and his best friend, Stuart Sutcliffe, a talented painter.
When Stu earned a large sum of money from selling one of his paintings, John convinced him to buy a bass guitar and join the group, even though he had no musical training whatsoever.
While John had a special friendship with Paul in relation to music, Stu had a huge impact on John since they shared a deep bond with their passion for art, and had strong connections on an intellectual and spiritual level.
In Liverpool, John, Paul, George and Stu used to hang out at the Jacaranda club owned by Allan Williams.
Noticing their potential, Williams became their first booking manager. He got them gigs usually in rough parts of town where "teddy" boys used to frequent.
In 1959, Stu was caught in the middle of a "teddy" crowd fight. He suffered a harsh blow to the head.
Having changed their name several times until they arrived at "The Beatles", the group began playing at a local club called the Casbah, where they met the son of the club's owner, Pete Best, and boarder, Neil Aspinall.
The Beatles occasionally asked Pete, a drummer, to sit in with the band. Neil Aspinall became the Beatles road manager and personal assistant. (Later, Neil was in charge of the Beatles company, Apple, from 1968 to 2007.)
Allan Williams got the Beatles their initial gig in Hamburg, Germany in 1960. Many groups from Liverpool were finding success in Hamburg, so the Beatles jumped at the chance.
Since they needed a drummer in order to accept the gig, they asked Pete Best to join the band.
The Beatles in 1961 consisted of John, Paul, George and Pete Best.
Stuart Sutcliffe quit the band in the Spring of 1961 to stay with Astrid in Germany, while John and the gang returned to Liverpool. This allowed Paul to take over the bass guitar from Stuart.
In Hamburg, the Beatles had progressed from playing at the Indra Club, moving on to the Kaiserkeller where they met Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann, and then were offered a gig at the more prestigious Top Ten Club.
Since they had been able to arrange this gig on their own, they told then-manager, Allan Williams, they no longer needed his services.
Williams was furious, but the contract he had with the Beatles was destroyed in a fire, so he had to let them go.
While in Germany, the Beatles recorded two songs ("My Bonnie" and "The Saints") as Tony Sheridan's backing band, and a few songs on their own ("Ain't She Sweet" and "Cry for a Shadow" which were released in the '90's on The Beatles Anthology 1).
According to Brian Epstein's personal assistant, Alistair Taylor, the legend is that a man named Raymond Jones came into Brian Epstein's record shop in Liverpool and requested "My Bonnie" by the Beatles.
The popularity of the record at NEMS shop led Brian to seek out the Beatles and watch them perform at the Cavern Club in Nov. 1961. Brian was so impressed by the Beatles he offered to manage them.
The Beatles saw Brian as a wealthy businessman who had contacts in the record industry. They accepted his offer to be their manager in December 1961 and within less than a year, Brian was able to get the Beatles a record deal.
With their success in Hamburg, Germany, The Beatles were now in demand back at home in Liverpool, England. They got a regular gig at The Cavern Club, a sweaty basement club on Mathew Street.
Many people thought The Beatles were a German band due to their popularity in Hamburg. They were still wearing their leather jackets and pants onstage when Brian Epstein came to see them perform at The Cavern in November 1961.
It was here at The Cavern on August 19, 1962 where fans got violent over the replacement of Pete Best with Ringo Starr. Fans would chant, "Pete forever, Ringo never". That night was Ringo's Cavern debut as a Beatle and The Beatles were attacked as they entered the club. George received a black eye in the incident.
Read why Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr on our PETE BEST page
Watch the Beatles in August 1962 just a week after Ringo joined the group perform "Some Other Guy" at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England
(Notice how they were now wearing suits and ties instead of leather clothing thanks to Brian Epstein)
The Beatles would appear at The Cavern Club almost 300 times between August 1961 and August 1963.
Fun Fact: Paul McCartney returned to the Cavern Club in 1999 to perform a concert to promote his Run Devil Run album.
George Martin and "Love Me Do"
After being turned down by every record label in London, the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, finally got them a recording contract with EMI's small label, Parlophone.
The Beatles had already been turned down by EMI's pop music labels, but someone recommended to Brian that he approach Parlophone, a recently acquired label from Germany. Parlophone recorded classical, jazz and comedy records.
Record producer, George Martin, was appointed head of the label in 1955 at the ripe young age of 29, which was extremely young for that position.
Brian Epstein's perseverance paid off. On June 6, 1962, the Beatles auditioned for Parlophone.
George Martin has said in interviews that although he thought their music needed some work, he was struck by the Beatles' charm.
He offered them a standard contract with minimal royalties. Since the Beatles had been rejected so many times, Brian agreed to the offer.
During this first recording session, they recorded Love Me Do and How Do You Do It? Unsatisfied with Ringo's drumming that day, George Martin hired session drummer, Andy White, to play at the next session on Sept. 11, 1962.
That day, the Beatles recorded their first single to be released: Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You, produced by George Martin. (Andy White plays on Love Me Do, the album version, while Ringo plays on Love Me Do, the single.)
George Martin was not a pop music producer. He had classical training and had produced artists such as Sophia Loren, Shirley Bassey and comedians, The Goons (who the Beatles were fans of). For him to take an interest in producing a group like the Beatles was a matter of fate.
George Martin was also acting as the head of A&R (Artists and Repetoire) for the Parlophone label, so he was motivated to help make this new group that he signed as successful as possible.
How rare could it be to have a classically trained musician producing a pop group? Luckily, both sides were open-minded enough to work with each other. The combination proved ingenious, especially as the Beatles music progressed.
However, the Beatles' first single, Love Me Do, released in Oct. 1962, did not immediately become a hit. In fact, it struggled for a while climbing up the charts.
In Dec. 1962, the single peaked at Number 17 on the British charts. Finally, the Beatles were on their way to becoming the "toppermost of the poppermost."
In February 1963, the Beatles released their second single, "Please Please Me." George Martin predicted that
this would be their first number one hit, and on March 2, 1963 he was proven right.
Upon the success of their number one hit, the Beatles were rushed into the recording studio to produce their first album titled Please Please Me.
The album hit number one in April 1963 and remained there for 30 weeks, only to be replaced by their next album, With the Beatles.
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the second Beatles album,
With the Beatles
George Martin has said in interviews that although he thought their music needed some work, he was struck by the Beatles' charm.
