October 5, 1962
The first recording by The Beatles to be released anywhere in the world was issued on this date.
Love Me Do is a song written mainly by Paul McCartney (the melody and chorus) when he was a teenager of 15 or 16, and long prior the the group which became known as The Beatles.
Although it was thought that John Lennon had virtually no writing input, he did contribute the “middle eight” bars of the song … “Someone to love, somebody new. Someone to love, someone like you.”
And in author Barry Miles‘ book on McCartney, called Many Years From Now, Sir Paul states:
“‘Love Me Do’ was completely co-written. It might have been my original idea but some of them really were 50-50s, and I think that one was. It was just Lennon and McCartney sitting down without either of us having a particularly original idea.
We loved doing it, it was a very interesting thing to try and learn to do, to become songwriters. I think why we eventually got so strong was we wrote so much through our formative period. ‘Love Me Do’ was our first hit, which ironically is one of the two songs that we control, because when we first signed to EMI they had a publishing company called Ardmore and Beechwood which took the two songs, ‘Love Me Do’ and P.S. I Love You (the B-side) and in doing a deal somewhere along the way we were able to get them back.”
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There are three different studio-recorded versions of ‘Love Me Do’ – and all are presented here.
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[Note] Some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets or connected devices. A laptop, desktop PC or Mac may be required for optimal enjoyment.
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LOVE ME DO
(Original Single Version – Ringo Starr)
The Beatles
[1962]
First up is the original single version (on the red Parlophone label) released in the UK on this day, with Ringo Starr on drums (he’s not on the other two). He’d been brought in by co-producers Ron Richards and George Martin to replace original Beatles drummer Pete Best. Best, who was on the first “test” recording of ‘Love Me Do’, had left the group in August of 1962 – being replaced in the band by Starr one month prior to this recording.
Recorded on September 4, 1962, this version was completed in 15 takes.
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Containing Everly Brothers-like harmonies by McCartney and Lennon, LMD peaked at #17 on the UK charts in ’62.
John Lennon’s harmonica part (suggested by George Martin) wasn’t overdubbed directly to the tape containing the master recording – rather, it was first recorded onto another tape using a secondary machine and then applied “tape-to-tape” over top of the primary.
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LOVE ME DO
(LP & Second Single Version – Andy White)
The Beatles
[1962]
Following the Ringo Starr-recorded version from September 4th, 1962, freelance studio drummer Andy White was hired to play on a session to re-record ‘Love Me Do’ on September 11th. With White on the skins, Ringo was relegated to playing the tambourine.
Understandably, Ringo wasn’t pleased with being replaced, having since offered a possible explanation for the decision:
“I remember that, because while we were recording it I was playing the bass drum with a maraca in one hand and a tambourine in the other. I think it’s because of that that George Martin used Andy White,” and also in regard to Martin, Ringo added, “He has apologized several times since, has old George, but it was devastating … I hated the bugger for years.”
[Note] With no tambourine on the original single released on this date, the Ringo-on-tambourine only recording is the primary way to differentiate between the two officially released versions of the song. The Andy White session track was the version released on the Beatles debut album Please Please Me and future releases of the ‘Love Me Do’ single (on the black Parlophone label – both as shown above).
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DEEP TRAK!
LOVE ME DO
(Test Version – Pete Best)
The Beatles
[1962]
This is the first recording of ‘Love Me Do’ with original drummer Best, from June 6th, 1962. Known as the “test” version, it was long thought to be lost, but surfaced on the first volume of The Beatles Anthology three-set series in 1995.
[Note] This is a composite of takes 22 & 23, which were joined to create one complete track for inclusion on the Anthology CD. The splice occurs at 1:56, where there is a noticeable change in the song’s tempo.
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U.S. & CANADA
Prior to it’s release in America, ‘Love Me Do’ was already climbing the U.S. charts; it was due to sales of imported copies from Capitol Records in Canada – which were dubbed from the UK Parlophone single released on this date with Ringo Starr on drums (below).
After its April, 1964 release in America, it reached #1 on May 30th (for one week) but remained in the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 weeks.
The record saw its actual American release on a subsidiary label of Vee-Jay Records – Tollie Records – the version with Andy White on drums.
U.S. Capitol had passed on contracting with EMI/Parlophone in the UK to release the first 14 Beatles songs in America. They felt the group wouldn’t appeal to teen record buyers in the U.S.
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Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
