"Love Me Do"
"Love Me Do" cover
Single by The Beatles
from the album Please Please Me
B-side(s)	"P.S. I Love You"
Released	5 October 1962 April 27, 1964 (USA)
Format	7" (1962, 1982) CD, Digipak (1992)
Recorded	Abbey Road Studios: 6 June; 4, 11 September 1962
Genre	Beat
Length	2:22
Label	Parlophone R4949 Tollie 9008
Writer(s)	Lennon/McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin
Peak chart positions
#1 (US Billboard Hot 100 1964) #6 (CAN CHUM Chart) #17 (UK Singles Chart - 1962) #4 (UK Singles Chart - 1982)
The Beatles singles chronology
-- "Love Me Do" (1962) "Please Please Me" (1963)

"Love Me Do"
album cover
album cover
studio by The Beatles
from the album Please Please Me
Released	22 March 1963 (mono) 26 April 1963 (stereo)
Label	Parlophone PMC 1202 (mono) PCS 3042 (stereo) CDP 7 46435 2
Please Please Me track listing
Side one "I Saw Her Standing There" "Misery" "Anna (Go to Him)" "Chains" "Boys" "Ask Me Why" "Please Please Me" Side two "Love Me Do" "P.S. I Love You" "Baby It's You" "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" "A Taste of Honey" "There's a Place" "Twist and Shout"

"Love Me Do" is an early Lennon/McCartney song, principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958–59 while playing truant from school. John Lennon wrote the middle eight.^[1][2][3] The song was The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the UK, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four. In the U.S. the single was a number one hit in 1964.

"Love Me Do" begins with bluesy harmonica played by John Lennon, then features Lennon and McCartney on joint lead vocals although McCartney handles the low solo vocal line on the song's title phrase when all the instruments go silent. Lennon had previously sung these sections, but this change in vocals was made when the harmonica part was added, as Lennon needed to play it once the instrumentation started up again on the "do" of "love me do".

This was inspired by American Rhythm and Blues artist Bruce Channel with his song Hey! Baby.

Recording

"Love Me Do" was recorded by the Beatles on different occasions with three different drummers:

• The Beatles first recorded it on 6 June 1962 with Pete Best on drums, as part of their EMI audition at Abbey Road Studios in London.
• By 4 September, Best had been replaced with Ringo Starr (producer George Martin did not approve of Best's drumming), and on that day the Beatles with Starr recorded a version again at Abbey Road Studios.
• One week later, on 11 September, the Beatles returned to the same studio to discover that Martin was dissatisfied with Starr's drumming, and they made a recording of "Love Me Do" with session drummer Andy White on drums while Starr played tambourine.

Most issues of the single contain the Andy White version of the track, which can also be heard on several albums (including Please Please Me) and the The Beatles' Hits EP. The initial issues of the UK single, however, featured the Ringo Starr version, which is also included on the compilation album Past Masters, Volume One. All singles printed with the red Parlophone label contain the Ringo Starr version, whereas the singles having a black Parlophone label are the Andy White version. The CD single issued on 5 October 1992 contains both these versions. The Pete Best version remained unreleased until 1995, when it was included on the Anthology 1 album.

"Love Me Do", featuring Starr drumming, was also recorded eight times at the BBC and played on the BBC radio programmes Here We Go, Talent Spot, Saturday Club, Side By Side, Pop Go The Beatles and Easy Beat between October 1962 and October 1963. The version of "Love Me Do" recorded on 10 July 1963 at the BBC and broadcast on the 23 July 1963 Pop Go The Beatles programme can be heard on the Beatles album Live at the BBC. The Beatles also performed the song live on the 20 February 1963 Parade of the Pops BBC radio broadcast.

In 1969, during the Get Back sessions, the Beatles played the song in a slower, more bluesy form than they had in earlier recordings. This version of "Love Me Do" is one of many recordings made during these sessions and subsequently appeared on some bootlegs.

Background information

On 4 September 1962 Brian Epstein paid for the group to fly down from Liverpool to London.^[4] They arrived at Abbey Road Studios in the early afternoon, where they set up their equipment in Studio 3^[5] and began rehearsing "Please Please Me", "Love Me Do" and a song by Mitch Murray and Barry Mason called "How Do You Do It?" (originally written for Adam Faith).^[6] To a large extent, George Martin had decided to sign the Beatles on the strength of their individual qualities as their songwriting ability had yet to be recognised. Martin said: "It wasn't a question of what they could do [as] they hadn't written anything great at that time."^[7] "But what impressed me most was their personalities. Sparks flew off them when you talked to them".^[8] It was felt that unless they could write something as good as "How Do You Do It?", then the Tin Pan Alley practice of having the group record songs by professional songwriters, which was the custom at the time, would be employed.^[5] During the course of an evening session (7pm to 10pm in Studio 2) they recorded "How Do You Do It" and "Love Me Do". "Please Please Me" was at this stage quite different to its eventual treatment and was dropped by Martin, which was a disappointment for the group, as they had hoped it would be the B-side to "Love Me Do".^[9]

George Martin made a historic decision when he chose "Love Me Do" to be the Beatles' first single. "How Do You Do It" was number one material, as Gerry and the Pacemakers were to later prove, and was more commercial sounding at the time compared to "Love Me Do". George Martin said: "I looked very hard at 'How Do You Do It', but in the end I went with 'Love Me Do', it was quite a good record".^[5] The song had an effect on the Abbey Road staff on first hearing. Norman Smith was overseeing the 6 June audition when he first heard it, and then sent for Martin, who took over the rest of the session.^[10]

It was on the 4 September session, according to McCartney, that Martin suggested using a harmonica, presumably replacing a guitar phrase.^[2] However, Martin’s own recollection of this is different, saying: "I picked up on 'Love Me Do' because of the harmonica sound", adding: "I loved wailing harmonica - it reminded me of the records I used to issue of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. I felt it had a definite appeal."^[11] This then could have been at the earlier 6 June audition with Pete Best. John Lennon had learned to play a chromatic harmonica that his Uncle George (late husband of Aunt Mimi) had given to him. But the instrument being used at this time was one stolen by Lennon from a music shop in Arnhem, the Netherlands, in 1960, as the Beatles first journeyed to Hamburg by road.^[12][11][13] Lennon would have had this with him at the EMI audition, as Bruce Channel's "Hey Baby", a hit in the UK in March 1962, with its harmonica intro, was one of the 33 songs the Beatles had prepared. Brian Epstein had in fact booked American Bruce Channel to top a NEMS Enterprises promotion at New Brighton’s Tower Ballroom on 21 June 1962, just a few weeks after "Hey Baby" had charted, with the Beatles a prestigious second on the bill. Lennon was particularly impressed with Channel’s harmonica player, Delbert McClinton.^[14]

The harmonica was to become an important element of the Beatles' early sound, but prior to becoming recording artists they had not particularly featured the instument in their live act. It seems credit then ought to be given to Martin for making it such an integral part of their early records such as "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You".

It was decided, however, that as "Love Me Do" was going to be the group's first single, it was important to get things absolutely right, and the song therefore needed to be re-recorded. Martin was not happy with Starr’s drum sound, and in those days it was not unusual to hire session drummers to fix this sort of problem.^[14] Producers then were used to hearing the bass drum "lock in" with the bass guitar as opposed to the much looser R & B feel that was emerging, so professional show band drummers were often used for recordings. George Martin has since said that he never intended to slight either Best or Starr by using a session drummer.^[15] Ron Richards, in charge for the 11 September re-recording session, booked Andy White, whom he had used regularly in the past. "P.S. I Love You" was recorded first; it was initially a contender for the A-side but was ruled out as there was another song with the same title by Peggy Lee. On this Starr was asked to play the maracas.

"Love Me Do" was then recorded with White playing drums and Starr on tambourine. However, early pressings of the single are the 4 September version—minus tambourine—with Starr playing drums. But later pressings of the single, and the version used for the "Please Please Me" album, are the 11 September re-record with Andy White on drums and Starr on tambourine. This difference has become fundamental in telling the two recordings of "Love Me Do" apart.

• In his bestselling 2006 biography of the group, The Beatles: The Biography (ISBN 0316013315), Bob Spitz rehashed an old story that manager Brian Epstein tried to help make Love Me Do a hit in England by buying 10,000 copies of the single for his Liverpool record store. This story had been told previously in several other Beatles-related books, but has never been verified.
• There are only two songs that Lennon and McCartney wholly own: "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You". This is because until Dick James had set up their own publishing company Northern Songs, EMI had placed the Beatles' first two recordings with their own in-house publishers Ardmore and Beechwood. Brian Epstein, however, was dissatisfied with the lack of promotion EMI gave the single, and through George Martin (who later declined an offer by Brian Epstein of a percentage of Northern Songs on ethical grounds)^[16] was introduced to Dick James, whom Martin once produced. Later, Lennon and McCartney were able to buy back ownership of these two titles which have always remained separate from Lennon & McCartney's main catalogue of material.
• #1 on US charts (30 May, 1964), Top 100 for 14 weeks.

Ron Richards

Interestingly, there are major discrepancies regarding the Andy White session, and who actually produced it. In his book Summer of Love George Martin concedes that his version of events differs from some accounts, saying: "On the 6 June Beatles’ session (audition) I decided that Pete Best had to go [and said to Epstein] I don’t care what you do with Pete Best; but he’s not playing on any more recording sessions. I’m getting a session drummer in."^[17] When Starr turned up at the next session with the group (4 September) Martin says that he was totally unaware that the Beatles had fired Best, and, not knowing how "good bad or indifferent" Starr was, was not prepared to "waste precious studio time finding out."^[17] Martin, therefore, has this as the Andy White session in which Martin was present, and not 11 September. This definitely contradicts Mark Lewisohn’s account, as in his book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, he has Starr on drums on 4 September^[5] and White for the 11 September re-make.^[14] Lewisohn also says that Ron Richards was in charge on 11 September, which means, if accurate, that Richards was sole producer of the Andy White version of "Love Me Do". George Martin says: "My diary shows that I did not oversee any Beatles recording sessions on 11 September - only the one on 4 September."^[17] But, if Lewisohn’s account is correct and "the 4 September session really hadn’t proved good enough to satisfy George Martin,"^[14] it might seem odd that Martin was not then present for the 11 September re-make.

Missing master tape

No original master tapes of the 4 September version of "Love Me Do" are known to exist. Standard procedure at Abbey Road Studios at the time was to erase the original two-track session tape once it had been "mixed down" to the (usually monaural) master tape used to press records. This was the fate of the session tape for "Love Me Do" as well as several other early Beatles songs from 1962–63. However, at some point the mixdown master tape for this song was also lost, and apparently no backup copies had been made—thus, for many years the only extant recorded copies were the red label Parlophone 45 rpm vinyl records pressed in 1962.

By the time the tapes had disappeared, the song's 11 September 1962 remake featuring Andy White had been released. EMI would not have been too concerned about the loss of the 4 September take, therefore, as it was now considered obsolete, and they may not have anticipated ever having any use for it again anyway.

Around 1980, a reasonably clean, original 45 from EMI's archives was used as the "best available source" for the track's inclusion on the Capitol compilation LP Rarities. A few years later, a new master tape was struck, this time using another, better-sounding 45 supplied by a record collector, and this has served as the official EMI master tape for the original "Love Me Do" ever since.

Quotations

In 1972, Lennon commented,

Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.

In 1982, McCartney remarked,

Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.

Similarly Starr in 1976 enthused,

Insert the text of the quote here, without quotation marks.

Credits

• John Lennon — rhythm guitar, harmonica, joint lead vocal
• Paul McCartney — bass, joint lead vocal
• George Harrison — lead guitar *
• Ringo Starr — drums

In the Please Please Me album version:

• John Lennon — rhythm guitar, harmonica, joint lead vocal
• Paul McCartney — bass, joint lead vocal
• George Harrison — lead guitar*
• Ringo Starr — tambourine
• Session drummer Andy White — drums

In version that appears in Anthology 1 album:

• John Lennon — rhythm guitar, harmonica, joint lead vocal
• Paul McCartney — bass, joint lead vocal
• George Harrison — lead guitar*
• Pete Best — drums

George Harrison — lead guitar* According to Ian MacDonald, Harrison also performs backing vocals on this song. If correct, then other credible sources fail to mention this.

Cover versions

"Love Me Do" has been covered by (among others):

• Bobby Vee on his 1964 album, 30 Big Hits from the 60s
• Dick Hyman on his 1964 album, Keyboard Kaleidoscope
• The Chipmunks on their 1964 album, The Chipmunks sing the Beatles Hits
• Sandie Shaw on her 1969 album, Reviewing the Situation
• Ringo Starr on his 1998 album, Vertical Man
• Flaco Jiménez on his 2000 album, Sleepytown
• Madooo on his 2002 album, This Day Is Forever
• The Persuasions on their 2002 album, The Persuasions Sing the Beatles
• Emmerson Nogueira on his 2004 album, Beatles
• David Bowie covered "Love Me Do" in some of his Ziggy Stardust tours.

Cultural references

"Love Me Do" is mentioned in the Bad Company song "Shooting Star" off their 1975 album, Straight Shooter. It's the first rock n' roll song that Johnny hears.

"Love Me Do" is mentioned in the anime Full Moon Wo Sagashite when Mitzuki is talking to Takuto about running away from home and moving to America to sing.

Charts

Chart	Year	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	1962	17
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1964	1
Canada CHUM Chart	1964	4
UK Singles Chart	1982	4

Preceded by "My Guy" by Mary Wells	Billboard Hot 100 number one single May 30, 1964 (one week)	Succeeded by "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups

Notes

External links

• Song-by-Song Listing for "Love Me Do"
• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "Love Me Do"
• Listing for "Love Me Do" at Steve's Beatles Page
• Listing for "Love Me Do" at The Complete Guide to The Beatles' Instruments
• What harmonica did John Lennon use to play the intro to "Love Me Do" and other songs by The Beatles?

•  • [ e] The Beatles Singles
Singles (UK - Parlophone, Apple Records)
1962: Love Me Do 1963: Please Please Me, From Me to You, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand 1964: Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, I Feel Fine 1965: Ticket to Ride, Help!, Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out 1966: Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby / Yellow Submarine 1967: Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love, Hello Goodbye 1968: Lady Madonna, Hey Jude 1969: Get Back / Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of John and Yoko, Something / Come Together 1970: Let It Be 1976: Yesterday, Back in the U.S.S.R. 1978: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / A Day in the Life • 1982: The Beatles Movie Medley, Love Me Do (reissue) 1995: Baby It's You, Free as a Bird 1996: Real Love
B-sides
1962: P.S. I Love You 1963: Ask Me Why, Thank You Girl, I'll Get You, This Boy 1964: You Can't Do That, Things We Said Today, She's a Woman 1965: Yes It Is, I'm Down 1966: Rain 1967: Baby You're a Rich Man, I Am the Walrus 1968: The Inner Light, Revolution 1969: Old Brown Shoe 1970: You Know My Name (Look up the Number) 1976: I Should Have Known Better, Twist and Shout 1982: I'm Happy Just to Dance with You, P.S. I Love You (reissue) 1995: I'll Follow the Sun / Devil in Her Heart / Boys, Christmas Time (Is Here Again) 1996: Baby's in Black
Singles (U.S. - Capitol Records, Apple Records)
1963: I Want to Hold Your Hand 1964: Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, I'll Cry Instead, And I Love Her, Matchbox, I Feel Fine 1965: Eight Days a Week, Ticket to Ride, Help!, Yesterday, We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper 1966: Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby / Yellow Submarine 1967: Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever, All You Need Is Love, Hello, Goodbye 1968: Lady Madonna, Hey Jude 1969: Get Back / Don't Let Me Down, Ballad of John and Yoko, Something / Come Together 1970: Let It Be, The Long and Winding Road 1976: Got to Get You into My Life 1978: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / A Day in the Life 1982: The Beatles Movie Medley 1986: Twist and Shout 1995: Baby It's You, Free as a Bird 1996: Real Love
B-sides
1963: I Saw Her Standing There 1964: You Can't Do That, I Should Have Known Better, I'm Happy Just to Dance with You, If I Fell, Slow Down, She's a Woman 1965: I Don't Want to Spoil the Party, Yes It Is, I'm Down, Act Naturally 1966: What Goes On, Rain 1967: Baby You're a Rich Man, I Am the Walrus 1968: The Inner Light, Revolution 1969: Old Brown Shoe 1970: You Know My Name (Look up the Number), For You Blue 1976: Helter Skelter 1982: I'm Happy Just to Dance with You 1986: There's a Place 1995: I'll Follow the Sun / Devil in Her Heart / Boys, I Saw Her Standing There / This Boy / Christmas Time (Is Here Again) 1996: Baby's in Black / Yellow Submarine / Here, There and Everywhere