Please Please Me (BDJ Remix)

"Please Please Me" is the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States.

Both its recording history, and its release record, are complex and often confounded.

We'll shed some BDJ light on it here.....

RECORDING HISTORY:

Lennon first conceived "Please Please Me" as a bluesy, slow tempo song. Lennon recalled: "I remember the day I wrote it, I heard Roy Orbison doing "Only the Lonely", or something."

When George Martin first heard it (as per Anthology documentation, usually assumed to be at the "Love Me Do" re-make session on 11 September) he found that - in his opinion - it "badly needed pepping up" and he asked The Beatles to consider making major changes to it, including increasing its tempo. The tradional story has it that PPM was brought back into the studio on 26 November 1962, when its arrangement had been radically altered, and it took 18 takes to record what George Martin immediately predicted would be their first major hit.

Unfortunatley, I think that this story line is not supported by the facts: On Anthology I, a PPM version appears that had been thought to be lost: an early version, dated September 11. Now, we can all listen to this September 11 version, and confirm that it is very much like the final version of November. It is as fast as the released version, it just lacks the Lennon mouth organ intro and backing vocals.

Obviously, it does not make sense that George Martin would have asked for an even faster version than the September 11 track (or why he would call the November version a 'hit' and the very similar September 11 version a 'miss) !

So what really happened ? Here's a litte fact finding: the Beatles actually played Please Please Me to George Martin on September 4 th ( so a week earlier) but - being a 'demo' - it was probably not recorded.

This is confirmed in a Ringo Starr interview: "On my first visit in September we just ran through some tracks for George Martin. We even did Please Please Me. 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." This must have been the slow - Roy Orbison - version. A week later (Sept 11), the Beatles came back for a second attempt to record Love Me Do (with Andy White on drums); they also played and recorded Please Please Me (now in the fast version), in an attempt to dissuade George Martin from releasing How Do You Do It. This is the Anthology version, which probably has Andy White on drums (does he receive rolyalties for the Anthology release ??). PPM needed only minor polisihing up for the November recording of the PPM album (with Ringo on drums).

REMIXING HISTORY

PPM was mixed in mono for the single and the mono LP. A new mix was made for the stereo LP, which differs only in the vocals (e.g. the fumbling of the lyrics in the final verse). It is usually believed that no stereo version of the single mix exists, but there is one in the BDJ vaults....... As usual, Capitol added reverb to the US release, but otherwise the version is the same as the UK version.

US RELEASE HISTORY
The single was initially released in the US by Vee-Jay Records, with "Ask Me Why" on the B-side; it failed to make much impact in the US, but when re-released by Capitol there on 3 January 1964 (this time with "From Me to You" on the B-side) it reached number three in the US Hot 100.

THE BDJ Remix
This remix is in true stereo; the PPM LP version is in the well-known 'vocals left- instruments right' stereo mode, which makes for awkward listening. Both the Remaster's LP stereo version and the stereo version of the single were used to create this new remix. This remix showcases the progress The Beatles had made as recording artists in a few weeks; just listen to Ringo's (quite complex) drum patterns, and Pauls' 'walking bass' in the middle eight.

George's intro on guitar is obliterated by Lennons' mouth organ, and we don't hear much of George's guitar at all; according to the sound engineer, he started out by playing the intro riff all through the song, until someone told him to 'shut-up'. Fortunately, we can now hear him in the backing vocals.

Enjoy the Remix !