Song of the Week #126 – “Love Me Do”
Written by admin on October 1, 2012 – 10:46 pm - |
We celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ “Love Me Do” by selecting the track as the Classic Pop Icons Song of the Week.
“Love Me Do” was released on single in the UK on October 5, 1962, backed with “P.S. I Love You”. It also appeared on the albums “Please Please Me” in the UK and “Introducing …The Beatles” in America. |
“Love Me Do” was The Beatles’ debut single, but it wasn’t a brand new composition in 1962. Paul McCartney had been messing around with the song since 1958 and it was later featured in The Beatles’ stage act in Hamburg.
The song was one of several that The Beatles tried out at their EMI audition in June 1962, including “Besame Mucho,” “P.S. I Love You” and “Ask Me Why”. That slightly ragged version of “Love Me Do,” featuring Pete Best on drums, was finally released in 1995 on the “Anthology 1” album.
“Love Me Do” (Anthology 1 version) – The Beatles
Between the June 1962 audition and the recording session for “Love Me Do” three months later, Pete Best was kicked out of the band in favour of Ringo Starr. One of the factors in this decision was that George Martin and his engineers had been dissatisfied with the quality of Best’s drumming at the June session.
The fuss over who would play drums did not end there though, and would lead to two different recordings of “Love Me Do” being released. The first recording featured Ringo Starr on drums and this was the version that Parlophone released as the UK single. Martin hadn’t been entirely satisfied with the cut though and a week later had called for a re-recording, with session drummer Andy White stepping in on drums and Ringo featured on tambourine. This was the cut that appeared on the UK album “Please Please Me,” and on the US single and US album “Introducing …The Beatles”.
One of the most distinctive features of “Love Me Do” is John Lennon’s great harmonica intro and instrumental break. Lennon was by no means a virtuoso on the instrument, but what he plays perfectly suits the song and adds greatly to its appeal. It was also in vogue at the time with Bruce Channel’s “Hey Baby” and Frank Ifield’s “I Remember You” both making prominent use of the instrument and both doing very well in the UK charts earlier in the year. Lennon had in fact picked up some playing tips from Bruce Channel’s harmonica player, Delbert McClinton, when The Beatles opened for Channel in June 1962.
The song is also an early example of how well Lennon and McCartney’s voices worked together. In this instance, they sing a duet in close harmony, with Lennon taking the main melody line and McCartney singing higher. McCartney sings the “Love Me Do” at the end of each verse on his own so that Lennon’s harmonica can kick in as the line ends.
The uncluttered nature of the recording is also a real strength, with just bass guitar and acoustic guitar backing the lead vocals and harmonica. The decision not to plug in an electric guitar was a good one.
“Love Me Do” (UK single version) – The Beatles
The song didn’t make its US debut until it was released in April 1964 on the Tollie label (a subsidiary of Vee Jay records). This was the version with Andy White on drums. The version featuring Ringo wasn’t released in the US until the “Rarities” album in 1980.
“Love Me Do” (US single version) – The Beatles
The Beatles also recorded “Love Me Do” several times for inclusion on BBC radio programmes. A version from July 10, 1963, which would feature on the July 23, 1963 edition of the Pop Go the Beatles programme, is featured on the 1994 album “The Beatles – Live at the BBC”.
Authorship
“Love Me Do” was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Both songwriters agreed that McCartney had started the song, but in the Barry Miles’ 1997 biography, “Many Years From Now,” McCartney spoke about the song as a “50-50” collaboration:
| “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.” |
John Lennon seemed to regard the song as primarily Paul’s when interviewed in 1980 by David Sheff, taking credit only for the middle-eight:
| “Love Me Do is Paul’s song. He wrote it when he was a teenager. Let me think. I might have helped on the middle eight, but I couldn’t swear to it. I do know he had the song around, in Hamburg, even, way, way before we were songwriters.” |
Recording date/location
The UK single version of “Love Me Do” was recorded on September 4, 1962 at Abbey Road Studios, London. The song “How Do You Do It” was also recorded at the session and would probably have been released instead of “Love Me Do” if the band hasn’t been assertive about wanting their debut single to be their own composition. “How Do You Do It” would become a number one for Gerry and the Pacemakers the following year.
The Beatles at Abbey Road Studios on September 4, 1962
The second recording of “Love Me Do,” with Andy White on drums, was made on September 11, 1962.
Musicians
The September 4 recording of “Love Me Do” featured:
- John Lennon – vocals, harmonica
- Paul McCartney – vocals, bass guitar
- George Harrison – acoustic guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums.
The only personnel change on the September 11 version was Andy White on drums. Ringo played tambourine.
Chart performance
“Love Me Do” peaked at number 17 on the UK singles chart in December 1962. The US single topped the Billboard Hot 100 on May 24, 1964.
Other notable recordings
“Love Me Do” – Sandie Shaw
Sandie Shaw’s cover of “Love Me Do” was recorded in 1969 and it sounds like it. It’s the kind of song you expect to feature in the nightclub scene of a low budget movie of the era. It has an infectious quality though, with its busy bass line, colourful flute and organ parts, and Shaw’s interesting vocal, which goes from pleading to demanding.
The song appeared on Shaw’s fifth studio album “Reviewing the Situation”.
“Love Me Do” – Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr returned to “Love Me Do” for his 1998 album “Vertical Man”. Ringo takes a blues rock approach to the song, which features a prominent rock guitar part, and a great harmonica contribution from Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, who’s also on hand for backing vocal duties. Ringo’s vocal is OK, but reminds us why he wasn’t called upon to sing very often in The Beatles.
There will be a new Song of the Week on October 8.
The Beatles’ “Love Me Do” is available on the 2011 remaster of “Please Please Me”. The original UK single (featuring Ringo on drums) is available on the 2010 remaster of “Past Masters”. The first recording (featuring Pete Best on drums) is available on “Anthology 1”.
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Please Please Me (CD) |
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
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Past Masters (CD) |
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
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Anthology 1 (2 CDs) |
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
Tags: Love Me Do, Sandie Shaw, The Beatles
Posted in Song of the Week, The Beatles |
