The Beatles emerged in the early 1960s and had their first hit song in 1963. The song “Please Please” led to the band’s future success, but John Lennon said the Fab Four “almost gave up” on the band. song after having a hard time getting it right. .
‘Please, Please Me’ was The Beatles’ first hit.
In 1963, The Beatles released “Please, Please”. The song was their second UK single and their first in the US. The song reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, but reached number 1 on two other UK charts, spawning some debate as to whether it’s a number 1 hit… In the US, the song reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song also became the title track of their debut album.
While the song is credited to the Lennon-McCartney duo, it was primarily written by Lennon. In a 1980 interview with David Sheff, Lennon said that the song was “completely” his own.
“‘Please, please me’ is completely my song,” he said. “It was my attempt to write a Roy Orbison song, would you believe it? I wrote it in the bedroom of my house on Menlove Avenue, which was my aunt’s house.”
John Lennon said The Beatles ‘almost gave up’ on the song before it was finished
The Beatles recorded the song in 1962, but had a hard time agreeing on how it should sound. Producer George Martin believed that the song needed a faster tempo. This led to several tries where the fab four tried to get the rhythm right. John Lennon said that the Beatles got so frustrated with “Please Please” that they almost gave it up.
“We almost abandoned it as the B-side of ‘Love Me Do.’ We changed our minds just because we were so tired the night we did ‘Love Me Do,'” Lennon explained. “We had gone through it several times, and when we got to the flip side issue, we intended to use ‘Please, please.’ Our recording manager, George Martin, thought our arrangement was finicky, so we tried to keep it simple. However, we were getting really tired and couldn’t seem to get it right. We are aware of our work and we do not like to rush things.”
Lennon was inspired by various artists while writing ‘Please Please Me’
Lennon credits “Please Please” as his attempt to make a Roy Orbison song. However, Lennon admitted that there are hints of Bing Crosby on The Beatles track as well, creating a unique sound that is a hybrid of Orbison and Crosby.
“I remember the day and the pink bedspread on the bed, and I heard Roy Orbison play ‘Only The Lonely’ or something. That’s where that came from.” Lennon shared. “And also, I was always intrigued by the words of ‘Please lend me his little ears for my pleas,’ a Bing Crosby song. He always intrigued me with the double use of the word ‘please’. So it was a combination of Bing Crosby and Roy Orbison.”