A big part of what set The Beatles apart from most other groups in the early ’60s was that they were songwriters. In fact, 8 of the 14 songs included on their debut 1963 album{, Please Please Me} were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In this article you can find a track by track look at those eight originals.
“I Saw Her Standing There” – The first track on their debut album. This track was written and sung by Paul but John did help McCartney out with the lyrics by replacing the line “never been a beauty queen” with “you know what I mean.” It’s “one, two, three, four” intro was later referenced in the intro of Revolver (same words, with a very different feeling.)
“Misery” – This was actually the final original Beatles song recorded for Please Please Me, but it was the second one on Pleas Please Me’s tracklisting. It was originally written by John & Paul to be sang by Helen Shapiro but it was turned down and it ended up on Please Please Me.
“Ask Me Why” – This Lennon original was initially released as the other side to the “Please Please Me” single which was The Beatles first number one hit in the UK.
“Please Please Me” – The song their first album was named after is considered to be the best song on the album by most music critics. This was the song that really made The Beatles big stars in their home country. Over a year later “I Want to Hold Your Hand” would perform the same function in the United States.
“Love Me Do” – This was the band’s very first single and because of that it’s certainly very historically important. That said, I think that the song is among their worst and I think it receives more attention than it deserves.
“P.S. I Love You” – This was the b-side to “Love Me Do.” In some ways I actually prefer it, but that’s probably mostly because I haven’t heard it as many times.
“Do You Want To Know A Secret?” – This song was written by John Lennon and George Harrison sang the lead vocals.
“There’s A Place” – This song has the most mature lyrics on their debut album. It is an early hint that The Beatles would not always sing about how much they loved some young lady.
With the 2009 release of the Remastered Beatles Box Sets all of these songs can be heard in wonderfully remastered mono and stereo mixes.
Posted under Miscellaneous Content
This post was written by admin on September 2, 2010
