Behka’s Breakfast with The Beatles Recap: Week of November 3

On this week's edition of BWTB, I decided to start fresh at the beginning, or close to it.I figured we'd go over the start of the group's recording career and go from there.  Last week we went over what The Beatles recorded before they had their own recording contract.  Then this week, I started with the singles that they had on and before their first album, Please Please Me.

On Monday, I played their first single ever, "Love Me Do".

"Love Me Do" is the Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at No. 17; in 1982 it was re-promoted (not re-issued, retaining the same catalogue number) and reached No. 4. In the United States the single was a No. 1 hit in 1964. In 2013, recordings of the song that were published in 1962 entered the public domain in Europe. The song is an early Lennon–McCartney composition, principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958–1959 while truant from school at age 16.John Lennon wrote the middle eight.

On Tuesday, I played their first non-album single, "From Me To You".

The single was the Beatles' first number one in some of the United Kingdom charts, second in others, but failed to make an impact in the United States at the time of its initial release. However, a 1963 cover version released by Del Shannon resulted in the song becoming the first Lennon–McCartney tune to enter the American pop chart. It was one of the very last songs to be credited "McCartney–Lennon"; soon afterwards their songs began appearing credited to "Lennon–McCartney".

On Wednesday, I played the b-side of their first non album single, "Thank You Girl".

This song was released as the B-side of "From Me to You", which was recorded on the same day (5 March 1963). While not released on an LP in the United Kingdom until Rarities in 1978, the single was featured as the second track on The Beatles' Second Album in the United States. Originally titled "Thank You, Little Girl", the song was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney as a tribute to the band's many female fans.

On Thursday, I played the first track on their first album, "I Saw Her Standing There".

The song was a Lennon and McCartney collaboration based on McCartney's initial idea. Originally titled "Seventeen", the song was apparently conceived by McCartney while driving home from a Beatles' concert in Southport, Lancashire as a modern take on the traditional song "As I Roved Out", a version of "Seventeen Come Sunday" that he had heard in Liverpool in 1960.

On Friday, I played "Misery".

In February 1963, Helen Shapiro was Britain's most successful female singer (having first achieved chart success two years earlier at the age of 14) and The Beatles were fifth on the bill as part of her nationwide tour of the United Kingdom. Her artist and repertoire manager, Norrie Paramor, was looking for new material for a country and western album she planned to record in Nashville, Tennessee and suggested that the Beatles compose a song especially for her. "Misery" was started backstage before The Beatles' performance at the King's Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, on 26 January 1963, and later completed at Paul McCartney's Forthlin Road home. When the Beatles needed original material for their Please Please Me LP they recorded it themselves.

That's it for this week's recap. We'll start up again on Monday at 6:00 a.m. with track three from Please Please Me.

Pleasingly yours,
Behka