Last Updated on 27 January 2026 by Massimo M.
The Beatles’ first album, Please Please Me, was released on March 22, 1963.
This album, recorded in Abbey road studios in a single day, was released by Parlophone extremely fast for manage to capitalize on the huge success of the title track which had been the group’s second single and their first No. 1 in most of the UK charts.
Please please me is an album of great importance not only because it is the first album by the group that boasts the largest discography in the history of pop music but also because it reinvented the very concept of album paving the way for all the musicians who would follow
Until then LP were collections of hit singles by a particular artist and often had the same title as the last single released. This was obviously only a commercial ploy to increase sales and fatten bank accounts. In addition, English groups at the time released albums made up of covers of songs already released in the USA.
The Beatles instead wanted to release an album with fourteen songs, two more than the standard number of the other albums, eight of which were absolutely original composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Furthermore, always capitalizing on the success that the Beatles were already enjoying, the lineup was drawn up by reproducing the classic one of their live performances.
The disc obviously also contains the two singles previously released by the Beatles, Love me do and Please please me.
Love me do is the first single released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962 by Parlophone, with the B side P.S. I Love You. The single reached number 17 in the UK charts while in the United States, where it was released in April 1964, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 after about a month. Love me do was recorded in several sessions, changing drummer each time. The first recording was made with Pete Best on drums, the second with Ringo Starr and the third with Andy White. The version published on the 45 rpm is the one in which Ringo Starr plays while the one on the album is the one played by Andy White.
The first pressing of Please please me, catalog number PMC 1202, was issued in mono before the stereo version was released by 6 weeks. The first pressing has a black label with gold lettering and the inscription “Parlophone Co. Ltd.” printed at the beginning of the perimeter zone.
The second version of the first print label differs from the first in the presence of an evident circular groove. This circular groove is due to the use of old machines for pressing vinyl records. This groove can be found on either side A or side B.
Both of these labels carry the credits “Dick James Mus. Co” incorrectly..
In the next series of pressings made between April and May 1963 the credits “Dick James” were changed to “Northern Songs”. This series of vinyls is about as rare as the first pressing in March 1963.
The image used for the cover of Please please me, which portrays the fab four facing a parapet, was taken by the famous photographer Angus McBean at the headquarters of the EMI Limited record company which was located at 20 Manchester Square, in London’s West End. EMI kept its offices inside that same building until 1995 when it decided to move to its headquarters in West London taking away, however, also the famous balcony railing.
In Italy the album, in mono version, was released in November 1963 with the title The Beatles and with a different cover even if the songs contained in the vinyl were exactly the same as in the British version. The record company was Parlophon catalog number PMCQ 31502..
In America, the album, after being rejected by two labels, was published by Vee jay records, catalog VJ1092, under the title Songs, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles. As in Italy, also in America the vinyl was covered with a different cover and composed with a tracklist consisting of only twelve tracks. From the fourteen present in the original UK version of Please please me, Love me do and P.s. I love you.
Track list of the original UK Please Please me
I Saw Her Standing There (McCartney/Lennon) – 2:55
Misery (McCartney/Lennon) – 1:50
Anna (Go to Him) (Arthur Alexander) – 2:57
Chains (Goffin/King) – 2:26
Boys (Dixon/Farrell) – 2:27
Ask Me Why (McCartney/Lennon) – 2:27
Please Please Me (McCartney/Lennon) – 2:03
Love Me Do (McCartney/Lennon) – 2:22
P.S. I Love You (McCartney/Lennon) – 2:05
Baby It’s You (David/Williams/Bacharach) – 2:38
Do You Want to Know a Secret (McCartney/Lennon) – 1:59
A Taste of Honey (Scott/Marlow) – 2:05
There’s a Place (McCartney/Lennon) – 1:52
Twist and Shout (Medley/Russel) – 2:33
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