TL;DR:
- The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” was a collaboration between John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
- Paul stated “Please Please Me” was an instance of The Beatles stealing from American artists.
- “Please Please Me” was an even bigger hit in the UK than it was in the USA.
Paul McCartney stated The Beatles‘ “Please Please Me” was inspired by an American rock ‘n’ roll star. Paul stated the track was initially slower to imitate that star’s type. Subsequently, The Beatles’ producer had a special imaginative and prescient for the observe.
The Beatles’ ‘Please Please Me’ was speculated to sound like a gradual Roy Orbison track
Within the 1997 e-book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul revealed “Please Please Me” was impressed by Roy Orbison. “If you imagine it much slower, which is how John wrote it, it’s got everything, the big high notes, all the hallmarks of an Orbison song,” he stated. “But in the session, George Martin suggested we lifted the tempo and suddenly there was that fast Beatles spirit.”
Paul mentioned his contribution to “Please Please Me.” “I did the trick of remaining on the top note while the melody cascaded down from it,” he stated. “A cadence. I remember a music teacher in Liverpool telling us she’d taught it to her kids. That was good.”
Paul McCartney stated The Beatles would ‘steal’ from American artists
Paul used “Please Please Me” for example of how The Beatles drew inspiration from different artists. “So it began as a Roy Orbison,” he stated. “We used to steal consciously, particularly from American Black acts like The Marvelettes and alter it a bit. Something you love, something you’re passionate about, is always a great starting point.”
Paul stated “Please Please Me” had a similarity to different early Fab 4 songs. “There was a little trick we developed early on and got bored with later, which was to put ‘I,’ ‘me,’ or ‘you’ in it, so it was very direct and personal.” He stated “Please Please Me,” “She Loves You,” “From Me to You,” and “Love Me Do” as examples of this trick.
How ‘Please Please Me’ carried out on the pop charts
“Please Please Me” turned an honest hit in the USA. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for a complete of 13 weeks. The Beatles included the observe on the album Please Please Me, which reached No. 155 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for a single week.
Alternatively, The Official Charts Company, “Please Please Me” peaked at No. 2 in the UK and remained on the chart for a complete of 18 weeks. The tune later charted at No. 29 within the U.Ok. and lasted on the chart for 4 weeks. The album Please Please Me was No. 1 for 30 of its 70 weeks on the U.Ok. chart.
“Please Please Me” turned a world hit. Who is aware of if it could’ve been successful if it have been slower?