“Please Please Me” by The Beatles

"Please Please Me" was the Beatles' second British single, out on 11 January 1963, and it went over so well that they cut a whole debut LP under the same name to cash in. John Lennon wrote it, though the label reads McCartney-Lennon, and George Martin's production did plenty to push it into its finished shape. Lennon sings lead and blows harmonica, McCartney and George Harrison back him up, Ringo Starr drums, and Norman Smith engineered.

At home it hit the top of the NME and Melody Maker charts but only No. 2 on Record Retailer, the chart that grew into the official one, which is why it's missing from the Beatles' 1 compilation. America shrugged at it in February 1963; reissued there on 3 January 1964 with "From Me to You" on the flip, it climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.