Please Mr. Postman

Please Mr. Postman
"Please Mr. Postman" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by the Marvelettes for the Tamla (Motown) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr. Postman" became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when The Carpenters' cover of the song reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100. "Please Mr. Postman" has been covered several times, including by the British rock group the Beatles in 1963. The 2017 song "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man draws on "Please Mr. Postman" and includes a credit for Brian Holland.
Original version
Background
In April 1961, the Marvelettes (then known as the Marvels) arranged an audition for Berry Gordy's Tamla label. Marvels original lead singer Georgia Dobbins needed an original song for their audition, and got a blues song from her friend William Garrett, which she then reworked for the group. Dobbins left the group after the audition and was replaced. Gordy renamed the group and hired "Brianbert" – Brian Holland and Robert Bateman's songwriting partnership – to rework the song yet again. Freddie Gorman, himself a Detroit postman and another songwriting partner of Holland (before Holland became part of the Holland–Dozier–Holland team) was also involved in the final reworking.
Composition and recording
Songwriting credits for "Please Mr. Postman" have been inconsistent. Journalist Ben Fong-Torres credits the song to Holland, Bateman, Gorman, Dobbins and Garrett. The original Tamla 45 single for the Marvelettes' version credits "Dobbins/Garett/Brianbert" as the songwriters, and credits "Brianbert" as producer. The original With the Beatles album cover credited it to just Brian Holland (the 1987 CD release credits it to "Dobbin-Garrett-Garman-Brianbert"). The 1976 Beatles discography book All Together Now credits the songwriting to Holland, Bateman, and Berry Gordy. The 1992 Motown boxed set Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection credits Dobbins, Garrett, Holland, Bateman, and Gorman as the composers. The Songwriters Hall of Fame credits "Please Mr. Postman" to just Holland, Bateman, and Gorman. EMI Music Publishing, the current music publisher of the song, list all five writers in their catalog.
Played in 4/4 time, the song features the common I–vi–IV–V chord progression. The melody is hexatonic, avoiding "blue" notes.
The Marvelettes recording features lead singer Gladys Horton hoping that the postman has brought her a letter from her boyfriend. Holland and Bateman – dubbing themselves "Brianbert" – produced the session. The song's rhythm section is made up of piano, electric bass and drums. The commercial failure of Marvin Gaye's 1961 debut album, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, led him to spend time as a studio musician for the remainder of the year. Among these efforts was "Please Mr. Postman", on which he plays the drums. Gaye's backbeat is busy throughout the song, playing his snare on the two and four beats while tapping the ride cymbal each half beat. He uses fills to transition the song through sections. The bass mostly alternates between root and fifth chords. An electric rhythm guitar is buried in the mix, only occasionally audible, while handclaps are prominent. Musicologist Walter Everett suggests that the appearance of reverb on the lead vocal at 2:10 is possibly the result of a vocal overdub being "punched into a mismatched circuit".
Release
Motown's Tamla label released the song as a single in the US in August 1961, then on the album of the same name in November 1961. The single was a commercial success, becoming Motown's second ever million-selling record and its first number-one hit. The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 23 weeks, and peaked at number 1 the week of December 11, 1961. Producer Berry Gordy credited Barney Ales' PR effort with the commercial success of the song. The song's hit status left many at Motown expecting the Marvelettes to be the label's biggest act, though they failed to ever match their first effort. Journalist Ben Fong-Torres describes the Marvelettes' next song, "Twistin' Postman", as a "calculated follow-up". The song's success led to an expansion in Motown's efforts, with songs like the Miracles "I'll Try Something New" and "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" following in 1962.
Fontana Records released the song as a single in the UK in November 1961.
Billboard listed the song as #22 on their 2017 list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
Rolling Stone ranked it at No. 331 on their list of "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Personnel
According to The Complete Motown Singles – Vol. 1: 1959–1961 liner notes, except where noted:
The Marvelettes
Gladys Horton lead vocal
Katherine Anderson backing vocal
Wyanetta ("Juanita") Cowart backing vocal
Georgeanna Tillman backing vocal
Wanda Young backing vocal
Additional musicians
The Funk Brothers:
Marvin Gaye drums
James Jamerson bass
Eddie Willis guitar
Richard "Popcorn" Wylie piano
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Certifications
The Beatles version
Background and recording
The English rock band the Beatles displayed an early interest in the music of girl groups, covering songs by groups like the Shirelles, the Cookies and the Donays. They added "Please Mr. Postman" to their live repertoire in December 1961, their third Tamla song after the Miracles' "Who's Lovin' You" and Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)". Having not made it into the British top fifty, few in the UK knew the song, allowing them to make it their own among all Liverpool groups. John Lennon sang lead vocal, Paul McCartney and George Harrison providing backing vocals, while all three added handclaps at their head level. In 2004, Billy Hatton of the Four Jays recalled seeing one of the Beatles' first live performances of the song, saying it was "a Wow moment. I was struck by how tight they were. As a semi-pro group, the Four Jays would take a month to start playing a new song really well." Without their knowing it at the time, the Beatles' 7 March 1962 performance of the song on BBC Radio's Here We Go was the first time any Tamla song was played over BBC radio. Beatles author Mark Lewisohn reflects: "Without even realising it (and they'd have been thrilled to know), the Beatles broke the Detroit 'Motown sound' to the British listening public."
In 1963, Beatles manager Brian Epstein approached Gordy for the rights to record several Motown songs, including "Please Mr. Postman", "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Money (That's What I Want)". Rather than the industry standard of two cents, Epstein only offered one and a half cents per record sold. Gordy initially refused, only relenting two minutes before the offer was set to expire. On 30 July 1963, the band recorded the song for their second UK album, With the Beatles. Recorded in Studio Two of EMI Recording Studios, George Martin produced the session, supported by balance engineer Norman Smith. The band recorded three takes in a similar style to their BBC performance, but found the results unsatisfactory. They altered the arrangement to sound closer to the Marvelettes' version, recording four more takes with a stop-time intro, drum breaks and a coda, the final take seven deemed "best". Due to their different vocal range from the Marvelettes, the Beatles modulate their version into A major. Between recording two takes of overdubs, the band added handclaps while Lennon double tracked his original vocal, take nine marked "best". Martin and Smith mixed the song for mono and stereo on 21 August and 29 October, respectively.
Release and reception
EMI's Parlophone label released With the Beatles in the UK on 22 November 1963, with "Please Mr. Postman" sequenced as the final track on the first side, coming after Till There Was You". In the US, Capitol released The Beatles' Second Album on 10 April 1964, with "Please Mr. Postman" sequenced as the ninth track, between "I Call Your Name" and "I'll Get You". Both releases credit the song only to Holland. Capitol also included the cover as the final track on the US-only four-song EP, Four by the Beatles, released 11 May 1964.
Writing about The Beatles' Second Album, music critic Robert Christgau considers the covers of "Please Mr. Postman" and "Money (That's What I Want)" as two of the Beatles' best ever recordings, "both surpassing the superb Motown originals". Music critic Tim Riley calls the song's beat "tremendous", and that "like all great rock 'n' roll, it sounds perilously close to falling apart at any minute". He writes it is the "most reckless and completely irresistible playing" on the first side of With the Beatles, and "the most flammable rock 'n' roll they've given us since "She Loves You". Musicologist Alan W. Pollack sees the opening shout of "Wait!" as anticipating as the opening shout of "Help!" in the Beatles' 1965 song of the same name. Writer Chris Ingham calls the song "a dense curtain of guitars and harmonies" supported by "a delicious, elastic groove". Writer Jonathan Gould writes that Lennon's strong vocal overpowers the weak lyric, while the band's backing "[explodes] off the record", ultimately "[epitomizing] all that is best about the Beatles' second album." He further writes that, among the covers on With the Beatles, it is the only one that approaches the quality of "Twist and Shout" from Please Please Me. Writer Ian MacDonald dismisses the cover as "[l]acking the loose-limbed playfulness of the original", with a "wall of sound that quickly weights on the ear".
Personnel
According to MacDonald, except where noted:
John Lennon double-tracked vocal, rhythm guitar
Paul McCartney backing vocal, bass
George Harrison backing vocal, lead guitar
Ringo Starr drums
uncredited (played by the Beatles) handclaps
The Carpenters version
A hit cover of "Please Mr. Postman" was recorded by The Carpenters, whose version took the song again to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1975. The Carpenters' version resembles an old 1950s rock & roll song. The single was released in late 1974, reached number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts in January 1975, and was the duo's 10th and final million-selling single. The corresponding Horizon album was belatedly released in June 1975 and went Platinum.
The Carpenters' cover version was also sampled by rapper Juelz Santana for his single "Oh Yes". It is used by the Rob, Arnie and Dawn Show to introduce their Listener Mail segment, and was the song by the presenters of the British Saturday morning show SMTV Live to introduce the mailbag section. Reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1975, in a UK television special on ITV in 2016 it was voted number one in The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song.
A music video of the song, filmed in Disneyland, can be found on the DVD Gold: Greatest Hits (released in 2002), originally packaged as Yesterday Once More (released on VHS and LaserDisc in 1985).
Personnel
Karen Carpenter – lead and backing vocals, drums
Richard Carpenter – backing vocals, piano, orchestration
Tony Peluso – guitar
Joe Osborn – bass guitar
Bob Messenger – tenor saxophone
Doug Strawn – baritone saxophone
Uncredited – castanets, tubular bells
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
See also
List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1961
List of number-one R&B singles of 1961 (U.S.)
List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
List of RPM number-one singles of 1975
List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1975
List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1975 (U.S.)
References
Citations
Sources
External links
List of cover versions of ”Please Mr. Postman” at SecondHandSongs.com
Songs about occupations
Songs about letters (message)
1961 debut singles
1974 singles
The Marvelettes songs
The Beatles songs
The Carpenters songs
Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
Cashbox number-one singles
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Number-one singles in South Africa
Number-one singles in Australia
Songs written by Brian Holland
Song recordings produced by George Martin
Songs written by Freddie Gorman
Tamla Records singles
A&M Records singles
Helen Shapiro songs
1961 songs
Songs written by Robert Bateman (songwriter)
Capitol Records singles
Polydor Records singles